South Carolina voted for the
Republican nominee,
Rutherford B. Hayes, over the
Democratic nominee,
Samuel J. Tilden. Hayes won the state by a very narrow margin of 0.48%, only 889 votes. Events such as the
Hamburg massacre served to dissuade many Republican voters.[1] This would be the last time a Republican presidential candidate would win South Carolina until
Barry Goldwater carried the state in
1964. Had Tilden won South Carolina, he would have won the election.
Due to
Jim Crow laws disenfranchising many
Black voters as well as some poor white voters, the total vote count of 182,683 votes cast in this election would not be surpassed until
1952, 76 years later. In fact, between
1884 and
1928, the total vote did not even pass 100,000.
Results
1876 United States presidential election in South Carolina[2]