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The Compromise of 1877: Causes and Effects

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After we had fought the brutal, decimating Civil War, white supremacy in the caused our nation to take two steps further than we were even before the War. Obviously, hearing this, sounds like extreme conflict. Ironically enough though, this major step back in history was called, “The Compromise of 1877.” Unfortunately, this “compromise” did way more harm than good for African Americans. The Compromise of 1877 was a corrupt agreement between three powerful southern states and Rutherford B. Hayes that led to him being elected President and the stripping away from African American rights. After the Civil War, “Lives of black slaves had improved greatly and there was hope for emancipation of slaves in those states. However, The Compromise of 1877 took away all hope for slaves.” (Source 8) This “compromise” made slaves’ lives even more difficult than it was before. As soon as progress was being made, this set it back even more than it was before. This was from the perspective of a former Louisiana slave, Henry Adams, “The whole South - every state in the South - had got into the hands of the very men that held us as slaves.” (Source 7) This basically ripped any chance of freedom and equal …show more content…

After the Civil War, the nation was very obliterated - metaphorically and literally. Tensions between the North and the South were very high, and the fact that a lot of the land where battles had been fought was destroyed didn’t help at all. One side of Congress used Reconstruction to try and fix a divided country, while Congress in the South were behind the scenes tearing it apart even more. “‘The Compromise of 1877’ was the South’s last bit of ammunition against African Americans and abolitionists.” (Source 4) Since this tore the nation apart even more, and the South was not agreeing with anything that national congress was saying, national congress was forced to make an actual

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This act made any official who did not turn in a runaway slave liable to pay a fine; therefore, truly enforcing the law and safeguarding southern property. This also made every Northerner responsible for turning in runaway slaves. In Stephen Douglas’ “Speech Defending the Compromise of 1850” he stated, “Congress, after a protracted session of nearly ten months, succeeded in passing a system of measures, which are believed to be just to all parts of the Republic, and ought to be satisfactory to the People. ”7 Douglas believed by making this concession, the south would remain a part of the union.

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The Compromise of 1877 was brought to attention recently, shortly after the Presidential Election of 1876. It called to resolve the disputed 1876 presidential elections in the United States. This was supposedly a deal to make it so Rutherford Hayes, the Republican Party candidate running for president, could become president. The Democrats would also become powerful in the governments within the South. Having Hayes, when he would become president, promise to allow troops to be pulled out of the rebelling states and slave states out of the South, it would the Democrats to become just that.

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The Compromise of 1877 was an unwritten deal that settled the intensely disputed 1876 election. It resulted with the United States pulling the last of the troops from the south, ending the Reconstruction Era and giving the south power over their land. Both Rutherford B. Hayes and Samuel J. Tilden had great political talent, but of course, they saw being president as something else in their own eye. With Hayes coming from the North and Tilden coming from the South, their goals were going to be pretty different. The Civil War ended not too many years before hand, so the election was going to be very rough.

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To do this, they sent troops into the South, which they were not very pleased with. During Reconstruction, freed slaves still did not have the same opportunities that white people did. The Civil rights laws were made to protect former slaves and make sure everyone is equal, but still, the South cannot agree and continues to make life nearly just as bad as it had been before the war. In the document written by a former slave, he expresses how poorly they have been treated. When Lincoln was president, Reconstruction ran alot smoother.

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P.6 Compromises seemed to be working in 1820 as a solution to political issues that America agreed to disagreed on. As seen in the Missouri Compromise, where Henry Clay made slaves free in twelve states and not free in the other twelve; in order to keep everything balanced. But between the period of 1820 to 1860, compromising took a shift and no longer seemed to be the solution. Compromises worked with Henry Clay in the Missouri compromise in 1820 but by 1860 due to a series of geographic, political, and social changes compromises were impossible.

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The Great Compromise which was founded at the Constitutional Convention wasn't formed without trouble. Many of the delegates that participated in the convention were wealthy landowners and lawyers, who owned many slaves. They failed to notice the diversity that excited within the nation. As they talked how to repair the Articles of Confederation, issues would arise that would create continuous debates amongst each other. One of the issues that would arise would be the nature of the new government.

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There were many important Compromises between the years of 1820 and 1860, some that worked completely and some that didn’t. In the early nineteenth century, people were good at compromising and making things work for everyone. How long did perfect compromising actually last? Slavery began to split the nation apart, causing compromising to become hard to do.

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They wanted to keep the former slaves down even after they were freed. To add more fuel to the fire, another reason why reconstruction is a failure is because of the information that we can find in document G. Abram Colby a former slave who was elected to the Georgia

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Peter Schroeder Dr. Christopher Marshall Modern United States History 2/2/17 Writing Assignment 1: The African-American Experience with Reconstruction Reconstruction among the south refers to the point in time which the United States was attempting to establish a relationship between the union and the rebels. The Union had won the civil war, so the next step was to begin to mend the broken relationship between the north and the south. Though historians cannot agree on when it began, there is merit in saying that it started before the end of the Civil War. After victory, had been solidified for the Union, attention of President Lincoln turned towards reconstruction.

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Under the Compromise of 1877, the government could no longer intervene with state affairs. Also, there was nothing to keep the southerners from taking advantage to disobey the law. In fact, many southerners made up their own laws or black codes that put restrictions of African Americans. Even though protection laws were in place, they didn’t have much force behind them. I guess when you ask the question, was the Reconstruction a success or a failure?

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This work by Booker T. Washington, “The Atlanta Exposition Address”, or also known as “The Atlanta Compromise”, was a speech given in 1895 at the Cotton States and International Exposition in Atlanta that had a lasting impact not only to the crowd listening, but to the nation as a whole. Booker T. Washington was admired and appreciated by many black Americans. Although, everyone in the African American Community admired his overall achievements leading up to his speech in Atlanta, some of his ideas and thoughts became very controversial within the black community and possibly encouraged the Jim Crow era by proposing the ideology of separate but equal. “The Atlanta Exposition Address,” was significant in shaping history because it; sparked a split and debate within the African American community over the ideas Booker T. Washington proposed in the address, and simultaneously affected the nation as a whole with future laws passed off the basis of Washington’s ideology. To understand the context of where Booker T. Washington’s stance is in the address, people must first understand Washington’s background and his audience during the speech.

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Who killed Reconstruction: The North or South? Following the civil war, the south killed the reconstruction of the United States. (Reconstruction was putting the country back together after the Civil War) There are many reasons why, the south slowed down the reconstruction of the United States, the main reason was freedmen were not seen as equals to the white.

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They found each others company comforting a new way rather than the idea of fear bring them together. African Americans also, “enthusiastically participated in politics”. Black happily voted and became equal, by law, to whites because their voices were heard when it came to the

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The South decided to continue to fight about the ‘Carpet-Bag’ government and resisted the North’s help when it was offered. Reconstruction slowly died when the South kept resisting the help from the North. In the South, people such as the KKK took control of the South and the North got sick of it. Southerners resisted help and decided to use an corrupt government and ideas in the South.

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Although many attempts were made to prioritize freedom and equality for all, these values were undermined by racist Southerners who wouldn’t accept equality. In the end, Reconstruction had failed and former slaves endured another hardship akin to slavery. However, Reconstruction still could have prospered. There are multiple events that, if they had occurred, Reconstruction would not have failed. For example, had the government continued to fund the Freedmen’s Bureau, then the South would have legislated their discriminatory laws much later, if not at all.

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