Southern states used poll taxes, literacy tests, and grandfather clauses primarily to keep African Americans from voting. These discriminatory practices were implemented as a means to circumvent the 15th Amendment and maintain white supremacy in the political system following the end of Reconstruction.
Why did Southern states use poll taxes, literacy tests, and grandfather clauses as Reconstruction came to an end?
(1 point)
• to maintain Republican control of state governments
• to keep poor white Southerners from voting
to keep African Americans from voting
• to ensure voters would remain loyal to the Union
1 answer