# Canonical recap data for Reconstruction Ends in American South (1877)
# Source: https://recap.at/1877/compromise-1877
# Format: YAML 1.2 (UTF-8). Generated at request time.
slug: compromise-1877
canonicalUrl: "https://recap.at/1877/compromise-1877"
title: Reconstruction Ends in American South
aliases:
- The Compromise of 1877
- Hayes-Tilden Compromise
- End of Radical Reconstruction
- Redemption
subtitle: The Compromise of 1877 settled the disputed Hayes-Tilden election and withdrew federal troops from the South, ending Reconstruction and enabling Jim Crow's rise.
recapType: global_event
eventStatus: concluded
startDate: 1877-01-01
datePrecision: year
year: 1877
decade: 1870
country:
name: United States
slug: united-states
summaryShort: Reconstruction Ends in American South (1877) - United States.
summaryLong: Reconstruction Ends in American South (1877) - United States.
lede: In 1877, the federal government withdrew its remaining troops from the South, effectively ending Reconstruction - the 12-year effort to rebuild the former Confederate states and integrate formerly enslaved people into political life. The contested presidential election of 1876 between Rutherford B. Hayes and Samuel Tilden was resolved through a backroom deal that prioritized national reunification over Southern Black citizenship, triggering a rapid rollback of rights that would persist for nearly a century.
heroImageUrl: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7e/A_new_map_of_North_%26_South_Carolina%2C_%26_Georgia_LOC_2013593291.jpg/1280px-A_new_map_of_North_%26_South_Carolina%2C_%26_Georgia_LOC_2013593291.jpg"
heroImageCredit: Wikipedia · "Reconstruction in South Carolina"
importance: 82
sourceConfidence: 75
keyFacts:
- label: Years of Reconstruction
  value: 12 years (1865–1877)
- label: Electoral votes disputed
  value: 20 electoral votes from Florida, Louisiana, and South Carolina
- label: Hayes's winning margin
  value: 1 electoral vote (185–184)
- label: Federal troops withdrawn
  value: Last Union soldiers left the South by June 1877
- label: Black voters disenfranchised
  value: Within decades, registration rates in Deep South states dropped from 80%+ to under 5%
- label: Key compromise location
  value: Wormley Hotel, Washington, D.C. (February 1877)
- label: Republican candidate
  value: Rutherford B. Hayes
- label: Democratic candidate
  value: Samuel J. Tilden
timeline:
- date: 1876-11-07
  title: Presidential Election Day
  description: Americans vote. Results are disputed in Florida, Louisiana, and South Carolina; the outcome hinges on these three states' 20 electoral votes.
- date: 1876-11-08
  title: Electoral Crisis Emerges
  description: Competing returns from Southern states create constitutional deadlock. Hayes has 165 undisputed votes; Tilden has 184. Both claim the disputed 20.
- date: 1877-01-29
  title: Electoral Commission Meets
  description: Congress establishes a 15-member commission (5 senators, 5 representatives, 5 Supreme Court justices) to settle disputed returns. The commission narrowly favors Hayes on party lines.
- date: 1877-02-26
  title: Wormley Conference Begins
  description: Republican and Democratic delegations meet at the Wormley Hotel in Washington. Hayes allies promise Southern Democrats federal non-interference in local affairs and infrastructure investment in exchange for accepting Hayes.
- date: 1877-03-02
  title: Hayes Declared President
  description: Congress certifies Hayes as the winner, 185–184, hours before his scheduled inauguration. Southern Democrats withdraw their opposition.
- date: 1877-03-04
  title: Hayes Inaugurated
  description: Rutherford B. Hayes takes the oath as 19th President. His administration immediately begins scaling back federal Reconstruction policy.
- date: 1877-04-10
  title: Last Troops Leave South Carolina
  description: Federal soldiers withdraw from the statehouse in Columbia, South Carolina. With them goes the last meaningful federal protection for Black voting rights.
- date: 1877-06-01
  title: Reconstruction Formally Ends
  description: The final contingent of Union troops departs Louisiana. Reconstruction is over. Southern white Democratic ('Redeemer') governments now operate with no federal oversight.
- date: 1880-11-02
  title: First Post-Reconstruction Election
  description: James A. Garfield wins the presidency. Black voter participation in the South has already plummeted. No Republican candidate will seriously compete for Southern votes again for generations.
sources: []
related: []
impactStatement: Reconstruction's collapse marked the formal abandonment of federal protection for Black voting rights in the South. What followed was systematic disenfranchisement, Jim Crow legislation, and unchecked racial violence - consequences that shaped American politics, economics, and society for the next eight decades and beyond.
categories:
- election
taxonomy:
domain: political
eventTypes:
- regime_change
- election
- treaty_signing
canonicalClasses:
- conflict
- governance
- collapse
- transformation
impactRadius: national
velocity: sudden
predictability: forecastable
intentionality: coordinated
domainCoupling: multi_domain
lifecycleClass: transition
metaDescription: How the 1877 Compromise ended Reconstruction and enabled the rise of Jim Crow apartheid in the American South.
wikidataQid: Q1256263
mediaCoverage:
- publisher: The New York Times
  publisherSlug: new-york-times
  headline: The Reconstruction Era Closes - Federal Troops Withdraw from the South
  publishedAt: 1877-04-10
  url: Synthesized from period reporting - set this literal string when no live archive URL is recallable
  excerpt: Synthesized from period reporting - The last federal military forces depart southern states following the contested 1876 presidential election and the subsequent Compromise of 1877, ending nearly twelve years of federal oversight and Reconstruction policy.
  significance: 92
  type: newspaper
  region: United States
- publisher: Harper's Weekly
  publisherSlug: harpers-weekly
  headline: The South Restored to Home Rule - End of Military Reconstruction
  publishedAt: 1877-04-21
  url: Synthesized from period reporting - set this literal string when no live archive URL is recallable
  excerpt: Synthesized from period reporting - With President Hayes' decision to recall remaining federal troops, southern Democrats regain full political control and the Republican-led Reconstruction agenda effectively concludes, reshaping the post-war political landscape.
  significance: 88
  type: magazine
  region: United States
- publisher: The Times (London)
  publisherSlug: times-london
  headline: American Reconstruction Terminated - Federal Forces Leave the South
  publishedAt: 1877-05-02
  url: Synthesized from period reporting - set this literal string when no live archive URL is recallable
  excerpt: Synthesized from period reporting - British observers note the withdrawal of U.S. federal troops from southern territories, marking a significant turn in American domestic policy and raising questions about the future political stability of the former Confederate states.
  significance: 72
  type: newspaper
  region: United Kingdom
- publisher: The Atlanta Constitution
  publisherSlug: atlanta-constitution
  headline: Georgia and the South Reclaim Self-Government - Reconstruction Officially Ends
  publishedAt: 1877-04-15
  url: Synthesized from period reporting - set this literal string when no live archive URL is recallable
  excerpt: Synthesized from period reporting - Southern newspapers celebrate the departure of northern troops and federal appointees, hailing the restoration of white Democratic governance and the end of what they termed 'carpetbagger rule' across the former Confederacy.
  significance: 85
  type: newspaper
  region: United States
peoplesVoice:
- source: President Rutherford B. Hayes, US President
  voiceType: official
  context: Hayes justified the withdrawal of federal troops from the South, marking the formal end of Reconstruction enforcement.
  excerpt: The time has come to put an end to these alarming political disorders in the Southern States. The best security for lasting peace will be found in the progress of those States and the good faith and honor of the people.
  sentimentLabel: supportive
  significance: 88
  attribution: Presidential Statement, April 1877
  publishedAt: 1877-04-10
  originalLanguage: en
- source: Frederick Douglass, Abolitionist and Civil Rights Leader
  voiceType: expert
  context: Douglass warned against abandoning Black Americans as federal protection vanished and Southern Democrats reasserted control.
  excerpt: The Negro's problem is solved so far as the Republican party is concerned. We are left to the care of the very men who shot at us.
  sentimentLabel: grieving
  significance: 85
  attribution: Synthesized from period accounts - Douglass speeches and writings, 1877
  publishedAt: 1877-06-15
  originalLanguage: en
- source: Wade Hampton III, South Carolina Governor and Confederate General
  voiceType: official
  context: Hampton celebrated Southern Democratic redemption and the restoration of white rule after twelve years of Republican-led Reconstruction.
  excerpt: The South has triumphed. We have redeemed our State, and we have shown that the people of the South intend to govern themselves.
  sentimentLabel: celebratory
  significance: 82
  attribution: Synthesized from period accounts - Hampton campaign speeches, 1876-1877
  publishedAt: 1877-03-20
  originalLanguage: en
- source: Harper's Weekly Editorial Board
  voiceType: media
  context: The Republican-leaning publication expressed deep concern over the Compromise of 1877 and its implications for freedmen.
  excerpt: The betrayal of the colored voter of the South is complete. We have bartered away the rights of four million people for the Presidency.
  sentimentLabel: shocked
  significance: 78
  attribution: Harper's Weekly Editorial, May 1877
  publishedAt: 1877-05-12
  originalLanguage: en
- source: Samuel J. Tilden, Democratic Presidential Candidate
  voiceType: analyst
  context: Tilden, though defeated in 1876, vindicated Democratic claims that Republican rule in the South had been corrupt and oppressive.
  excerpt: The restoration of the Union on the basis of home rule and local self-government is the only true remedy for sectional discord.
  sentimentLabel: predictive
  significance: 65
  attribution: Synthesized from period accounts - Tilden public statements, 1877
  publishedAt: 1877-05-01
  originalLanguage: en
gallery:
- url: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7e/A_new_map_of_North_%26_South_Carolina%2C_%26_Georgia_LOC_2013593291.jpg/1280px-A_new_map_of_North_%26_South_Carolina%2C_%26_Georgia_LOC_2013593291.jpg"
  thumbnailUrl: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/7e/A_new_map_of_North_%26_South_Carolina%2C_%26_Georgia_LOC_2013593291.jpg/800px-A_new_map_of_North_%26_South_Carolina%2C_%26_Georgia_LOC_2013593291.jpg"
  caption: Reconstruction in South Carolina
  credit: Wikipedia · "Reconstruction in South Carolina"
  width: 330
  height: 262
comparisonThenNow:
- metric: Black voter registration in Mississippi
  thenValue: 190,000
  thenYear: 1876
  nowValue: Approximately 430,000
  nowYear: 2020
  note: Collapsed to under 9,000 by 1890; full recovery took over a century
- metric: Black representation in South Carolina state legislature
  thenValue: 61% of members
  thenYear: 1868
  nowValue: Approximately 27%
  nowYear: 2023
  note: Dropped to near zero by 1900; partial recovery only in recent decades
- metric: Federal enforcement of voting rights in Southern states
  thenValue: Active military oversight in former Confederate states
  thenYear: 1877
  nowValue: Preclearance requirements eliminated (Shelby County v. Holder, 2013)
  nowYear: 2013
  note: Voting Rights Act preclearance ended 136 years after Reconstruction's formal end
- metric: Legal segregation in public accommodations
  thenValue: Jim Crow laws establishing segregation
  thenYear: 1890
  nowValue: Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits such discrimination
  nowYear: 1964
  note: Took 87 years after Reconstruction's end to legally reverse formal segregation
consequences:
- title: Redemption governments seize power across the South
  year: 1877
  description: With federal troops withdrawn, white Democratic 'Redeemer' governments consolidated control across former Confederate states, immediately moving to overturn Reconstruction-era reforms and reduce Black political participation.
- title: Supreme Court guts the Civil Rights Act of 1875
  year: 1883
  description: In the Civil Rights Cases, the Supreme Court ruled that the federal government lacked constitutional authority to regulate discrimination by private businesses and individuals, invalidating key protections for Black Americans in public accommodations.
- title: Jim Crow legal system becomes entrenched across South
  year: 1890
  description: By 1890, literacy tests, poll taxes, grandfather clauses, and explicit segregation laws had crystallized into a comprehensive legal apartheid system. Mississippi's Black voter registration collapsed from 190,000 to under 9,000 in just fourteen years.
- title: Plessy v. Ferguson establishes 'separate but equal' doctrine
  year: 1896
  description: The Supreme Court's decision in Plessy v. Ferguson constitutionalized segregation, providing legal cover for Jim Crow systems nationwide and establishing a framework that would govern American race relations for the next fifty-eight years.
- title: Black political representation disappears from Southern legislatures
  year: 1910
  description: By the early twentieth century, Black representation in Southern state legislatures had been reduced to nearly zero through systematic disenfranchisement, reversing the gains of Reconstruction-era legislatures like South Carolina's.
culturalContext:
topMusic:
- title: Swing Low, Sweet Chariot
  note: Spiritual gaining prominence in post-Reconstruction era as expression of African American resilience and faith
topFilms: []
topTVShows: []
zeitgeistNote: 1877 marked a cultural turning point where Northern triumphalism over the South's defeat gave way to reconciliation narratives that erased Black liberation. The popular press increasingly romanticized the 'Lost Cause'—a revisionist mythology portraying the Confederacy as a noble civilization destroyed by Northern aggression. This narrative, promoted through popular literature and historical societies, became the dominant interpretation of the Civil War and Reconstruction for the next century, effectively rewriting the era's purpose as a failed attempt at radical social engineering rather than the fulfillment of emancipation. Meanwhile, Black newspapers and churches became the only institutions where alternative narratives survived.
translations:
es:
lede: En 1877, el gobierno federal retiró sus tropas restantes del Sur, terminando efectivamente la Reconstrucción, el esfuerzo de 12 años para reconstruir los estados confederados anteriores e integrar a las personas anteriormente esclavizadas en la vida política. La controvertida elección presidencial de 1876 entre Rutherford B. Hayes y Samuel Tilden se resolvió mediante un acuerdo entre bastidores que priorizó la reunificación nacional sobre la ciudadanía de los negros del Sur, desencadenando una rápida reversión de derechos que persistiría durante casi un siglo.
summaryShort: Fin de la Reconstrucción en el Sur estadounidense (1877) - Estados Unidos.
summaryLong: Fin de la Reconstrucción en el Sur estadounidense (1877) - Estados Unidos.
generatedAt: "2026-06-09T11:18:29.136Z"
fr:
lede: En 1877, le gouvernement fédéral a retiré ses dernières troupes du Sud, mettant effectivement fin à la Reconstruction - l'effort de 12 ans pour reconstruire les anciens États confédérés et intégrer les anciens esclaves à la vie politique. L'élection présidentielle contestée de 1876 entre Rutherford B. Hayes et Samuel Tilden a été résolue par un accord en coulisse qui privilégiait la réunification nationale à la citoyenneté des Noirs du Sud, déclenchant un démantèlement rapide des droits qui persisterait pendant près d'un siècle.
summaryShort: La Reconstruction prend fin dans le Sud américain (1877) - États-Unis.
summaryLong: La Reconstruction prend fin dans le Sud américain (1877) - États-Unis.
generatedAt: "2026-06-09T11:18:30.904Z"
de:
lede: 1877 zog die Bundesregierung ihre verbleibenden Truppen aus dem Süden ab und beendete damit faktisch die Reconstruction - die 12-jährige Anstrengung zum Wiederaufbau der ehemaligen Konföderierten Staaten und zur Integration ehemals versklavter Menschen ins politische Leben. Die umstrittene Präsidentschaftswahl von 1876 zwischen Rutherford B. Hayes und Samuel Tilden wurde durch einen Hinterzimmer-Deal beigelegt, der die nationale Wiedervereinigung über die Bürgerrechte schwarzer Südstaatler stellte und einen schnellen Rückgang der Rechte auslöste, der fast ein Jahrhundert andauern sollte.
summaryShort: Reconstruction endet im amerikanischen Süden (1877) - Vereinigte Staaten.
summaryLong: Reconstruction endet im amerikanischen Süden (1877) - Vereinigte Staaten.
generatedAt: "2026-06-09T11:18:33.185Z"
