The poll tax was essentially a lay subsidy, a tax on the movable property of most of the population, to help fund war. It had first been levied in 1275 and continued under different names until the 17th century. People were taxed a percentage of the assessed value of their movable goods.
Consequently, how was the poll tax discriminatory?
The poll tax requirements applied to whites as well as blacks, and also adversely affected poor citizens. The laws that allowed the poll tax did not specify a certain group of people. This meant that anyone, including white women, could also be discriminated against when they went to vote.
Also to know is, what right did a poll tax interfere with?
The Twenty-fourth Amendment (Amendment XXIV) of the United States Constitution prohibits both Congress and the states from conditioning the right to vote in federal elections on payment of a poll tax or other types of tax.
What was the impact of literacy tests and poll taxes in Georgia?
What was the impact of literacy tests and poll taxes in Georgia? They kept blacks and poor whites from voting. They started a migration of black to urban areas.
What was the purpose of the poll tax quizlet?
Ex: Women gained suffrage by the 19th amendment, which was passed in 1920. Ex: the purpose of the poll tax was to prevent African-Americans from voting. This was because many of them were sharecroppers and thus were poor. Ex: With poll taxes, poor people were discriminated because they were too poor to pay.
Why did southern states enact poll taxes?
A poll tax is a tax levied as a prerequisite for voting. After Reconstruction (1865–1877)—the twelve-year period of rebuilding that followed the American Civil War (1861–1865)—many southern states passed poll taxes in an effort to keep African Americans from voting.
Why did the government pass the Voting Rights Act?
The murder of voting-rights activists in Mississippi and the attack by white state troopers on peaceful marchers in Selma, Alabama, gained national attention and persuaded President Johnson and Congress to initiate meaningful and effective national voting rights legislation.