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The Election of 1868
The election of 1868 was the first presidential election to take place after the Civil War, during Reconstruction.
Learning Objective
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Evaluate how the Republican Party platform impacted the election of 1868
Key Points
- The Democrats nominated Horatio Seymour after a series of failed ballots and pledged to pursue a softer Reconstruction.
- Republicans favored Radical Reconstruction, punishing the South for its role in the war and nominated war hero Ulysses S. Grant.
- Grant took no part in the campaign and made no promises. A line in his letter of acceptance of the nomination became the Republican campaign theme—"Let us have peace".
Terms
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Horatio Seymour
Horatio Seymour (May 31, 1810 – February 12, 1886) was an American politician. He was the 18th Governor of New York from 1853 to 1854 and from 1863 to 1864.
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Ulysses S. Grant
Ulysses S. Grant (born Hiram Ulysses Grant; April 27, 1822 – July 23, 1885) became the 18th President of the United States (1869–1877) following his dominant role in the second half of the Civil War.
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Radical Reconstruction
"Radical Reconstruction" refers to the Reconstruction policies after the election of 1866, during which time Republicans passed acts granting greater freedoms to Freedmen and sought to punish the South for its role in the Civil War.
Full Text
The United States presidential election of 1868 was the first presidential election to take place after the American Civil War, during the period referred to as Reconstruction. Three of the former Confederate states, Texas, Mississippi, and Virginia, were not yet restored to the Union and therefore could not vote in the election.
The incumbent President, Andrew Johnson, who succeeded to the presidency in 1865 following the assassination of President Lincoln, was unsuccessful in his attempt to receive the Democratic presidential nomination. Instead of Johnson, the Democrats nominated Horatio Seymour, chairman of the convention, after a series of failed ballots with several other candidates vying for nomination. Seymour and the Democratic Party wanted to carry out a Reconstruction policy that would emphasize peaceful reconciliation with the South, a policy similar to that advocated by Abraham Lincoln and President Andrew Johnson.
By 1868, Republicans felt strong enough to drop the Union Party label, but still badly needed to nominate a popular hero for their presidential candidate. The Democratic Party controlled many large Northern states that had a great percentage of the electoral votes. General Ulysses S. Grant announced he was a Republican and was unanimously nominated on the first ballot as the party's standard bearer at the Republican convention in Chicago, Illinois, held on May 20-21, 1868. House Speaker Schuyler Colfax, a Radical Republican from Indiana, was nominated for vice-president on the sixth ballot, beating out the early favorite, Senator Benjamin Wade of Ohio.
The Republican platform supported black suffrage in the South, but agreed to let northern states decide for themselves whether to enfranchise blacks. It also opposed using greenbacks to redeem U.S. bonds, encouraged immigration, endorsed full rights for naturalized citizens, and favored Radical Reconstruction.
The campaign was conducted vigorously. The Republicans were fearful as late as October that they might be beaten. The Democrats were out of favor, and their candidate Seymour had been called a traitor and a troublemaker. Because several Southern states were not yet re-integrated into the union, the votes of thousands of southern Democrats would not be counted.
Grant took no part in the campaign and made no promises. A line in his letter of acceptance of the nomination became the Republican campaign theme—"Let us have peace. " After four years of civil war, three years of wrangling over Reconstruction, and the attempted impeachment of a president, the nation craved the peace Grant pledged to achieve. The voters were told that if they wanted to re-open the Civil War they need only elect Horatio Seymour, and some spread stories of bloodshed in the South to prove that Radical Reconstruction was necessary.
Horatio Seymour polled 2,708,744 votes against 3,013,650 for Grant, a fairly close race, but ultimately Grant carried the electoral college, winning the election. Many alleged that had the remaining Southern states taken place in the election, Seymour would have won, but the possible outcome is impossible to know for sure.
Republican Nominees for 1868
Ulysses S. Grant and Schuyler Colfax, Republican running mates for the presidency in the 1868 elections.
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Key Term Reference
- Abraham Lincoln
- Appears in these related concepts: African Americans in the Military, Cotton in the South, and The Freedmen's Bureau
- Andrew Johnson
- Appears in these related concepts: Johnson's Plan, Lincoln's Plan and Congress's Response, and Reconstruction in the South
- Democratic Party
- Appears in these related concepts: Whigs and Democrats, Hispanics as a Political Force, and The Modern Era of Political Parties
- Radical Republicans
- Appears in these related concepts: The End of the War, The Radical Record, and Union Politics
- Reconstruction
- Appears in these related concepts: The End of Reconstruction, Separate But Equal, and Legally Free, Socially Bound
- Republicans
- Appears in these related concepts: Economic Hardship and Labor Upheaval During the Transition to Peace, Reform and the Election of 1872, and The Sectional Crisis Deepens
- Southern Democrat
- Appears in these related concepts: Victory in Mexico, The Civil Rights Act, and The Bourbons and the Redeemers
- Southern Democrats
- Appears in these related concepts: War of Black Liberation, The Election of 1852, and Lincoln and Republican Victory in 1860
- The Electoral College
- Appears in these related concepts: The Election of 1924, The Election of 1936, and The Republican Victory
- citizen
- Appears in these related concepts: From Property to Democracy, African American Migration, and "We the People"
- electoral college
- Appears in these related concepts: The Structure of the Government, The General Election Campaign, and Debate over the Presidency and the Judiciary
- greenbacks
- Appears in these related concepts: Partisan Politics, The Government Debt, and Political Stalemate at the National Level
- immigration
- Appears in these related concepts: Civil Rights of Immigrants, Immigration and Illegal Immigration, and Impact of Immigration on the Host and Home Country Economies
- impeachment
- Appears in these related concepts: Vertical Checks and Balances, The Supreme Court as Policy Makers, and The House of Representatives
- republican
- Appears in these related concepts: Party Identification, Political Parties from 1800–1824, and Hamilton's Political Vision and the Federalist Papers
- suffrage
- Appears in these related concepts: The Political Participation of Women, Abolitionism and the Women's Rights Movement, and Women vs. Men
Sources
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Cite This Source
Source: Boundless. “The Election of 1868.” Boundless U.S. History. Boundless, 21 Jul. 2015. Retrieved 22 Sep. 2015 from https://www.boundless.com/u-s-history/textbooks/boundless-u-s-history-textbook/reconstruction-1865-1877-19/the-grant-administration-142/the-election-of-1868-750-8767/