1876, Tilden vs. Hayes: Faustian Bargain

American Elections: Wicked Game

Airship

History

4.8 • 3.2K Ratings

🗓️ 3 March 2020

⏱️ 49 minutes

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Summary

Fed up with the scandals of the Grant Administration, Republicans find a new leader in Rutherford B Hayes. To keep the White House Republican, Hayes will have to get the best of a do-gooder Democrat from New York with a reputation for uncompromising honesty: Samuel J Tilden. With the election too close to call, and the country in chaos, Republicans and Democrats in Congress strike a back room bargain that has disastrous consequences for the millions of newly freed Black Americans in the South.

Created, hosted and executive produced by Lindsay Graham for Airship. Sound design by Derek Behrens. Co-Executive produced by Steven Walters in association with Ritual Productions. Written and researched by Steven Walters and John Paul Green. Fact checking by Gregory Jackson and Cielle Salazar from the podcast History That Doesn’t Suck. Music by Lindsay Graham.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	It's 11 a.m. on Monday, July 30th, 1866 in New Orleans, Louisiana. Inside Suley's commercial
0:20.3	college in the heart of the city, a 17-year-old accounting student named R.W. Todd stares
0:25.7	ugly out the window at the neighboring Lafayette Square Park below. Inside the large classroom,
0:31.7	about 30 to 40 boys mill about waiting for their instructor to arrive. Todd has no interest
0:37.3	in being an accountant. He longs to be outside working with his hands, not cooped up inside
0:42.5	a building all day, crunching numbers. His day-dreaming though is interrupted by his
0:46.7	classmate, Thomas Manning.
0:48.5	Did you even hear what I said?
0:50.5	Todd breaks his gaze. Looks at his friend.
0:53.1	Oh, no, sorry. I was just obnoxious. You must start focusing more. Fall classes are just around
0:58.5	the corner. Yeah, no. You know. I don't think you do. If you fail, what will your father say?
1:05.9	Todd's father is a strict man, a military officer, enlisted by the federal government to protect
1:11.1	black politicians and activists who are fighting for equal rights. He is a good man and he has high
1:16.8	expectations for his son. Before Todd has a chance to answer the question, the door to the classroom
1:22.7	bursts open. Mr. Suley, a former Confederate soldier, turned schoolmaster, enters the room in a hurry.
1:29.2	His hair, normally neat, is tassled in his clothes, unkempt. He struggles to catch his breath.
1:35.5	Boys, I'm afraid class is canceled. All you should go home immediately. There's to be a riot
1:41.0	at the Mechanics Institute down the street. And for your own safety, I must urge you all to exit
1:46.2	this building at once. Boys in the classroom look at each other, puzzled and nervous. Mr. Suley
1:52.4	raises his voice. Evacuate at once, dammit. As the students quickly gathered their materials and
1:58.8	head for the exit, Todd freezes in panic. His father works right next to the institute. Just then
2:05.0	his classmate grabs him by the shoulder. Robert, we need to leave. No, no, no, I need to find my father.
	...

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