The crop-lien system was a credit system that became widely used by cotton farmers in the United States in the South from the 1860s to the 1930s. ... Local merchants provided food and supplies all year long on credit; when the cotton crop was harvested farmers turned it over to the merchant to pay back their loan.

What was the purpose of crop-lien system?

In the post-Civil War South, the crop lien system allowed farmers to obtain supplies, such as food and seed, on credit from merchants; the debt was to be repaid after the crop was harvested and brought to market.

How did the crop-lien system replace slavery?

After the Civil War, the crop-lien system replaced slavery in the cotton belt of the South. This arrangement allowed country merchants to front supplies to poor farmers - at high interest rates - in return for a lien on the farmer's upcoming crop.