March 2, 1877: Rutherford B. Hayes is elected President by the House of Representatives


After an abysmal presidency, Ulysses S. Grant refused to run for a third term in 1876. He asked his Secretary of State, Hamilton Fish to run in his stead, but he also refused. In a highly contested convention, the Republicans chose Ohio governor, Rutherford B. Hayes and William A. Wheeler to run for President and Vice President in the fall election. As the Republicans held their convention that summer, the Democrats were meeting in St. Louis to choose their presidential ticket. They chose New York Governor, Samuel Tilden, and Thomas A. Hendricks to run.

 The Election of 1876 was proving to be a much more important than previously thought by political insiders. Tilden prove to be the most popular Democratic candidate since before the Civil War. He had made his name in the tough world of antebellum New York politics. A protege of Martin Van Buren, he was chosen to be governor of the state in 1874. As governor, he took on the corrupt Tammany political machine. When he was chosen to be his party's nominee for president, his anti-corruption stance stood in stark contrast to the corrupt Grant administration. Hayes also made his name standing up to political machines. Having fought for the Union during the Civil War, Hayes emerged as strong contender for the governorship of his home state of Ohio. However in comparison to Tilden, Hayes was relatively unknown outside of Ohio before the election of 1876. However Hayes and Tilden were mere conduits for larger issues affecting the Reconstruction era United States.

Since the conclusion of the Civil War, tensions between northern Republicans and southern Democrats had been escalating to a fever pitch. Most of the former Confederate states were still occupied by federal troops. Their civilian governments were also under the control of the Republicans. By the 1870's, southerners greatly resented their northern oppressors. Southern Democrats saw an opportunity to reclaim some of their lost power in the Election of 1876. Initially they believed that their greatest hope lay in a reform minded, northern Democrat like Tilden; but they soon found their best chance was exploiting the North's exhaustion in trying to bring the South back into the Union.
As the votes were tallied on election day, discrepancies began appearing almost immediately. Hayes had won the Electoral College by one vote. Democrats cried foul. The Republican dominated House of Representatives decided to form a commission to decide the presidential contest. Democrats in the House were able to finagle their way into key positions on the committee. The commission was deadlocked throughout the winter of 1876. By late February, the Democrats presented a compromise to their Republican colleagues. The Compromise of 1877, as it would later be called, had several stipulations. Firstly, all federal troops occupying southern states would have be withdrawn. Secondly, Hayes must appoint a Democrat to his cabinet. Lastly and most importantly, Republicans could not interfere in domestic politics in the former Confederate states. In return for essentially ending Reconstruction, the Republicans would be able to maintain control of the Executive branch. On March 1, 1877, the commission voted to elect Hayes to the presidency. As he took his oath of office,  veil of white supremacy and black suppression blanketed the former Confederate states.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

March 25, 1306: Robert the Bruce is crowned King of Scots

Image
Robert the Bruce was born in Turnberry Castle in Ayrshire, Scotland on June 7, 1274. He came from a long line of claimants to the Scottish throne, being a descendant of King David I. During his childhood, he was educated in history, civics and languages. He learned a variety of local dialects, French and Latin. Robert's early life was typical of a 13th century European noble. However his young life would soon be thrown upside down with the arrival of the English in Scotland. In 1286, King Alexander III died, his crown passed to a child named Margaret, the Maid of Norway. Due to Margaret's youth, the Scottish nobles assigned Guardians of Scotland to serve as regents until she would come of age. Then in 1290, Margaret died. This created a crisis between the five remaining claimants to the throne: John Balliol, John Hastings, Floris V, Count of Holland, and Robert. The Guardians feared a civil war, so they asked Edward I, King of England to mediate the situation. The King deci...
Read more

April 27, 1813: American troops capture York, the capital of Upper Canada, in the Battle of York

Image
When the United States declared war on Great Britain in 1812, military planners recognized the need to capture Britain’s Canadian holdings. Early in 1813, they drew up plans to capture the large British province. The Navy dispatched a fleet under Commodore Isaac Chauncey to gain control of the Great Lakes, in order to disable British naval superiority, there. The Secretary of War, John Armstrong convinced the Navy to defer Chauncey’s expedition and send him instead to blockade the capital of Upper Canada in conjunction with the Army. The War Department dispatched troops under General Zebulon Pike to take the capital, York. On April 26, American forces arrive outside the city. Chauncey’s squadron began to bombard the settlement, in order to aid Pike’s troops advance. As Pike’s troops encircled the city, a magazine exploded, sending debris flying all over the battlefield. Pike collapsed, mortally wounded by the falling debris. Later that afternoon, York surrendered to American f...
Read more

May 1, 1894: Coxey's Army, the first significant American protest march, arrives in Washington D.C.

Image
After the Panic of 1893 gripped the United States, political activist Jacob Coxey and associates decide to march on the capitol to protest for greater workers rights. As Coxey and his entourage marched toward the capitol, they gained followers from all walks of life. When they reached the capitol, the sight was one never seen in Washington before. The protest was quickly quelled, with Coxey being arrested for trespassing on public lands.
Read more