1874–75 United States House of Representatives elections

1874–75 United States House of Representatives elections
All 292 seats in the United States House of Representatives; 147 seats needed for a majority
	Results:; Democratic hold Democratic gain; Republican hold Republican gain; Independent hold
Speaker before election; James G. Blaine; Republican	Elected Speaker ; Michael Kerr; Democratic

The 1874–75 United States House of Representatives elections were held on various dates in various states between June 1, 1874, and September 7, 1875. Each state set its own date for its elections to the House of Representatives before the first session of the 44th United States Congress convened on December 6, 1875. Elections were held for all 292 seats, representing 37 states.

Quick Facts All 292 seats in the United States House of Representatives 147 seats needed for a majority, Majority party ...

Close

These elections were held in the middle of President Ulysses S. Grant's second term with a deep economic depression underway. It was an important turning point, as the Republicans lost heavily and the Democrats gained control of the House. It signaled the imminent end of Reconstruction, which Democrats opposed. Historians emphasize the factors of economic depression and attacks on the Grant administration for corruption as key factors in the vote.^[2]

With the election following the Panic of 1873, Grant's Republican Party was crushed in the elections, losing their majority and almost half their seats to the Democratic Party. This was the first period of Democratic control since the prewar era. The economic crisis and the inability of Grant to find a solution led to his party's defeat. This was the second-largest swing in the history of the House (only behind the 1894 elections), and is the largest House loss in the history of the Republican Party.

In the south, the Democrats continued their systematic destruction of the Republican coalition. In the South, Scalawags moved into the Democratic Party. The Democratic landslide signaled the imminent end of Reconstruction, which Democrats opposed and a realignment of the Republican coalition that had dominated American politics since the late 1850s.^[3]

While the ongoing end of Reconstruction in the South was one of the main reasons for the shift, turn-of-the-century historian James Ford Rhodes explored the multiple causes of the results in the North:^[4]

In the fall elections of 1874 the issue was clearly defined: Did the Republican President Ulysses S. Grant and Congress deserve the confidence of the country? and the answer was unmistakably No ... The Democrats had won a signal victory, obtaining control of the next House of Representatives which would stand Democrats 168, Liberals and Independents 14, Republicans 108 as against the two-thirds Republican majority secured by the election of 1872. Since 1861 the Republicans had controlled the House and now with its loss came a decrease in their majority in the Senate ...

Rhodes continues:

The political revolution from 1872 to 1874 was due to the failure of the Southern policy of the Republican party, to the Credit Mobilier and Sanborn contract scandals, to corrupt and inefficient administration in many departments and to the persistent advocacy of Grant by some close friends and hangers-on for a third presidential term. Some among the opposition were influenced by the President's backsliding in the cause of civil service reform, and others by the failure of the Republican party to grapple successfully with the financial question. The depression, following the financial Panic of 1873, and the number of men consequently out of employment weighed in the scale against the party in power. In Ohio, the result was affected by the temperance crusade in the early part of the year. Bands of women of good social standing marched to saloons before which or in which they sang hymns and, kneeling down, prayed that the great evil of drink might be removed. Sympathizing men wrought with them in causing the strict law of the State against the sale of strong liquor to be rigidly enforced. Since Republicans were in the main the instigators of the movement, it alienated from their party a large portion of the German American vote.

Remove ads

↓
182	8	103
Democratic	^[f]	Republican

More information State, Type ...

State	Type	Total seats	Democratic		Republican		Independent
State	Type	Total seats	Seats	Change	Seats	Change	Seats	Change
Alabama	District + 2 at-large	8	6	4	2	4	0
Arkansas	District	4	4	4	0	4	0
California^[g]	District	4	3	2	1	2	0
Connecticut^[g]	District	4	3	2	1	2	0
Delaware	At-large	1	1	1	0	1	0
Florida	District	2	1	1	1	1	0
Georgia^[h]	District	9	9^[e]	2	0	2	0
Illinois	District	19	11	6	6	8	2	2
Indiana^[h]	District	13	8	5	5	5	0
Iowa^[h]	District	9	1	1	8	1	0
Kansas	District	3	1	1	2	1	0
Kentucky	District	10	9	1	1	1	0
Louisiana	District	6	4	3	2	2	0
Maine^[h]	District	5	0		5		0
Maryland	District	6	6	2	0	2	0
Massachusetts	District	11	5	5	4	7	2	2
Michigan	District	9	3	3	6	3	0
Minnesota	District	3	0		3		0
Mississippi	District	6	4	3	2^[i]	3	0
Missouri	District	13	13	4	0	4	0
Nebraska^[h]	At-large	1	0		1		0
Nevada	At-large	1	0	1	1	1	0
New Hampshire^[g]	District	3	2	1	1	1	0
New Jersey	District	7	5	4	2	4	0
New York	District	33	17	8	16^[i]	8	0
North Carolina^[h]	District	8	7	2	1	2	0
Ohio^[h]	District	20	13	7	7	7	0
Oregon^[h]	At-large	1	1	1	0	1	0
Pennsylvania	District	27	17	12	10	12	0
Rhode Island	District	2	0		2		0
South Carolina	District	5	0		5		0
Tennessee	District	10	9	6	1	6	0
Texas	District	6	6		0		0
Vermont^[h]	District	3	0		3^[i]		0
Virginia	District	9	8	4	1	4	0
West Virginia^[h]	District	3	3	1	0	1	0
Wisconsin	District	8	3	1	5	1	0
Total		293^[b]	183^[e] 62.5%	94	105^[d] 36.2%	93	4 1.4%	4

Close

More information Popular vote ...

Popular vote

Democratic			49.12%
Republican			44.38%
Anti-Monopoly			1.28%
Reform			0.15%
Independent			4.44%
Others			0.63%

Close

More information House seats ...

House seats

Democratic			61.43%
Republican			35.15%
Anti-Monopoly			0.34%
Reform			0.34%
Independent			2.74%

Close

More information House seats by party holding plurality in state, Net gain in party representation ...

Close

Remove ads

In 1845, Congress passed a law providing for a uniform nationwide date for choosing Presidential electors.^[5] This law did not affect election dates for Congress, which remained within the jurisdiction of State governments, but over time, the states moved their congressional elections to this date as well. In 1874–75, there were still 10 states with earlier election dates, and 3 states with later election dates:

Early elections (1874):
- June 1 Oregon
- August 6 North Carolina
- September 1 Vermont
- September 14 Maine
- October 7 Georgia
- October 13 Indiana, Iowa, Nebraska, Ohio, West Virginia
Late elections (1875):
- March 9, 1875 New Hampshire
- April 5, 1875 Connecticut
- September 7, 1875 California

Remove ads