1868 election
Ally Jenkins
Election of 1868
The election of 1868 marked the first of the Presidential Elections within the reconstruction era, later deemed vital to the recovery of our nations unity and pride coming off of the war on slavery. With the disarray throughout the country, Texas, Mississippi, and Virginia, all previously confederate states, had not yet been readmitted and were not allowed to partake in the election of the next president. The creation of the 13th amendment, freeing all former slaves and angering the slave-relying south, also set the scene for controversy in the pivotal election of 1868. Two unexpected candidates would run in hopes of heading the vital reconstruction of our country after a time of national devastation and loss.1
Andrew Johnson had been passed the torch of presidency just a short time before, after his successor, Abraham Lincoln was assassinated. It was quickly made apparent that he was not fit for the role and was in no way measurable to the adored Lincoln. Because of his failure to build up a sufficient political base within his party, the Democrats relayed their nomination to Horatio Seymour. At the time of his presidential nomination Horatio Seymour, the “man of charity and peace”, was the well-attributed governor of New York and an easy favorite within the Democratic Party. 2
The Republican nominee for presidency in the election of 1868 was Ulysses S. Grant, a well-known union army general who had earned a unanimous convention nominee vote. What he lacked in political experience he made up for in adoration of southerners following the war. His platform was that of the Radical Republicans, working to enforce black suffrage within the North, and increased rights for freedmen in the southern states. At this point in our nations history the Ku Klux Klan acted as a debilitating obstacle in overcoming the previous attitude of the southern slave owners, and the main goal of inclusion of the Republican Party.3
Heratio Seymour, the
Election of 1868
The election of 1868 marked the first of the Presidential Elections within the reconstruction era, later deemed vital to the recovery of our nations unity and pride coming off of the war on slavery. With the disarray throughout the country, Texas, Mississippi, and Virginia, all previously confederate states, had not yet been readmitted and were not allowed to partake in the election of the next president. The creation of the 13th amendment, freeing all former slaves and angering the slave-relying south, also set the scene for controversy in the pivotal election of 1868. Two unexpected candidates would run in hopes of heading the vital reconstruction of our country after a time of national devastation and loss.1
Andrew Johnson had been passed the torch of presidency just a short time before, after his successor, Abraham Lincoln was assassinated. It was quickly made apparent that he was not fit for the role and was in no way measurable to the adored Lincoln. Because of his failure to build up a sufficient political base within his party, the Democrats relayed their nomination to Horatio Seymour. At the time of his presidential nomination Horatio Seymour, the “man of charity and peace”, was the well-attributed governor of New York and an easy favorite within the Democratic Party. 2
The Republican nominee for presidency in the election of 1868 was Ulysses S. Grant, a well-known union army general who had earned a unanimous convention nominee vote. What he lacked in political experience he made up for in adoration of southerners following the war. His platform was that of the Radical Republicans, working to enforce black suffrage within the North, and increased rights for freedmen in the southern states. At this point in our nations history the Ku Klux Klan acted as a debilitating obstacle in overcoming the previous attitude of the southern slave owners, and the main goal of inclusion of the Republican Party.3
Heratio Seymour, the