In 2020 Republicans argued that the election was stolen and won only through fraudulent votes by Democrats. In 1876, Republicans said the same thing. The difference? In 1876, Democrats actually committed voter fraud and voter suppression. The election of 1876 was a race between Rutherford B. Hayes and Samuel J. Tilden. In many ways, it was also a race between continued Northern control over the South during Reconstruction and allowing the South to independently govern again. Though the election of 1876 happened almost 150 years before the election of 2020 there are many parallels.

 As we know, the election of 2020 wasn’t actually stolen and claims of voter suppression, fraud, and corruption by Democrats were dismissed. In 1876 those claims were a reality. There is proof of ballot boxes being stolen, fake ballots being voted, fraud committed by election officials, and extreme voter suppression by Southern Democrats. Despite the corruption, the Democratic candidate, Samuel J. Tilden came within one electoral vote of becoming president, but through compromise and months of deliberation Rutherford B. Hayes was elected President.

Democrats were so opposed to another Republican Presidency that they did everything in their power to prevent it, but in doing so invalidated 20 of their electoral votes, more than enough for Rutherford B. Hayes to win.

What exactly did they do to invalidate 20 electoral votes? Many of the things that Donald Trump accused Democrats of doing in 2020. Direct intimidation took place and there were reports of hundreds of men on horseback blocking voting sites, armed militias intimidating Black voters. Fraudulent ballots were also cast by people who voted more than once or illiterate voters were told that they were voting for a different person than their ballot was cast for. Democrats even went so far as stealing ballot boxes.

The good news is that democracy prevailed, and Democrats didn’t get away with fraud. After two conflicting sets of Electoral results were sent to Congress the election needed to be decided by the House and Senate, but when they couldn’t come to a decision an Electoral Commission deliberated on how to solve the race. Eventually, the fraud was investigated and the commission concluded that enough votes had been stolen from Hayes to argue that he was the rightful winner of the election. Two days before the inauguration, Filibusters in the House were called off and the election was certified, finally leading to Rutherford B. Hayes winning the election.

Even after the election was decided and it was concluded that democrats engaged in fraud, many democrats refused to accept the results. Eventually, Rutherford B. Hayes became known as His Fraudulency and Rutherfraud because of Democrats who rejected the results of the election.  Although democracy prevailed through the election of Rutherford B. Hayes in order to maintain a working relationship with southern Democrats, Hayes was forced to make compromises that weakened reconstruction in the south.

In 2020, just as in 1876, compromises had to be made due to the election being contested. In 2020 many people said they were voting for the lesser of two evils, but just as in 1876, compromise led to at least slight stability. All in all, forced compromise is not ideal, but it is important to keep in mind what the outcome may be if you don’t vote.