If this meant returning
power to white conservatives, they were willing to pay the
price. The presidential election of 1876 degenerated into chaos
and confusion. Samuel J. Tilden, the Democratic candidate, and
Rutherford B. Hayes, the Republican, disputed its results.
Democrats and Republicans both claimed twenty electoral votes
from Georgia, Louisiana, South Carolina, and Florida. The first
returns had shown that Tilden was the victor, but Republicans,
especially Army veterans, warned that they would not accept such
a result. The Republicans represented themselves as the party of
the Union, and they claimed that the Democrats were the party of
secession. The debate grew so heated that it appeared war could
erupt again. Pessimists warned that it would be the last free
election in American history. After months of bickering, a
compromise was reached. The South was willing to support
Republican Hayes if, when in power, he would remove the troops
and restore home rule. The votes were counted again in the four
states in question, and all twenty were awarded to Hayes allowing
him to win by one electoral vote.
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