Malcolm Rivera
The 1876 presidential election between Democratic candidate Samuel Tilden and Republican Rutherford B. Hayes was a highly contested one. Tilden had a lead of over 260,000 popular votes but fell short of the required electoral votes by one. Four states—Florida, Louisiana, South Carolina, and Oregon—had issues with their slates of electoral votes, which were yet to be included in the results. Congress convened to settle the election and passed the Electoral Commission Act to break the impasse. The commission eventually awarded Hayes all three of the contested states, making him the winner by a single electoral vote. The 1876 election tested the Constitution and effectively ended Reconstruction in the South.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Date of constitution | February 15, 1876 |
| State | Texas |
| Previous constitution | Constitution of 1869 |
| Election results | 136,606 for vs. 56,652 against |
| Number of constitutions since independence | Sixth |
| Legislative body | Bicameral legislature with a Senate (31 members) and a House of Representatives (150 members) |
| Amendments | Amended hundreds of times |
| Current status | Remains the basic organic law of Texas |
| Unique provisions | Land titles and land law, debtor relief, judicial procedures, marital relations and adoption, water and mineral rights |
| Election of 1876 | Rutherford B. Hayes vs. Samuel Tilden |
| Outcome of 1876 election | Disputed; Hayes won by one electoral vote |
| Subsequent legislation | Electoral Count Act of 1887 |
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What You'll Learn
The 1876 election was disputed
In the three southern states, there were legal actions taken after Republican-controlled canvassing boards disqualified Democratic voters. The situation was further complicated by the lack of a mechanism to decide between competing votes sent from states. Congress was faced with the challenge of multiple slates of electors from several southern states, a scenario not foreseen by the Twelfth Amendment. This resulted in tempers flaring and a clear danger of public violence, with calls from Tilden supporters to mobilize the National Guard and the Republicans considering the use of federal troops to maintain peace.
To resolve the impasse, Congress passed the Electoral Commission Act on January 29, 1877, with President Grant's signature. The Act outlined a process for determining the "true and lawful electoral vote" of a state in cases where multiple electoral slates were submitted. The House, Senate, and Supreme Court each named members to serve on the commission. However, the independent Justice David Davis, who was supposed to hold the key vote, accepted a Senate seat, and a Republican replaced him.
Ultimately, the commission awarded Hayes all three of the contested states, securing his victory by a single electoral vote. This outcome was met with dissatisfaction from Tilden's supporters, who referred to Hayes as "Rutherfraud". Despite Tilden accepting the election results, the dispute had far-reaching consequences. It led to the end of Reconstruction in the South and the passage of the Electoral Count Act of 1887, which aimed to address the challenges encountered during the 1876 election and prevent similar disputes in the future.
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Congress awarded Rutherford B. Hayes the victory
The 1876 United States presidential election was disputed between Democratic nominee Samuel J. Tilden and Republican nominee Rutherford B. Hayes. Tilden had emerged with a lead in the popular vote, but both candidates initially lacked the necessary electoral votes to win. This was due to the disqualification of Democratic voters in Florida, Louisiana, South Carolina, and Oregon by Republican-controlled canvassing boards.
In January 1877, Congress passed the Electoral Commission Act to resolve the dispute. The Commission was composed of five representatives, five senators, and five Supreme Court justices, with seven Democrats, seven Republicans, and one independent, Justice David Davis, as the fifteenth member. However, Davis refused to serve, and a Republican was chosen to replace him, upsetting the intended partisan balance.
In February 1877, the Commission voted along party lines to award all 20 contested electoral votes to Hayes, resulting in his victory by a single electoral vote. This outcome was met with outrage by some Northern Democrats, who referred to Hayes as "His Fraudulency" and "Rutherfraud".
The Compromise of 1877, an agreement between Southern Democrats and Whiggish Republican businessmen, allowed Hayes to become president on the condition that he ended federal support for Reconstruction and withdrew federal troops from the South. This marked the beginning of the end for Reconstruction in the South, and Rutherford B. Hayes was inaugurated as the 19th president of the United States on March 4, 1877.
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Samuel Tilden accepted the results
The 1876 presidential election was a highly contested one between Democratic candidate Samuel Tilden and Republican Rutherford B. Hayes. Tilden, the governor of New York, had a lead of more than 260,000 popular votes, but he had only amassed 184 electoral votes—one shy of the number needed to defeat his opponent.
The election results were disputed, with Florida, Louisiana, South Carolina, and Oregon reporting two sets of returns. To settle the controversy, an Electoral Commission was created by Congress. Tilden initially reluctantly consented to the formation of the commission but failed to provide vigorous and direct leadership in the crisis. The commission decided all questions by a strictly partisan vote, thus giving the presidency to Rutherford B. Hayes.
Tilden accepted the results of the election, despite his supporters calling Hayes "Rutherfraud". Tilden's acceptance of the results was to avoid possible violence. There was a clear danger of public violence, with calls from Tilden supporters to mobilize the National Guard and the Republicans to use federal troops to keep the peace.
The 1876 election tested the Constitution, effectively ending Reconstruction in the South. The Compromise of 1877 saw the withdrawal of Federal troops from the South, where they had been safeguarding Reconstruction. This allowed the disenfranchisement of Black voters and the reassertion of white control in the region.
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The Electoral Commission Act was passed to break the impasse
The 1876 presidential election between Democratic Party nominee Samuel Tilden and Republican candidate Rutherford B. Hayes was hard-fought. Tilden had a lead of more than 260,000 popular votes, but he was one electoral vote short of winning the election. Four states—Florida, Louisiana, South Carolina, and Oregon—had problems with their slates of electoral votes, which were yet to be included in the results.
As tempers flared, there was a clear danger of public violence, with calls from Tilden supporters to mobilize the National Guard and the Republicans to use federal troops to keep the peace. On January 29, 1877, Congress passed and President Grant signed the Electoral Commission Act to break the impasse. The House and Senate named five members each to serve on the commission, and the Supreme Court named five associate justices to serve. The commission would decide "the true and lawful electoral vote of such a state" if a state sent multiple electoral slates to Congress.
The commission first addressed the question of Florida, which was hotly contested. Tilden had a convincing claim to the state's vote, but Republican pressures swayed the vote in favor of Hayes, who had almost certainly lost it in fact. Thereafter, all votes followed Florida, on a straight party-line 8–7 basis. Hayes's claim to Oregon was clearly legitimate, and fraud and intimidation by both parties had been widespread in Louisiana and South Carolina.
In the end, after a series of votes along strict party lines, the commission awarded Hayes all three of the contested states in early March 1877, making him the winner by a single electoral vote. The final vote was reported to Congress on February 23. After a week of ominous bluster, which Tilden did much to quiet among his aggrieved followers, a tumultuous session of Congress convened on March 1 to count the electoral vote and after 4 am the next day declared Hayes elected; he was sworn in on the following day.
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The Electoral Count Act of 1887 was passed to handle competing slate electors
The 1876 U.S. presidential election between Democratic Party nominee Samuel Tilden and Republican candidate Rutherford B. Hayes was hard-fought. Tilden emerged with a lead in the popular vote but fell one electoral vote short of winning the election. Disputed returns and secret back-room negotiations put Hayes in the White House, and the Democrats back in control of the South.
Four states—Florida, Louisiana, South Carolina, and Oregon—had problems with their slates of electoral votes, which were yet to be included in the results. In the three southern states, there were legal actions taken after Republican-controlled canvassing boards disqualified Democratic voters. Congress received electoral votes from multiple slates of electors in these states. The Twelfth Amendment describes how electors must meet and vote, but it did not foresee multiple competing slates of electoral votes from the same state.
In 1886, a Democratic House passed a version of the Electoral Count Act, which was then enacted by a Republican Senate and Democratic House in 1887. The Act was passed to deal with some of the open questions faced by the Electoral Commission. It aimed to minimize congressional involvement in election disputes and instead placed the primary responsibility to resolve disputes upon the states.
The Act set out procedures and deadlines for the states to follow in resolving disputes, certifying results, and sending the results to Congress. Section 3 of the Act created an "ascertainment" process to help Congress determine a state's valid electors, including a role for the governor. The governor of each state is required to prepare seven original copies of a "certificate of ascertainment", each under the state seal, identifying the electors appointed by the state and the votes they received.
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Frequently asked questions
The Constitution of 1876 is the sixth constitution by which Texas has been governed since independence from Mexico in 1836. It was framed by the Constitutional Convention of 1875 and adopted on February 15, 1876, by a vote of 136,606 to 56,652, and it remains the basic organic law of Texas.
The Constitution of 1876 began with a lengthy bill of rights. It declared that Texas was a free and independent state, subject only to the Constitution of the United States, that all free men have equal rights, and that the writ of habeas corpus could not be suspended or unduly delayed. The Constitution also provided for the establishment of the University of Texas.
The Constitution of 1866 did not go far enough for the Radical Republicans in Washington who were in charge of Reconstruction in the South. In 1868, another constitutional convention had to be called. The provisions passed were bundled together and submitted to an election, becoming known as the Constitution of 1869. By 1875, Reconstruction was winding down, and Democrats had regained power in Texas. They wrote a new constitution, which reflected the lack of faith in the government formed over the Reconstruction years.
Texas still operates under the 1876 Constitution today, though it has had to be amended hundreds of times and is now considered disorganized and confusing. It has been amended to address issues such as tight restrictions, and in 1974, an attempt was made to draft a modern document, which ended in failure.
