Final answer:
Poll taxes were a method used to deter African Americans from voting, violating the 15th Amendment. The 24th Amendment, ratified in 1964, eliminated poll taxes in federal elections, furthering the protection of voting rights.
Step-by-step explanation:
Poll taxes, like the one in question, were a means to suppress the vote of African Americans by imposing a financial barrier to voting. This practice particularly affected areas in the Deep South and directly violated the 15th Amendment, which was ratified after the Civil War to prohibit denying a citizen the right to vote based on that person's "race, color, or previous condition of servitude". In response to these types of voter suppression tactics, the 24th Amendment was ratified in 1964 to outlaw the use of poll taxes in federal elections, ensuring that poverty would no longer be a barrier to voting. It was later reinforced by the Supreme Court in the decision for Harper v. Virginia Board of Elections, declaring that poll taxes were unconstitutional at any level of government elections, directly strengthening the protections provided under the 15th Amendment.