Reconstruction Era | The Great Betrayal | 6
American History Tellers
The Compromise of 1877
Congress created a special commission to break the deadlock in January 1877. After weeks of agonizing debate, on February 9 they announced its decision. Rutherford B. Hayes was awarded all three disputed states and one electoral vote from Oregon - making him president by the narrowest of margins. But Southern Democrats were less concerned about who sat in the White House than their main priority, the fate of their state governments. They wanted Home Rule, the right to control their states and dictate the lives of their black populations. The secret pact that came out of their discussions became known as the Compromise of 1877. In exchange for abandoning Reconstruction, Republicans agreed to withdraw federal troops from Louisiana and South Carolina
