- A poll tax, also known as head tax or capitation, is a tax levied as a fixed sum on every liable individual (typically every adult), without reference to income or resources. Head taxes were important sources of revenue for many governments from ancient times until the 19th century.
What is a poll tax in simple terms?
Definition of poll tax: a tax of a fixed amount per person levied on adults and often linked to the right to vote.
What is a poll tax in voting?
Not long ago, citizens in some states had to pay a fee to vote in a national election. This fee was called a poll tax. On January 23, 1964, the United States ratified the 24th Amendment to the Constitution, prohibiting any poll tax in elections for federal officials.
What is a poll tax quizlet?
Poll tax. a tax a person is required to pay before he or she is allowed to vote. Poll taxes were used in many southern states after the Reconstruction period to restrict African-American citizens’ right to vote. Grandfather clause.
When did poll tax end?
On this date in 1962, the House passed the 24th Amendment, outlawing the poll tax as a voting requirement in federal elections, by a vote of 295 to 86.
What was poll tax in the UK?
Great Britain. The poll tax was essentially a lay subsidy, a tax on the movable property of most of the population, to help fund war. It had first been levied in 1275 and continued under different names until the 17th century. People were taxed a percentage of the assessed value of their movable goods.
What states had poll taxes?
Although often associated with states of the former Confederate States of America, poll taxes were also in place in some northern and western states, including California, Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Vermont and Wisconsin.
What is poll tax in the Philippines?
Taxes imposed on persons and property are: Personal or poll taxes, which are usually fixed amounts imposed upon residents or persons of a certain class. The cedula is an example of a personal or poll tax. License taxes are fees imposed by cities and municipalities upon persons engaged in occupation or business.
How do you use poll tax in a sentence?
The law provided for voter registration, voting by mail, and a poll tax exemption for members of the armed services. In 1907 the tax was converted to a poll tax of twenty shillings. In other southern states, the poll tax applied to primary voting and often had a large effect in dampening white turnout.
What does the 26 Amendment say?
The right of citizens of the United States, who are eighteen years of age or older, to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of age.
What was the purpose of poll tax quizlet?
Ex: the purpose of the poll tax was to prevent African-Americans from voting. This was because many of them were sharecroppers and thus were poor. Ex: With poll taxes, poor people were discriminated because they were too poor to pay.
Who pays poll taxes quizlet?
an annual tax that had to be paid before someone was allowed to vote; some southern states used the poll tax as a way to discriminate against blacks and poor white farmers who were too poor to pay the tax. You just studied 13 terms!
Are poll taxes legal quizlet?
A poll tax is a tax of a fixed amount per person that had to be paid before the person could vote. The 15th Amendment prohibits states from denying citizens the right to vote on the basis of “race, color, or previous condition of servitude.” Therefore, poll taxes did not violate the 15th Amendment.
What made literacy tests illegal?
Voting Rights Act (1965)
Which President signed the 24th Amendment?
Trout” spoke those words, the poll tax was abolished in the United States. At the ceremony in 1964 formalizing the 24th Amendment, President Lyndon Johnson noted that: “There can be no one too poor to vote.” Thanks to the 24th Amendment, the right of all U.S. citizens to freely cast their votes has been secured.