Question

a clause in a state law that had the effect of restricting voting rights to those whose ancestors had voted before the 1860s. it was one of the techniques used in the south to prevent african americans from exercising their right to vote.

Answer 1

This sounds like a description of a so-called "grandfather clause," which was a discriminatory voting practice that was used in some states in the United States during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. These clauses were designed to exclude African Americans from voting by setting requirements that were difficult or impossible for them to meet. For example, a grandfather clause might require voters to be able to prove that their ancestors were eligible to vote before a certain date, such as the 1860s. Since African Americans were not allowed to vote before the end of slavery, this effectively excluded them from the voting process. Grandfather clauses were declared unconstitutional by the United States Supreme Court in 1915 in the case of Guinn v. United States.