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Governor Chamberlain's inability to preserve the peace as riots were breaking out across the state, most notably the Hamburg Massacre , led many black and white voters to support the Democratic ticket in November. The Turbulent Atmosphere continued through to an election day marred by fraud and intimidation on the parts of both political parties. Wade Hampton emerged as the Democratic candidate chosen to Redeem the state from Republican rule. The election was disputed and a prolonged contest ensued as both parties established separate governments. Only the withdrawal of Federal Troops as ordered by President Hayes enabled Wade Hampton to become the 77th Governor of South Carolina. BACKGROUND South Carolina entered 1876 having endured eight years of Radical Republican rule that had effectively alienated the entire white population of the state. The Reconstruction programs set up by the Republicans were used by Corrupt Politicians and Carpetbaggers to their financial benefit. Many black citizens of the state began to question Republican rule and some former slaves even stated that life was better under Slavery .Drago, p66 However, most blacks remained steadfastly loyal to the Republican Party and they constituted a sizeable majority of the electorate. In addition, the State Democratic Party was completely unorganized and had not contested a state election since 1868 when they were utterly defeated by the Republicans. Not only was the Democratic Party in disarray, but it was also divided on a strategy for contesting the general election. Most Democrats heading into the May convention favored to not oppose the governorship and other state offices because Governor Chamberlain had implemented many favorable reforms. Known as Fusionists , they also felt that any effort spent on state offices would be wasted and better served by trying to acquire a majority in the General Assembly . The more ardent Democrats called the "Straighout Democrats" gained strength with the General Assembly electing two corrupt men to circuit judgeships, former Governor Franklin J. Moses Jr. and William Whipper . Even though the nominations were blocked by Governor Chamberlain, the straightouts believed that meaningful reform would only happen when Democrats gained power. In their opinion, every race from Governor down to coroner had to be contested. DEMOCRATIC CONVENTIONS May convention A reinvigorated South Carolina Democratic Party convened in Columbia from May 4 to May 5 . The purpose of this convention was to select 14 delegates and alternates to the National Democratic Convention in St. Louis and state the policies of the party. However, the party remained divided between the Fusionists and the Straighouts as to whether run a state ticket or not. The debate continued through the summer between the two as to which approach would be best for the Democratic Party. The Hamburg Massacre persuaded white South Carolinians that Governor Chamberlain's administration was unable to maintain order in the black state militias. Any hopes of fusion with the Republicans were thus ended and the Straighouts became the dominant force within the Democratic Party. during the Civil War]] August convention The Democrats reconvened in Columbia for the nominating convention held on August 15 through August 17 . Since the Republicans had yet to meet, the candidacy of Governor Chamberlain was uncertain, undermining the Fusionists. Straightouts were further rallied by the opening shots at the Hamburg Massacre . The first test of Straightout strength in the Democratic Party was the election of the President of the Convention. By a vote of 80 to 66, the Straightout candidate was elected and after a secret session the nomination process began. Matthew Butler nominated Wade Hampton for the post of governor and the delegates unanimously approved the nomination by Acclamation . Wade Hampton, although a supporter of the Straighouts, had a moderate reputation that enabled him to unite the two factions of the party and even also attract black voters.Drago, p8 The Democratic platform that emerged from the convention was vague and noncommittal to specifics. Pledges were made to restore order, reform the government and lower taxes, but no spefic policies were formulated. The Straightouts knew that only a consensus position of general ideas would unite the party and elect Democrats to statewide offices. REPUBLICAN CONVENTIONS A group of prominent South Carolina Republicans , notably Senator John J. Patterson and Robert B. Elliott , organized an opposition to Governor Chamberlain prior to the state convention. They were upset by the reforms enacted by the Governor, especially the removal of corrupt Republicans from positions and replacing them with Democrats. Their goal entering the convention was to weaken Governor Chamberlain enough so that he would be removed from the ticket in November or forced to make favorable concessions. April convention The Republicans gathered in Columbia from April 12 to April 14 for the state convention to nominate 14 delegates to the National Republican Convention in Cincinnati . Those in opposition of Governor Chamberlain first succeeded in winning control of the temporary chairmanship for the convention when their candidate defeated the Governor by a vote of 80 to 40. Having achieved effective control of the convention, the opposition to Governor Chamberlain proceeded to select delegates to the national convention with the purpose of excluding the Governor from the delegation. However, the convention descended into chaos between those in support of the Governor and those in opposition. An Inkstand was thrown at the head of a delegate and a chair was raised above Governor Chamberlain with the intention of striking him.Reynolds, p363 Governor Chamberlain responded with a powerful diatribe of those opposing him by accusing them of siding with the Ku Klux Klan . He then reaffirmed his loyalty to the Republican Party and its platform and explained that his actions in office were meant to serve the Party. The majority of the delegates were convinced of the Governor's sincerity and elected him as a delegate-at-large to the national convention by a vote of 89 to 32. September convention Worried by his support among Republicans, Governor Chamberlain Canvassed several counties of the state. Accompanied by Republicans held in low esteem by the white community, the meetings were often disrupted by Democrats. However, the growing strength and militancy of the Democrats served the purpose of reducing the opposition to Chamberlain within the Republican Party. When the Republicans met for the nominating convention in Columbia on September 13 through September 15 , Governor Chamberlain was renominated with little difficulty. However, those opposed to Chamberlain sought to compensate for their defeat by adding themselves to the ticket. Robert B. Elliott became the nominee for Attorney General and Thomas C. Dunn the nominee for Comptroller General. Both had been very vocal in their opposition to Chamberlain and Elliott was notorious for corruption and his belief of Black Supremacy . After the election, Chamberlain regretted the inclusion of Elliott on the ticket and thought that Elliott's removal should have been the condition for his acceptance as nominee for Governor.Reynolds, p367 The platform adopted by the Republicans contained many specific and innovative proposals that were to be effected either as amendments to the state constitution or through legislative action. Among the more prominent proposed reforms were:
The results of the convention for the Republicans were mixed; on one hand, the party emerged united from their convention for the first time since 1868 , but it came with a heavy price as the more moderate black and white members of the party switched to support Hampton and the Democrats. GENERAL ELECTION Democratic campaign The Democratic strategy for the election was twofold; Wade Hampton was to attract moderate voters by appearing as a senior statesman while his chief lieutenant, Martin Gary , was to implement the Mississippi Plan in South Carolina. Known as the Shotgun Policy in South Carolina, the Mississippi Plan called for the bribery or intimidation of black voters. Financial enticements were given to blacks who supported the Democrats and violence was waged on others in order to convince them to join a Democratic club for protection. The first step of the Democratic campaign was to set up clubs to organize its members; the more militant Democrats were organized into the rifle clubs whereas the Red Shirt clubs were arranged to appeal to black voters. By election day, the Democrats had enrolled almost every white man not associated with the Republican party into a club and set up several clubs for blacks. Supporters of the Democratic Party often wore red shirts in response to Oliver Morton's use of the bloody shirt to maintain support in the North for Reconstruction of the South .Drago, p9 They would often parade through towns on horseback such as to give an impression of greater numbers and shouted "Hurrah for Hampton" as their Slogan . These demonstrations served several purposes for the Democrats: they brought together whites, frightened Republicans and inspired blacks towards their cause. Another important aspect of the Mississippi Plan put into effect was the disruption of Republican meetings and the demanding of equal time. The campaign device was called "dividing time" and it proved to be one of the more useful techniques employed by the Democrats in the campaign for three reasons: the strong show of force intimidated the black voters; it terrified Republican candidates and disgraced them in front of the blacks; and because most black voters were illiterate, it was the only possible way for the Democrats to reach them with their arguments since the newspapers were useless. The harassment of the Republicans had gotten so bad that the state Democratic committee had to warn its members that the purpose was to attract black voters and not to terrorize them.Jarrell, p68 An unofficial policy employed by the whites, yet equally effective as the others, was "preference, not proscription." Basically, blacks who espoused support for the Democrats were given a certificate that allowed for them to have priority in employment and trade. The device was not used on the farms because the contracts lasted until January, but it instead wreaked havoc among the black artisans in the urban areas. The state Democratic committee never endorsed the tactic and Hampton urged its ending after the end of the campaign.Jarrell, p70 Democratic black vote Democrats recognized the Black Majority in the state and realized that the only way for them to win the election was through the addition of black voters to its ranks. This was a tricky problem for the party because they were known for upholding Slavery and introducing the Black Codes . However, the Republicans had become notoriously corrupt and little progress was made towards the promises made to blacks, such as 40 Acres And A Mule . Furthermore, it angered many blacks that a former Slave Trader , Joe Crews, was elected as a Republican to the General Assembly.Drago, p35 Those blacks enticed with joining and voting for the Democratic Party were ultimately motivated by the paternalistic nature of Wade Hampton.Drago, p29 They resented the Northern politicians who came to rule the state into destruction and saw Hampton as someone who would Redeem the state out of its current despair. However, black Democrats faced ostracism from the black community and multiple threats of violence. The black women were especially noted for their cruelty; they would strip known black Democrats naked in public and some of the wives would leave their husbands or refuse to sleep with them. Even the daughter of a black Democrat was whipped at school for her father's support of Hampton.Drago, p42 Republican campaign The entirety of the Republican campaign for the general election in November was based on maintaining the black vote. There was little campaigning by Republican candidates and one of Governor Chamberlain's newspapers, ''Columbia Daily Union-Herald'', even noted that "Public meetings are not necessary to arouse the Republicans, nor to inform them. On the day of election nine-tenths of them could be directed to cast their ballots at one poll, if necessary. .."Reynolds, p374 Instead, the Republicans made a point of making a show of force with its black members and to impress upon other black voters that a vote for the Democrats would result in violence. Additionally, the Republicans sought to create racial disturbances to give President Grant an excuse to send Federal Troops to the state. ELECTION RESULTS The general election was held on November 7 , 1876 and there were few instances of disturbance. At each polling place, there were Federal supervisors from both the Democratic and Republican parties. Federal troops were also stationed at the County Seat s to preserve the peace at the polling places if needed, but they were never called upon. As the results were coming in on Wednesday morning, it appeared that Chamberlain would win, but Hampton had taken the lead by Thursday. Hampton claimed victory which was immediately denied by Chamberlain and the Republicans because they claimed massive fraud and intimidation had given Hampton the victory. Indeed, there were more votes cast in Edgefield and Laurens counties than there had been registered voters.Edgar, p404 When the Republican dominated Board of State Canvassars met after the election to certify the results, they failed on November 22 to certify the election results from Edgefield and Laurens counties despite being ordered by the State Supreme Court to certify all the results. Effectively this meant that the results from those counties were thrown out. The state supreme court then held the board members in Contempt Of Court and placed them in the Richland County jail. However, a Federal Judge annulled the order of the state supreme court and issued a Writ Of Habeas Corpus in favor of the board members. During the morning of November 28 prior to the convening of the General Assembly , Chamberlain ordered two Companies of Federal Troops under the command of General Ruger to the State House . This action had been approved by President Grant on November 26 in order to prevent a violent takeover by the Democrats and to block the admittance of the Democratic members from Edgefield and Laurens counties. The Democratic members from Edgefield and Laurens counties were forbidden to enter the General Assembly and the Democrats left to set up a rival legislature at Carolina Hall. With the Republicans in complete control of the government and backed by the support of Federal troops, they discarded the election returns from Edgefield and Laurens counties for the gubernatorial race and declared Chamberlain elected for a second term on December 5 . The Democrats derided the sham installation of Chamberlain as Governor by the Republicans and on December 14 , they declared Hampton Governor of South Carolina. They included returns from Edgefield and Laurens counties in their tally which meant out of 184,943 registered voters in 1875, only 555 voters did not cast a ballot in the election. The results as declared by the Democrats held up to be the official results of the election when Hampton became the sole Governor on April 11 , 1877 .
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