Election to the United States House of Representatives in 1868

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The election to the United States House of Representatives in 1868 took place from June 1, 1868. The House of Representatives was elected on various election days in the United States . The election was part of the general election to the 41st United States Congress that year, which also elected a third of US Senators . The 1868 presidential election , won by Republican Ulysses S. Grant , also took place at the same time . The elections were overshadowed by discussions about issues relating to reconstruction .

At the time of the election, the United States consisted of 37 states. However, four states that had previously been members of the Confederate States were still not officially incorporated into the Union and excluded from the elections. These were Virginia , Mississippi , Texas and Georgia , which were then also provided with congressional representatives during the legislative period. Six other former southern states had been admitted during the previous legislature and were now represented in Congress again. Because of the four missing states, elections were only held in 33 states. The number of MPs to be elected was 243. The distribution of seats was based on the 1860 census .

The Republicans were able to maintain their absolute majority in the elections. Despite the increase in the number of seats in the House of Representatives, they lost two seats. The Democrats gained votes, especially in the returned southern states, even if the Republicans were also able to secure a few seats there temporarily. The controversial reconstruction policy of the Radical Republicans was still a campaign issue.

Women were neither eligible nor eligible to vote. In many states, African Americans were also excluded from voting. The final restriction on African American men was in these elections. They were eligible to vote and elected from that year after the 15th Amendment to the United States Constitution was passed in 1870.

Election result

Total: 243

Distribution of seats
   
A total of 243 seats
  • Dem .: 67
  • Otherwise: 5
  • Rep .: 171

The results of the last election two years earlier are in brackets. Changes during the legislative period that do not affect the elections as such are not included in these figures, but are noted in the article on the 41st Congress in the section on the members of the House of Representatives under the relevant names of the representatives. The same applies to elections in states that joined the Union after the beginning of the legislative period or that were re-admitted to the Union. As a result, the sources sometimes contain different information, as changes during the legislative period were sometimes incorporated into the figures and sometimes not.

See also

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