United States History Student Edition

Neither got a majority of the electoral votes, mainly because of confusing election returns from three Southern states. These states—Florida, South Carolina, and Louisiana—were still under Republican rule. Congress named a commission to decide which candidate should receive the disputed electoral votes. The commission recommended giving them all to Hayes. Doing this would make Hayes president by one electoral vote. To ensure that Congress accepted this outcome, Republicans made many promises to the Democrats. One of these was a pledge to withdraw the troops who had been stationed in the South since the end of the Civil War. Shortly after Hayes took office in 1877, the last troops left the South. The “New South” By the 1880s, forward-looking Southerners were convinced their region must develop an industrial economy. They argued that the South had lost the Civil War because its industry did not match the North’s. Atlanta newspaper editor Henry Grady headed a group that urged Southerners to build a “New South.” This New South would have industries based on the region’s coal, iron, tobacco, cotton, and lumber resources.

Southern industry made great gains in the 1880s. Textile mills sprang up across the region. The American Tobacco Company came to control nearly all of the tobacco manufacturing in the country. By 1890, the South produced nearly 20 percent of the nation’s iron and steel. A railroad-building boom also helped development. By 1870, the South’s limited railroad system, destroyed by the war, was nearly rebuilt. Despite its gains, the South did not develop an industrial economy as strong as the North’s. Agriculture remained the South’s main economic activity. Supporters of the New South promoted small farms that grew a variety of profitable crops instead of relying on cotton. A different economy emerged, however. Many landowners held on to their large estates. When estates were divided, much of the land went to sharecropping and tenant farming, which were not profitable. Debt also caused problems. Poor farmers used credit to buy supplies. Merchants who provided credit charged high prices, and farmers’ debts rose. To repay debts, farmers turned to cash crops. As in the past, the main cash crop was cotton. Higher cotton production drove cotton prices down. Lower prices led farmers to plant even more cotton. The growth of

commission a group of officials chosen for a specific responsibility

Election of 1876 In the election of 1876, parties disputed the electoral vote in four states. The number of disputed votes was large enough to affect the outcome of the election and who would be the next president.

GEOGRAPHY CONNECTION 1. Exploring Place In which states were the results of the election disputed? 2. Patterns and Movement What does the voting pattern suggest about support for Reconstruction in the North?

Total: 369 ELECTORAL VOTE

Wash Terr.

NH 5

ME 7

VT 5

Montana Terr.

Dakota Terr.

MN 5

2 OR 1

MA 13

NY 35

Idaho Terr.

WI 10

MI 11

Wyo. Terr.

49.9% 184

50.1% 185

CT 6 RI 4

IA 11

PA 29

NE 3

NV 3

OH 22

DE 3 NJ 9 MD 8

IN 15

IL 21

Utah Terr.

CA 6

WV 5

CO 3

VA 11

KS 5

MO 15

KY 12

SC 7 NC 10

TN 12

Indian Terr.

Ariz. Terr.

New Mexico Terr.

Total: 8,404,676 POPULAR VOTE

AR 6 LA 8

GA 11

AL MS 10 8

1.0% 83,726

TX 8

FL 4

48.0% 4,034,142

51.0% 4,286,808

Hayes (Republican) Tilden (Democrat) Peter Cooper (Greenback)

Disputed Electoral Vote Territories

Note: 20 disputed electoral votes were awarded to Hayes by Congressional Commission.

488