Question

Why did the Southern states use poll taxes, literacy tests, and grandfather clauses as reconstruction came to an end?

Answer 1

The Southern states used poll taxes, literacy tests, and grandfather clauses as reconstruction came to an end in order to prevent African Americans from exercising their newly gained rights and participating in the political process. These measures were designed to disenfranchise African American voters and maintain white supremacy in the South. Poll taxes and literacy tests were used to prevent poor and illiterate African Americans from voting, while grandfather clauses allowed white voters to bypass these requirements if their ancestors had been eligible to vote before the Civil War, effectively excluding newly freed African Americans from the political process. These tactics were part of a larger effort to uphold the system of segregation and maintain white dominance in the South.