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Difficulty: MediumThe New South and Jim Crow

"Section 244. On and after the first day of January, A. D. 1892, every elector shall, in addition to all other qualifications, be able to read any section of the constitution of this State; or he shall be able to understand the same when read to him, or give a reasonable interpretation thereof."

— Mississippi State Constitution, 1890

The provision in the excerpt was primarily designed to achieve which of the following goals?

  1. A
    To enforce the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment in local elections.
  2. To circumvent the Fifteenth Amendment and restore white Democratic political dominance in the South.Answer
  3. C
    To ensure that voters possessed sufficient legal knowledge to participate in federal Reconstruction programs.
  4. D
    To build a political alliance between rural Populists and urban Progressive reformers.

Answer

To circumvent the Fifteenth Amendment and restore white Democratic political dominance in the South.
The correct answer is the option stating that the provision aimed to circumvent the Fifteenth Amendment and restore white Democratic political dominance. The 'understanding clause' was a key legal loophole used by Southern states during the Jim Crow era to disenfranchise African American voters without violating the literal text of the Fifteenth Amendment, which prohibited denying the right to vote based on race.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the primary source text and context.
The excerpt shows a state constitutional provision from Mississippi in 1890 requiring literacy or 'understanding' of the state constitution to vote.
This establishes the historical period (post-Reconstruction, Jim Crow era) and the legal mechanism of voting restrictions.
2
Evaluate the intent of the 'understanding clause' in Southern state constitutions during the Gilded Age.
The clause gave white registrars the power to subjectively evaluate voters, allowing them to pass illiterate white voters while failing educated African American voters.
This shows how the law was designed to discriminate on the basis of race without explicitly mentioning race, which would violate the Fifteenth Amendment.
3
Link the findings to political outcomes in the New South.
This disenfranchisement allowed the Democratic Party to consolidate political control and establish the Jim Crow system of legal segregation and white supremacy.
This connects the legal mechanism directly to the primary political goal of the Southern Democratic Redeemers.

Key Concept

Disenfranchisement and the legal establishment of Jim Crow
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Topics

The New South and Jim Crow

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