Mississippi Plan Reduces Black Voter Registration to Near Zero by 1892

Within two years of the 1890 Mississippi constitutional convention, Black voter registration in the state collapses from tens of thousands to fewer than 9,000 — in a state where Black citizens are a near-majority. Poll taxes, literacy tests administered arbitrarily, and the grandfather clause effectively nullify the 15th Amendment. The process is so successful that Louisiana, South Carolina, Alabama, and other states immediately begin drafting their own constitutional conventions.