The crop-lien system:
a. annoyed bankers and merchants who resented how it made them dependent on farmers.
b. applied only to african-american farmers.
c. kept many sharecroppers in a state of constant debt and poverty.
d. enabled yeoman farmers to continue to function under the same system as before the civil war.
e. became better as farm prices increased in the 1870s.

c. kept many sharecroppers in a state of constant debt and poverty.

Explanation:

The crop-lien system was a credit system established among farmers in the southern United States during the time of reconstruction to remedy the economic problem that plagued southern farmers. What really happened, however, was that this credit system kept many negotiators in a state of constant debt and poverty.

Under this system, farmers who lost their land could receive supplies and food from local merchants through a credit line, and they could "rent" someone's land. In exchange, these traders had exclusivity in the cotton crops, as did the landowner. In this way the profits made by the cotton crop were divided between the merchant and the landowner, what remained was left to do so. This system lasted until 1940, but left many farmers in constant poverty.