Mississippi Constitutional Convention 1890: Template for Disenfranchisement

Mississippi's 1890 constitutional convention, openly designed to disenfranchise Black voters while nominally complying with the 15th Amendment, introduced the poll tax, literacy test, and two-year residency requirement. Delegate James K. Vardaman boasted the intent was white supremacy. Black voter registration in Mississippi collapsed from over 190,000 in 1867 to fewer than 8,600 by 1892. Other Southern states copied the model.