Election Of 1876: The Most Controversial Election In The United States

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The disputed election of 1876 was one of the most controversial Presidential elections in United States history. This election began as many others when Republican candidate Rutherford B. Hayes a three- time governor from Ohio faced off against Democratic candidate and reform governor of New York Samuel J. Tilden. At the start of the election, it appeared that Tilden would sweep the majority of the popular and electoral votes as he had nearly 300,000 more popular votes and earn 184 out of the 369 electoral votes. (Brinkley 369) Towards the end of the voting process, it was made apparent that there were 20 disputed electoral votes that came from Florida, Oregon, Louisiana, and South Carolina and if Hayes won all 20 electoral votes, he would win the Presidency. These disputed votes …show more content…

As expected, the commission members stayed loyal to their parties and voted along party lines. Since there was now one more Republican then Democrats, the election went to Republican candidate Rutherford B. Hayes. (Brinkley 370) In order to make this election fair, Congress should have re-selected the members of the commission to include an independent from either the House of Representatives, Senate, or the Supreme Court and have an equal number of Republicans and Democrats. Therefore, if the members vote along party lines, as seen in this case, their would be an unbiased decision made by the independent member could be used to break the gridlock. If this were the case in the disputed election of 1876, than both candidates would have had a more equal opportunity for victory. After the election, unsavory behaviors continued. As tension rose between the parties and a Democratic filibuster could intentionally obstruct the electoral commissions report, leader from both parties met in secret to settle on a

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