You can specify conditions of storing and accessing cookies in your browser. Advertisement Advertisement Historians often describe his narrow, controversial win over Democrat Samuel J. Tilden as one of the most bitterly contested presidential elections in history. democrats thought the electoral commission voting system was unfair. By midnight, Tilden had 184 of the 185 electoral votes he needed to win and was leading the popular vote by 250,000. In late January, the commission voted 8-7 along party lines that Hayes had won all the contested states, and therefore the presidency, by just one electoral vote. Hayes proponents realized that those contested votes could sway the election. From the late 1870s onward, southern legislatures passed a series of laws requiring the separation of whites from persons of color on public transportation, in schools, parks, restaurants, theaters and other locations. Although 1876 marked the last competitive two-party election in the South before the Democratic dominance of the South until 1948 and that to of the Border States until 1896, it was also the last presidential election (as of 2020) in which the Democrats won the wartime Unionist Mitchell County, North Carolina;[28] Wayne County, Tennessee; Henderson County, Tennessee; and Lewis County, Kentucky. Why was the presidential election of 1828 unprecedented? Although it is not disputed that Tilden outpolled Hayes in the popular vote, there were wide allegations of electoral fraud, election violence, and other disfranchisement of predominantly Republican Black voters. In the deal, the Democrats conceded the 20 contested electoral votes to Hayes, resulting in a 185-184 victory; in return, the Republicans agreed to withdraw federal troops from the South, marking the end of Reconstruction. All Rights Reserved. Why did the Democrats lose the presidential election of 1904? Cookie Settings, one of the most bitterly contested presidential elections in history, removal of the last federal troops from Louisiana, Five Places Where You Can Still Find Gold in the United States, Scientists Taught Pet Parrots to Video Call Each Otherand the Birds Loved It, The True Story of the Koh-i-Noor Diamondand Why the British Won't Give It Back, Balto's DNA Provides a New Look at the Intrepid Sled Dog. The majority party in each house named three members and the minority party two members. To date, it remains the election that yielded the highest voter turnout of the eligible voting-age population in American history, at 82.6%. In South Carolina, the election had been marred by bloodshed on both sides of the party line. After U.S. President Ulysses S. Grant declined to seek a third term despite previously being expected to do so, U.S. Representative James G. Blaine emerged as the frontrunner for the Republican nomination. On Election Day that November, the Democrats appeared to come out on top, winning the swing states of Connecticut, Indiana, New York and New Jersey. In the years since the Civil War ended in 1865, Democrats, whose voter base resided in the former Confederacy, had been partly shut out of the political sphere; now, with Republican Ulysses S. Grant facing charges of corruption, Tildens reform-minded candidacy seemed like a well-timed opportunity for Democrats to regain political power, as Gilbert King wrote for Smithsonian magazine in 2012. Since the House had a solid Democratic majority, rejecting the vote of one state, however, would elect Tilden.[25]. Why was the presidential election of 1956 significant? This site is using cookies under cookie policy . The 12th Democratic National Convention assembled in St. Louis, Missouri, in June 1876, which was the first political convention ever held by one of the major American parties west of the Mississippi River. ", How the Red and Blue Map Evolved Over the Past Century, National Archives and Records Administration, "1876 Presidential General Election Data National", "Corporations, Corruption, and the Modern Lobby: A Gilded Age Story of the West and the South in Washington, D.C.", United States presidential election, 1876, "You Think This Is Chaos? Why was the presidential election of 1924 unusual? The Supreme Courts rulingthat the 14th Amendments promise of due process and equal protection covered violations of citizens rights by the states, but not by individualswould make prosecuting anti-Black violence increasingly difficult, even as the Klan and other white supremacist groups were helping to disenfranchise Black voters and reassert white control of the South. The Democrats agreed not to block Hayes victory on the condition that Republicans withdraw all federal troops from the South, thus consolidating Democratic control over the region. Updated: August 18, 2020 | Original: January 21, 2020. Why did the Republicans win the presidential election of 1896? . We strive for accuracy and fairness. At the same time, key decisions by the U.S. Supreme Court struck at the protections afforded by Reconstruction-era constitutional amendments and legislation. Want the full story? "The election of 1876," Foner says, "would not have been disputed at all if there hadn't been massive violence in the south to prevent black people from voting and voter suppression like we. Why did the Democratic-Republican Party fall apart in the 1820s? Margin of victory less than 1% (7 electoral votes): Margin of victory less between 1% and 5% (164 electoral votes): Margin of victory between 5% and 10% (33 electoral votes): Republican Presidential Nomination Vote by State Delegation By Ballot, Republican Vice Presidential Nomination Vote by State Delegation, Democratic Presidential Nomination Vote by State Delegation By Ballot, Electoral disputes and Compromise of 1877, in which the winner did not win a plurality of the national popular vote, largest share of the popular vote received by a candidate that was not elected to the presidency, Official proceedings of the National Democratic convention, held in St. Louis, Mo., June 27th, 28th and 29th, 1876, American election campaigns in the 19th century, 18761877 United States House of Representatives elections, "National General Election VEP Turnout Rates, 1789-Present", "Voter Turnout in Presidential Elections: 1828 2008", "Table 397. His most important asset was his help to the Republican ticket in carrying Ohio, a crucial swing state. How did this downturn MOST affect the Presidential Election of 1876? Why was the presidential election of 1828 considered dirty? When Davis refused to serve, the moderate Republican Justice Joseph Bradley was chosen to replace him. Why didn't the South secede before the election of 1850? Ten years later, the debacle would also result in a long-overdue law: the Electoral Count Act of 1887, which codified electoral college procedure, as Shafer reports for the Post. Many historians argue that if votes had been counted accurately and fairly in Southern states, Hayes might have won the 1876 election outright. Why did Stephen Douglass lose the presidential election of 1860? Why was the presidential election of 1800 considered a peaceful revolution? Of the 369 votes, Samuel J. Tilden . Samuel J. Tilden of New York outpolled Ohio's Rutherford B. Hayes in the popular vote, and had 184 electoral votes to Hayes' 165, with 20 votes uncounted. Create an account to read the full story and get unlimited access to hundreds of Nat Geo articles. The Campaign and Election of 1876 By 1875, the Republican Party was in trouble. Although Republicans argued that he had the right to decide which votes to count, Democrats disagreed and argued that the Democratic majority in Congress should decide. In the decades to come, disenfranchisement of Black voters throughout the South, often through intimidation and violence, helped ensure the racial segregation imposed by the Jim Crow lawsa system that endured for more than a half-century, until the advances of the civil rights movement in the 1960s. The Republican Party held a slim majority in the state legislature following a closely contested election on October 3, 1876. Anti-Blaine delegates could not agree on a candidate until his total rose to 41% on the sixth ballot. A contested presidential election The Compromise of 1877 resolved the tumult that had arisen following the 1876 presidential election. Johnson's rocky relations with Congress resulted in an impeachment trial. Tilden defeated Thomas A. Hendricks, Winfield Scott Hancock, William Allen, Thomas F. Bayard, and Joel Parker for the presidential nomination. Get access to this video and our entire Q&A library, Presidential Election of 1876: Significance, Issues & Summary. (Although it should be noted that, because presidents were inaugurated in March instead of January before the 1930s, the 1876 contest took five months to be decided; while the counting will. Samuel J. Tilden, the governor of New York, strongly appealed to delegates from Southern states, and on the first ballot he led Thomas A. Hendricks, the governor of Indiana. 2023, A&E Television Networks, LLC. Why did the Kansas-Nebraska Act divide the Democratic Party? Tilden overcame strong opposition from "Honest John" Kelly, the leader of New York's Tammany Hall, to obtain the presidential nomination. As Eric Foner recounts in his book Forever Free: The Story of Emancipation and Reconstruction, Hayes had pledged in his acceptance of the nomination to bring the blessings of honest and capable local self government to the South if electeda statement that could be taken as code for ending Reconstruction. Compromise of 1877 - Definition, Results & Significance - History Why did Henry Clay lose the presidential election of 1844? The Compromise of 1877 effectively ended the Reconstruction era. As of 1876, these were the only remaining states in the South with Republican governments. In his acceptance of the nomination, Hayes wrote that if elected, he would bring the blessings of honest and capable local self-government to the Southin other words, restrict federal enforcement of unpopular Reconstruction-era policies. As Democrats controlled the House of Representatives, and Republicans dominated in the Senate, the two sides compromised by creating a bipartisan electoral commission with five representatives, five senators and five Supreme Court justices. Why was the presidential election of 1832 important? [8] It has been claimed that the voting Democrats received Tilden's presidential nomination with more enthusiasm than any leader since Andrew Jackson.[9]. United States presidential election of 1896, American presidential election held on November 3, 1896, in which Republican William McKinley defeated Democrat - Populist William Jennings Bryan. During intense closed-door meetings, Democratic leaders agreed reluctantly to accept Hayes as President in return for the withdrawal of federal troops from the last two Southern states that were still occupied: South Carolina and Louisiana. ", "What in the Word?! HISTORY reviews and updates its content regularly to ensure it is complete and accurate. [I]f you had a fair election in the south, a peaceful election, theres no question that the Republican Hayes would have won a totally legitimate and indisputable victory, Eric Foner, a preeminent historian of the Civil War and Reconstruction, told the Guardians Martin Pengelly in August. The Democratic Party's failure to nominate its own ticket in the previous presidential election, in which they had instead endorsed the Liberal Republican candidacy of Horace Greeley, had resulted in much debate about the party's viability. Why was 1876 an important year for America? The men had been convicted of violating the 1870 Enforcement Act, which banned conspiracies to deny citizens constitutional rights and had been intended to combat violence by the Ku Klux Klan against Black people in the South. It was a continuation of the Anti-Masonic Party that met in 1872 and nominated Charles Francis Adams, Sr., for president. Why was the presidential election of 1968 a turning point? which behavioral therapy intervention might be used in a special education classroom for children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Deemed the nations most divisive everuntil 2020, that isthe election of 1876 ended with an unusual compromise. The nominations The presidential campaign of 1896 was one of the most exciting in American history. He instead tried to persuade Secretary of State Hamilton Fish to run for the presidency, but the 67-year-old Fish declined since he believed himself too old for that role. Why did the Populists lose the presidential election of 1896? With this new deal, Hayes ended the Reconstruction era and ushered in a period of Southern home rule. Soon, a reactionary, unfettered white supremacist rule rose to power in many Southern states. The Democrats entered 1876 on an upswing, having won control of the House of Representatives in 1874, and from the outset the election was expected to be competitive. Just a few days following the election, Tilden appeared poised to narrowly clinch the election. "In 1877, Congress did not. Why did the presidential election of 1876 anger Democrats? Nora McGreevy The Republicans refused to accept defeat, however, and accused Democratic supporters of intimidating and bribing African-American voters to prevent them from voting in three southern statesFlorida, Louisiana and South Carolina. 65. In 1876, when the nation went to the polls to elect Grant's successor, Democratic candidate Samuel Tilden, governor of New York, emerged with a lead of more than 260,000 popular votes. Down to the final days | Miller Center However, the Democratic elector, C. A. Cronin, reported one vote for Tilden and two votes for Hayes. Why did Winfield Scott lose the presidential election of 1852? Its first national nominating convention was held in Indianapolis in the spring of 1876. When the Sixth Republican National Convention assembled in Cincinnati, Ohio, on June 14, 1876, James G. Blaine appeared to be the presidential nominee. He withdrew troops from the Reconstruction. The Democrats claimed fraud, and suppressed excitement pervaded the country. About midnight on his way home from a play in New York City on Election Day in 1876, Daniel Sickles stopped by Republican national headquarters at the Fifth Avenue Hotel. Made by History About Made by History and Contact Americans worry about 2020 being another 2000, but the real worry is another 1876 An unclear outcome in deeply polarized times could be. Why did the presidential election of 1856 cause alarm? Corrupt bargain - Wikipedia After a second ballot Tilden secured the nomination, and Hendricks was chosen as his running mate. Rutherford B. Hayes - History The place was nearly. None of the Southern states that experienced long periods of occupation by federal troops was carried by a Republican again until Herbert Hoover in 1928, when he won Texas, Florida, North Carolina, and Virginia, and that proved the last election in which the Republican candidate won Louisiana until 1956, when it was carried by Dwight D. Eisenhower, and the last in which the Republican candidate won South Carolina until 1964, when Barry Goldwater did. The two Republican electors dismissed Grover's action and reported three votes for Hayes. B.T. The Hayes-Tilden Electoral Commission - The Atlantic The little-known history of the Florida panther. Those from Louisiana were signed by the Democratic gubernatorial candidate and those from South Carolina by no state official. Running on the Democratic ticket was Tilden, an Ivy League graduate who appealed to voters with a successful anti-corruption track record during his tenure as New Yorks governor. ", Find History on Facebook (Opens in a new window), Find History on Twitter (Opens in a new window), Find History on YouTube (Opens in a new window), Find History on Instagram (Opens in a new window), Find History on TikTok (Opens in a new window), https://www.history.com/news/reconstruction-1876-election-rutherford-hayes, How the 1876 Election Tested the Constitution and Effectively Ended Reconstruction. Secretary of the Treasury Benjamin Bristow, Governor John F. Hartranft of Pennsylvania, Ambassador Elihu B. Washburne from Illinois, RepresentativeWilliam A. Wheeler from New York, Secretary of StateHamilton Fish from New York(declined to run), President Ulysses S. Grant[4][5] (declined in 1875). Morton, a senator from Indiana and that states former governor; Benjamin Helm Bristow, the U.S. secretary of the Treasury (187476) and successful prosecutor of the Whiskey Ring; and Rutherford B. Hayes, the governor of Ohio. Therefore, Colorado's state legislature selected the state's three Electoral College electors. Why was the presidential election of 1800 controversial? Many Republicans had grown weary of Reconstruction and had come to believe that the time for compromise with Southern whites was at hand. Why did the presidential election of 1876 anger Democrats? Why was the presidential election of 2000 controversial? Beginning in 1873, a series of Supreme Court decisions limited the scope of Reconstruction-era laws and federal support for the so-called Reconstruction Amendments, particularly the 14th Amendment and 15 Amendment, which gave African Americans the status of citizenship and the protection of the Constitution, including the all-important right to vote. The results of the U.S. presidential election of 1876 were a mess. The Presidential election of 1876 pitted Republican Rutherford B. Hayes against Democrat Samuel Tilden. When Adams declined to run, the party did not contest the 1872 election. The results of the election remain among the most disputed ever. Heres what you need to know. Hayes, meanwhile, had 165. Why was the presidential election of 1888 controversial? [24] The Republican-dominated state electoral commissions subsequently rejected enough Democratic votes to award their electoral votes to Hayes. In 1876, "the elections in three statesFlorida, Louisiana, and South Carolinawere alleged to have been conducted illegally," the senators write in a statement. Presidential Election of 1876: Significance, Issues & Summary ", Hayes was a virtual unknown outside his home state of Ohio, where he had served two terms as a representative and then two terms as governor. And its weighty consequences still resound today. After the Civil War ended in 1865, the Republicans held a stranglehold on the presidency, with Gen. Ulysses S. Grant winning easily in both 1868 and 1872. A political cartoon by Thomas Nast that appeared in the February 17, 1877 issue of the American political magazine Harper's Weekly. That selection proved decisive. We should follow that precedent., The comparison drew criticism from scholars, including Penn State University political scientist Mary E. Stuckey, who tells the Dallas News that its historically misleading. For starters, the electoral college result was incredibly tight: Just one electoral vote separated the candidates. Senate control is huge for multiple reasons, not least because by pulling it off in deeply unpromising political conditions, Democrats cemented the most stunning showing for an incumbent. The Courts decision in the Slaughterhouse Cases (1873), established that the 14th Amendment applied only to former enslaved people, and protected only rights granted by the federal government, not by the states. Upon his defeat, Tilden said, "I can retire to public life with the consciousness that I shall receive from posterity the credit of having been elected to the highest position in the gift of the people, without any of the cares and responsibilities of the office.". This small political party used several different names, often with different names in different states. Blaine led after the first ballot but without enough votes to secure the nomination. The presidential election of 1876 is better known for its controversial aftermath than for the campaign that preceded it. Get the latest stories in your inbox every weekday. With a Republican-controlled Senate, a Democrat-controlled House and no clear presidential winner, Congress was thrown into chaos. Immediately after the presidential election of 1876, it became clear that the outcome of the race hinged largely on disputed returns from Florida, Louisiana and South Carolinathe only three. Republicans chanted, "Not every Democrat was a rebel, but every rebel was a Democrat. Why was the presidential election of 1872 controversial? After supporters marched to his home to call for the President, Hayes urged the crowd that "it is impossible, at so early a time, to obtain the result. Find History on Facebook (Opens in a new window), Find History on Twitter (Opens in a new window), Find History on YouTube (Opens in a new window), Find History on Instagram (Opens in a new window), Find History on TikTok (Opens in a new window), Compromise of 1877: The End of Reconstruction, https://www.history.com/topics/us-presidents/compromise-of-1877. United States presidential election of 1896 - Britannica Proponents of the Electoral College. Why were the Republicans successful in the presidential election of 1860? The Democratic Party in the 19th century was a powerful force and had been the dominant party for much of the mid-century. Advertising Notice Why did the presidential election of 1800 lead to the Twelfth Amendment. A Brief History of Steamboat Racing in the U.S. In 1877, Congress convened to settle the electionand their solution proved to be the beginning of the end for Reconstruction in the south. Learn about the 1876 Presidential Election, the Hayes vs. Tilden contest, and the Compromise of 1877. As the Republicans controlled the Senate and the Democrats controlled the House of Representatives, that yielded five Democratic and five Republican members of the commission. In 1876, when the nation went to the polls to elect Grants successor, Democratic candidate Samuel Tilden, governor of New York, emerged with a lead of more than 260,000 popular votes. Createyouraccount. Lawmakers are citing the 19th-century crisis as precedent to dispute the 2020 election. Of the Supreme Court justices, two Republicans and two Democrats were chosen, with the fifth to be selected by those four. As a result, wrote King for Smithsonian, the 1876 presidential election provided the foundation for Americas political landscape, as well as race relations, for the next 100 years.. The Democratic candidate, Samuel J. Tilden, won Our experts can answer your tough homework and study questions. She is also a freelance journalist based in Chicago whose work has appeared in Wired, Washingtonian, the Boston Globe, South Bend Tribune, the New York Times and more. In Oregon, one elector was replaced after being declared illegal for having been an "elected or appointed official." In return, Democrats would not dispute Hayess election, and agreed to respect the civil rights of Black citizens. Why was the presidential election of 1880 important? The Constitution provides that "the President of the Senate shall, in presence of the Senate and House of Representatives, open all the [electoral] certificates, and the votes shall then be counted." Republican reformers, however, hoped to thwart his nomination. Takeaways from a grim weekend for Republicans in the election - CNN However, they had miscalculated, as Davis promptly excused himself from the commission and resigned as a Justice to take his Senate seat. As Floridas Supreme Court had earlier declared a Democratic victory in the 1876 gubernatorial election, Democrats had been restored to power all across the South. Hayes agreed to cede control of the South to Democratic governments and back away from attempts at federal intervention in the region, as well as place a Southerner in his cabinet. The next time those two states voted against the Democrats was their support of the "Dixiecrat" candidate Strom Thurmond in 1948. Why was the presidential election of 1824 considered a stolen presidential election? HISTORY.com works with a wide range of writers and editors to create accurate and informative content. Why did Zachary Taylor win the election of 1848? Why was the presidential election of 1936 a watershed year? It was widely assumed during the year 1875 that incumbent President Ulysses S. Grant would run for a third term as president despite the poor economic conditions, the numerous political scandals that had developed since he assumed office in 1869, and a longstanding tradition set by George Washington not to stay in office for more than two terms. But Grant's administration and the Republicans generally had been beset by scandals and allegations of corruption, such as the Crdit Mobilier Scandal and the Whiskey Ring. Artists and scholars like Leonardo Da Vinci had to depend on wealthy and powerful people for support. [19][20] This was the last election in which any state chose electors through its state legislature, rather than by popular vote.[21]. Why was the presidential election of 1828 considered a revolution? However, Blaine was unable to win a majority at the 1876 Republican National Convention, which settled on Governor Hayes of Ohio as a compromise candidate. The U.S. Congress subsequently created an Electoral Commission, which by early March 1877 had resolved all the disputed electoral votes in favour of Hayes, giving him a 185184 electoral college victory. Congress would eventually enact the Electoral Count Act in 1887 to provide more detailed rules for the counting of electoral votes, especially in cases of multiple slates of electors being received from a single state. Why was the presidential election of 1860 controversial? There were 5000 people jammed the auditorium in St. Louis and hopes for the Democratic Party's first presidential victory in 20 years. "[26] Just as the Electoral Commission Bill was passing Congress, the Illinois Legislature elected Davis to the Senate, and Democrats in the legislature believed that they had purchased Davis's support by voting for him. He had later been brevetted as a major-general. b As Reconstruction came to an end, Southern Democrats disenfranchised African Americans by b Students also viewed Sharecropping Test The Greenback ticket did not have a major impact on the election's outcome by attracting slightly under one percent of the popular vote, Cooper nonetheless had the strongest performance of any third-party presidential candidate since John Bell in 1860. Rutherford B. Hayes (1822-1893), the 19th president of the United States, won a controversial and fiercely disputed election against Samuel Tilden. Because the candidates differed little in their support of conservative values and civil . Americans worry about 2020 being another 2000, but the real worry is It also called for treaty protection for naturalized United States citizens visiting their homelands, restrictions on Asian immigration, tariff reform, and opposition to land grants for railroads.

Deana Amazing Race Eye, Articles W