Election+of+1877+and+The+Compromise+of+1877

Reasons For Candidate Election: Republican- In 1876, the Republican leaders chose a candidate not associated with the problems of "the Grant years. " They hoped to bring Liberals back and unite their party once again. They chose Rutherford B. Hayes. // Rutherford B. Hayes- // -Conservative, committed to moderate reform -Former Union officer -Governor -Congressman -Champion of civil service reform Democrat- Had recently been successful because of the scandals associated with Grant and the Republican Party. They chose Samuel J. Tilden. // Samuel J. Tilden- // -Conservative, committed to moderate reform -Former governor of NY -Helped overthrow the corrupt Tweed Ring of NYC’s Tammany Hall

The Campaign: -There were few differences of principle between the candidates (both being conservative and committed to moderate reform as previously stated). Victories-  - November: Democratic - Tilden had the New South and several large Northern states (won by +30,000 votes) giving him 184 electoral votes, one less then the amount needed to win. - Hayes could still win if he received all 20 (disputed return) electoral votes from: Louisiana, South Carolina, Florida and Oregon. Disputed Return Issue-  -The decision on who gains the votes from the disputed returns was clearly a Congressional decision, however, it was un-clear as to which house or through which method Congress was supposed to come to this conclusion through. ---Our Constitution did not state what to do with disputed returns. -1877 Congress created a new electoral commission to judge the disputed votes. It consisted of three parts; the commission, the congressional delegation and the Court delegation. // 1. Commission // -5 senators, 5 representatives, and 5 justices of the Supreme Court // 2. Congressional Delegation // - 5 Democrats and 5 Republicans 3. //Court Delegation//- 2 Republicans, 2 Democrats , and an independent (normally they leaned toward the Republican party) Out come- Commission-straight party lines, 8-7: Hayes 
 * March 4, Hayes was inaugurated. **

The Story/"The Compromise of 1877": The story behind the resolution of the deadlock is extremely complicated. The Democrats and Republicans played dirtily to get what they wanted out of each other. Here’s a simplified version of what went down: -Hayes favored withdrawal of troops in South (made people believe he was paying off people to strengthen his chances of winning the election and there was much bitterness). -Southern Democrats extracted several pledges from the Republicans in addition to withdrawal of the troops: the appointment of one-plus Southerner(s) to Hayes’ cabinet, control of federal patronage in southern territory, international improvements, and federal aid for the Taxas and Pacific Railroad (rich Southerners saw the advantage of industrializing their region). -Hayes failed to build up a “new Republican” party, that would accept some African-American rights and would be drawn from Whiggish conservative whites. The South had too much popular resentment of Reconstruction. -Withdrawrl of troops made Southerners believe that the national government was giving up its attempts to control Southern politics and to improve African-American rights.

Just in case you didn't already get this... Hayes’ presidency, coming from the Election of 1877, was a fail. It ended Reconstruction of the South.  **Bibliography:**  Brinkley, Alan. //American History A Survey // . 12th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill College, 2007. http://haysvillelibrary.wordpress.com/2009/01/02/rutherford-b-hayes-postscript-2-progressive-predecessor/ http://www.history.org/history/teaching/enewsletter/volume3/september04/elect.cfm
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