The Compromise of 1877

The Compromise of 1877 was an informal agreement that resolved the disputed 1876 presidential election between Rutherford B. Hayes and Samuel J. Tilden. To end the election impasse, Democrats agreed to accept Hayes as president if he withdrew federal troops from the Southern states, effectively ending Reconstruction. This compromise led to the withdrawal of military enforcement in the South, allowing Southern states to reassert control, often through discriminatory laws. While it resolved the election, it marked the end of efforts to protect rights of formerly enslaved people and led to decades of segregation and racial inequality in the South.