Final answer:
After Reconstruction, freedmen were dissuaded from voting through strategies like poll taxes, literacy tests, and grandfather clauses; such impediments were reinforced by socio-political norms and state laws barring African Americans from political participation.
Step-by-step explanation:
During the post-Reconstruction era, freedmen were systematically discouraged and prevented from voting and participating in political events through a number of strategies implemented by Southern whites. This included the imposition of poll taxes and literacy tests, which were often unaffordable and unfairly administered to African Americans, respectively. Grandfather clauses were also utilized to allow certain whites to bypass these voting hurdles. W.E.B. Du Bois and other African American leaders like Booker T. Washington recognized these issues and advocated for different approaches towards achieving political rights and social growth, where Du Bois emphasized immediate and full political engagement, and Washington suggested a more gradual approach through property acquisition and education. Additionally, state-level laws and practices such as the disenfranchisement of voters through restriction of political party membership to whites further hindered African American political participation, a practice that continued until legal challenges such as Smith v. Allwright began to reverse these injustices.