  a literacy test, in the context of american political history from the 1890s to the 1960s, refers to state government practices of administering tests to prospective voters purportedly to test their literacy in order to vote. in practice, these tests were intended to disenfranchise african-americans. for other nations, literacy tests have been a matter of immigration policy. ==immigration== the literacy test was a device to restrict the total number of immigrants while not offending the large element of ethnic voters. the "old" immigration (british, irish, german, scandinavian) had fallen off and was replaced by a "new" immigration from italy, russia and other points in southern and eastern europe. the "old" immigrants were voters and strongly approved of restricting the "new" immigrants. all groups of american voters strongly opposed chinese and asian immigration. the 1896 republican platform called for a literacy test.brian gratton, "demography and immigration restriction in american history," in jack a. goldstone et al. eds, political demography: how population changes are reshaping international security and national politics (2011) pp 159-75 the american federation of labor took the lead in promoting literacy tests that would exclude illiterate immigrants, primarily from southern and eastern europe. a majority of the labor union membership were immigrants or sons of immigrants from germany, scandinavia and britain, but the literacy test would not hinder immigration from those countries.a. t. lane, "american trade unions, mass immigration and the literacy test: 1900-1917," labor history (1984) 25#1 pp 5-25. corporate industry however, needed new workers for its mines and factories and opposed any restrictions on immigration.claudia goldin, "the political economy of immigration restriction in the united states, 1890 to 1921" in the regulated economy: a historical approach to political economy (u. of chicago press, 1994) pp 223-258 in 1906, the powerful house speaker joseph gurney cannon, a conservative republican, worked aggressively to defeat a proposed literacy test for immigrants. a product of the western frontier, cannon felt that moral probity was the only acceptable test for the quality of an immigrant. he worked with secretary of state elihu root and president theodore roosevelt to set up the &quo
Elections_in_the_United_States History_of_African-American_civil_rights History_of_racial_segregation_in_the_United_States History_of_voting_rights_in_the_United_States