Hayes-Tilden Sellout of 1876-77

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Hayes-Tilden Sellout of 1876-1877

When republican Rutherford B. Hayes and democrat Samuel J. Tilden ran for the presidential office in 1876, it was no ordinary election. The race was full of name calling, slander, and lots of controversy.

On election day, November 7 1876, Tilden barely won the majority vote against Hayes, but the electoral vote claimed to be won by both sides. 19 electoral votes from 3 states were in dispute and one electoral vote in Oregon was disputed. The states were South Carolina (7 votes), Florida (4 votes), and Louisiana (8 votes). Tilden stood with 184 electoral votes and Hayes had 165. Hayes needed all 20 votes to win the presidency and Tilden needed only one to win.

On December 20, a special 15 congressional member committee was formed. The committee met and decided on the disputing votes. Five were from the republican-controlled senate, five were from the democrat-controlled House of Representatives, and the remaining five were chosen by the Supreme Court (originally 2 democrats, 2 republicans, and 1 independent; However, David Davis, the independent, resigned to join the senate and Joseph Bradley, a republican, replaced him in the committee).

After long deliberations and weeks of fighting between the Senate and the House, all the electoral votes were awarded to Hayes. The committee voted 8-7 on all 20 of the votes from the 4 states. On February 28 a second set of electoral votes were returned from Vermont. The Senate voted down the objection to accept the second set of votes and in the House the Democrats filibustered the vote. On March 1st the objection was finally overruled and Vermont’s electoral votes were awarded to Hayes and the counting of the votes continued. Then a democratic objection was made against a Wisconsin elector. The Senate and House met separately to dispute. The democrat in the Senate threatened to filibuster. After much deliberating, a compromise is made in which Hayes agrees to name at least one southerner to his cabinet and withdraw all federal troops from the South. This decision awarded the electoral votes to Hayes, declaring him president with a 185-184 electoral vote. On March 5, Hayes was sworn into office and in the Spring of 1877 he removed the federal troops from the South.

The main article for this category is Hayes-Tilden Sellout of 1876-77.

See also: Category:Secession crisis of 1860-1861 and Category:American Civil War