Poll Taxes
Definition
A poll tax is a fee that was required to be paid in order for an individual to vote. This was used primarily in the South during the late 19th and early 20th centuries as a way to prevent African Americans from voting.
Analogy
Imagine if you had to pay $5 every time you wanted to post on social media. That's what poll taxes were like, but instead of posting online, it was casting a vote.
Related terms
Jim Crow Laws: These were state and local laws enforcing racial segregation in the Southern United States.
Disenfranchisement: The removal or suspension of the right of suffrage (the right to vote) of a person or group of people.
Civil Rights Act of 1964: A landmark civil rights and labor law in the United States that outlaws discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.
"Poll Taxes" appears in:
Subjects (1)
Practice Questions (1)
- Which group was disenfranchised through literacy tests and poll taxes during the era of the "New South"?
Resources
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