Are you a teacher? For their part, white Southern Democrats did not honor their pledge to uphold the rights of Black citizens, but moved quickly to reverse as many of Reconstruction’s policies as possible. The Democratic candidate, Samuel J. Tilden, had won the popular vote and undisputed title to 184 electoral votes, only one short of victory. The men had been convicted of violating the 1870 Enforcement Act, which banned conspiracies to deny citizens’ constitutional rights and had been intended to combat violence by the Ku Klux Klan against Black people in the South. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! It was primarily worked out behind the scenes and with virtually no written record. But, the Compromise of 1877 did not restore the old order in the South. Summary Results of the Presidential Elections of 1876 could not indicate a clear winner for … The secret deal ensured that the Republican Party candidate, Rutherford Hayes, would become the next president and that the Democrats would regain political power in the southern state governments. A black and white reproduction of a … The secret deal ensured that the Republican Party candidate, Rutherford Hayes, would become the next president and that the Democrats would regain political power in the southern state governments. Returns from three states (Louisiana, Florida, South Carolina) were in dispute, with both sides claiming victory. Sarah Pruitt is a writer and editor based in seacoast New Hampshire. Tilden won the popular vote, but there was a dispute over the electoral votes of four states. In 1877, Congress convened to settle the election—and their solution proved to be the beginning of the end for Reconstruction in the south. Choose from 4 different sets of Compromise of 1876 flashcards on Quizlet. Explain the political situation that brought Reconstruction to an end. The 1876 election was the most divisive in U.S. history. The improvements that had been made for the African Americans were eventually undone. 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. Eventually, a compromise was reached known as the Compromise of 1877. In the compromise, Hayes received the electoral votes in the states where the results were disputed. Compromise of 1877 - End of Reconstruction All Rights Reserved. The compromise of 1876 In the wake of 1870s there was a widespread agenda to diminish the black votes and curb the Republican support through use of violence and intimidation. White southerners began to control the South again. Learn Compromise of 1876 with free interactive flashcards. Was There a Compromise of 1877? Eventually, a compromise was reached known as the Compromise of 1877. In the end, after a series of votes along strict party lines, the commission awarded Hayes all three of the contested states in early March 1877, making him the winner by a single electoral vote. (Troops remained in only Louisiana, South Carolina, and Florida, but the Compromise finalized the process.) In the compromise, Hayes received the electoral votes in the states where the results were disputed. She has been a frequent contributor to History.com since 2005, and is the author of Breaking History: Vanished! The removal of all Federal troops from the former Confederate States. The poll tax and the literacy test were examples of methods that were used to prevent African Americans from voting in the South. Three of the four efforts were temporarily successful, and only the fourth, that of 1861, broke down in failure. The Supreme Court’s ruling—that the 14th Amendment’s promise of due process and equal protection covered violations of citizens’ rights by the states, but not by individuals—would make prosecuting anti-Black violence increasingly difficult, even as the Klan and other white supremacist groups were helping to disenfranchise Black voters and reassert white control of the South. The Compromise of 1877, consisted of a deal between the Republicans and the Democrats to resolve the disagreement of the results of the presidential election of 1876. It resulted in the United States federal government pulling the last troops out of the South, and formally ending the Reconstruction Era. This gave Hayes the presidency. The 1876 election also has a fraught legacy: After months of bitter fighting, lawmakers made a fateful compromise that put Hayes in office by effectively ending Reconstruction, leading to a … The Compromise of 1877 had a major effect on the former slaves. Within the historiography of the election of 1876 and compromise of 1877, the Liberal Republicans had received short shrift until The Doom of Reconstruction . Republican and Democratic leaders reached a compromise to resolve the election issue and outstanding matters relating to reconstruction. (Lyons Press, 2017), which chronicles some of history's most famous disappearances. But Tilden had amassed only 184 electoral votes—one shy of the number needed to defeat his Republican opponent, Governor Rutherford B. Hayes of Ohio. A bitter divide between Republicans and Democrats kept the country from even discussing solutions t… Unresolved for months, it was finally settled in March … The Compromise of 1877 was an off-the-record deal, struck between Republicans and Democrats, that determined the victor of the 1876 presidential election. The Compromise of 1877 was an informal settlement between the Democratic representatives of the South and the Republican allies led by Rutherford Hayes. The Court’s decision in the Slaughterhouse Cases (1873), established that th… It was primarily worked out behind the scenes and with virtually no written record. Cartoonist Thomas Nast depicted the Compromise of 1877 as a “truce, not a compromise.” Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Division, public domain Fought in a climate of partisan violence and racial unrest, the 1876 race drew the highest voter turnout in US history (82 percent), and was ultimately resolved in a scramble for electoral votes. 7:16. In this election, Samuel Tilden ran for the Democratic Party, and Rutherford B. Hayes ran for the Republican Party. At the same time, key decisions by the U.S. Supreme Court struck at the protections afforded by Reconstruction-era constitutional amendments and legislation. What did the North and South each gain from the Compromise of 1877. Once the federal troops left the South, Reconstruction ended. It also marks the official end of the Reconstruction Era — the 12-year period after the Civil War, designed to help reunify the country after the crisis of secession. If by the turn of the twenty‐first century, the election of 1876 and Compromise of 1877 were feeling historiographical neglect, the presidential contest in 2000 promised a rekindling of interest. Jim Crow laws created legalized segregation in the South, and methods were developed to deny African Americans the right to vote. As president, Hayes removed the remaining troops in South Carolina and Louisiana. Many Republicans had grown weary of Reconstruction and had come to believe that the time for compromise with Southern whites was at hand. Sign up now, Latest answer posted January 28, 2012 at 4:03:33 AM, Latest answer posted October 16, 2015 at 2:02:38 AM, Latest answer posted January 05, 2020 at 9:55:19 PM. The U.S. Constitution provided no way of resolving the dispute, and now Congress would have to decide. In the election, results showed Democrat Samuel Tilden and Republican Rutherford B. Hayes separated by 20 disputed electoral votes from Southern states. The Compromise of 1877 was an attempt to keep America’s delicately stitched wounds of the Civil War from splitting wide open. It was an informal agreement between the allies of Hayes and moderate Southern Democrats that resulted in Hayes’ victory in exchange for specific conditions sought by the Southern Democrats. What was the problem with the 1876 election for president? 2. In 1876, the country was gearing up for another presidential election after having endured a … The results of the election were disputed in four states. In this election, neither the Republican candidate, Rutherford B. Hayes, and the Democratic candidate, Samuel Tilden, gained a clear cut victory. The 1876 election occurred in the midst of an economic depression in the United States and continuing sectional animosity, particularly in the South, where opposition to federal occupation and Reconstruction had grown. At the time, support for Reconstruction was dwindling across the nation. Disputed returns and secret back-room negotiations put Republican Rutherford B. Hayes in the White House—and Democrats back in control of the South. For the next sixteen years, during the civil war and reconstruction, differences were resolved by resort to force. The commission ended up declaring Hayes the winner but it is widely believed that a deal was made in which Reconstruction was ended in exchange for the Republicans getting the presidency. - The "End" of Reconstruction: Disputed Election of 1876, and the "Compromise of 1877" Overview. ... into the president’s fraud allegations before the vote is counted—and invoking an extraordinary 144-year-old compromise … An independent commission was created to resolve the dispute, but it failed to do so. As Eric Foner recounts in his book Forever Free: The Story of Emancipation and Reconstruction, Hayes had pledged in his acceptance of the nomination to bring “the blessings of honest and capable local self government” to the South if elected—a statement that could be taken as code for ending Reconstruction. The Compromise of 1877 was an unwritten deal, informally arranged among U.S. The Compromise of 1877 was reached to settle the disputed 1876 U.S. Presidential election. It resulted in the United States federal government pulling the last troops out of the South, and formally ending the Reconstruction Era. ALLAN PESKIN THERE was a time, not too long ago, when the disputed election of 1876 could be treated as a relatively uncomplicated story. What impact did the presidential election of 1876 have on Reconstruction? What was the Compromise of 1877? All summer, the presidential campaigns were fear-mongering, trying to convince the American people that the 'other side' would revive the war and that violence was finally cooling down or that they would drive the economy even further into the ground or that certain minority groups in the nation would never secure their equal rights. Congressmen, that settled the intensely disputed 1876 presidential election. The nation’s economic woes, and allegations of rampant corruption in Ulysses S. Grant’s presidential administration, helped Democrats win control of the House of Representatives in 1874 for the first time since the war. This action marked the effective end of the Reconstruction era, and began a period of solid Democratic control in the South. Understand the deal which ended Reconstruction and finalized the election of 1876. The compromise essentially stated that Southern Democrats would acknowledge Hayes as President, but only if the Republicans acceded to various demands: 1. Basically, the election of 1876 put an end to the Reconstruction movement. ©2021 eNotes.com, Inc. All Rights Reserved. In that regard, the Compromise can be considered a success — the Union was kept intact. The campaign managers of Rutherford B. Congressmen, that settled the intensely disputed 1876 presidential election. FACT CHECK: We strive for accuracy and fairness. With the Republican Party dominating the federal government for nearly a decade after the Civil War ended—thanks in part to thousands of newly enfranchised African-American men—Congressional Reconstruction policies resulted in biracial governments across the South by the early 1870s. Was Rutherford B. Hayes a good president or not? Democrats agreed that Rutherford B. Hayes would become president in exchange for the withdrawal of federal troops from the South and the granting of home rule in the South. Hayes had already promised this. Be sure to include all relevant... Why is the Compromise of 1877 also known as the Corrupt Bargain? 3. An electoral commission was eventually created to resolve the impasse. Who are the experts?Our certified Educators are real professors, teachers, and scholars who use their academic expertise to tackle your toughest questions. The presidential election of 1876 pitted Republican Rutherford B. Hayes against Democrat Samuel J. Tidlen and showed just how divided the country was with the popular and electoral vote almost evenly split. At the same time, key decisions by the U.S. Supreme Court struck at the protections afforded by Reconstruction-era constitutional amendments and legislation. Engraving of Black Americans Voting in Richmond, Virginia, 1876: During the disputed 1876 South Carolina Gubernatorial campaign, blacks force their way into the legislative chamber "Compromise--Indeed! The timing of the agreement was prompted by the disputed presidential election of 1876. The Compromise of 1877 was an unwritten deal, informally arranged among U.S. HISTORY reviews and updates its content regularly to ensure it is complete and accurate. COMPROMISE OF 1877Four of the sectional compromises in nineteenth-century America were efforts to settle quarrels by mutual concessions and forestall danger of violence. However, this election had a precedent: the 1876 election between Rutherford B. Hayes and Samuel J. Tilden. "The Compromise of 1877 was an informal, unwritten deal that settled the disputed 1876 U.S. Presidential election.Through it, Republican Rutherford B. Hayes was awarded the White House over Democrat Samuel J. Tilden on the understanding that Hayes would remove the federal troops that were propping up Republican state governments in South Carolina, Florida and Louisiana. Hayes agreed to cede control of the South to Democratic governments and back away from attempts at federal intervention in the region, as well as place a Southerner in his cabinet. The 1876 election in the United States of America was one of the most disputed elections in America’s history. ... into the president’s fraud allegations before the vote is counted—and invoking an extraordinary 144-year-old compromise … This lecture focuses on the role of white southern terrorist violence in brining about the end of Reconstruction. Log in here. What governmental groups and individuals were involved, etc? The Compromise of 1877 resolved the disputed 1876 presidential election between Democratic candidate Samuel Tilden and Republican candidate Rutherford B. Hayes. eNotes.com will help you with any book or any question. A Democratic candidate had emerged with the lead in the popular vote, but 19 electoral votes from four states were in dispute. Professor Blight begins with an account the Colfax Massacre. Congressmen, that settled the intensely disputed 1876 presidential election. The cartoon is in response to the Compromise of 1877. The 1876 election in the United States of America was one of the most disputed elections in America’s history. © 2021 A&E Television Networks, LLC. Educators go through a rigorous application process, and every answer they submit is reviewed by our in-house editorial team. Though the commission was supposed to be comprised of seven Republicans, seven Democrats and one independent, the independent—Supreme Court Justice David Davis—ended up dropping out when he was offered a Senate seat, and a Republican was named to replace him. The Democrats in a term they referred to as “redemption” vowed to return to power as the Republican coalition failed. In return, the federal troops that were enforcing Reconstruction were removed from the South. 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. The United States presidential election of 1876 was one of the most disputed presidential elections in American history. The South agreed to … But a severe economic downturn in 1873 had plunged the country into its severest depression to date, with widespread unemployment and plummeting cotton prices that hampered the South’s postwar economic recovery. In fact, even as the electoral commission deliberated, national party leaders had been meeting in secret to hash out what would become known as the Compromise of 1877. African Americans were threatened, intimidated, harassed, and killed by groups that were against them. The caption says "A truce—not a compromise, but a chance for high-toned men to retire gracefully from their very civil declarations of war.". Three years later, in United States v. Cruikshank, the Supreme Court overturned the convictions of three white men convicted in connection with the massacre of more than 100 Black men in Colfax, Louisiana in 1873, as part of a political dispute. The Compromise of 1877 refers to an unwritten deal that settled the disputed 1876 US presidential election and ended congressional Reconstruction. In return, Democrats would not dispute Hayes’s election, and agreed to respect the civil rights of Black citizens. Election of 1876 and Compromise of 1877 - Duration: 7:16. The Compromise of 1877 was an informal settlement between the Democratic representatives of the South and the Republican allies led by Rutherford Hayes. Did he do anything important? The Compromise of 1877 was an unwritten agreement between Republicans and Democrats in the U.S. Congress to settle the disputed presidential election of 1876. Twice a week we compile our most fascinating features and deliver them straight to you. ", Harper's Weekly, January 27, 1876, by Thomas Nast "A Truce--Not a Compromise," Harper's Weekly, February 17, 1877, by Thomas Nast As a result, no candidate received the 185 electoral votes needed to win the election. The Compromise of 1877 settled the disputed 1876 presidential election of the United States between Democrat candidate Samuel Tilden and Republican Candidate Rutherford B. Hayes. The election of 1876 led to an end to Reconstruction, which had many negative consequences for African Americans living in the South. What were the components of the Compromise of 1877? Nate Green 2,952 views. The Election of 1876 was arguably the most contentious presidential election in American history. In the election, results showed Democrat Samuel Tilden and Republican Rutherford B. Hayes separated by 20 disputed electoral votes from Southern states. Soon after his inauguration, Hayes made good on his promise, ordering federal troops to withdraw from Louisiana and South Carolina, where they had been protecting Republican claimants to the governorships in those states. The Compromise of 1877 was also unusual as it was not reached openly after debate in the US Congress. The election was between democrat Samuel J. Tiden and Republican Rutherford B. Hayes. The Disputed Election of 1876 The election of 1876 between Rutherford B. Hayes and Democrat Samuel Tilden of New York was one of the most hostile, controversial campaigns in American history. The Compromise of 1877 was also unusual as it was not reached after open debate in the U.S. Congress. Together, the states represented a total of 19 electoral votes, which along with one disputed elector from Oregon would be enough to swing the election Hayes’s way. The Court’s decision in the Slaughterhouse Cases (1873), established that the 14th Amendment applied only to former enslaved people, and protected only rights granted by the federal government, not by the states. After this election, Reconstruction ended and it is generally said that the end came as a result of the deal that resolved this disputed election. A political cartoon by Thomas Nast that appeared in the February 17, 1877 issue of the American political magazine Harper's Weekly. What is Rutherford B. Hayes's legacy as a president of the United States? There was a dispute over electoral votes in the election of 1876. In 1876, when the nation went to the polls to elect Grant’s successor, Democratic candidate Samuel Tilden, governor of New York, emerged with a lead of more than 260,000 popular votes. The results of the U.S. presidential election of 1876 were a mess. Racism remained a pervasive force in the North as well as the South, and by the early 1870s many Northerners had begun blaming Reconstruction’s problems on the supposed inferiority of Black voters. The Compromise of 1877 was an unwritten agreement between Republicans and Democrats in the U.S. Congress to settle the disputed presidential election of 1876. The appointment of at least one Southern Democrat to Hayes' cabinet. Samuel J. Tilden of New York outpolled Ohio's Rutherford B. Hayes in the popular vote, and had 184 electoral votes to Hayes' 165, with 20 votes uncounted. The presidential election of 1876 greatly impacted the Reconstruction movement. (David M. Key of Tennessee became Postmaster General.) A Democratic candidate had emerged with the lead in the popular vote, but 19 electoral votes from four states were in dispute. The results of the U.S. presidential election of 1876 were a mess. In the decades to come, disenfranchisement of Black voters throughout the South, often through intimidation and violence, helped ensure the racial segregation imposed by the Jim Crow laws—a system that endured for more than a half-century, until the advances of the civil rights movement in the 1960s. Racism remained a pervasive force in the Northas well as the South, and by the early 1870s many Northerners had begun blaming Reconstruction’s problems on the supposed inferiority of black voters. Our summaries and analyses are written by experts, and your questions are answered by real teachers. From this incident would come the Compromise of 1877. https://www.history.com/topics/us-presidents/compromise-o... What political and economic factors helped lead to the end of Reconstruction in 1877? The 1876 election was the most divisive in U.S. history. Already a member? The Democratic Party returned to power in the South once Reconstruction ended. What caused the end of Reconstruction? As per the compromise, Rutherford B. Hayes was declared the US President following the election of 1876 in exchange for the Republicans withdrawing their troops from the Southern States. The 1876 election occurred in the midst of an economic depression in the United States and continuing sectional animosity, particularly in the South, where opposition to federal occupation and Reconstruction had grown. by J. Paul Leslie Courtesy of Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division. As president, Hayes removed the remaining troops in South Carolina and Louisiana. The Compromise of 1877 was secretly hammered out in the months following the Presidential election of 1876, but before the inauguration in March 1877. As Democrats controlled the House of Representatives, and Republicans dominated in the Senate, the two sides compromised by creating a bipartisan electoral commission with five representatives, five senators and five Supreme Court justices. It resulted in the United States federal government pulling the last troops out of the South, and formally ending the Reconstruction Era. The construction … The Compromise of 1877 was reached to settle the disputed 1876 U.S. presidential election. We’ve discounted annual subscriptions by 50% for COVID-19 relief—Join Now! Start your 48-hour free trial and unlock all the summaries, Q&A, and analyses you need to get better grades now. The Compromise of 1877 was an unwritten deal, informally arranged among U.S.