Final answer:
Collateral, the crop lien system, and a cosigner are all instruments used to ensure the repayment of what a buyer has paid in a financial loan agreement. Collateral involves a borrower offering valuable property to secure a loan. The crop lien system also allowed future crops as collateral, while a cosigner provides a guarantee that the loan will be paid.
Step-by-step explanation:
Liens that ensure the repayment of what the buyer paid typically involve some form of collateral. Collateral is something valuable—often property or equipment—that a lender has a right to seize and sell if the buyer does not repay the loan. This is a common practice in lending and is one way to reassure a lender about the repayment of a loan.
Another form of lien, specifically known in historical contexts, is the crop lien system. Under this system, farmers could use their future crops as collateral for loans, granting the lender rights to a portion of the harvest if the debt was not repaid. While it was a widely used method after the Civil War in the Southern United States, it was fraught with high interest rates that often kept farmers in debt.