Answer:
The sharecropping system put the small farmer in a vicious circle of debt that continued to grow.
Step-by-step explanation:
Sharecropping is an arrangement between a landowner and a tenant where the landowner gives the tenant permission to use the land in return for a percentage of the crops that are grown on the land. This was a common practice in the Southern United States after the Civil War where many white landowners would rent land to black families who planted cash crops like cotton and tobacco. The landlords and merchants in the local economy would lease tools and other equipment to the renters, often enticing unsuspecting sharecroppers to start purchasing seed, fertilizer, food, and other items on a credit system that then left them in debt, with unpaid debts accumulating and carrying over from year to year. This perpetuated inequalities and kept many black families living in poverty after the civil war.