South Carolina Constitutional Convention 1895: Systematic Disenfranchisement

South Carolina's 1895 constitutional convention, dominated by Ben Tillman, imposed literacy tests, poll taxes, and understanding clauses modeled on Mississippi's 1890 constitution. Six Black delegates attended but were powerless to stop the measures. Black voter registration in South Carolina fell from over 90,000 in 1876 to fewer than 3,000 by 1898. Tillman openly declared the goal was permanent white supremacy.