Sharecropping tied newly freed African Americans to someone else’s land by

Sharecroppers rented land and paid the landowner with a portion of the crop, but they often had to borrow money for seed, tools, and food. High interest and crop prices that failed to cover those debts left many owing money year after year, tying them to the same landowner. So the best answer is “keeping them in constant debt.”

AI-written and checked against the verified answer.