The correct answer is A) Sharecroppers were locked in a cycle of debt.
Sharecropping had a negative effect on Souther society in that sharecroppers were locked in a cycle of debt.
Sharecropping was a way to earn a living for poor American farmers during the Reconstruction, after the Civil War. They worked on other people's land. The farmers worked in the landowner land. Farmers received tools, seeds, and housing. Sometimes the owner loaned some money. When harvest time arrived, the farmer got a share of that harvest and the rest was the property of the owner. This was the farmer paid all his debt to the owner. So sharecropping had a negative effect on Souther society in that sharecroppers were locked in a cycle of debt.