Question

Poll taxes

a. were part of a body of laws called the "Jim Crow Laws"

b. required that a fee be charged in order to cast your vote

c. were a way of discriminating in a manner other than racial discrimination in order to circumvent the Constitution and deny blacks their right to vote

d. affected poor whites as well as blacks

e. all of the above

Answer 1

Poll taxes were fees charged to voters as part of the Jim Crow Laws to disenfranchise African Americans and poor whites, which were eventually abolished by the Twenty-Fourth Amendment and determined unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.

Step-by-step explanation:

Poll taxes discouraged blacks and poor whites from voting and were part of the broader system of Jim Crow Laws. They required individuals to pay a fee in order to cast their vote, effectively disenfranchising those who could not afford it. As such, poll taxes not only disfavored racial groups but also socioeconomically disadvantaged individuals, aligning with discriminatory practices aimed at circumventing the Constitution. Even though the Fifteenth Amendment guaranteed the right to vote, practices like poll taxes and literacy tests were utilized to restrict African Americans' exercise of this right. Eventually, the Twenty-Fourth Amendment outlawed the requirement to pay to vote in national elections, and the practice was declared unconstitutional at all levels by the Supreme Court in Harper v. Virginia Board of Elections.