These sorts of 'tests' are not unique to the south. The record keeping and newspapers of the day would just sort of hint that they were necessary to maintain st

These sorts of 'tests' are not unique to the south. The record keeping and newspapers of the day would just sort of hint that they were necessary to maintain status quo. Australian immigration had a similar literacy/dictation test for migrants under the 'White Australia' policy up until the 1940's. If the migration officer didnt like the look of you, you'd be given a test to dictate welsh instead english, as it was a 'prescribed english language'.