By the time of the Gilded Age (1877-1900), however, African Americans and the other minority groups actually experienced a narrowing of their rights this had a long lasting impact on society in the U.S.
Southern governments enacted various measures aimed to take away the voting rights of African Americans and enacted Jim Crow laws which kept everyone segregated
They enacted a poll tax which required voters to pay a tax, poor African Americans could not afford this
They required voters to pass a literacy test and “understanding” tests, because most African Americans had been exploited economically and denied education many were disqualified