Debt peonage is a labor system where workers are bound in servitude until they pay off debts, often perpetuating a cycle of poverty and exploitation. This practice became widespread in the post-Civil War South, particularly affecting African Americans who were often trapped in an unending cycle of debt due to unfair labor contracts, oppressive interest rates, and a lack of access to legal recourse. As a result, debt peonage played a significant role in maintaining economic and social hierarchies during the rise of Jim Crow laws and the activities of groups like the Ku Klux Klan.
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