Compromise of 1877
The Compromise of 1877 was a purported informal, unwritten deal that settled the intensely disputed 1876 U.S. presidential election, pulled federal troops out of state politics in the South, and ended the Reconstruction Era. Through the Compromise, Republican Rutherford B. Hayes was awarded the White House over Democrat Samuel J. Tilden on the understanding that Hayes would remove the federal troops whose support was essential for the survival of Republican state governments in South Carolina, Florida and Louisiana. The compromise involved Democrats who controlled the House of Representatives allowing the decision of the Electoral Commission (United States) to take effect. The outgoing president, Republican Ulysses S. Grant, removed the soldiers from Florida. As president, Hayes removed the remaining troops in South Carolina and Louisiana. As soon as the troops left, many white Republicans also left and the "Redeemer" Democrats took control. What exactly happened is somewhat contested as the documentation is scanty. Black Republicans felt betrayed as they lost power.
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Books/Sources
- Ecstatic Nation: Confidence, Crisis, and Compromise, 1848-1877 (American History) - Brenda Wineapple
- Reunion and Reaction: The Compromise of 1877 and the End of Reconstruction - C. Vann Woodward
Youtube
- 25. The "End" of Reconstruction: Disputed Election of 1876, and the "Compromise of 1877"
- 26. Race and Reunion: The Civil War in American Memory