Answer:
The 15th Amendment to the United States Constitution, ratified in 1870, granted African American men the right to vote, stating that the "right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude." However, despite this amendment, many Southern states implemented various tactics to disenfranchise African American voters, effectively circumventing the 15th Amendment. Some of these tactics included:
1. Poll Taxes: Southern states imposed poll taxes, which required citizens to pay a fee in order to vote. This disproportionately affected African Americans, who often couldn't afford the tax.
2. Literacy Tests: Some states required voters to pass literacy tests to prove their education and knowledge. These tests were often designed to be extremely difficult and were subject to racial bias.
3. Grandfather Clauses: Certain states included grandfather clauses in their voting laws, allowing anyone to vote if their grandfather was eligible to vote before the 15th Amendment was ratified. This effectively exempted many white voters from the new restrictions.
4. Intimidation and Violence: African Americans faced threats, intimidation, and violence when attempting to register or vote, making them reluctant to exercise their rights.
5. Gerrymandering: Southern states engaged in gerrymandering to manipulate electoral district boundaries in a way that diluted the political power of African American communities.
6. White Primary Elections: Some states held "white primaries" that excluded African Americans from participating in the primary elections, which were often more influential than the general elections.
These and other tactics were used to disenfranchise African American voters in the South, effectively undermining the 15th Amendment until the civil rights movement and federal legislation such as the Voting Rights Act of 1965 addressed these issues.