Compromise of 1877 Withdraws Federal Troops, Ends Reconstruction

The Compromise of 1877 resolved the disputed 1876 presidential election by awarding the presidency to Republican Rutherford Hayes in exchange for withdrawing the last federal troops from South Carolina and Louisiana, ending federal enforcement of Reconstruction. The immediate consequences were catastrophic for Black Southerners: Democratic 'Redeemer' governments consolidated power throughout the South, former Confederates returned to political dominance, Black officeholders were removed, and the systematic disenfranchisement and re-subjugation of Black people proceeded without federal interference. Within months of the troop withdrawal, the Reconstruction governments in both states had been fully dismantled.