The Election of 1876 remains one of the most contentious elections in American history.  Democrats took control of the House of Representatives in 1874 and seemed well positioned to take the presidency in 1876.  The Democrats nominated Governor Samuel Tilden of New York and focused the campaign on the themes of political corruption, the end of Reconstruction in the South, and blaming Republicans for a severe economic depression that hit the nation in 1875.  Tilden’s father had been a close friend of President Martin Van Buren, and Van Buren served as a political mentor.  He graduated from New York University.  Republicans nominated Governor Rutherford B. Hayes of Ohio and focused on “waving the bloody shirt” by reminding voters to “vote as they shot” during the Civil War.  This appeal was steadily losing its influence, and it was the last time the sectional conflict would serve as a campaign theme for either party.  Hayes graduated from Kenyon College as valedictorian in 1842 and received a law degree from Harvard University in 1845. 

The issues of the 1876 election, however, took a back seat to the corruption taking place in the election.  Fraud had always been a feature in American elections, but what made 1876 exceptional was how open and transparent the corruption was.   Party organizations were willing to go to any lengths to win.  This included things like the use of repeaters and stuffing ballots, but also bribery, voter intimidation, and political violence.  Given all of this, it was hardly a surprise that the election results were called into question. 

On the evening of the election, things did not look like they were going well for the Republicans.  With 185 electoral votes needed to win, the returns appeared to be going to Tilden, with estimates giving him 209 votes.  News sources were already declaring him the winner of the election.  But the Republicans were not done yet.  As they studied the returns, a plan emerged to give Hayes the election.  If the Republicans could hold the states of South Carolina, Florida, and Louisiana, and a disputed electoral vote in Oregon, Hayes would win the election.  The significance of these three states is that they were “unreconstructed,” meaning they were still under the control of the so-called carpetbagger governments.   The importance of this is that Republicans still controlled the canvassing boards that judged the election returns to decide which votes were legitimate and which ones were not.  If the canvassing boards could disqualify enough Democratic votes, the election would go to Hayes. 

Given the amount of fraud and corruption in the election, it was not hard for the canvassing boards to disqualify Democratic votes.  Despite evidence pointing to Republican malfeasance too, the canvassing boards only eliminated Democratic votes.  Not surprisingly, the electoral votes of the three states were given to Hayes.  But this did not mean the controversy over the election was over. 

While Republicans in the three states prepared to send the electoral certificates to Washington, Democrats hatched their own plan.  Ignoring the contested electoral votes in South Carolina, Florida, and Louisiana, Tilden still led in the Electoral College by a margin of 184–163.  This meant that Democrats only needed one electoral vote for Tilden to win the election.  Democrats believed that they could get that one vote in Washington.  Accordingly, Democrats dispatched their own electoral certificates, declaring the Republican ones were illegitimate.  All eyes then turned to Washington to see how the election was to be resolved.  

Many people in Washington looked to the Constitution to resolve the controversy.  But it didn’t provide much guidance.  The Twelfth Amendment stated that the electors of each state would send the certificates of their decision “to the seat of the Government of the United States, directed to the President of the Senate,” and that the “President of the Senate shall, in the presence of the Senate and the House of Representatives, open all the certificates and the votes shall then be counted.”  The problem was no one agreed on what this meant.  Republicans interpreted the Amendment as saying that the President of the Senate decided on which certificates were counted, but this approach was likely influenced by the fact that the President was Republican Thomas Ferry.  Democrats countered that the Constitution provided that if the Electoral College failed to produce a majority, the election was supposed to go to the House of Representatives in a run-off election.  No doubt Democrats wanted this alternative in part because they controlled the House.   

Congress reached a standstill on the election, but the parties worked to broker a compromise.  Among the alternatives was a proposal to create a fifteen-member independent commission.  The commission would be composed of ten Congressmen, five each of the political parties, and then the other five members being justices of the Supreme Court.  These justices were divided as four from party appointment and the fifth justice chosen by the other four.  It was widely believed that the fifth justice would be David Davis, whose political loyalties were uncertain.  The parties agreed to the arrangement, and the commission was created. 

Democrats were initially optimistic about the commission.  Justice Davis was nominated by Lincoln, but he had ruled against the president in the Ex Parte Milligan decision and had been briefly affiliated with the Liberal Republican Party in 1872.  Only one electoral vote was needed to win the presidency; Democrats believed that they could get one vote to go their way.  Disaster soon followed for the Democrats.  Davis was elected to the Senate in Illinois, and he resigned his position on the Court and on the Commission.  The other four justices on the Commission had to select a replacement, and they selected Justice Joseph P. Bradley.  Bradley was nominated by Grant and was an unambiguous Republican.  Democrats had their hopes deflated.  On every vote, Bradley sided with the Republicans, giving Hayes 185 votes to Tilden’s 184. 

The Democrats lost a major battle but did not concede the election right away.  Instead, they threatened the use of parliamentary tactics in the House to prevent the final count of the electoral votes.  The country was now very close to inauguration day, and so Republicans looked for ways to overcome Democratic obstruction.  The Republicans entered secret negotiations with the Democrats to broker a compromise.  The result was the Compromise of 1877.  Democrats promised to allow Hayes to become the president in exchange for concessions.  Hayes and the Republicans agreed to recognize the Democratic governments in South Carolina and Louisiana and would work expeditiously to remove federal troops from the South.  Hayes agreed to appoint at least one Southern Democrat to his cabinet and to encourage economic development in the region.  In short, the Democrats accepted the loss of the election but won the war over Reconstruction. 

Public reaction to the election was surprisingly subdued.  While the defeat left many rank-and-file Democrats unhappy, the electorate’s reaction was largely muted.  Party organizations were successful in keeping popular passions in check, and the parties reassured the electorate that they would benefit from the election outcome.  Another factor was the emergence of a new politics of organization over the Civil War’s old politics of ideology.  Indeed, Hayes’ inauguration left no doubt that the nation had concluded the final chapter of the history of the Civil War and Reconstruction.  What was also clear was that the victory of organizational party politics meant the end of continued efforts to support the freedmen in the South.  Racial equality took a backseat to the clamor of the party machines. 

In the aftermath of the election, Tilden embarked on a long European tour.  When he returned home, he focused on his law practice.  He died with an estimated $6 million estate, most of which went to funding a New York public library.  Hayes fulfilled the promises Republicans made in the Compromise of 1877 and did withdraw federal troops from the South.  As promised in his campaign, he only served a single term of office. 

For teaching materials on the Election of 1876, please visit our Digital Atlas exhibit, Contested Elections!

Eric Sands, Ph.D., is Associate Professor of Government at Berry College in Mount Berry, Georgia. He published a book that examines the public philosophy of Abraham Lincoln and how the development of Lincoln’s ideas affected the politics of Reconstruction. He also published articles in multiple political science publications and edited the Core Documents: Political Parties volume for TAH.  Sands earned his Ph.D. in Government from the University of Virginia.

*Special thanks to Sara Provost for assistance in preparing this article.