Join us for a forum with Daniel Breen, Professor of the Practice of Legal Studies at Brandeis University. His book on the public monuments of Boston is due for publication in the Fall of 2027.
Only eleven years after Appomattox, the United States stood at the brink of another Civil War–this time, as the result of the bitterly contested Election of 1876. Alleging rampant intimidation against African-American voters by Democratic “rifle clubs,” the Republican-controlled election boards in Florida, South Carolina and Louisiana refused to certify the results in those states, which seemed to favor the Democrat Samuel Tilden. As a result, by December, there were two different slates of Electors from those states, each casting their ballots for different candidates. And to make matters even more hopelessly muddled, an Elector from Oregon determined to vote for the Republican Rutherford B. Hayes was disqualified by the state’s Democratic governor. How could the mess ever be straightened out? As Democratic newspapers proclaimed “Tilden or War” in banner headlines, and as President Grant gathered troops to defend Washington should worse come to worse, Congress convened to try and find a way out of the crisis. In this presentation we will delve into the tumultuous Campaign of 1876, and into the still-controversial settlement that made Hayes the nineteenth President of the United States.