I’ve read that the electoral votes of these two states were not counted in 1872, but I haven’t read the reason for this. The states had already been “reconstructed” and had participated in the previous election. What happened with this election?
One other Reconstruction question: what had Tennessee done differently from the rest of the southern states that allowed it to be readmitted sooner and avoid Reconstruction as it occurred in those other states?
Regarding Tennessee, it was the only Southern state to ratify the 14th amendment in 1866, and so was not included in the division of the South into military districts under congressional Reconstruction. As for Arkansas and Louisiana, the only cites that I can find at the moment refer to “Reconstruction irregularities” with no further detail.
Congress declined to accept the 1872 electoral votes from Arkansas and Louisiana. Louisiana was an especial problem, with both parties claiming victory in the governor’s race, the legislature, and the presidential election, and each with its own hand-picked Returning Board to certify its win. The mess wasn’t settled until May 1873, when President Grant ordered federal troops to disperse the Democratic regime after its backers massacred 60 African American Republicans in Colfax.
The situation in Arkansas was less violent but equally controversial, as the Republican state canvassing board threw out returns from heavily Democratic counties (on grounds of voter intimidation) to secure a Republican victory. The U.S. House voted to accept the Arkansas votes, but the Senate voted the opposite by a narrow margin, and under the law at the time, a split decision resulted in rejection.
Tennessee ratified the 14th Amendment because a staunchly Unionist government elected during wartime (when Confederates didn’t participate, for obvious reasons) still held power in 1866. The Governor, “Parson” Brownlow, knew that his regime would be safe from Congressional interference if he could persuade the legislature to ratify the 14th Amendment. He did, and it was.
Note that when it appeared Bronlow would be successful in getting Tennessee to ratify the 14th Amendment, many Democrats ran away to avoid a quorum. The vote was only held because the Pinkertons tracked a bunch of the recalcitrants down and locked them in a closet in the Capitol whereupon they were marked present.
–Cliffy
Indeed, it was exactly the same dynamic as we saw in the recent Texas redistricting controversy. Bronwlow’s allies controlled a majority in both houses of the Tennessee legislature, but not two-thirds of the state House, and the Tennessee Constitution required a two-thirds quorum for either house to conduct business.
Brownlow’s opponents withdrew from the House to forestall a quorum, whereupon the remainder of the House issued warrants for their arrest. State police tracked down two members and detained them in a Capitol committee room, allowing the House to ratify the Amendment on July 19, 1866 with 43 members voting aye, 11 nay, the two detained members “present”, and 28 absent, for the bare minimum two-thirds quorum.