Sharecropping--land owners provided a piece of land for former slaves to farm in exchange for a share of the crop produced.
Tenant farming--land owners rented a piece of land to a former slave in exchange for rent or possibly a share of the crop.
debt peonage--system of debt which cycles and the debtor has to work off the debt.
All three of these systems overlapped and essentially kept former slaves in a state of slavery tied to the land in an attempt to create some wealth for independence. It took generations for some to save enough money to leave the farms they were attached to.
