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"The Political Farce of 1876: Two Negroes and Ten White Men Who Defeated the Will of the American People as Expressed through the Ballot Box on the 7th Day of November, 1876."

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Print showing bust portraits of eight men, identified as, clockwise from top, Oliver P. Morton, James A. Garfield, George F. Hoar, William Strong, Joseph P. Bradley, Samuel F. Miller, George F. Edmunds, and Frederick T. Frelinghuysen; also a group of four men identified as the "Louisiana Returning Board", from left, Kenner, Casenave, Anderson, and Wells. Includes text of four quotes regarding election fraud, such as this by Messrs. Clifford, Field, Bayard, Abbott, Hunton, Thurman & Payne, "We can prove beyond a shadow of doubt that Louisiana and Florida voted for Tilden by decisive majorities, and we are prepared to show up the villainous frauds of the Returning Boards. All we ask is investigation by this commission" and this by U.S. Grant, "No man worthy of the office of President should be willing to hold it if counted in, or placed there, by any fraud. Either party can afford to be disappointed in the result, but the country cannot afford to have the result tainted by the suspicion of illegal, or false returns." In the 1876 presidential election, the election returns in four states were disputed; the final tally of votes showed Democratic candidate Samuel Tilden with approximately 250,000 more popular votes than Republican candidate Rutherford B. Hayes, though Hayes ended up with one more electoral vote than Tilden. On March 2, 1877, Congress met in a joint session and declared Hayes and Wheeler president and vice-president.

Credit: Library of Congress

The 1876 presidential election was not decided until the Supreme Court awarded Republican candidate Rutherford B. Hayes the disputed electoral votes from four states and a joint session of Congress declared Hayes the winner, on March 2, 1877. This 1877 broadside shows portraits of eight men, including Supreme Court justice William Strong (on the lower right) that Democrats blamed for the theft of the election from Samuel Tilden, who won nearly 250,000 more votes.