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29 votes
What was the purpose of literacy tests?

A. Equalize the playing field of voting by only allowing the smartest to vote
B. Allow states to deny voting rights to black applicants on legal grounds
C. Make sure people had an understanding of laws before voting
D. Prevent young children from underage voting through higher level tests

User Krems
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1 Answer

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19 votes

Answer: B. Allow states to deny voting rights to black applicants on legal grounds.

Step-by-step explanation:

After the Civil War ended and slavery was outlawed in the United States, the Southern States refused to accept the equal status of Black people and so came up with codes that were aimed to keep the Black population in the south under them.

One such code was literacy tests. These were required to be taken to vote. Seeing as the South had denied Black people the right to read and be literate, they were not educated after the war and so would fail the literacy tests imposed for them to pass and vote.

User Leon Gaban
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