Why did African Americans have to take literacy tests?

Why did African Americans have to take literacy tests?

Voting. From the 1890s to the 1960s, many state governments in the Southern United States administered literacy tests to prospective voters, purportedly to test their literacy in order to vote. In practice, these tests were intended to disenfranchise racial minorities and others deemed problematic by the ruling party.

What made the literacy test illegal?

It outlawed the discriminatory voting practices adopted in many southern states after the Civil War, including literacy tests as a prerequisite to voting. …

What was the purpose of literacy tests?

After the Civil War, many states enacted literacy tests as a voting requirement. The purpose was to exclude persons with minimal literacy, in particular, poor African Americans in the South, from voting.

When were literacy declared unconstitutional?

1964
Its use was declared unconstitutional in federal elections by the Twenty-fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, effective in 1964.

What was the literacy test 1917?

Literacy Test, 1917: Immigrants had to pass a series of reading and writing tests. Many of the poorer immigrants, especially those from eastern Europe, had received no education and therefore failed the tests and were refused entry. It also prohibited immigration from Asia.

Is the literacy test hard?

The Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test (OSSLT) is a standardized test for reading and writing. But while the test might be easy enough for most students who have grown up in Canada and spoken English all their lives, it can be a lot harder to pass if you’re new to the country or have just started to learn English.

What were literacy test poll taxes and grandfather clauses?

The Grandfather clause stripped them of their right to vote by requiring them to pay taxes, take literacy tests or constitutional quizzes, and overcome other barriers simply to cast a ballot.