How did the grandfather clause, which was enacted in southern states during Reconstruction, stop certain races of people from voting?

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Emery Gomez

History

5 February, 08:56

How did the grandfather clause, which was enacted in southern states during Reconstruction, stop certain races of people from voting?

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Belen Armstrong · Answer 1

hi!

Explanation:

Grandfather's clause, legal or constitutional device promulgated by seven southern states between 1895 and 1910 to deny African-American suffrage. It provided that those who had enjoyed the right to vote before 1866 or 1867, and their linear descendants, would be exempt from the recently approved education, property or tax requirements to vote. Because the former slaves had not been given the franchise until the adoption of the Fifteenth Amendment in 1870, these clauses worked to exclude blacks from voting, but secured the franchise to many impoverished and illiterate whites.

Although the Supreme Court of the United States declared in 1915 that the grandfather's clause was unconstitutional because it violated the equal voting rights guaranteed by the Fifteenth Amendment, it was not until Pres. Lyndon B. Johnson introduced the Voting Rights Act of 1965 that Congress put an end to discriminatory practice. The law abolished voter prerequisites and also allowed federal voter registration supervision. With the approval of the Law on Electoral Rights, the Fifteenth Amendment was finally enforced.