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Primary sourceDocument1877

Electoral Commission

1877

The 1877 act of Congress that created the 15-member commission which, voting 8–7, awarded Hayes all 20 disputed electoral votes and the presidency.

This commission's disputed decision gave Hayes the presidency, making it central to how he came to power.

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Painting of a crowded, domed chamber with rows of seated men in dark suits on a lower floor, a standing speaker in the center-right, and spectators packed into a balcony above. A red-draped gallery and marble busts are visible.
Cornelia Adèle Fassett, The Florida Case before the Electoral Commission, 1877-1884.

About this source

What it is

This document records the creation of the Electoral Commission, formed by Congress on January 29, 1877, to resolve the disputed 1876 presidential election between Republican Rutherford B. Hayes and Democrat Samuel J. Tilden.

Twenty electoral votes from four states were disputed. The commission, made up of members of Congress and Supreme Court justices, voted along party lines, 8–7, to award all twenty votes to Hayes, giving him the presidency by a single electoral vote, 185–184.

Why it matters

This was one of the most serious constitutional crises in U.S. history, raising hard questions about fraud, voter intimidation and how to resolve a close election peacefully. The accompanying painting by Cornelia Adèle Fassett shows the commission at work and is itself a rare record of a woman artist capturing a major political event.

Look closer

  • Why might both political parties have accused each other of fraud in this election?
  • What does the painting's crowded chamber suggest about public interest in the dispute?
  • How might the outcome have been different if the commission's makeup had been different?

This document is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Rutherford B. Hayes on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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