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Two headlines from a front page about the election results from 1876 presidential election.
Evening star (Washington, D.C.), November 8, 1876

Using Historical Newspapers to Help Students Reflect on Past Election Outcomes

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When learning about the upcoming presidential election, students may have questions about when the results will be known. Examining news coverage from past presidential elections offers students an opportunity to consider various factors in determining and communicating election results.

This post offers three activities a teacher could facilitate with students, each corresponding to a different circumstance from a historical presidential election:

  • Expectations: How candidates were perceived to perform influenced voters’ expectations about what the outcome would be and when it would be known.
  • Access to information: Where, when, and how voters got information about election results affected how they understood the outcome.
  • Processes: In the United States, states oversee elections. However, the Constitution outlines the process for determining and certifying presidential election results. Some processes took time to fully play out.
1948 Presidential Election: Expectations

The 1948 presidential election was competitive. Scientific polling on candidate favorability and who was expected to win was relatively new; polls influenced how journalists reported on likely outcomes of the election.

Newspaper headline published on election day, 1948.
Evening star (Washington, D.C.), November 2, 1948

Dewey’s Vote Total Put at 49.5% in Final Gallup Poll Figures, Evening Star (Washington, D.C.), November 2, 1948

Took Lead Early Vote, Kept it Up, The Daily Alaska Empire (Juneau, Alaska), November 3, 1948

Chicago Tribune ‘Elects’ Dewey, Blames Early G.O.P. Lead. Evening Star (Washington, D.C.), November 4, 1948

Analysis activity: Students could work with a partner or independently.

  • Direct students to read each article.
  • Then, ask students to name the outcome of the presidential election: Who won and by how much?
  • Next, support students as they think about expectations of the race as reported in the articles. How did expectations of who would win affect reporting?
  • Finally, discuss with students the pros and cons of polling ahead of elections in relationship to voters’ expectations.
1876 Presidential Election: Access to Information

The 1876 election came at a tumultuous time for the country, including backlash from many Southerners to Federal Reconstruction policies and the lingering effects of the 1873 economic panic. Reporting on election returns varied greatly and affected how people understood the disputed results.

Headline about 1876 presidential election results from a D.C. newspaper.
Evening star (Washington, D.C.), November 8, 1876

Second Edition. The Election. Latest Returns. News From Doubtful States. Slight Chance Yet for Hayes. Evening Star (Washington, D.C.), November 8, 1876

The Election. New Orleans Republican (New Orleans, La), November 8, 1876

Victory: An Eventful Day in the Nation’s History. Reform Triumphant. The Battle Fought and Won. The Daily Dispatch (Richmond [Va.]), November 8, 1876

Tilden Elected. His Electoral Majority Small. New-York Tribune (New York [N.Y.]), November 8, 1876

The Election News. Eureka Daily Sentinel (Eureka, Nev.), November 8, 1876

Analysis activity: Teachers could divvy up or jigsaw articles in several ways, including by the region the article represents or by the stance an author takes on the outcome of the election.

  • After students read their assigned articles, encourage them to look closely at the words used to communicate election results. How is the outcome reported (uncertain? known?).
  • Support students as they compare and contrast articles from different regions (Do results contradict? corroborate?).
  • Ask students to consider the significance of discrepancies in communicating election results.
1824 Presidential Election: Processes

In 1824, four candidates competed for the presidency; however, all were from the same political party. This was the first election in which many states used the popular vote to determine electors, rather than the selection of electors taking place within state legislatures.

Headline about the 1824 presidential election, several days after election day.
American watchman and Delaware advertiser (Wilmington, Del.), November 19, 1824

Presidential Election. Results As Far As They Are Known. American Watchman and Delaware Advertiser (Wilmington, Del.), November 19, 1824

Adams Takes the Lead. American Watchman and Delaware Advertiser (Wilmington, Del.), December 21, 1824

Presidential Election. American Watchman and Delaware Advertiser (Wilmington, Del.), February 11, 1825

Analysis activity: Students could work with a partner or independently.

  • Direct students to pay close attention to the date of each article and notice what is known/unknown about results.
  • Encourage students to look for reporting on processes playing out related to determining election results.
  • Ask students what they can find out about how the process is determined and to what extent is it explained to the public.

While these activities are not intended to be a full study of a particular presidential election, students may ask meaningful questions about an election featured here. Research guides for the 1824 Election and the 1876 Election offer additional information. Although the 1948 presidential election doesn’t have a similar guide, students could search on that year’s election and examine related primary sources.

We hope this post and the proposed activities are useful to you and your students. Please share adaptations or additional ideas in the comments!

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