Retrospective US Presidential Election: 1876

ote in the 1876 Retrospective US Presidential Election!

  • Total voters
    147
  • Poll closed .

Nerdlinger

I plan to run through every US presidential election, two per week. The 28 elections from 1789-1896 will be run simultaneously with the 28 elections from 1900-2008. Be sure to vote in each election!

For 1789-1800, I will include in the poll everyone who received at least 5% of the electoral vote. From 1804-2008, I will include everyone who received at least 0.05% of the popular vote. Results for each election will be posted on the dedicated Retrospective US Presidential Election Results Thread (here) and compared to the actual results. The thread for general project discussion is here.

Here's the link to the 1988 election.
 

Nerdlinger

Obviously, the poll question in both this and the 1988 election should start with "Vote" rather than "ote."

So, all of you history lovers out there, convince me of who to vote for.
 
Abhakhazia

Abhakhazia

Banned
Nerdlinger said:
Thank you. What other parts of him do you like?
Click to expand...

This, from wiki-
Prior to the Civil War, Cooper was active in the anti-slavery movement and promoted the application of Christian concepts to solve social injustice. He was a strong supporter of the Union cause during the war and an advocate of the government issue of paper money.
Influenced by the writings of Lydia Maria Child, Cooper became involved in the Indian reform movement, organizing the privately funded United States Indian Commission. This organization, whose members included William E. Dodge and Henry Ward Beecher, was dedicated to the protection and elevation of Native Americans in the United States and the elimination of warfare in the western territories.
Cooper's efforts led to the formation of the Board of Indian Commissioners, which oversaw Ulysses S. Grant's Peace Policy. Between 1870 and 1875, Cooper sponsored Indian delegations to Washington, D.C., New York City, and other Eastern cities. These delegations met with Indian rights advocates and addressed the public on United States Indian policy. Speakers included: Red Cloud, Little Raven, and Alfred B. Meacham and a delegation of Modoc and Klamath Indians.
Cooper was an ardent critic of the gold standard and the debt-based monetary system of bank currency. Throughout the depression from 1873–78, he said that usury was the foremost political problem of the day. He strongly advocated a credit-based, Government-issued currency of United States Notes.
 

The Red

Nerdlinger said:
Obviously, the poll question in both this and the 1988 election should start with "Vote" rather than "ote."

So, all of you history lovers out there, convince me of who to vote for.
Click to expand...

Cooper, imagine the things that beard could do as POTUS.
 

OAM47

For once, in both threads, I'm not sure of who to vote for in at least one. Yeah, it's happened for one at a time before, but never both in the matchup.
 

Nerdlinger

Abhakhazia said:
This, from wiki-
Prior to the Civil War, Cooper was active in the anti-slavery movement and promoted the application of Christian concepts to solve social injustice. He was a strong supporter of the Union cause during the war and an advocate of the government issue of paper money.
Influenced by the writings of Lydia Maria Child, Cooper became involved in the Indian reform movement, organizing the privately funded United States Indian Commission. This organization, whose members included William E. Dodge and Henry Ward Beecher, was dedicated to the protection and elevation of Native Americans in the United States and the elimination of warfare in the western territories.
Cooper's efforts led to the formation of the Board of Indian Commissioners, which oversaw Ulysses S. Grant's Peace Policy. Between 1870 and 1875, Cooper sponsored Indian delegations to Washington, D.C., New York City, and other Eastern cities. These delegations met with Indian rights advocates and addressed the public on United States Indian policy. Speakers included: Red Cloud, Little Raven, and Alfred B. Meacham and a delegation of Modoc and Klamath Indians.
Cooper was an ardent critic of the gold standard and the debt-based monetary system of bank currency. Throughout the depression from 1873–78, he said that usury was the foremost political problem of the day. He strongly advocated a credit-based, Government-issued currency of United States Notes.
Click to expand...

OK, the "Christian concepts" bit is something of a turn-off, actually. Also, I really don't yet understand the pros and cons of the gold standard, silver standard, and fiat currency.
 

Deleted member 40957

What a horrible set of candidates. A (literal) neckbeard who ran on a policy of hyperinflation, a man who sent troops in to murder striking workers, and a (pre-1900) Democrat.

Count me in for the Prohibitionist, despite my distaste of social conservatism. Green Clay Smith was the son of famed abolitionist politician Cassius Clay, and he was a distinguished Civil War leader and supporter of emancipation.

The Prohibition Party was in favor of direct elections for the Presidency and Senate, universal suffrage, rights for immigrants, free public schooling, and an end to public-sector corruption.

I don't like their Christian moralizing but they're better than the alternatives.
 
Last edited by a moderator:

Deleted member 40957

Nerdlinger said:
OK, the "Christian concepts" bit is something of a turn-off, actually. Also, I really don't yet understand the pros and cons of the gold standard, silver standard, and fiat currency.
Click to expand...

Fiat currency is what we use now and it allows for flexible monetary policy through changes in the money supply. Printing money drives the value down (inflation), removing money from circulation drives the value up (deflation). This can be useful in a recession - if the relative prices of domestic goods are lowered via inflation, imports will lessen (as domestic consumers will buy the now cheaper domestic products) and exports will rise (as foreign consumers will buy the now cheaper domestic products).

This boosts demand and can lift the economy out of a recession.

With a gold standard, the value of money is fixed and monetary policy of this sort is not possible.

However, while I think fiat currency is a good idea, the massive hyperinflation advocated by the Greenback Party is not, and would have led to a Weimar-type economic crisis as everyone's savings become worthless. So I'm not supporting the Greenbackers at this point.
 

QuoProQuid

serbrcq said:
Count me in for the Prohibitionist, despite my distaste of social conservatism. Green Clay Smith was the son of famed abolitionist politician Cassius Clay, and he was a distinguished Civil War leader and supporter of emancipation.

The Prohibition Party was in favor of direct elections for the Presidency and Senate, universal suffrage, rights for immigrants, free public schooling, and an end to public-sector corruption.

I don't like their Christian moralizing but they're better than the alternatives.
Click to expand...

These are the reasons I am voting Prohibition, the most Progressive Party this cycle.

Vote for Prohibition.
 
Komodo

Komodo

Tilden is a Democrat, which in 1876 means that his power-base is still dominated by the South, former Confederates and former Copperheads. No thanks.

Cooper seems nice, but I have two problems with him. First, while he may have been in favor of civil rights, I just don't feel that he would have the strength or "teeth" to actually enforce Civil Rights legislation. Second, his party's main platform of hyper-inflation. A fiat currency is nice and all today, but in 1876 and coupled with the hyperinflation advocated by the Greenbacks? No thanks. It would cripple the economy, perhaps irrevocably. Hyper-inflation is bad news - look at the early years of the Weimar Republic (as has already been pointed out). Also it's basically just putting the interests of farmers ahead of everyone else (as Japhny has previously explained in another thread).

Hayes, at least, will strive towards Civil Rights and civil service reform. Additionally, while he was forced to end Reconstruction in OTL in order to achieve the Presidency via compromise, a clean win here means that the Federal Government can continue to reconstruct the South and build a more equal society there.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top
Top