65. All articles are regularly reviewed and updated by the HISTORY.com team. After the most disputed election in American history, the Compromise of 1877 put Rutherford Hayes into office as the nation's 19th president; outraged northern Democrats derided Hayes as "His Fraudulency.". The statewide result clearly favored Hayes, but the state's Democratic governor, La Fayette Grover, claimed that one of the Republican electors, Ex-Postmaster John Watts, was ineligible under Article II, Section 1, of the United States Constitution since he had been a "person holding an office of trust or profit under the United States." Why was the presidential election of 1896 a watershed presidential election? Grover substituted a Democratic elector in Watts's place. Southern Democrats promises to protect the civil and political rights of Black people were not kept, and the end of federal interference in southern affairs led to widespread disenfranchisement of Black voters. Why was the 1968 election a turning point in U.S. political history? Hayes, meanwhile, had 165. The 1876 election took place at a remarkable time in American history. A presidential election had been held in November, and the result was contested. Many southern whites had resorted to intimidation and violence to keep blacks from voting and restore white supremacy in the region. Why were there four candidates in the presidential election of 1912? The place was nearly. In addition, accusations of corruption within the administration of Ulysses S. Grant and an economic depression had heightened discontent with the Republican Party, which had been in the White House since 1861. There were 369 electoral votes, of which 185 were necessary to a choice. | READ MORE. Jackson's elections were the first in which all white men could vote. The basic outline of events after Election Day, November 7, 1876, is familiar. Why did Democrats oppose the Civil Rights Act of 1960? Why did the Democrats lose the presidential election of 1860? Why did Henry Clay lose the election of 1844? One county (0.04%) in Nevada split evenly between Tilden and Hayes. not c As Reconstruction continued, which of the following groups increasingly deserted the Republican Party? Tilden led Hayes by more than 260,000 popular votes, and preliminary returns showed Tilden with 184 electoral votes (one shy of the majority needed to win the election) to Hayess 165, with the 19 electoral votes of three states (Florida, Louisiana, and South Carolina) and one elector from Oregon (originally awarded to Tilden) still in doubt. 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. Its first national nominating convention was held in Indianapolis in the spring of 1876. 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. We strive for accuracy and fairness. The results of the election remain among the most disputed ever. Among the challengers to Blaine were Roscoe Conkling, a senator from New York and a prominent Republican leader in the post-Civil War period; Oliver H.P.T. Why did the presidential election of 1824 cause controversy? 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.". The Democratic party began under the leadership of Andrew Johnson, a populist-esque president who was controversial, to say the least. The main thing Democrats did with their new control of the House, starting in December 1875, was to investigate every department of the . In Florida, Louisiana, and South Carolina, both parties reported their candidate to have won the state. Updated: August 18, 2020 | Original: January 21, 2020. Why did the Populists lose the presidential election of 1896? 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. Why was the presidential election of 1920 so important? The Democrats held their convention two weeks later in St. Louis, Missourithe first time a national convention was held west of the Mississippi. Nora McGreevy On the first ballot, Blaine was just 100 votes short of a majority. Why was the presidential election of 1868 significant? Why was the presidential election of 1968 a turning point? Why was the presidential election of 1916 so close? However, they had miscalculated, as Davis promptly excused himself from the commission and resigned as a Justice to take his Senate seat. Become a Study.com member to unlock this answer! ", 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. Why was the presidential election of 1888 unusual? Why did the Republicans win the presidential election of 1896? Florida (with 4 electoral votes), Louisiana (with 8), and South Carolina (with 7) reported returns that favored Tilden, but the elections in each state were marked by electoral fraud and threats of violence against Republican voters. 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. It was the second of five U.S. presidential elections in which the winner did not win a plurality of the national popular vote. 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. [13][14], Tilden, who had prosecuted machine politicians in New York and sent the legendary political boss William M. Tweed to jail, ran as a reform candidate against the background of the corruption of the Grant administration. Together, the states represented a total of 19 electoral votes, which along with one disputed elector from Oregon would be enough to swing the election Hayess way. Facing an unprecedented constitutional crisis, the Congress passed a law on January 29, 1877, to form a 15-member Electoral Commission, which would settle the result. Why did Henry Clay lose the presidential election of 1844? Why were there four candidates in the presidential election of 1860? Why did the presidential election of 1876 anger Democrats? A back-room deal. Why was 1876 an important year for America? Why did the number of white male voters increase between the elections of 1824 and 1828? Election returns from three Republican-controlled Southern statesLouisiana, Florida and South Carolinawere divided, with both sides declaring victory. Hayes privately took the oath of office the next day and was publicly sworn into office on March 5, 1877, and Hayes was inaugurated without disturbance.[25]. As a result of the so-called Compromise of 1877 (or Compromise of 1876), Florida, Louisiana and South Carolina became Democratic once again, effectively bringing an end to the Reconstruction era. 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. [T]he affair seemed over.. They. 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. Philanthropist Peter Cooper from New York, The Greenback Party had been organized by agricultural interests in Indianapolis, Indiana, in 1874 to urge the federal government to inflate the economy through the mass issuance of paper money called greenbacks. The U.S. Presidential Election of 1896: Tariff policy and monetary supply reform were the central issues of the 1896. The election of 1876 was the most disputed in American history and in some ways one of the most consequential. The platform called for immediate and sweeping reforms in response to the scandals that had plagued the Grant administration. Why was the presidential election of 1932 a turning point? He had later been brevetted as a major-general. Axolotls and capybaras are TikTok famousis that a problem? Tilden needed just one more vote in the electoral college to reach the 185 electoral votes necessary for the presidency. Anti-Blaine delegates could not agree on a candidate until his total rose to 41% on the sixth ballot. The Democratic strategy for victory in the South was highly reliant on paramilitary groups such as the Red Shirts and the White League. But archaeology is confirming that Persia's engineering triumph was real. Eminent counsel appeared for each side, and there were double sets of returns from every one of the states named. ", "What in the Word?! [18] On November 7, 1876, in a 50 to 24 vote, the state legislature chose Otto Mears, William Hadley, and Herman Beckurts to serve as the state's electors for president. To save chestnut trees, we may have to play God, Why you should add native plants to your garden, What you can do right now to advocate for the planet, Why poison ivy is an unlikely climate change winner, The gory history of Europes mummy-eating fad, This ordinary woman hid Anne Frankand kept her story alive, This Persian marvel was lost for millennia. But a severe economic downturn in 1873 had plunged the country into its severest depression to date, with widespread unemployment and plummeting cotton prices that hampered the Souths postwar economic recovery. Why did the South secede following the presidential election of 1860? [23] One of the points of contention revolved around the design of ballots. This page was last edited on 30 April 2023, at 07:32. Deemed the nations most divisive everuntil 2020, that isthe election of 1876 ended with an unusual compromise. 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. Updated: November 27, 2019 | Original: March 17, 2011. 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. Falling crop prices and rising unemployment also worried the Republicans. But the election process in Southern states was rife with voter fraudon the part of both partiesand marked by violent voter suppression against black Americans. To aid illiterate voters, the parties would print symbols on the tickets, and in this election, many Democratic ballots were printed with the Republican symbol of Abraham Lincoln on them. Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. What we can learn from Chernobyl's strays. Only one ancient account mentions the existence of Xerxes Canal, long thought to be a tall tale. The little-known history of the Florida panther. The Republican Party held a slim majority in the state legislature following a closely contested election on October 3, 1876. The history of book bansand their changing targetsin the U.S. Should you get tested for a BRCA gene mutation? In response, white Southerners rebelled against African Americans newfound power and sought to intimate and disenfranchise black voters through violence, Ronald G. Shafer reported in November for the Washington Post. His most important asset was his help to the Republican ticket in carrying Ohio, a crucial swing state. Why did the Whigs lose the presidential election of 1852? Why were the issues of the presidential election of 1828 important? Grant's inner circle advised him to go for a third term and he almost did so, but on December 15, 1875, the House, by a sweeping 233-18 vote, passed a resolution declaring that the two-term tradition was to prevent a dictatorship. The majority party in each house named three members and the minority party two members. We strive for accuracy and fairness. Though these claims are unfounded, the lawmakers cite the 1876 election as precedent for their actions. The 1876 election occurred in the midst of an economic depression in the United States and continuing sectional animosity, particularly in the South, where opposition to federal occupation and Reconstruction had grown. Many of the seats in that election had been decided by only a few hundred votes. Create Your Free Account or Sign In to Read the Full Story. 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. Learn about the 1876 Presidential Election, the Hayes vs. Tilden contest, and the Compromise of 1877. Hayes would also have to agree to name a leading southerner to his cabinet and to support federal aid for the Texas and Pacific Railroad, a planned transcontinental line via a southern route. Southern states, meanwhile, chafed at their loss of political and social power. The Democrats objected to that construction, since the President Pro Tempore of the Senate, the Republican Thomas W. Ferry, could then count the votes of the disputed states for Hayes. In fact, even as the electoral commission deliberated, national party leaders had been meeting in secret to hash out what would become known as the Compromise of 1877. To date, it remains the election that yielded the highest voter turnout of the eligible voting-age population in American history, at 82.6%. The 1876 United States presidential election was the 23rd quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 7, 1876, in which Republican nominee Rutherford B. Hayes faced Democrat Samuel J. Tilden. 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. In two Southern states, the governor recognized by the United States had signed the Republican certificates; the Democratic certificates from Florida were signed by the state attorney-general and the newly-elected Democratic governor. rebecca is likely exp Ultimately, Congress. Why was the presidential election of 1800 considered a peaceful revolution? 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. Why was the presidential election of 1860 unusual? Grant nonetheless sent a letter to the convention imploring them to nominate Fish, but the letter was misplaced and never read to the convention. A Brief History of Steamboat Racing in the U.S. A Democratic candidate had emerged with the lead in the popular vote, but 19 electoral votes from four states were in dispute. Omissions? Inside South Africas skeleton trade. Why was the presidential election of 1924 unusual? Why was the presidential election of 1828 considered a revolution? Why was the presidential election of 1888 controversial? How do we reverse the trend? Why did Northern Republicans support the War of 1812? On Nov. 7, 1876, Tilden received over 250,000 more votes than Hayes . democrats thought the electoral commission voting system was unfair. All Rights Reserved. Why was the presidential election of 1948 a surprise? That year, he carried Tennessee, which had never experienced a long period of occupation by federal troops and had been completely "reconstructed" well before the first presidential election of the Reconstruction period (1868). 2 hours of sleep? HISTORY reviews and updates its content regularly to ensure it is complete and accurate. All rights reserved. During the commissions deliberations, Hayes Republican allies met in secret with moderate southern Democrats in hopes of convincing them not to block the official counting of votes through filibuster and effectively allow Hayes election. Why was the presidential election of 1884 important? Why is the election of 1896 considered a watershed moment in American politics? Why was the presidential election of 1860 really two separate presidential elections? They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. Democrats who were able to put their anger aside realized that the situation offered opportunities and worked to secure concessions from politicians close to Hayes. Why were there riots in Chicago during the 1968 Democratic convention? So, in long meetings behind closed doors, Democrats and Hayes Republican allies hashed out what came to be known as the Compromise of 1877: the informal but binding agreement that made Hayes president on the condition that he end Reconstruction in the South. Fish later confirmed that he would have declined the presidential nomination even if it had been offered to him. Any doubts about the party's future were dispelled firstly by the collapse of the Liberal Republicans in the aftermath of that election, and secondly by significant Democratic gains in the 1874 mid-term elections, which saw them take control of the House of Representatives for the first time in sixteen years. Why did Stephen Douglass lose the presidential election of 1860? By midnight, Tilden had 184 of the 185 electoral votes he needed to win and was leading the popular vote by 250,000. Why was the presidential election of 1876 a corrupt bargain? Finally, just after 4 a.m. on March 2, 1877, the Senate president declared Hayes the president-elect of the United States. STDs are at a shocking high. 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. In that election, Democratic candidate Samuel J. Tilden of New York won 247,448 more popular votes than Republican Rutherford B. Hayes of Ohio. At the time, parties would print ballots or "tickets" to enable voters to support them in the open ballots. Hayes had served in the Civil War with distinction as colonel of the 23rd Ohio Regiment and was wounded several times, which made him marketable to veterans. Sarah Pruitt is a writer and editor based in seacoast New Hampshire. HISTORY.com works with a wide range of writers and editors to create accurate and informative content. It was one of the most contentious presidential elections in American history. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). Why was the presidential election of 1820 important? The United States presidential election of 1876 was one of the most disputed presidential elections in American history. The election of 1876 was the last one held before the end of the Reconstruction era, which sought to protect the rights of African Americans in the South, who usually voted for Republican presidential candidates. 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. Tilden defeated Thomas A. Hendricks, Winfield Scott Hancock, William Allen, Thomas F. Bayard, and Joel Parker for the presidential nomination. The Election of 1876 Was Worse", Presidential Election of 1876: A Resource Guide, Rutherford B. Hayes On The Election of 1876: Original Letter, Hayes vs. Tilden: The Electoral College Controversy of 18761877, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=1876_United_States_presidential_election&oldid=1152441591, The presidential election of 1876 is a major theme of, Huntzicker, William E. "Thomas Nast, Harpers Weekly, and the Election of 1876." In 1876, the nation was still scarred and divided by the Civil War, which had ended a decade earlier. Why was the presidential election of 1896 a turning point? It made Northern Republicans become more willing to make concessions. Racism remained a pervasive force in the North as well as the South, and by the early 1870s many Northerners had begun blaming Reconstructions problems on the supposed inferiority of Black voters. 2023, A&E Television Networks, LLC. The Compromise of 1877 was an off-the-record deal, struck between Republicans and Democrats, that determined the victor of the 1876 presidential election. 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 1876 United States presidential election was the 23rd quadrennial presidential election, held on Tuesday, November 7, 1876, in which Republican nominee Rutherford B. Hayes faced Democrat Samuel J. Tilden.It was one of the most contentious presidential elections in American history. "You had two political parties competing throughout the . 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. Advertisement Advertisement In the 1866 mid-term congressional elections, voters in the North resoundingly rejected Johnson's Presidential Reconstruction policies, and Congress, dominated by Radical Republicans, decided to restart Reconstruction. The 1876 election also has a fraught legacy: After months of bitter fighting, lawmakers made a fateful compromise that put Hayes in office by effectively ending Reconstruction, leading to a century of intensified racial segregation in the South. But. Why didn't the South secede before the election of 1850? Why was the presidential election of 2000 controversial? In Columbus, Ohio, a shot was fired at Hayes's residence as he sat down to dinner. Who buys lion bones? Henry Adams called Hayes "a third-rate nonentity whose only recommendations are that he is obnoxious to no one." It was a continuation of the Anti-Masonic Party that met in 1872 and nominated Charles Francis Adams, Sr., for president. But after four months of fierce debate and negotiations, Hayes would be sworn into office as 19th president of the United States. Why was the presidential election of 1896 important? B.T. Hayes proponents realized that those contested votes could sway the election. Why did the Federalists lose the presidential election of 1800? The Democratic candidate, Samuel J. Tilden, won Our experts can answer your tough homework and study questions. In the late 19th century, the Democratic Party's base was centered in the South and focused on state rights. Proponents of the Electoral College. Just a few days following the election, Tilden appeared poised to narrowly clinch the election. In return, Democrats would not dispute Hayess election, and agreed to respect the civil rights of Black citizens. His vote began to slide after the second ballot, however, as many Republicans feared that Blaine could not win the general election. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. On the seventh ballot, Hayes was nominated for president with 384 votes, compared to 351 for Blaine and 21 for Benjamin Bristow. The Campaign and Election of 1876 By 1875, the Republican Party was in trouble. In 1876, a decade after the U.S. Civil War, Republican Rutherford B. Hayes competed against Democrat Samuel Tilden in a bitterly contested presidential election. How this animal can survive is a mystery. 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.

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