jan 18, 1885 - 1880s: Loss of African American Franchise (Although the Fifteenth Amendment had outlawed voting discrimination based on race it still allowed for discrimination based upon gender and property ownership. Throughout the 1880s southern state governments devised a number of complex rules and voting requirements which were technically non-racial, such as; poll taxes, property qualifications, literacy tests, white primaries and the grandfather clause, in order to restrict African American voting rights.) (Timeline)