Civil Rights Movement Veterans - CORE, NAACP, SCLC, SNCC. These were deliberately written to be difficult, even for people who could read. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 provided that literacy tests used as a qualification for voting in federal elections be administered wholly in writing and only to persons who had completed at least six years of formal education. The Louisiana Literacy Test was designed so that the test-takers would pass or fail simply at the discretion of the registrar who administered the test. Two years after that historic march, Rev. Copy of Alabama Literacy Test (1965) 4). One Louisiana test, for instance, included confusing questions such as "draw a line around the number or letter of this sentence.". Beginning in the 19th century, literacy tests were used in the voter registration process in southern states of the U.S. with the intent to disenfranchise Black voters. In the South they were used to prevent African Americans from registering to vote. The 14th Amendment established that black Americans were entitled to equal protection under the law. In part to curtail the use of literacy tests, Congress enacted the Voting Rights Act of … 1. This process was often referred to as a "literacy test," a term that had two different meanings — one specific and one general. The system of laws that imposed segregation was known as Jim Crow, after a dimwitted black stage character in the 1830s. As the registrar decided who passed the literacy test, it was easy to refuse blacks and accept whites. As Slate points out, "There was little room for befuddlement. %PDF-1.4 %���� Poll taxes and literacy tests are part of the ugly side of American history. 84 0 obj <> endobj 118 0 obj <>/Filter/FlateDecode/ID[<62DE29C887BC47F4AA13CEB4F260293B><85FF15342A1F452EA3EF1F91D67E5DE1>]/Index[84 70]/Info 83 0 R/Length 134/Prev 357666/Root 85 0 R/Size 154/Type/XRef/W[1 2 1]>>stream Prior to passage of the federal Voting Rights Act in 1965, Southern states maintained elaborate voter registration procedures deliberately designed to deny the vote to nonwhites. Used as a way to prevent Blacks from voting, the required literacy test was just one of the ways to deter Blacks from voting. Literacy tests, introduced in 1890, were not deemed unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court until the 1960s. The result was that by the early 20th century nearly all African Americans were disfranchised. In theory, Southern states couldn't stop black Americans from voting. One way literacy tests operated was by virtue of something called a grandfather clause. People that are voting for anything should be smart enough to comprehend the english language and a simple literacy test shows that you can understand. The 1963 March on Washington was the beginning of the end for institutionalized prejudicial practices at polling locations. A Durham, NC resident, Fraser has written about law, starting a business, balancing your budget and fighting evictions, among other legal and financial topics. To keep voting limited to whites only, states used a variety of Jim Crow voting tests and created requirements that voters had to meet. Literacy Tests Proponents of tests to prove an applicant’s ability to read and understand English claimed that the exams ensured an educated and informed electorate. Southern states adopted the tactic after Reconstruction. Many blacks and many poor white voters couldn't afford to pay the tax. Many states adopted literacy tests that aspiring voters had to complete. Share on Facebook; In the late 1800’s, southern states administered literacy tests in order to keep racial minorities from voting. Copy of the Alabama Voter Registration Form 3). h�b```g``z���� j� ̀ ��l,'�&-``��l8�����l� ֈl � Ċ F�^5%� �8\y�X1�80avh(d��`�q��`�����c� �. Citing an old English legal principle, literacy test promoters argued that if a person was not sufficiently educated, his vote could be too easily manip… Can you pass this discriminatory voting literacy test? Since 1855, Connecticut’s state constitution had required adults to pass a literacy test and a one-year residency rule in order to qualify as a voter. Literacy test definition, an examination to determine whether a person meets the literacy requirements for voting, serving in the armed forces, etc. From the 1965 Alabama Literacy Test . A sample passage from Alabama’s constitution, which could be part of a literacy test that a would-be black voter might have to read and explain circa 1965: k SECTION 260 The income arising from the sixteenth section trust fund, the surplus revenue fund, until it is called for by the United States Being unable to read was a lot more common in the 19th and early 20th centuries than today. After the Civil War, many states enacted literacy tests as a voting requirement. The tests varied from state to state, but typically involved a multiple choice exam on state and federal politics and history, and a literacy test. Prior to the passage of the Voting Rights Act in 1965, many southern (and some western) states had devised "literacy tests" and other voting requirements whose primary purpose was to deny African Americans the vote. Alabama Voter Application Form (c. 1965) Alabama Voter Literacy Test (c. 1965) In Alabama before the Voting Rights Act, a typical registration process for an Afro-American citizen went something like this: In the rural counties where most folk lived, you had to go down to the courthouse to register. Poll taxes and literacy tests are part of the ugly side of American history. In theory, Southern states couldn't stop black Americans from voting. In 1870, the United States passed the 15th Amendment to the Constitution, which guaranteed the right to vote regardless of race. Voting Literacy Test (1965) Anonymous Introduction Although African Americans secured the right to vote after the Civil War through the passage of the Fifteenth Amendment, southern states moved quickly after Reconstruction to restrict the voting rights of blacks. While literacy tests no longer exist, low literacy still remains a barrier to voting. It was not until 1964 that these tests were finally outlawed. Getty Images African Americans, led by Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., line up in front of the Dallas County Courthouse in Selma, Alabama to register to vote. 2). Completely illiterate, poor whites got the benefit of the same grandfather clause used for the poll tax. A literacy test measures a person’s proficiency in reading and writing. Below are questions adapted from the “literacy test” given to black voters by the state of Louisiana in the 1960s. Black Americans had more than double the illiteracy rate of whites. Literacy tests were introduced into the voting process in the South with the Jim Crow laws. Interestingly, the first known literacy test did not originate in the South. In practice they were used to disqualify immigrants and the poor, who had less education. The Civil Rights-era law banned discrimination through the use of poll taxes and the application of any "test of device," such as a literacy test to determine whether voters could take part in elections. In some states, the poll tax cut the black vote in half. The lefties howled about how literacy tests were, for decades, used by Southern racists to keep blacks from voting. They had 10 minutes to complete 30 … In 1870, the United States passed the 15th Amendment to the Constitution, which guaranteed the right to vote regardless of race. State grandfather clauses gave some whites a free pass. By 1904, every former Confederate state had adopted poll taxes, sometimes mistakenly called a poll test. ; a test of one's ability to read and write. Fraser Sherman - Updated October 25, 2018, Copyright 2020 Leaf Group Ltd. / Leaf Group Education, Explore state by state cost analysis of US colleges in an interactive article, Legal Information Institute: 14th Amendment, University of Michigan: Techniques of Direct Disenfranchisement, 1880-1965, National Museum of American History: Poll Taxes, National Center for Education Statistics: Literacy from 1870 to 1979, Slate: Take the Impossible “Literacy” Test Louisiana Gave Black Voters in the 1960s, History, Art & Archives, United States House of Representatives: The 24th Amendment. h�bbd``b`v�@�F �uH0� � �H���X� �#L����������@B�H�T��耔�-�@J��A:�@\�E��l��b:$T�@��0B�H�r2012���8��L�� ޮ� endstream endobj startxref 0 %%EOF 153 0 obj <>stream Author: State of Louisiana Keywords: Civil Rights Movement, Southern Freedom Movement, voting rights, voting rights, literacy test, … The Argument in Favor of Requiring a Test to Vote Below are scans of an actual "literacy test" given to black voters by the state of Louisiana in the 1960s. Some states used an actual reading test. The test assessed a voter's ability to read and write or to read and understand any … In Voting Rights Act Poll taxes, literacy tests, grandfather clauses, whites-only primaries, and other measures disproportionately disqualified African Americans from voting. Even so, states with poll taxes and literacy tests struggled to hold on to them. Which of the following is a right guaranteed by the Bill of Rights? If you wanted to vote, you had to pay a tax, typically $1 or $2. However, in 1965, with the passage of the Voting Rights Act, it became illegal to use literacy tests as a way to disqualify voters who were otherwise qualified. Martin Luther King Jr. watched as President Lyndon Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which … The purpose was to exclude persons with minimal literacy, in particular, poor African Americans in the South, from voting. The 1960s drove multiple death blows to "separate but equal." Writing utensil *Registration and Literacy Tests are from the following source.. "Veterans of the Civil Rights Movement -- Literacy Tests." While this voting literacy test sought to make sure people were educated enough to vote, it proved In addition to being given to an inordinate number of black voters, the voting literacy test itself was Thankfully, in 1964, the literacy tests were suspended by the Voting Rights Act. The federal Civil Rights Act of 1964 ended segregation. Poll taxes and literacy tests were seemingly race-neutral measures for shutting out black voters. From literacy tests to voter ID laws, the right to vote remains threatened. Literacy tests were used to keep people of color -- and, sometimes, poor whites -- from voting, and they were administered at the discretion of the officials in charge of voter registration. Denying black citizens the vote took away their ability to challenge the system. Prior to this, individual cases actually ruled that literacy tests were not necessarily violations of the Fourteenth Amendment, which guarantees all citizens the right to vote. Take The Literacy Test Given To Black Voters In The 60's . Louisiana Literacy Test ~ 1964? Connecticut was the first state to require a literacy test, to keep Irish immigrants from voting. The questions were so imprecisely written that the examiner could decree almost any answer correct or incorrect, at his whim. Voter Literacy Test . Literacy as a requirement for voting The term literacy test or literacy requirement refers to the government practice of testing the literacy of potential citizens at both the federal level and state level. _____ _____ 3. See more. Jim Crow laws were state and local laws and statutes enacted by southern and border states in the late 1870s to deny Blacks the right to vote in the South following Reconstruction (1865-1877).. Though it sounds like a small amount today, it packed a lot more buying power a century ago. The 1963 March on Washington led to the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which outlawed discriminatory and prejudicial voting practices in America. Simply by refusing to let a literate person help voters to fill out ballots, states made it impossible for illiterate blacks or whites to vote. If their ancestors had been registered voters before the Civil War, then they didn't have to pay the tax. An Alabama Literacy Test Keeps Black Voters Off the Rolls. For the ones arguing about lines, a line is a continuous fluid mark, a straight line, by it’s name is straight. By the end of the 19th century, the South had found a work-around: black and white Americans would be "separate but equal," a claim that covered up racial discrimination. The Voting Rights Act the following year protected the black vote. Generally, literacy tests were labeled as general application laws—meaning every voter would be potentially required to sit for a literacy test in order to vote—but as a matter of practice were only enforced against Black voters. 2. _____ Public education _____ Employment _____ Trial by jury _____ Voting . Optional- Copy of the Louisiana Literacy Test 5). Other tactics for protecting white supremacy included arbitrary voter registration rules and violent threats targeting blacks who voted. Historically, literacy has been a barrier to voting. Skip Navigation. Presented as a means for assessing whether voters were educated enough to vote, literacy tests and other methods were designed for a single purpose: to stop Black Americans from voting. The 24th Amendment made poll taxes unconstitutional in 1964. chising success of literacy tests. If a person is indicted for a crime, name two rights which he has. 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