Compromise of 1877

There have only been four times in American history when a presidential election ended without a winner. The Election of 1876 was the third election on that list. What followed was the Compromise of 1877, an agreement between the political parties that has shaped American democracy to this day.

While a compromise is a signal of conflict resolution, this agreement resulted in federal troops leaving the South, ending Reconstruction, and amplifying the suppression of black civil rights. Here’s a deeper look into what happened and why the result of one of the most disputed elections in American history matters to this day.

What Was the Compromise of 1877

The Compromise of 1877 was an informal political agreement between Republican allies of Rutherford B. Hayes and Southern Democrats. In exchange for Democratic acceptance of Hayes’ disputed presidential victory, Republicans agreed to withdraw the remaining federal troops from the South.

No written record of the deal has ever been found. Because of that, historians have debated the specificity of its terms for over a century. But the reality of the agreement isn’t up for debate. Soon after the Compromise of 1877, the federal military left the South, and the collapse of Reconstruction began, with Democratic governments replacing Republican ones across the country.

Also known as the Wormley Agreement, it was named after the Washington, D.C., hotel where the terms of the deal were negotiated in February of 1877. Other names for the agreement include the Bargain of 1877 and the Corrupt Bargain, which represent the tension between the divided parties. What we now know as the Compromise of 1877 was coined by historian C. Vann Woodward in his 1951 book Reunion and Reaction: The Compromise of 1877 and the End of Reconstruction.

The Most Disputed Election in American History

In 1876, Republican Rutherford B. Hayes ran against Democrat Samuel Tilden for the 19th presidency of the United States. Tilden won the popular vote by roughly 250,000 ballots. Despite that turnout, the Electoral College outcome was left unresolved.

Florida, Louisiana, and South Carolina left twenty electoral votes undecided. These were the last three southern states still under Reconstruction-era Republican governments. Although both parties submitted electoral ballots from these states, neither the House nor the Senate could resolve the issue.

This halt in the election led Congress to create a 15-member Electoral Commission, with every disputed vote going to Hayes, making him the 19th president of the United States. This decision caused Northern Democrats to threaten a filibuster that could have extended the dispute past Inauguration Day. That feature of destabilizing American politics pushed both sides to negotiate and reach an agreement less than a week before the inauguration.

Hayes was officially inaugurated on March 4, 1877, and served one term as president.

The Beginning and End of Reconstruction

From 1865 to 1877, the federal government attempted to integrate four million formerly enslaved people into American democracy. Federal troops enforced the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments across the South. This led to a wave of more than 2,000 black Americans holding public office during Reconstruction (learn more about the Reconstruction-era here). Hiram Revel and Blanche Bruce became the first black US Senators. Black legislators helped establish the South’s first public school systems, and the Civil Rights Acts of 1866 and 1875 created legal frameworks for equal rights.

The presence of federal troops made this shift possible, preventing local governments from resisting the enforcement of the Amendments. But when the troops left after Hayes’ becoming president, this system fell apart.

Republican state governments across the South collapsed within months, forcing black elected officials out of office. Democrats led the charge in dismantling the progress Reconstruction started. With federal oversight gone, Southern states built a new structure of racial control using poll taxes, literacy tests, and racial terror as strategies to regain control of the South.

How Did the Compromise of 1877 Affect The South?

With poll taxes, literacy tests, and racial terror as tools, Southern politicians were able to enforce suppression of the 15th Amendment without explicitly mentioning race. Here’s how it worked:

Poll Taxes

Poll taxes required citizens to pay a fee to vote. For formerly enslaved people with little to no wealth, this created a barrier to their freedom. Mississippi enacted this tax in 1890, with other southern states following suit not long after.

Literacy Tests

Literacy tests handed election officials almost total discretion over who could register. White applicants received simple questions, while black applicants who came from a long history of being prohibited from learning were given complex legal passages or ridiculous standards like being asked to count the number of bubbles in a bar of soap.

Racial Terror

When unequal laws weren’t being enforced, politicians and members of the community used violence to terrorize the black community. This included the rise of Ku Klux Klan lynchings targeting black community leaders and the burning of churches with large black congregants. The goal was to make civic participation feel and be physically dangerous. This inflicted fear that made an enormous impact on voter outcomes for black people. In Louisiana alone, registered black voters went from 130,000 in 1896 to 1,342 in 1904. In less than a decade, poll taxes, literacy tests, and racial terror had stripped away the right of thousands of black Americans.