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GRINNELL, Iowa — Decision Day has become divisive but in Dr. Sarah Purcell’s history class at Grinnell College students learn it is hardly unprecedented.

“It is not accurate that America has never been this divided. There are times we’ve been divided but that’s not to say it is a good thing,” Dr. Purcell said.

The eight-week fall course takes students through the five times in United States history that controversy, ballot integrity, rhetoric and voter suppression led to presidential election results being contested. Purcell said, “If you look at the 1876 election which was contested, that was contested in part because southern states were having terrible controversy and white supremacists were suppressing the right of Black voters.”

Students learned it goes back as early as the fourth presidential election over 200 years ago, with incumbent John Adams against eventual winner Thomas Jefferson. Zev Zetner is a fourth-year student at Grinnell and a Religious Studies Major who took the class. They said, “Our first contested election was in 1800 in which we had the first real political parties and they are seeing their opponents as illegitimate and that’s a trend we’ve seen throughout American history in American politics.”

1824 went down as the “Corrupt Bargain.” John Quincy Adams lost both the popular vote and electoral college to Andrew Jackson but thanks to Adams’ close bond with Speaker of the House Henry Clay, Adams became President. Purcell said, “The House of Representatives chose John Quincy Adams to be President.”

In 2000 the U.S. Supreme Court was forced to decide the winner of Al Gore and George W. Bush after Florida’s numbers were too close to decide. Third-year Grinnell student and English/Bio-Chemistry Major Clare Bode was another who took the class taught by Dr. Purcell. Bode said, “The ways in which voter turnout really matters is something we saw with Bush versus Gore. How it came down to a small number of votes so that helps when people are disillusioned to think their vote doesn’t matter.”

According to a survey released in October by the American Psychological Association 69% of Americans say the election is causing them an overwhelming amount of stress. While the class puts current political trends into perspective it hasn’t exactly eased up the anxiety for students like Anne Mester, a third-year History and Biology major. Mester said, “I’m going to be less surprised now with what happens if contestation does arise and I think.” Bode agreed saying, “I don’t think it eased any anxiety unfortunately about the event but it did provide me with a lot more context and information with how the system works.”

Dr Purcell says while each contested election had a different spark that lit the flame the integrity of the end result stayed the same. “The actual candidates in the elections had always accepted the results and that was really key in the system functioning,” said Purcell.

Learning the past can sometimes help better understand current events like the aftermath of the 2020 election that nearly led to results being contested despite record voter turnout. Mester said, “I learned a lot about how the public reacts to contested elections and how that really can change the course of the election itself and how the candidate themself reacts and how important that is to resolving the contestation in the American public’s eyes.”

Dr. Purcell added, “Historians can’t predict the future so I can’t tell the students exactly what is going to happen next.”