Compromise of 1877

The election of 1876 included Republican nominee Rutherford B. Hayes, Democratic nominee Samuel J. Tilden, and Greenback nominee Peter Cooper. From the Civil War until this point, the Republican party had a firm hold on the nation. However, discontented Southerners and disillusioned Northerners showed a favorable reaction to the Democratic candidate Tilden, and, after the vote was counted, Tilden won the popular vote and seemed be on the path toward victory. Tilden was only one electoral vote short of victory when the results from South Carolina, Florida, and Louisiana were challenged.

To resolve this issue, Congress created a commission to resolve the contested votes. Comprised of seven Democrats, seven Republicans, and one independent, the election commission disputed for several months, but when the independent resigned and a Republican took his place, the commission voted to give Hayes the disputed votes and thus win the election.

The decision passed through the Senate and House due to the compromise struck between the Republicans and Democrats. The Democrats allowed Hayes to become president in exchange for control of the South returning to the South. This in turn returned white Democratic rule to the South with the minority of Republicans forgotten and powerless.

Rutherford B. Hayes

Divine, Robert A., T. H. Breen, George M. Fredrickson, and R. Hal Williams. America Past and Present. Revised Sixth Edition, AP* Edition . Addison-Wesley Educational Publishers Inc., 2003. 474-75. Print.

Neale, Thomas H. "The compromise of 1877." LEARN NC. U.S. Department of State, 2009. Web. 25 Nov 2010. <http://www.learnnc.org/lp/editions/nchist-civilwar/5470>.

Web. 25 Nov 2010. <http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/systems/ship/scn-1877-hayes.htm>.