The 1876 presidential election offers some important lessons to anyone worried about a contested election outcome this fall
The Electoral Commission of 1877 holds a secret session by candlelight in Washington, DC to resolve the 1876 presidential election. Photo: MPI/Getty Images When nervous political activists and journalists alike anticipate the horrors of a contested 2020 election outcome , they usually think back twenty years to when no one knew the identity of the 43rd president until the U.S. Supreme Court forced an end to the Florida recount and awarded the presidency to George W. Bush on December 11, 2000.
The tense run-up to the 1876 election The solid popular majority that had reelected Civil War hero Ulysses S. Grant in 1872 had been weakened by a sustained economic depression, systemic corruption, and southern white resistance to Reconstruction. The midterm elections of 1874 produced an epochal 94-seat swing in House seats towards Democrats, who won the chamber, even as “redemption” movements aimed at restoring white political power made big gains in the South.
The Hayes-Tilden deadlock With the economy being the main public preoccupation in the north, Tilden won the key swing states of Indiana, New Jersey, and his own New York, as well as a clear plurality of the national popular vote . Late on Election Night, Tilden was one electoral vote short of a majority, with three of the “unredeemed” southern states plus Oregon still unresolved.
The Electoral Commission of 1877 Eventually, President Grant and other Republicans proposed a special bipartisan commission to deal with the situation created by the ambiguous constitutional language on counting and certifying electoral votes, and after some hesitation Democrats accepted it. The commission would be composed of five U.S. Representatives , five U.S. Senators , and five Justices of the U.S. Supreme Court .
Perhaps Reconstruction would have ended in any event, but the acceptance by a Republican administration of “home rule” in the South — which soon meant self-government by white people — paved the way to the steady disenfranchisement of Black citizens and eventually the imposition of Jim Crow.
Nigeria Latest News, Nigeria Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Here’s why the Dow plunged last week and what’s ahead for the stock marketA bout of volatility returned to financial markets with a vengeance last week, disrupting a nearly uninterrupted climb to records for U.S. stock indexes and...
Read more »
Ethan Is Supreme's tragic last post hours before death from suspected overdoseBeauty Influencer Ethan Peters - better known as Ethan Is Supreme - posted a heartbreaking message about being bullied hours before he was found dead at home
Read more »
Mac Miller's Last Days and Life After DeathMac Miller was at his creative peak when he accidentally overdosed. His friends and collaborators are still reeling. Here's a look inside his last days
Read more »
Reed Hastings on New Book, Netflix’s Future — and Why He Fired His Last CFOBefore he co-founded Netflix, Reed Hastings ran a debugging-tool company, Pure Software. And he’s convinced the morass of red tape he put in place at Pure led to the company’s eventual irrelevance …
Read more »
Here’s how long Coronavirus symptoms can lastThe duration of illness depends on a few factors
Read more »
Kate Garraway's kids haven't seen Derek for 6 months after last day of normalityKate Garraway opened up on the last hours of normality for her family before Derek Draper was rushed to hospital with a severe case of Covid-19 - and has remained there ever since
Read more »