Let's write about America's violent voting history- In the past Slavery was a divisive issue today it is called "racism"

We often hear that the November 2026, midterms are the most important election in our country’s history. Really❓ 

Honestly, America has gone through worse. Much worse.

Essay opinion published in the Baltimore Sun by Tom Denes

If you think this election season is bad, remember 1876 | GUEST COMMENTARY

The current political turmoil in America is not new. 

During the run-up to the Civil War, people were already shooting at each other. After the Kansas-Nebraska Act was passed in 1854, pro-slavery Kansas residents, aided by outsiders from Missouri (known as “border ruffians”), voted in a pro-slavery legislature that quickly established pro-slavery laws. Other Kansas residents opposed to slavery, known as “Jayhawkers” and aided by outside abolitionists, set up a separate government and adopted an anti-slavery constitution. President Franklin Pierce called them traitors and threw his administration’s weight behind the pro-slavery legislature. Fights broke out, including an attack by abolitionist fanatic John Brown, who with his followers hacked five pro-slavery settlers to death in an act that became known as the Pottawatomie Massacre.

The violence was not confined to Kansas. In Congress, anti-slavery Sen. Charles Sumner of Massachusetts was almost murdered by the cousin of pro-slavery Sen. Andrew Butler of South Carolina after Sumner launched a personal attack on Butler. The cousin, Rep. Preston Brooks, attacked Sumner in Congress’ chambers, beating him with a cane so badly that Sumner couldn’t attend the Senate for four years.

In 1859, Brown and a band of anti-slavery zealots took over Harpers Ferry, Virginia (now West Virginia), in an attempt to start a major slave revolt. For 24 hours, Brown controlled one of the mightiest arsenals in the world, including 100,000 guns. His goal: free the 4 million enslaved people of the United States. It didn’t work, and Brown was hanged.

On the morning of December 2, 1859, Brown rolled to his execution on a wagon, sitting atop his own coffin. Earlier that morning he had composed a note that read: “I, John Brown, am now quite certain that the crimes of this guilty land will never be purged away, but with Blood. I had, as I now think, vainly flattered myself that without very much bloodshed, it might be done.”

His prediction was right, of course. By the end of the Civil War, more than 600,000 Americans lay dead.

And then there were the voting shenanigans that ended Reconstruction.

In 1876, the presidential election was a cliffhanger. Although Democrat Sam Tilden had won the popular vote (4.3 million to 4 million), neither Tilden nor Republican Rutherford B. Hayes had reached the magic number of 185 electoral votes. Tilden stood one vote shy at 184 electoral votes, and Hayes was well behind at 165 votes.

But the election results in Louisiana, Florida, South Carolina and Oregon were still up for grabs. Both parties claimed the 20 unaccounted-for electoral votes.

Many issues clouded the votes. One was the controversy regarding who could or couldn’t be an elector. If someone held any kind of position with the federal government, he couldn’t be an elector. 

In Florida, one of Hayes’ electors, F.C. Humphreys, held an appointment as a U.S. shipping commissioner. The controversy over his vote was whether he had resigned in time to become a legitimate elector.

To solve the impasse, Congress created an Electoral Commission consisting of five members of Congress, five members of the Senate and five Supreme Court justices. The commission’s makeup was controversial and took a long time to establish. The final seated commission was skewed by exactly one Supreme Court justice on the Republican side. And ultimately each of the 20 electoral votes reviewed by the commission was awarded to Hayes on a party-line vote of 8-7.

Congress still had to approve the commission’s findings. A compromise was forged. The Compromise of 1877 called for the withdrawal of all federal troops from the South, federal funding for infrastructure improvements, the appointment of at least one Southerner to the Cabinet, aid for the Texas and Pacific Railroad and the presidency to Hayes.

Although the republic lived, Reconstruction in the South was over. The notorious Black codes returned. Black residents were jailed for minor crimes and were then used as unpaid laborers, often for years — a de facto return to slavery.

As we approach the 2026 midterms, let’s appreciate how far we’ve come. And, as always, in all elections, please don’t forget to vote.

Tom Denes is the co-author of “The Last President: Our 15-Year Journey Through American History.” He lives in Maryland.