Celebrating the American story is more than fireworks and festivals. The nation’s 250th anniversary is a time for reflecting on legacy, what it means to be an an American and the future.

The nations bicentennial in 1976 was more than fireworks and and celebrations. That was also a milestone year when people turned their thoughts to the past, and to the future.

For President Gerald Ford the bicentennial was an unprecendented opportunity to heal and unite the country after the tumultuous years of Vietnam, the Watergate scandal and President Nixon’s unprecedented abuse of power, and a decade of assasinations and riots.

He tasked his cabinet and challenged congress to use the bicentenial as a catalyst for uniting the country. Ford saw his loss to Jimmy Carter by a mere two percent as another opportunity to bring the nation together. Rather than contest the election he immediately invited Carter to the White House and instructed his staff to ensure a cooperative transition that would be as seamless as possible.

That was an act that Carter, media, and members of congress later praised for healing the nation. This was in stark contrast the election of 1876 or 2020.

the American Story

Celebrating the American story and uniting the country during the nations centennial in 1876 was even more challenging. This was little more than a decade after the Civil War and the assassination of President Lincoln.

And the presidential election was almost as contentious as the one in 2020. Democrat Samuel Tilden won the popular vote. When the votes were counted Tilden appeared to have 184 electoral votes, just one short of the 185 needed to win, while Republican Rutherford B. Hayes held 166.

That, however, was only one crisis that came from the election. Although the Fifteenth Amendment had prohibited states from discriminating by race when making voting laws, in the former Confederate states gerrymandering, and other restrictions had been implemented. As a result, there were claims of intimidation of voters and election fraud. Unlike with the election in 2020, there was evidence of both.

A National Crisis

A period know today as reconstruction had commenced after the Civil War. Between 1865 and 1877, three new constitutional amendments as well as federal programs like the Freedmen’s Bureau, created a diverse array of opportunities for former slaves. This included educational, professional, and political.

In addition the federal government had required that the states which had seceded from the United States to form the breakaway republic of Confederate States of America ratify the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendments in order to rejoin the union. Some states were also required to ratify the Fifteenth Amendment.

Reconstruction was effective for only a brief period of time. As an example how succesful reconstruction initiatives were, nearly 2,000 Black men served in elected positions during this time. By the early 1870s, a powerful coalition of white conservative Democrats had regained dominating control in all former Confederate staes but Florida, South Carolina, and Louisiana.

Groups like the Ku Klux Klan used violence and intimidation to reverse the progress of reconstruction programs. At one point to enforce Reconstruction laws, President Ulysses S. Grant stationed federal troops in the former Confederacy. The implementation of martial law fueled political tensions between the political parties. And so, by 1876, there was extreme racial polarization in almost all of the former former Confederate states.

A Nation Divided

These issues were compounded in 1873 with a severe economic recession. The country faced the worst financial crisis since its founding.

Widespread unemployed fueled further divisions. Some politicians seized the opportunity to defelct the focus from failed policies to immigrants. A precipitous decline in cotton prices hampered postwar economic recovery in former Confederate states.

The fact and fiction of rampant corruption in the administration of President Ulysses S. Grant’s created political divisions. In 1874 this also played a major role in control of the House of Representatives being reganed by Democrates for the first time since the Civil War.

A Contested Election

As a result the presidential election of 1876 took place in a tinderbox. Things were ade worse when with the backing of the Republican Party, presidential candidate Ohio Governor Rutherford B. Hayes, challenged the votes in Oregon, Louisiana, Florida, Louisiana, and Suth Carolina, states governed by Republican majorities. The claim was made that Democrats had tampered with the ballots, specifically in districts dominated by a heavy African-American population.

At stake were 20 electoral votes. So, Republicans initiated a campaign with claims that the popular vote counts in contested states were tainted by ballot stuffing as well as intimidation of voters. In those states investigations were launched. Within a few weeks the votes in entire districts were declared invalid for polling misconduct.

The revised vote counts gave Hayes clear majorities in the popular vote. The Democratic Party, however, had reason to believe that the investigation and recount was corrupt. And so Tilden and his allies refused to accept the new count.

This resulted in an unprecedented constitutional crisis as two slates of electors were certified in multiple states. This would lead Congress to reform the electoral process with passage of the Electoral Count Act of 1887.

End of An Era

In an effort to avert a national crisis, and to unify the country, President Grant signed a law that established a bipartisan election commission. It was composed of ten members of Congress and four Supreme Court justices.

As might be expected, the commission was evenly split among party lines. So, to avoid a deadlock, the participating Supreme Court justices were asked to choose a fifth justice. That justice would be given the power of tie-breaking vote.

Justice David Davis was the original selection as he was well known for avoiding any indication of party affiliation. However, he declined and chose to run for election to the senate in Illinois.

Justice Joseph P. Bradley agreed to serve. After considerable deliberation, Justice Bradley voted with the commission’s Republicans on all issues. As a result, Rutherford B. Hayes was awarded the 20 disputed electoral votes. That allowed hime to win the election by one electoral vote.

Compromise

When nominated as the Republican candidate for president, Hayes had pledged to bring “the blessings of honest and capable local self government” to southern states if elected. Many people read between the lines and felt that Hayes was pledging to end unpopular Reconstruction initiatives and programs.

While the electoral commission deliberated on a solution for the contested presidential election, national party leaders were meeting in secret to work out a framework and details for what would become known as the Compromise of 1877. Democrats would not dispute Hayes’s election. It was also agreed that the civil rights of African American would be honored. Then during the Hayes administration the compromise led to the withdrawl of federal intervention in the former Confederate states.

Many historians point to the contested election and the compromise as the end of the Reconstruction era. The pledge to uphold Black citizens was quickly abandoned. And in many southern states laws were passed to reverse Reconstruction policies.

As a result, often through intimidation and violence, Black voters were disenfranchised, and racial segregation. This system would remain in place until the birth and rise of the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s.

More Than Fireworks and Festivals

As the History Guy says, history deserves to be remembered. That is especially true when it comes to the history of American elections.

As we prepare to celebrate the nations 250th anniversary take time to reflect on the complicated, tragic, inspiring, fascinating, and complex American story. Find inspiration in the leaders that worked to unite the nation. Study our historic shortcomings, and how we resolved them, as they are milestones in our journey toward manifesting the lofty goals of the Declaration of Independence.

Sharing America’s story. It’s what we do at Jim Hinckley’s America.