What economic institution was sometimes called slavery without slaves?

The economic institution often referred to as "slavery without slaves" is sharecropping. This system emerged in the Southern United States after the Civil War, where landowners provided land, tools, and seeds to tenant farmers, who in return paid a share of their crop to the owner. Sharecroppers, often former enslaved people, found themselves in a cycle of debt and dependency, facing harsh conditions that resembled slavery despite their nominal freedom. The arrangement often kept them economically disadvantaged and tied to the land, perpetuating a system of exploitation.