The high cost to vote: The Ocoee Massacre — Mistakes Were Made

Florida, as well as the rest of the southern United States, had been controlled by southern white democrats since the end of the Reconstruction era. The Ku Klux Klan also had a revival in the early 1900s, establishing many new chapters in Florida starting in 1915. When you add together these two factors, Florida was not a welcoming state for African American voters to vote in 1920.