1900 United States presidential election in Tennessee
The 1900 United States presidential election in Tennessee took place on November 6, 1900. All contemporary 45 states were part of the 1900 United States presidential election. Voters chose 12 electors to the Electoral College, which selected the president and vice president.
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County Results
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For over a century after the Civil War, Tennessee’s white citizenry was divided according to partisan loyalties established in that war. Unionist regions covering almost all of East Tennessee, Kentucky Pennyroyal-allied Macon County, and the five West Tennessee Highland Rim counties of Carroll, Henderson, McNairy, Hardin and Wayne[1] voted Republican – generally by landslide margins – as they saw the Democratic Party as the “war party” who had forced them into a war they did not wish to fight.[2] Contrariwise, the rest of Middle and West Tennessee who had supported and driven the state’s secession was equally fiercely Democratic as it associated the Republicans with Reconstruction.[3] After the state’s white landowning class re-established its rule in the early 1870s, blacks and Unionist whites combined to give a competitive political system for two decades,[4] although in this era the Republicans could only capture statewide offices when the Democratic Party was divided on this issue of payment of state debt.[4]
White Democrats in West Tennessee were always aiming to eliminate black political influence, which they first attempted to do by election fraud in the middle 1880s and did so much more successfully at the end of that decade by instituting in counties with significant black populations a secret ballot that prevented illiterates voting,[5] and a poll tax throughout the state, which cut turnout by at least a third in the 1890s.[6] Although the poll tax was supposedly relaxed or paid by party officials in Unionist Republican areas,[6] turnout would continue to decline seriously in later years, although overall presidential partisan percentages did not change substantially as the GOP attempted to attract Democrats who would benefit from tariffs.[7]
Tennessee on election would be won by the Democratic nominees, former U.S. Representative and 1896 Democratic presidential nominee William Jennings Bryan and his running mate, former Vice President Adlai Stevenson I. They defeated the Republican nominees, incumbent President William McKinley of Ohio and his running mate Theodore Roosevelt of New York. Bryan won the state by a margin of 8.08%, an increase of 2.32 percent on his 1896 margin over McKinley, a small change but a substantial one given the extremely deep partisan loyalties of white Tennesseeans. His increased margin reflected more complete black disenfranchisement and reduced suspicion of his free-silver policies in the major urban areas, which saw him carry normally Republican Knox County. McKinley is the only Republican to win two terms in the White House without carrying Tennessee either time. . Neither McKinley nor Bryan campaigned in Tennessee, and by the fourth week of October the state was generally contested, as it had consistently gone since 1872, to the Democrats.[8]
Along with having won Tennessee four years earlier against McKinley, Bryan would later win the state again against William Howard Taft in 1908.
Results edit
| 1900 United States presidential election in Tennessee[9] | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | Percentage | Electoral votes | |
| Democratic | William Jennings Bryan | 145,240 | 53.03% | 12 | |
| Republican | William McKinley (incumbent) | 123,108 | 44.95% | 0 | |
| Prohibition | John G. Woolley | 3,844 | 1.40% | 0 | |
| Populist | Wharton Barker | 1,322 | 0.48% | 0 | |
| Social Democratic | Eugene V. Debs | 346 | 0.13% | 0 | |
| Totals | 273,860 | 100.00% | 12 | ||
| Voter turnout | — | ||||
Results by county edit
| 1900 United States presidential election in Tennessee by county[10] | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| County | William Jennings Bryan Democratic | William McKinley Republican | John Granville Woolley Prohibition | Wharton Barker Populist | Eugene Victor Debs Social Democratic | Margin | Total votes cast | ||||||
| # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | # | % | ||
| Anderson | 732 | 26.73% | 1,997 | 72.91% | 10 | 0.37% | 0 | 0.00% | 0 | 0.00% | -1,265 | -46.18% | 2,739 |
| Bedford | 2,176 | 60.70% | 1,357 | 37.85% | 42 | 1.17% | 10 | 0.28% | 0 | 0.00% | 819 | 22.85% | 3,585 |
| Benton | 1,385 | 63.77% | 720 | 33.15% | 25 | 1.15% | 42 | 1.93% | 0 | 0.00% | 665 | 30.62% | 2,172 |
| Bledsoe | 498 | 40.32% | 734 | 59.43% | 3 | 0.24% | 0 | 0.00% | 0 | 0.00% | -236 | -19.11% | 1,235 |
| Blount | 825 | 26.74% | 2,201 | 71.35% | 59 | 1.91% | 0 | 0.00% | 0 | 0.00% | -1,376 | -44.60% | 3,085 |
| Bradley | 909 | 35.51% | 1,579 | 61.68% | 72 | 2.81% | 0 | 0.00% | 0 | 0.00% | -670 | -26.17% | 2,560 |
| Campbell | 479 | 17.54% | 2,189 | 80.15% | 42 | 1.54% | 0 | 0.00% | 21 | 0.77% | -1,710 | -62.61% | 2,731 |
| Cannon | 1,213 | 60.95% | 775 | 38.94% | 2 | 0.10% | 0 | 0.00% | 0 | 0.00% | 438 | 22.01% | 1,990 |
| Carroll | 1,931 | 41.64% | 2,516 | 54.26% | 55 | 1.19% | 135 | 2.91% | 0 | 0.00% | -585 | -12.62% | 4,637 |
| Carter | 408 | 12.72% | 2,763 | 86.13% | 37 | 1.15% | 0 | 0.00% | 0 | 0.00% | -2,355 | -73.41% | 3,208 |
| Cheatham | 1,190 | 71.82% | 440 | 26.55% | 24 | 1.45% | 3 | 0.18% | 0 | 0.00% | 750 | 45.26% | 1,657 |
| Chester | 894 | 53.21% | 702 | 41.79% | 8 | 0.48% | 76 | 4.52% | 0 | 0.00% | 192 | 11.43% | 1,680 |
| Claiborne | 770 | 43.68% | 987 | 55.98% | 6 | 0.34% | 0 | 0.00% | 0 | 0.00% | -217 | -12.31% | 1,763 |
| Clay | 830 | 61.25% | 498 | 36.75% | 12 | 0.89% | 11 | 0.81% | 4 | 0.30% | 332 | 24.50% | 1,355 |
| Cocke | 1,001 | 29.69% | 2,360 | 70.01% | 10 | 0.30% | 0 | 0.00% | 0 | 0.00% | -1,359 | -40.31% | 3,371 |
| Coffee | 1,660 | 70.34% | 624 | 26.44% | 45 | 1.91% | 2 | 0.08% | 29 | 1.23% | 1,036 | 43.90% | 2,360 |
| Crockett | 1,428 | 56.62% | 1,050 | 41.63% | 41 | 1.63% | 0 | 0.00% | 3 | 0.12% | 378 | 14.99% | 2,522 |
| Cumberland | 405 | 34.67% | 750 | 64.21% | 13 | 1.11% | 0 | 0.00% | 0 | 0.00% | -345 | -29.54% | 1,168 |
| Davidson | 6,869 | 70.81% | 2,501 | 25.78% | 232 | 2.39% | 31 | 0.32% | 67 | 0.69% | 4,368 | 45.03% | 9,700 |
| DeKalb | 1,528 | 50.43% | 1,442 | 47.59% | 60 | 1.98% | 0 | 0.00% | 0 | 0.00% | 86 | 2.84% | 3,030 |
| Decatur | 909 | 50.53% | 890 | 49.47% | 0 | 0.00% | 0 | 0.00% | 0 | 0.00% | 19 | 1.06% | 1,799 |
| Dickson | 1,691 | 62.47% | 964 | 35.61% | 39 | 1.44% | 10 | 0.37% | 3 | 0.11% | 727 | 26.86% | 2,707 |
| Dyer | 1,975 | 71.87% | 728 | 26.49% | 45 | 1.64% | 0 | 0.00% | 0 | 0.00% | 1,247 | 45.38% | 2,748 |
| Fayette | 2,282 | 71.31% | 885 | 27.66% | 20 | 0.63% | 12 | 0.38% | 1 | 0.03% | 1,397 | 43.66% | 3,200 |
| Fentress | 320 | 29.01% | 782 | 70.90% | 1 | 0.09% | 0 | 0.00% | 0 | 0.00% | -462 | -41.89% | 1,103 |
| Franklin | 2,196 | 76.49% | 613 | 21.35% | 62 | 2.16% | 0 | 0.00% | 0 | 0.00% | 1,583 | 55.14% | 2,871 |
| Gibson | 3,376 | 64.97% | 1,509 | 29.04% | 257 | 4.95% | 54 | 1.04% | 0 | 0.00% | 1,867 | 35.93% | 5,196 |
| Giles | 2,790 | 61.43% | 1,703 | 37.49% | 26 | 0.57% | 23 | 0.51% | 0 | 0.00% | 1,087 | 23.93% | 4,542 |
| Grainger | 960 | 34.68% | 1,802 | 65.10% | 6 | 0.22% | 0 | 0.00% | 0 | 0.00% | -842 | -30.42% | 2,768 |
| Greene | 2,868 | 47.89% | 3,091 | 51.61% | 30 | 0.50% | 0 | 0.00% | 0 | 0.00% | -223 | -3.72% | 5,989 |
| Grundy | 852 | 69.72% | 357 | 29.21% | 13 | 1.06% | 0 | 0.00% | 0 | 0.00% | 495 | 40.51% | 1,222 |
| Hamblen | 959 | 41.52% | 1,322 | 57.23% | 29 | 1.26% | 0 | 0.00% | 0 | 0.00% | -363 | -15.71% | 2,310 |
| Hamilton | 3,188 | 42.57% | 3,943 | 52.66% | 257 | 3.43% | 39 | 0.52% | 61 | 0.81% | -755 | -10.08% | 7,488 |
| Hancock | 382 | 21.09% | 1,429 | 78.91% | 0 | 0.00% | 0 | 0.00% | 0 | 0.00% | -1,047 | -57.81% | 1,811 |
| Hardeman | 1,974 | 59.42% | 1,336 | 40.22% | 3 | 0.09% | 9 | 0.27% | 0 | 0.00% | 638 | 19.21% | 3,322 |
| Hardin | 1,159 | 45.88% | 1,367 | 54.12% | 0 | 0.00% | 0 | 0.00% | 0 | 0.00% | -208 | -8.23% | 2,526 |
| Hawkins | 1,867 | 42.38% | 2,515 | 57.09% | 22 | 0.50% | 1 | 0.02% | 0 | 0.00% | -648 | -14.71% | 4,405 |
| Haywood | 1,452 | 85.87% | 214 | 12.66% | 16 | 0.95% | 4 | 0.24% | 5 | 0.30% | 1,238 | 73.21% | 1,691 |
| Henderson | 1,308 | 39.87% | 1,925 | 58.67% | 42 | 1.28% | 6 | 0.18% | 0 | 0.00% | -617 | -18.81% | 3,281 |
| Henry | 2,605 | 70.92% | 929 | 25.29% | 103 | 2.80% | 26 | 0.71% | 10 | 0.27% | 1,676 | 45.63% | 3,673 |
| Hickman | 1,292 | 58.22% | 894 | 40.29% | 9 | 0.41% | 24 | 1.08% | 0 | 0.00% | 398 | 17.94% | 2,219 |
| Houston | 738 | 66.85% | 341 | 30.89% | 25 | 2.26% | 0 | 0.00% | 0 | 0.00% | 397 | 35.96% | 1,104 |
| Humphreys | 1,561 | 69.78% | 614 | 27.45% | 54 | 2.41% | 4 | 0.18% | 4 | 0.18% | 947 | 42.33% | 2,237 |
| Jackson | 1,479 | 61.12% | 935 | 38.64% | 0 | 0.00% | 6 | 0.25% | 0 | 0.00% | 544 | 22.48% | 2,420 |
| James | 283 | 32.01% | 598 | 67.65% | 3 | 0.34% | 0 | 0.00% | 0 | 0.00% | -315 | -35.63% | 884 |
| Jefferson | 816 | 25.67% | 2,347 | 73.83% | 16 | 0.50% | 0 | 0.00% | 0 | 0.00% | -1,531 | -48.16% | 3,179 |
| Johnson | 189 | 10.42% | 1,618 | 89.20% | 7 | 0.39% | 0 | 0.00% | 0 | 0.00% | -1,429 | -78.78% | 1,814 |
| Knox | 4,389 | 51.08% | 3,982 | 46.35% | 120 | 1.40% | 47 | 0.55% | 54 | 0.63% | 407 | 4.74% | 8,592 |
| Lake | 558 | 73.52% | 201 | 26.48% | 0 | 0.00% | 0 | 0.00% | 0 | 0.00% | 357 | 47.04% | 759 |
| Lauderdale | 1,807 | 78.46% | 437 | 18.98% | 24 | 1.04% | 35 | 1.52% | 0 | 0.00% | 1,370 | 59.49% | 2,303 |
| Lawrence | 1,480 | 52.73% | 1,327 | 47.27% | 0 | 0.00% | 0 | 0.00% | 0 | 0.00% | 153 | 5.45% | 2,807 |
| Lewis | 400 | 66.23% | 202 | 33.44% | 2 | 0.33% | 0 | 0.00% | 0 | 0.00% | 198 | 32.78% | 604 |
| Lincoln | 2,463 | 72.19% | 728 | 21.34% | 168 | 4.92% | 53 | 1.55% | 0 | 0.00% | 1,735 | 50.85% | 3,412 |
| Loudon | 512 | 31.28% | 1,116 | 68.17% | 7 | 0.43% | 2 | 0.12% | 0 | 0.00% | -604 | -36.90% | 1,637 |
| Macon | 871 | 39.66% | 1,325 | 60.34% | 0 | 0.00% | 0 | 0.00% | 0 | 0.00% | -454 | -20.67% | 2,196 |
| Madison | 2,379 | 64.84% | 1,147 | 31.26% | 15 | 0.41% | 123 | 3.35% | 5 | 0.14% | 1,232 | 33.58% | 3,669 |
| Marion | 1,234 | 43.73% | 1,585 | 56.17% | 3 | 0.11% | 0 | 0.00% | 0 | 0.00% | -351 | -12.44% | 2,822 |
| Marshall | 2,184 | 69.27% | 763 | 24.20% | 95 | 3.01% | 111 | 3.52% | 0 | 0.00% | 1,421 | 45.07% | 3,153 |
| Maury | 3,325 | 56.42% | 2,491 | 42.27% | 53 | 0.90% | 24 | 0.41% | 0 | 0.00% | 834 | 14.15% | 5,893 |
| McMinn | 1,289 | 37.90% | 2,057 | 60.48% | 52 | 1.53% | 3 | 0.09% | 0 | 0.00% | -768 | -22.58% | 3,401 |
| McNairy | 1,443 | 48.37% | 1,498 | 50.22% | 7 | 0.23% | 35 | 1.17% | 0 | 0.00% | -55 | -1.84% | 2,983 |
| Meigs | 701 | 52.83% | 619 | 46.65% | 2 | 0.15% | 5 | 0.38% | 0 | 0.00% | 82 | 6.18% | 1,327 |
| Monroe | 1,634 | 47.40% | 1,743 | 50.57% | 69 | 2.00% | 1 | 0.03% | 0 | 0.00% | -109 | -3.16% | 3,447 |
| Montgomery | 2,248 | 51.30% | 1,815 | 41.42% | 318 | 7.26% | 1 | 0.02% | 0 | 0.00% | 433 | 9.88% | 4,382 |
| Moore | 838 | 91.09% | 66 | 7.17% | 16 | 1.74% | 0 | 0.00% | 0 | 0.00% | 772 | 83.91% | 920 |
| Morgan | 421 | 28.45% | 1,053 | 71.15% | 6 | 0.41% | 0 | 0.00% | 0 | 0.00% | -632 | -42.70% | 1,480 |
| Obion | 2,722 | 74.78% | 771 | 21.18% | 127 | 3.49% | 20 | 0.55% | 0 | 0.00% | 1,951 | 53.60% | 3,640 |
| Overton | 1,443 | 65.38% | 764 | 34.62% | 0 | 0.00% | 0 | 0.00% | 0 | 0.00% | 679 | 30.77% | 2,207 |
| Perry | 851 | 57.89% | 608 | 41.36% | 0 | 0.00% | 11 | 0.75% | 0 | 0.00% | 243 | 16.53% | 1,470 |
| Pickett | 345 | 40.16% | 514 | 59.84% | 0 | 0.00% | 0 | 0.00% | 0 | 0.00% | -169 | -19.67% | 859 |
| Polk | 737 | 44.83% | 906 | 55.11% | 0 | 0.00% | 1 | 0.06% | 0 | 0.00% | -169 | -10.28% | 1,644 |
| Putnam | 1,452 | 57.76% | 1,058 | 42.08% | 4 | 0.16% | 0 | 0.00% | 0 | 0.00% | 394 | 15.67% | 2,514 |
| Rhea | 798 | 47.93% | 832 | 49.97% | 33 | 1.98% | 1 | 0.06% | 1 | 0.06% | -34 | -2.04% | 1,665 |
| Roane | 740 | 22.06% | 2,429 | 72.42% | 148 | 4.41% | 14 | 0.42% | 23 | 0.69% | -1,689 | -50.36% | 3,354 |
| Robertson | 2,564 | 68.10% | 1,128 | 29.96% | 67 | 1.78% | 6 | 0.16% | 0 | 0.00% | 1,436 | 38.14% | 3,765 |
| Rutherford | 2,517 | 62.29% | 1,429 | 35.36% | 13 | 0.32% | 82 | 2.03% | 0 | 0.00% | 1,088 | 26.92% | 4,041 |
| Scott | 171 | 10.23% | 1,498 | 89.59% | 3 | 0.18% | 0 | 0.00% | 0 | 0.00% | -1,327 | -79.37% | 1,672 |
| Sequatchie | 375 | 62.71% | 216 | 36.12% | 7 | 1.17% | 0 | 0.00% | 0 | 0.00% | 159 | 26.59% | 598 |
| Sevier | 382 | 12.81% | 2,595 | 86.99% | 6 | 0.20% | 0 | 0.00% | 0 | 0.00% | -2,213 | -74.19% | 2,983 |
| Shelby | 5,143 | 62.50% | 2,961 | 35.98% | 42 | 0.51% | 32 | 0.39% | 51 | 0.62% | 2,182 | 26.52% | 8,229 |
| Smith | 1,940 | 61.16% | 1,118 | 35.25% | 80 | 2.52% | 34 | 1.07% | 0 | 0.00% | 822 | 25.91% | 3,172 |
| Stewart | 1,577 | 65.93% | 793 | 33.15% | 20 | 0.84% | 2 | 0.08% | 0 | 0.00% | 784 | 32.78% | 2,392 |
| Sullivan | 2,421 | 57.42% | 1,739 | 41.25% | 55 | 1.30% | 1 | 0.02% | 0 | 0.00% | 682 | 16.18% | 4,216 |
| Sumner | 2,589 | 75.68% | 776 | 22.68% | 26 | 0.76% | 26 | 0.76% | 4 | 0.12% | 1,813 | 53.00% | 3,421 |
| Tipton | 1,887 | 58.55% | 1,308 | 40.58% | 8 | 0.25% | 20 | 0.62% | 0 | 0.00% | 579 | 17.96% | 3,223 |
| Trousdale | 675 | 72.82% | 222 | 23.95% | 3 | 0.32% | 27 | 2.91% | 0 | 0.00% | 453 | 48.87% | 927 |
| Unicoi | 76 | 8.29% | 822 | 89.64% | 19 | 2.07% | 0 | 0.00% | 0 | 0.00% | -746 | -81.35% | 917 |
| Union | 566 | 27.22% | 1,501 | 72.20% | 12 | 0.58% | 0 | 0.00% | 0 | 0.00% | -935 | -44.97% | 2,079 |
| Van Buren | 425 | 73.40% | 153 | 26.42% | 1 | 0.17% | 0 | 0.00% | 0 | 0.00% | 272 | 46.98% | 579 |
| Warren | 1,926 | 74.13% | 672 | 25.87% | 0 | 0.00% | 0 | 0.00% | 0 | 0.00% | 1,254 | 48.27% | 2,598 |
| Washington | 1,496 | 36.98% | 2,488 | 61.51% | 60 | 1.48% | 1 | 0.02% | 0 | 0.00% | -992 | -24.52% | 4,045 |
| Wayne | 576 | 28.94% | 1,405 | 70.60% | 8 | 0.40% | 1 | 0.05% | 0 | 0.00% | -829 | -41.66% | 1,990 |
| Weakley | 3,609 | 62.74% | 1,990 | 34.60% | 123 | 2.14% | 30 | 0.52% | 0 | 0.00% | 1,619 | 28.15% | 5,752 |
| White | 1,658 | 70.92% | 656 | 28.06% | 24 | 1.03% | 0 | 0.00% | 0 | 0.00% | 1,002 | 42.86% | 2,338 |
| Williamson | 2,136 | 72.98% | 704 | 24.05% | 49 | 1.67% | 38 | 1.30% | 0 | 0.00% | 1,432 | 48.92% | 2,927 |
| Wilson | 2,674 | 70.20% | 1,061 | 27.86% | 66 | 1.73% | 8 | 0.21% | 0 | 0.00% | 1,613 | 42.35% | 3,809 |
| Totals | 145,249 | 53.04% | 123,108 | 44.95% | 3,844 | 1.40% | 1,323 | 0.48% | 346 | 0.13% | 22,141 | 8.08% | 273,870 |
See also edit
Notes edit
References edit
- ^ Wright, John K.; ‘Voting Habits in the United States: A Note on Two Maps’; Geographical Review, vol. 22, no. 4 (October 1932), pp. 666-672
- ^ Key (Jr.), Valdimer Orlando; Southern Politics in State and Nation (New York, 1949), pp. 282-283
- ^ Lyons, William; Scheb (II), John M. and Stair Billy; Government and Politics in Tennessee, pp. 183-184 ISBN 1572331410
- ^ a b Kousser, J. Morgan; The Shaping of Southern Politics: Suffrage Restriction and the Establishment of the One-Party South, 1880-1910, p. 104 ISBN 0-300-01973-4
- ^ Kousser; The Shaping of Southern Politics, p. 110
- ^ a b Kousser, The Shaping of Southern Politics, p. 118
- ^ Kousser; The Shaping of Southern Politics, p. 104
- ^ ‘Summary of the States Generally Conceded to McKinley or Bryan by Impartial Observers’; The Boston Globe, October 21, 1900, p. 33
- ^ Dave Leip's U.S. Election Atlas; Presidential General Election Results – Tennessee
- ^ "Popular Vote at the Presidential Election for 1900". Géoelections. (.xlsx file for €30)