Though African American males gained the suffrage in 1870, by the adoption of the fifteenth amendment, states with large Negro populations continued to deny them the right. They attempted to limit Negro voting by various methods such as the so-called grandfather clause, the white primary, the poll tax requirement, literacy tests as well as manipulation of registration provisions. The states managed to manipulate the rights of the African Americans as they had the authority to set registration procedures.

Many states required the payment of a poll or head tax as a prerequisite to voting. A poll tax is a direct personal tax levied at a stated rate per head on all adults as a rule by a local government under state authority. Owing to the poor economic status of the average African American in the south, the poll tax was an effective method of keeping Negroes from voting. The Twenty-fourth amendment finally abolished this tax in 1964.

BY TH’ WAY, WHAT’S THAT BIG WORD?"

Exhibit 10.1
Literacy Tests

Index

10.0 - Introduction
10.1 The Expansion of Suffrage
10.2 Obstacles to Voting
10.3 Voter Turnout
10.4 Voting Choices
10.5 Getting Nominated and Compaigning for Office
10.6 Electing Candidates to Office

Chapter 11