We soon fell into a refreshing sleep, Hayes later wrote in his diary about the events of November 7, 1876. This is the only time both major party nominees were incumbent US governors. [2][3] Tilden's 50.9% is the largest share of the popular vote received by a candidate that was not elected to the presidency. Sarah Pruitt is a writer and editor based in seacoast New Hampshire. | Voter fraud, suppression and partisanship: A look back at the 1876 election unit test Flashcards | Quizlet B.T. Why was the South upset after the presidential election of 1860? 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." Rutherford B. Hayes wins 1876 presidential election by one Electoral Meanwhile, the Democratic platform called for immediate reform of the federal government and, to forestall Republican charges of sectionalism, committed itself to the permanence of the Federal Union. It also called for civil service reform and restrictions on Chinese immigration to the United States. The Democratic candidate, Samuel J. Tilden, won Our experts can answer your tough homework and study questions. 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. They chose the reforming Ohio Governor Rutherford B. Hayes, who had been gradually building support during the convention until he finished second on the sixth ballot. Republicans chanted, "Not every Democrat was a rebel, but every rebel was a Democrat. There were 5000 people jammed the auditorium in St. Louis and hopes for the Democratic Party's first presidential victory in 20 years. Why did the presidential election of 1800 lead to the Twelfth Amendment. 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. Five members were selected from each house of Congress, and they were joined by five members of the United States Supreme Court, with William M. Evarts serving as counsel for the Republican Party. The Democratic strategy for victory in the South was highly reliant on paramilitary groups such as the Red Shirts and the White League. When the Sixth Republican National Convention assembled in Cincinnati, Ohio, on June 14, 1876, James G. Blaine appeared to be the presidential nominee. 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. Omissions? 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 Compromise of 1877 was an informal agreement between southern Democrats and allies of the Republican Rutherford Hayes to settle the result of the 1876 presidential election and marked the end of the Reconstruction era. Why did the Democrats lose the presidential election of 1904? Presidential Election of 1876: Significance, Issues & Summary But archaeology is confirming that Persia's engineering triumph was real. It depends. 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. Grant nonetheless sent a letter to the convention imploring them to nominate Fish, but the letter was misplaced and never read to the convention. 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. Hayess unblemished public record and high moral tone (as well as his deep sympathy toward the South) offered a striking contrast to widely publicized accusations of corruption in the Grant administration. Known as the Jim Crow laws (after a popular minstrel act developed in the antebellum years), these segregationist statutes governed life in the South through the middle of the next century, ending only after the hard-won successes of the civil rights movement in the 1960s. The Presidential election of 1876 pitted Republican Rutherford B. Hayes against Democrat Samuel Tilden. 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. Following Lincoln's murder a month into his second term, his vice president, Andrew Johnson took office. Who became president after the 1876 presidential election? Why did Northern Republicans support the War of 1812? 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. United States presidential election of 1896 - Britannica She has been a frequent contributor to History.com since 2005, and is the author of Breaking History: Vanished! 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. Become a member. Of the 369 votes, Samuel J. Tilden . The reason why the presidential election of 1876 angered Democrats is because "Democrats thought the voting system was unfair" since Tilden actually won the majority of the popular vote. 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. We thought we knew turtles. 2023 Smithsonian Magazine All Rights Reserved. Those from Louisiana were signed by the Democratic gubernatorial candidate and those from South Carolina by no state official. Why did the presidential election of 1876 anger democrats? The 1876 election took place at a remarkable time in American history. The returns accepted by the Commission put Hayes's margin of victory in South Carolina at 889 votes, the second-closest popular vote margin in a decisive state in U.S. history, after the election of 2000, which was decided by 537 votes in Florida. Finally, just after 4 a.m. on March 2, 1877, the Senate president declared Hayes the president-elect of the United States. The Republican Party held a slim majority in the state legislature following a closely contested election on October 3, 1876. Why did Northern Republican support for Reconstruction diminish in the Why was the presidential election of 1800 controversial? The Republicans held their convention in Cincinnati, Ohio, in mid-June, and the front-runner for their nomination was James G. Blaine of Maine, the speaker of the House of Representatives. 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. Why did voter participation increase between 1824 and 1840 in the United States? ", "Flashback to 1876: History repeats itself", "Hayes v. Tilden: The Electoral College Controversy of 18761877. United States presidential election of 1876. 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. Disputed returns and secret back-room negotiations put Republican Rutherford B. Hayes in the White Houseand Democrats back in control of the South. Down to the final days | Miller Center Why did the Democrats lose the presidential election of 1928? Anti-Blaine delegates could not agree on a candidate until his total rose to 41% on the sixth ballot. In 2000, the margin of victory in the Electoral College for George W. Bush was five votes, as opposed to Hayes' one vote. Rutherford B. HayesRepublican via Electoral Commission. United States presidential election of 1876 - Britannica CFA Week 15 Practice | Social Studies - Quizizz Compromise of 1877: Political Bargain for the US Presidency [8] It has been claimed that the voting Democrats received Tilden's presidential nomination with more enthusiasm than any leader since Andrew Jackson.[9]. which behavioral therapy intervention might be used in a special education classroom for children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. The presidential election of 1876 is better known for its controversial aftermath than for the campaign that preceded it. Just a few days following the election, Tilden appeared poised to narrowly clinch the election. Updated: August 18, 2020 | Original: January 21, 2020. Why was the presidential election of 1820 important? The nominations The presidential campaign of 1896 was one of the most exciting in American history. 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.". (Lyons Press, 2017), which chronicles some of history's most famous disappearances. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! Still, voter turnout on November 7, 1876, remains the highest ever for a presidential election 82% of eligible citizens cast a ballot. Why did southern Democrats agree to the Compromise of 1877? 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 states in the South with Reconstruction-era Republican governments still in power. Why did the presidential election of 1876 anger Democrats? 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. 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. Why didn't the South secede before the election of 1850? As Reconstruction came to an end, Southern Democrats disenfranchised African Americans by passing new voting requirements. 1876 United States presidential election - Wikipedia Does eating close to bedtime make you gain weight? Why was the presidential election of 2000 controversial? . Why the 1876 election was the most divisive in U.S. history One county (0.04%) in Nevada split evenly between Tilden and Hayes. 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 Republicans had grown weary of Reconstruction and had come to believe that the time for compromise with Southern whites was at hand. 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. A political cartoon by Thomas Nast that appeared in the February 17, 1877 issue of the American political magazine Harper's Weekly. He had captured 51.5 percent of the popular vote to Hayess 48 percent, a margin of about 250,000 votes. The question of who should have been awarded those electoral votes is the source of the continued controversy. 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. 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. Get access to this video and our entire Q&A library, Presidential Election of 1876: Significance, Issues & Summary. This week, the events of the 1876 presidential race have once again come under scrutiny. It was a continuation of the Anti-Masonic Party that met in 1872 and nominated Charles Francis Adams, Sr., for president. 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. Eminent counsel appeared for each side, and there were double sets of returns from every one of the states named. Both parties backed civil service reform. democrats thought the electoral commission voting system was unfair. | READ MORE. 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]. Why was the presidential election of 1828 unprecedented? But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! In 1876, the elections in three statesFlorida, Louisiana, and South Carolinawere alleged to have been conducted illegally, the senators write in a statement. Since the House had a solid Democratic majority, rejecting the vote of one state, however, would elect Tilden.[25]. 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. Why is the presidential election of 1824 considered controversial? The Democrats claimed fraud, and suppressed excitement pervaded the country. Peter Cooper was nominated for president with 352 votes to 119 for three other contenders. Why was the presidential election of 1876 so important? Want the full story? This small political party used several different names, often with different names in different states. Why was the presidential election of 1888 controversial? Corrections? 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. Why did the Kansas-Nebraska Act divide the Democratic Party? A new discovery raises a mystery. Comments There are no comments. Tilden was also the last person to win a majority of the popular vote until William McKinley in 1896. At the time, support for Reconstruction was dwindling across the nation. The racist roots of 'bulldozer', "COUNTING THE VOTE: THE HISTORY; President Tilden? "[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. How & When Did Reconstruction End? - Study.com Associated Press. Nora McGreevy is a former daily correspondent for Smithsonian. Tilden won more than 400 votes on the first ballot and the presidential nomination by a landslide on the second. 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." 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. Why was the presidential election of 1832 important? Why was the presidential election of 1896 a watershed presidential election? For their part, white Southern Democrats did not honor their pledge to uphold the rights of Black citizens, but moved quickly to reverse as many of Reconstructions policies as possible. Why was the presidential election of 1956 significant? Republican leaders in return agreed on a number of handouts and entitlements, including federal subsidies for a transcontinental railroad line through the South. Why was the presidential election of 1932 a turning point? Hayes proponents realized that those contested votes could sway the election. 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. 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. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Why was the presidential election of 1872 controversial? rebecca is likely exp Ultimately, Congress appointed Hayes the winner in a back-room deal with consequences that reveberate today. How this animal can survive is a mystery. In the 1876 election, accusations of corruption stemmed from officials involved in counting the necessary and hotly contested electoral votes of both sides, in which Rutherford B. Hayes was elected by a congressional commission . Why was the presidential election of 1936 a watershed year? 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. Source: Official proceedings of the National Democratic convention, held in St. Louis, Mo., June 27th, 28th and 29th, 1876. He withdrew troops from the Reconstruction. The platform supported the Reconstruction Amendments to the Constitution, international arbitration, the reading of the scriptures in public schools, specie payments, justice for Native Americans, abolition of the Electoral College, and prohibition of the sale of alcoholic beverages. The Compromise of 1877 might be a reason for the Democrats accepting the Electoral Commission. As a bipartisan congressional commission debated over the outcome early in 1877, allies of the Republican Party candidate Rutherford Hayes met in secret with moderate southern Democrats in order to negotiate acceptance of Hayes election. Historians often describe his narrow, controversial win over Democrat Samuel J. Tilden as one of the most bitterly contested presidential elections in history. With the Republican Party dominating the federal government for nearly a decade after the Civil War endedthanks in part to thousands of newly enfranchised African-American menCongressional Reconstruction policies resulted in biracial governments across the South by the early 1870s. He had later been brevetted as a major-general. Why did the presidential election of 1856 cause alarm? 65. In Oregon, one elector was replaced after being declared illegal for having been an "elected or appointed official." 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. According to the commission's rulings, of the 2,249 counties and independent cities making returns, Tilden won in 1,301 (57.85%), and Hayes carried only 947 (42.11%). In Florida, Louisiana, and South Carolina, both parties reported their candidate to have won the state. Falling crop prices and rising unemployment also worried the Republicans. Many of the seats in that election had been decided by only a few hundred votes. Why did the Republicans win the presidential election of 1952? The two Republican electors presented a certificate signed by the secretary of state of Oregon, and Cronin and the two electors whom he appointed (Cronin voted for Tilden while his associates voted for Hayes) presented a certificate signed by the governor and attested by the secretary of state. What are some problems of this way of life? Using the strategy of the Mississippi Plan, the groups actively suppressed both Black and White Republican voter turnouts by disrupting meetings and rallies and even using violence and intimidation. Why did the Democrats lose the presidential election of 1860? Your Privacy Rights Articles with the HISTORY.com Editors byline have been written or edited by the HISTORY.com editors, including Amanda Onion, Missy Sullivan and Matt Mullen. Why was the result of the 1876 presidential election disputed? In the 1870s, the United States faced an economic downturn. Henry Adams called Hayes "a third-rate nonentity whose only recommendations are that he is obnoxious to no one." Fish later confirmed that he would have declined the presidential nomination even if it had been offered to him. The Democrats held their convention two weeks later in St. Louis, Missourithe first time a national convention was held west of the Mississippi. Why was the presidential election of 1868 significant? The results of the election remain among the most disputed ever. When Blanchard declined to run, Walker was unanimously nominated for president. The presidential election of 1876 was arguably the most contentious and disputed in American history. [25], Ultimately, all three of Oregon's votes were awarded to Hayes, who had a majority of one in the Electoral College. 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. Still, the Republicans continued their strong commitment to the civil rights of emancipated slaves, their party platform stating that the permanent pacification of the Southern section of the Union and the complete protection of all its citizens in the free enjoyment of all their rights, are duties to which the Republican party is sacredly pledged. It further criticized the Democratic Party for its lack of commitment to civil rights, arguing that the party counts, as its chief hope of success, upon the electoral vote of a united South, secured through the efforts of those who were recently arrayed against the nation and we invoke the earnest attention of the country to the grave truth, that a success thus achieved would reopen sectional strife and imperil national honor and human rights..