Excluding Black Voters (Edexcel A-Level History): Revision Notes

Excluding Black Voters

Introduction: the reversal of Reconstruction gains

During the Reconstruction era (1865-1877), black Americans experienced dramatic political advances. The Fifteenth Amendment extended voting rights to all adult black Americans, resulting in approximately 700,000 ex-slaves being enfranchised. This transformed the political landscape of the former Confederate states - black voters actually outnumbered white voters in five of these states.

However, following the end of Reconstruction in 1877, southern state governments - dominated by the Democrat Party - began systematically dismantling these political gains. Through a series of constitutional changes and legal mechanisms, they effectively removed most black Americans from the voting and political systems of the southern states.

Discrimination in Mississippi from 1890

The constitutional convention and its aims

A major turning point in voter suppression occurred in Mississippi in 1890. The state legislature appointed a delegation to draft a new state constitution with one explicit purpose: to deprive black Americans of the right to vote. According to a delegate quoted in The Jackson Clarion-Ledger (the state capital newspaper), this was the sole reason for creating a new constitution.

Before 1890, Mississippi's voting laws were relatively inclusive. The existing constitution allowed all male citizens aged 21 and over to register to vote if they had lived in the state for six months and in their county for one month. The only exceptions were those who were insane or had committed disqualifying crimes.

Article 12: poll tax

Article 12 of the new state constitution introduced major changes to the voting system. The primary mechanism for reducing black voter participation was a poll tax of $2 required for voter registration.

This poll tax had a disproportionate impact on black voters because poverty among black Mississippians was extremely high. While the tax appeared race-neutral on paper, its practical effect was to exclude black voters who could not afford to pay.

Literacy tests

Another method introduced was a literacy test for all voter registration. This test required potential voters to demonstrate the ability to recite and explain parts of the Mississippi State Constitution.

The impact was devastating. In 1890, approximately 60 percent of Mississippi's black population were illiterate, compared to much lower rates among white Mississippians. This disparity meant the literacy test had a profound effect on black voter registration whilst protecting most white voters.

Impact on voter registration

The combined effect of these changes was catastrophic for black political participation. The statistics tell a stark story:

Democrat Party white primaries

To complete the exclusion of black Americans from meaningful political participation, all primary elections of the Democrat Party were made exclusively white. This was particularly significant because:

• Political parties organised these primaries as private organisations, meaning they were not covered by the state constitution
• The Democrat candidate almost always won general elections in Mississippi
• This made it virtually irrelevant whether the few remaining registered black voters participated in federal or state elections - the real decisions were made in the whites-only primary

This system created a virtually complete barrier to black political influence in Mississippi.

Louisiana's Grandfather Clause, 1898

The constitutional convention

Other southern states observed Mississippi's success and developed their own methods of voter suppression. On 8 February 1898, the Louisiana Constitutional Convention met with a similar aim to Mississippi's 1890 convention.

The president of the convention stated explicitly that it aimed to remove illiterate voters from the electorate - and everyone understood this meant removing black Americans, who made up the vast majority of illiterate voters in Louisiana.

How the Grandfather Clause worked

The convention delegates included provisions requiring potential voters to pass a literacy test or own a certain amount of property to register. However, this created a problem: many white men were neither literate nor property owners.

Political support

The constitutional change was passed by 96 votes to 28, showing overwhelming support among white legislators. One state legislator, L.J. Dossman, voted in favour specifically because it would remove every black American from the electoral roll.

Impact on voter numbers

Like Mississippi's changes, the Grandfather Clause had a dramatic impact on black political participation in Louisiana:

Legal challenge and victory (1915)

Unlike most Jim Crow legislation, the Grandfather Clause eventually faced a successful legal challenge. In 1915, the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) brought a case to the US Supreme Court challenging the constitutionality of the Grandfather Clause.

Impact on voter numbers across the South in the 1890s

Widespread adoption of voter suppression

Following the examples of Mississippi and Louisiana, each southern state passed constitutional amendments during the 1890s that placed restrictions on voting designed to disproportionately affect black Americans.

Three main methods

State governments employed three main methods of voter suppression:

1. Poll taxes: These placed a financial charge on voter registration or voting itself. Poll taxes had a discouraging effect on voting by poor people, both white and black. However, they affected black Americans disproportionately due to higher poverty rates in black communities.

2. Property tests: These made it illegal to vote unless you owned property. Since black Americans had been systematically denied opportunities to acquire property through slavery, sharecropping systems, and discriminatory economic practices, property tests excluded them at higher rates than white Americans.

3. Literacy tests: As seen in Mississippi, these required potential voters to demonstrate reading ability and understanding of complex legal documents. Given that black Americans had been denied education under slavery and continued to face educational discrimination, literacy tests affected them disproportionately.

Statistical impact

The combined effect of these measures across the southern states was dramatic but varied by race:

The Grandfather Clause's racial impact

The Grandfather Clause, adopted by several states following Louisiana's example, was aimed exclusively at black Americans. Its purpose was to protect poor and illiterate white voters whilst ensuring black voters remained excluded.

W.E.B. Du Bois: opposition to accommodation

W.E.B. Du Bois (1868-1963) was a leading black American academic and civil rights activist whose views contrasted sharply with those of Booker T. Washington.

Academic achievements

Du Bois's credentials were exceptional. In 1895, he became the first black American to receive a doctorate degree (PhD) from Harvard University, the most prestigious university in the USA. He then studied in Germany, gaining international academic experience. He conducted groundbreaking sociological studies of black Americans, and in 1899 published The Philadelphia Negro: A Social Study, which established his national reputation. From 1898 to 1910, he taught sociology at Atlanta University.

Opposition to segregation and Washington

Du Bois was a forthright opponent of racial segregation and directly challenged Booker T. Washington's view that economic advancement was preferable to demanding full civil equality for black Americans. In 1903, he published Souls of the Black Folk, which highlighted the suffering of black Americans living under Jim Crow Laws and criticized Washington's accommodationist approach.

Civil rights activism

Du Bois was not content with academic criticism - he took direct action. In 1909, he was the key figure in founding the Niagara Movement for civil rights equality for black Americans. This movement demanded immediate civil and political rights rather than Washington's gradualist approach.

Booker T. Washington's perspective

In contrast to Du Bois, Booker T. Washington advocated a more accommodationist approach. In a famous speech delivered at the States and International Exposition in Atlanta, Georgia, on 18 September 1895 (known as the Atlanta Compromise), Washington outlined his philosophy.

Economic focus

Washington argued that black Americans should focus on economic advancement through hard work and vocational training rather than demanding immediate political and social equality. He stated that black Americans' "greatest danger" was overlooking the fact that they would succeed through "the production of our hands" - meaning manual labor and practical skills.

Acceptance of segregation

Controversially, Washington argued that "the agitation of questions of social equality is the extreme folly". He believed that progress in civil rights would come through economic success rather than political activism or "artificial forcing". He stated: "The opportunity to earn a dollar in a factory just now is worth infinitely more than the opportunity to spend a dollar in an opera house."

Context and criticism

This philosophy, while criticized by Du Bois and others as too accommodating to white supremacy, reflected Washington's belief that black Americans needed to build economic power before they could successfully demand political equality.

Exam tips

Remember!