Isabella Carter
The Mississippi Constitution of 1890 was created with the primary purpose of disenfranchising Black voters in the state. The constitution was ratified by a convention composed almost entirely of white Democrats, who sought to suppress the Black vote through legal means, including literacy tests and poll taxes, after failing to do so through campaigns of terrorist violence. The constitution also included provisions for felony disenfranchisement, which remains in effect today and has resulted in the loss of voting rights for approximately 55,000 Mississippians, the majority of whom are Black.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Date | November 1, 1890 |
| Purpose | To disenfranchise, isolate, and marginalize Mississippi's African American population |
| Methods | Poll taxes, literacy tests, felony disenfranchisement |
| Impact | Ended democratic progress following the Civil War, set a precedent for other Southern states |
| Legacy | Upheld by the Supreme Court in 1898, partially erased by the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, continues to impact voting rights |
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What You'll Learn
Literacy tests and poll taxes
The Mississippi Constitution of 1890 was designed to disenfranchise African Americans and maintain white supremacy in the state. The constitution introduced a range of measures, including literacy tests and poll taxes, which served as barriers to voting for African Americans.
Literacy Tests
Literacy tests were used as a tool to restrict voting rights in Mississippi and other Southern states. The tests were subjectively enforced, with the intention of disenfranchising African Americans. The specific requirement in Mississippi was that a potential voter had to be able to read any section of the Mississippi Constitution, or understand and interpret any section when read out loud. This requirement was difficult for many African Americans to meet due to limited access to education. While whites were generally exempted from the literacy test if they met alternate requirements, in practice, these requirements excluded black people. For example, a "grandfather clause" could be used to exempt white voters whose grandparents had voted, as this was unlikely to be the case for African Americans due to the history of slavery.
Poll Taxes
Poll taxes were another mechanism used to restrict voting rights. After the ratification of the 15th Amendment, which granted voting rights to African American men, many states re-established poll taxes as a way to limit Black voter registration and turnout. While poll taxes affected all people with limited financial means, they were specifically designed to disenfranchise African Americans. By the mid-1960s, only five states still required poll taxes: Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi, Texas, and Virginia.
The implementation of literacy tests and poll taxes in Mississippi had a significant impact on African American voter turnout. By 1910, registered voters among African Americans had dropped to 15% in Virginia and under 2% in Alabama and Mississippi.
Legacy
The racist intent behind the Mississippi Constitution of 1890 has been acknowledged by the U.S. Supreme Court. In a 2023 dissent, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson rebuked the law, stating that it contained "the most toxic of substances". While most racist sections of the constitution were removed during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, some aspects, such as felony disenfranchisement, continue to impact Black voters today.
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Felony disenfranchisement
The Mississippi Constitution of 1890 was created to disenfranchise, isolate, and marginalize the state's African American population. The constitution was adopted on November 1, 1890, and included a number of provisions that were designed to suppress the Black vote. One of these provisions was felony disenfranchisement, which took away the right to vote for life upon conviction for several low-level crimes, such as theft and bribery, that the 1890 drafters believed would be mostly committed by Black people.
The choice of disenfranchising crimes was recognized as racist by the Mississippi Supreme Court in an 1896 case. The court described Black people as "patient, docile people," more inclined to "furtive offenses than to the robust crimes of the whites." Despite this recognition, voter disenfranchisement remained an issue in Mississippi, with voting advocates noting that the state has a history of resisting federal efforts to protect voting rights.
The felony disenfranchisement clause of the Mississippi Constitution of 1890 has been expanded and interpreted to cover 102 crimes. This has resulted in the continued disenfranchisement of Black voters in the state, even as other racist sections of the constitution were erased by the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s.
The impact of felony disenfranchisement in Mississippi extends beyond the loss of voting rights for individuals convicted of crimes. It has also contributed to the suppression of the Black vote in the state and reinforced racial inequalities. The constitution set a precedent for other Southern states, leading to the widespread adoption of literacy tests and poll taxes that effectively removed African Americans from the political process.
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Voter suppression
The Mississippi Constitution of 1890 was crafted by a convention composed almost entirely of white Democrats, and it was created with the explicit intention of disenfranchising, isolating, and marginalizing the state's African American population. This constitution was enacted during the Jim Crow era, a period of legalized racial segregation and discrimination in the United States. The delegates who drafted the document held racist beliefs and considered African Americans to be ignorant and immoral. As a result, they saw disenfranchisement as a way to protect their interests and the well-being of the state, according to their warped perspective.
One of the main tools of voter suppression in the 1890 Mississippi Constitution was the introduction of literacy tests and poll taxes as prerequisites for voting. While these requirements ostensibly applied to all citizens, they were subjectively enforced to target African Americans. The literacy tests were arbitrarily applied, and the poll taxes, a tax individuals had to pay before voting, served as a financial barrier for many African Americans and poor whites, effectively preventing them from casting their ballots.
In addition to these measures, the Mississippi Constitution of 1890 also included a disenfranchisement clause, which stated that anyone convicted of certain crimes, such as bribery, burglary, theft, or arson, would lose their right to vote. This clause was specifically designed to target crimes that the drafters believed would be mostly committed by African Americans. The impact of this clause has been long-lasting, and even today, approximately six out of ten Mississippians who have lost their voting rights due to felony disenfranchisement are Black.
The voter suppression tactics of the 1890 Mississippi Constitution had a significant impact on the state's politics and contributed to the end of the period of democratic progress that followed the Civil War. It set a precedent for other Southern states to follow suit, leading to widespread disenfranchisement of African Americans across the region. While many of the racist sections of the constitution were erased by the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, the legacy of voter suppression in Mississippi and other states continues to affect elections and the political landscape today.
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White supremacists
The 1890 constitution introduced a range of measures designed to suppress Black votes, including literacy tests, poll taxes, and felony disenfranchisement. Literacy tests and poll taxes, which required voters to pay a fee and demonstrate literacy before casting their ballot, were subjectively enforced to disproportionately impact African Americans. The felony disenfranchisement clause, which took away the right to vote upon conviction for certain crimes, was designed based on the assumption that particular offences were more likely to be committed by Black people.
These measures were part of a broader effort to isolate and marginalize African Americans in Mississippi. The constitution also included provisions for segregation in schools and underfunding of Black educational institutions. The white supremacist agenda of the time viewed African Americans as inferior and sought to maintain power and control through discriminatory policies.
The impact of these racist voting restrictions has been long-lasting. Even though many discriminatory sections of the 1890 constitution were removed during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s, the felony disenfranchisement clause remains in place. As a result, approximately 55,000 Mississippians, disproportionately Black individuals, have lost their right to vote due to felony disenfranchisement in recent decades.
The legacy of white supremacist efforts to disenfranchise Black voters in Mississippi continues to be a challenge, with ongoing legal battles to restore voting rights and ensure equal access to the ballot.
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Jim Crow laws
The Mississippi Constitution of 1890 disenfranchised African Americans and some poor whites. The constitution introduced poll taxes and arbitrary literacy tests for voting, which were designed to prevent African Americans from voting. This marked the end of the period of democratic progress that followed the Civil War, during which African Americans were the majority of eligible voters in Mississippi.
The Mississippi Constitution was part of a broader trend of Jim Crow laws that emerged in the Southern United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. These laws enforced racial segregation and removed political and economic gains made by African Americans during the Reconstruction era. The term "Jim Crow" comes from "Jump Jim Crow", a song-and-dance caricature of black people performed by white actor Thomas D. Rice in blackface, first performed in 1828. By 1838, "Jim Crow" had become a pejorative term for "Negro".
The last of the Jim Crow laws were generally overturned in 1965 by the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act. However, the legacy of these laws continues to impact Black voters today, as many are still disenfranchised due to felony convictions.
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Frequently asked questions
The Mississippi Constitution of 1890 disenfranchised African Americans and some poor whites.
The Mississippi Constitution of 1890 introduced literacy tests and poll taxes as prerequisites for voting, which were subjectively enforced to disenfranchise African Americans. It also included felony disenfranchisement, which took away the right to vote for life upon conviction for several low-level crimes that the 1890 drafters believed would mostly be committed by Black people.
Mississippian Democrats viewed African Americans as profoundly ignorant and immoral and believed that their voting would be detrimental to their party's interests and the well-being of the state.
