The Journal of the Gilded Age and Progressive Era

Table of Contents - 2004 - Volume 3, Issue 01  

Essays

The House, the Beast, and the Bloody Shirt: The Doorkeeper Controversy of 1878

Ed Bradleya1

a1 Harpweek, LLC

On Friday, April 5, 1878, Benjamin F. Butler, a Republican from Massachusetts, arose in the U.S. House of Representatives and offered a resolution stating “that the true Union, maimed soldier, Brigadier-General James Shields” be chosen as doorkeeper of that body. Although a seemingly innocuous motion, Butler's resolution would spark a debate over the election of a doorkeeper that would last into the following week. That debate — and the reactions to it — are in turn quite revealing of the political environment of the time. Specifically, the “doorkeeper controversy” of 1878 symbolizes the persistence of sectionalism in the immediate post-Reconstruction years. It also provides yet another example of the turmoil and controversy that characterized Ben Butler's colorful political career.

Ed Bradley, a native of New Jersey, received his Ph.D. in American history from the University of Illinois in 1999. He is currently employed as a research associate at Harpweek, LLC <http.//www.harpweek.com> a history web site based in Norfolk, VA.