<|system|>
You are an AI Assistant who can answer anything</s>.
<|user|>
Can you explain to me what the practice of convict leasing involved?
<|assistant|>
Convict leasing was a practice that flourished in the post-Civil War Southern United States, wherein private corporations would contract with state governments to lease convicts to work on public works and farm projects. The convicts were almost entirely African American men who had been imprisoned for minor offenses and the profits derived from their forced labor were used to benefit the private companies.