During reconstruction African Americans exercised newly won political and social rights. They faced violent and hostile oppostion from whites. For ten years after reconstruction in 1877, African Americans in the south continued to vote and sometimes hold political office. By the 20th century Southern states had adopted a system of legal policies of reacial discrimination and created methods to weaken political power of African Americans.Southern states came out with new voting restricitons and denied equality to African Americans. Some states limited the vote to people who could. They had officials test people to see if they could read before they would let them vote and if you didnt pass the literacy test you had one more chance. You could pay poll tax. Whit and black sharecroppers were usually to poor to pay poll tax so to help most all white people to be eligable to vote several southern states came out with the grandfather clause. The clause said that if a man failed the literacy test or couldnt afford the poll tax he was still entitled to a vote if he, his father, or his grandfather had been eligible to vote before January 1, 1867. This date was important because before this time freed slaves did not have the right to vote. This meant the grandfather clause didnt allow them to vote.Jim Crow Laws-Southern states passed racial segregation laws to seperate white and black people in private and public facilities. These laws were know as the Jim Crow Laws.African Americans who didnt follow racial etiquette could have major punishments or death. Between 1882 and 1892 more than 1,400 African American men and woman were shot, Burned, or hanged without trial.There was also discrimination problems in the north and further in the southwest. In the southwest there were problems with the Chinese and Mexicans. By 1880 more than 100,000 Chinese immigrants lived in the United States.
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