Today we see the bulldozer as a useful construction tool, but this name originated from an early form of violent voter suppression policy.
When you see the word "bulldozer," you might picture a large yellow machine — with caterpillar tracks, a steel toothed blade in front, moving forward and leveling whatever it encounters. Or perhaps you recall the small toy version of this massive mechanical beast from the Tonka company. Alternatively, if you think completely unrelated, you might envision a serene scene of livestock — like Ferdinand the Bull sitting among daisies, lost in a daydream.
So, just think about how shocking it would be to know the terrible and violent origins of the word bulldozer!
The word "bulldozer" (originally spelled "bulldoser") was first used in the lead-up to the election of 1876. This was the last year of President Ulysses S. Grant's second term, and he unexpectedly declined to run for a third time. In his place, the Republican Party supported Ohio Governor and former U.S. Representative Rutherford B. Hayes; the Democratic candidate was New York Governor Samuel Tilden.
This was a very important election. By then, all the Confederate states had returned to the Union, Reconstruction was underway after the Civil War, and for the first time in a presidential election, African American men could vote for someone other than Ulysses S. Grant. The results of the 1876 election determined the future of the southern United States for many years to come.
The former slave owners and separatists in the South were aware of the situation; and they were not willing to sit back and watch as the North and their former slaves came to seize their power and influence. Although three federal laws passed in 1870 and '71 aimed to protect African Americans from violence and intimidation at the polls, many were bulldosed into silence. Bulldose was a type of slang that came from “a dose fit for a bull” or “a dose of the bull” (meaning a whip's blow). Bulldosers would perpetrate physical violence against Black voters—to force them not to vote or to intimidate them into voting for the Democrats.
Before the election, in five states—Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, and South Carolina—the majority of registered voters were African American. It was expected that if the voting was fair, the Republican candidate would easily win in these states. However, at the end of the vote count, it was found that Tilden had won the popular vote in Alabama and Mississippi.
The results in the other three states were even more dramatic. After the counting, both parties claimed victory. On election night, Tilden was considered the winner—his electoral votes totaled 184, which was 19 more than Hayes, and just 1 vote shy of a majority. The 20 electoral votes from these states (including Oregon) remained in limbo for several months—first, both parties, and later, both chambers of Congress began separate investigations. The Democrats and their controlled House committee accused the Republicans of ballot stuffing and intimidation. The Republicans made the exact same accusations against the Democrats.
Ultimately, the resolution of the presidential election came through a closed-door meeting, which later became known as the "Compromise of 1877." The Democrats agreed to give the remaining electoral votes to the Republicans, resulting in Rutherford Hayes becoming the 19th president of the United States; however, in exchange, federal troops were withdrawn from the South—effectively ending the Reconstruction era and returning power to those who had governed the South during the Civil War.
Violent intimidation continues at the polling stations; at the same time, officials in the South implement new measures to suppress Black voting—such as Jim Crow laws and the grandfather clause. (2) Over time, the word "bulldozing" comes to be used in the broad sense of "to force or coerce through violence or intimidation"; and when the massive, almost overwhelming machine emerges, the term becomes ready for literal use.
The machine we know today as a bulldozer was invented in the early 1920s. The term bulldozer began to appear in various writings during the first months of the Great Depression— the letter Z obscures the origin of the word. Because of the violent and racist origins of the word bulldozer, many now prefer to call these massive machines earth movers.
Note:
(1) Ferdinand the Bull is a character from the famous children's story, The Story of Ferdinand. Ferdinand is a gentle, calm-natured bull who does not want to fight, but rather loves to smell flowers.
(2) Two repressive state policies for the deprivation of voting rights and other rights of Black people.
Notes: The article was published on October 8, 2020, in 'The Saturday Evening Post'. The translation of the article was done by the Akhra team with the assistance of AI.