Florida Teacher Certification Examinations (FTCE) Social Science Practice Test

What was the purpose of grandfather clauses and literacy tests in the southern states in the late 1800s?

1. To enhance voter participation among black citizens

2. To prevent blacks from voting

3. To encourage education in the local communities

4. To regulate the voting process for all citizens

The correct answer is: To prevent blacks from voting

Grandfather clauses and literacy tests were implemented primarily as discriminatory measures to disenfranchise black voters in the southern states following the Reconstruction era. Their primary purpose was to circumvent the legal rights granted to black citizens by the 15th Amendment, which was meant to ensure African American men could vote. Grandfather clauses allowed individuals to bypass literacy tests and other voting requirements if their grandfathers had been eligible to vote before the Civil War. This effectively exempted many white voters from these tests while simultaneously disenfranchising black voters, whose ancestors had been enslaved and thus ineligible to vote at that time. Literacy tests were often applied subjectively and were designed to be complicated, ensuring that many black citizens would fail them while white citizens were often exempt or were not scrutinized with the same rigor. In summary, the use of these mechanisms was aimed at maintaining white supremacy and controlling black participation in the electoral process, effectively suppressing the voices of African American communities in the South during that period.