Compromise of 1877
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Compromise of 1877
The Compromise of 1877 refers to a purported informal, unwritten
deal that settled the intensely disputed 1876 U.S. presidential election,
and ended Reconstruction in the South. 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 to take effect. The incumbent president, Republican
Ulysses S. Grant, removed the soldiers from Florida.[1] 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 in
some doubt as the documentation is scanty.
Terms of compromise
Democrats complained loudly that Tilden had been cheated. There was
talk of forming armed units that would march on Washington.
President Grant beefed up military security in response, and no one
marched on Washington.[2]
A political cartoon by Joseph Keppler depicts
Roscoe Conkling as Mephistopheles (the devil),
as Rutherford B. Hayes strolls off with the prize
of the "Solid South". The caption quotes Goethe
The compromise essentially stated that Southern Democrats would acknowledge Hayes as president, but only on the
understanding that Republicans would meet certain demands. The following elements are generally said to be the
points of the compromise:
• The removal of all federal troops from the former Confederate States. (Troops remained in only Louisiana, South
Carolina, and Florida, but the Compromise finalized the process.)
• The appointment of at least one Southern Democrat to Hayes's cabinet. (David M. Key of Tennessee became
Postmaster General.)
• The construction of another transcontinental railroad using the Texas and Pacific in the South (this had been part
of the "Scott Plan," proposed by Thomas A. Scott, which initiated the process that led to the final compromise).
• Legislation to help industrialize the South and get them back on their feet after the terrible loss during the Civil
War.
In exchange, Democrats would:
• Peacefully accept Hayes's presidency.
• Respect blacks' rights.
Results
Hayes was peacefully inaugurated; points 1 and 2 did take effect. As regards the first and most important point,
Hayes had already announced his support for the restoration of "home rule", which would involve troop removal,
before the election. It was also not unusual, nor unexpected, for a president, especially one so narrowly elected, to
select a cabinet member favored by the other party. As for #3 and #4, if indeed there was any such firm agreement,
they were never acted on.
Compromise of 1877
In any case, whether by an informal deal or simply reassurances already in line with Hayes's announced plans, talks
with Southern Democrats satisfied the worries of many and so prevented a Congressional filibuster that had
threatened to extend resolution of the election dispute beyond Inauguration Day 1877.
Woodward (1951) argues for an economic interpretation, whereby railroad interest meeting secretly at the Wormley
Hotel in Washington forged a compromise with aid to Southern railroads as the sweetener. However, no serious
effort was made to fund a railroad or provide other federal aid. An opposing interest group representing the Southern
Pacific successfully thwarted Scott's Texas and Pacific scheme and ultimately ran its own line to New Orleans.
Interpretations
Some historians argue that the assurances offered to some Southern Democrats to prevent a filibuster were not a
"compromise" but a foregone conclusion.[3] Peskin admits that Woodward's interpretation is almost universally
accepted but since not all terms were met it should not be called a compromise. Other historians argue that the
Republican party abandoned Southern Blacks to racist Democratic party rule in order to gain Democratic support.[4]
In any case, Reconstruction ended, and the supremacy of the Democratic Party in the South was cemented with the
ascent of the "Redeemer" governments that displaced the Republican governments. After 1877, White supremacy
generally caused the South to vote Democratic in elections for federal office (the "Solid South") until 1966.
Downs in "The Mexicanization of American Politics: The United States’ Transnational Path from Civil War to
Stabilization," (2012) rejects the idea that it was an era of easy reconciliation and political stability. Instead he shows
many Americans feared "Mexicanization" of politics, whereby force would be used to settle a presidential election,
as force was used to settle state elections in the South. Downs explores how Mexicanization was roundly rejected
and stability was achieved.
Whatever "deals" may or may not have taken place, in formal legal terms, the election of 1876 was not decided by
such acts, but by the official vote of Congress to accept the recommendations of the Electoral Commission they
themselves had set up as a way out of the election impasse. The expectation in setting up the committee had been
that its decisions would be accepted by Congress. It was only when certain Democrats disagreed with the
commission's decisions in favor of Hayes that this arrangement was jeopardized. This group threatened a filibuster
(opposed by Republicans and Congressional Democratic leadership as well) that would prevent the agreed upon vote
from even taking place. Discussions of the points in the alleged "compromise" only concerned convincing key
Democrats not to acquiesce in a filibuster. The very threat of a filibuster—a measure used by a minority to prevent a
vote—indicates that there were already sufficient votes for accepting the commission's recommendations.
References
[1]
[2]
[3]
[4]
(Woodward, p. 195) (http:/ / books. google. com/ books?id=azoAk_r9cP8C& lpg=PP1& pg=PR6#v=onepage& q& f=false)
Downs, 2012
Allan Peskin, "Was There a Compromise of 1877?"
Vincent P. DeSantis, "Rutherford B. Hayes and the Removal of the Troops and the End of Reconstruction" (1982)
Further reading
• DeSantis, Vincent P. "Rutherford B. Hayes and the Removal of the Troops and the End of Reconstruction" in
Region, Race and Reconstruction edited by Morgan Kousser and James McPherson. (Oxford University Press,
1982) pp. 417-50.
• Downs, Gregory P. "The Mexicanization of American Politics: The United States' Transnational Path from Civil
War to Stabilization," American Historical Review (April 2012) Vol. 117, No. 2, pp 387-409 in JSTOR (http://
www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/ahr.117.2.387)
• Peskin Allan, "Was There a Compromise of 1877?," Journal of American History (1973) 60#1 pp. 63-75 in
JSTOR (http://www.jstor.org/stable/2936329)
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Compromise of 1877
• Polakoff, Keith Ian. The Politics of Inertia: The Election of 1876 and the End of Reconstruction (1973)
• Riddleberger Patrick W. "The Radicals' Abandonment of the Negro During Reconstruction," Journal of Negro
History (1960) 45#2 pp. 88-102 in JSTOR (http://www.jstor.org/stable/2716572)
• Simpson, Brooks D. "Ulysses S. Grant and the Electoral Crisis of 1876-1877," Hayes Historical Journal (1992)
11#2 pp 5-22.
• Woodward, C. Vann (1951). Reunion and Reaction: The Compromise of 1877 and the End of Reconstruction
(http://books.google.com/books?id=azoAk_r9cP8C). Oxford University Press.
External links
• Samuel J Tilden website (http://www.SamuelTilden.com/)
• Hayes Presidential Library (http://www.rbhayes.org/hayes/president/display.asp?id=511&subj=president)
• Richard White, "Corporations, Corruption, and the Modern Lobby: A Gilded Age Story of the West and the South
in Washington, D.C." (http://southernspaces.org/2009/
corporations-corruption-and-modern-lobby-gilded-age-story-west-and-south-washington-dc), Southern Spaces,
16 April 2009.
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Article Sources and Contributors
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Image Sources, Licenses and Contributors
Image:Keppler-Conkling-Mephistopheles.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Keppler-Conkling-Mephistopheles.jpg License: Public Domain Contributors: Joseph
Keppler
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