The Compromise of 1877 was the unwritten and informal deal that settled the1876 presidential election between Rutherford Hayes and Samuel Tilden, which is considered as one of the most disputed elections in the American history. The compromise resulted in both sides coming to an agreement and compromising on different aspects, which will be further discussed below.
The purpose of the compromise was that southern democrats would only accept Hayes as the president and give back the civil rights to the African Americans in the south after some of their demands were met, for instance the withdrawal of federal troops form confederate states, appointment of a southern democrat to Hayes cabinet, industrialization of south and the construction of another intercontinental railroad. Under the compromise the democrats agreed not to block Hayes election victory for
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Once agreed Democrats now had control over the region which made Florida, Louisiana, and South Carolina democratic states again and that ended the Reconstruction Era. Some of the long term consequences of the Compromise of 1877 were the broken promises to protect the civil and political rights of African Americans. From the end of the reconstruction southern legislatures passed laws requiring separation from whites and African American on everything from public transportation, theaters, schools, restaurants, and etc. This was more widely known as the Jim Crow Laws which enforced
When blacks were given the right to vote, it was only somewhat successful. Many blacks did use their new political power to vote as it is shown in Harper's Weekly (Document G), but whites still tried to stop them. Literacy tests, grandfather clauses, and fear caused by the Ku Klux Klan were used to keep blacks from exercising their right to vote. Another issue of reconstruction was the banking and currency system. In an attempt to uniform the currency, Senator John Sherman gave a speech saying that with "a currency and a medium of exchange, we shall have a broader and more generous nationality" (Document B). At the time many states had their own currency and a change needed to be made to unite the states. A sense of nationality was needed as the nation was in turmoil after the attempted secession of the South. Reconstruction came to an end in 1877 with the Compromise of 1877. Rutherford Hayes became president for agreeing to end federal support for Southern Republicans and building a transcontinental railroad. In this compromise he also withdrew troops from the South. This, along with the rejection of laws protecting blacks from discrimination, brought reconstruction to an end in 1877.
The compromise of 1850 was a settlement on a series of issues plaguing the unity of the states. The primary issue to address was the institution of slavery, which was causing much dissension between the north and the south. Additional items to be addressed were territory issues and to prevent secession by the south. Henry Clay stepped forward to present a compromise, which had Congress in an eight-month discussion known as the “Great Debate”. As a result of the proposal, there were strong oppositions. One outspoken person who opposed the proposal was John C Calhoun. Calhoun was an intellectual southern politician, political philosopher and a proponent to the protection of Southern interests. He was an advocate for states’ rights and
During the years of 1864 through 1877, a multitude of changes were placed into action in order to improve society. While the reforms correlated to one another in the long run, they are easily divisible into general categories: Political, Economic, and Social. . The political reforms dealt with the ideals of the government, social movements focused in on the beliefs of the people, and economic developments concentrated mainly on monetary aspects of the country, including changes to the economy and international trade. After enduring many complications and multiple presidents , the Compromise of 1877 was formed. After this compromise was composed, many of the reforms that were achieved simply could no longer thrive and survive.
This brings us to the the Compromise of 1877. This let Hayes have the presidency and in return the southern states had control over their governments along with some vague promises including a southern transcontinental
Since the constitution was built on the idea of freedom and individual liberty, the expansion with slave states brought up debate. It wasn't necessarily the slavery itself “it was the question of that institution’s expansion, to the newly acquired territories which were continually added to the ever-growing republic”. During the expansion, there were attempts in policies to try to limit the expansion of slavery as it caused so much instability, e.g. the Wilmot Proviso (1846) even when it wasn’t passed by the Senate. The cartoon named ‘Whig Harmony’, shows the division between the Whig ranks and indicates how important the validity of the proviso was in the 1846 campaign. John O'Sullivan stated in 1839 on the Manifest Destiny “we are the nation of progress, of individual freedom, of universal
During the late 1800’s there were turbulent times between the Northern and Southern States in America, one the vastest areas that was constantly being quarreled against one another is the usage of slavery. As slavery was the principal component within the Southern States, it provided the basis for many of the cash crops that were spread throughout. Whereas, many within the Northern States were firmly against the usage of slave and wanted to end this practice once and for all. This continuous incompatibility between slave states in the South and the free states in the North eventually ended up colliding into a Civil War. There were many aspects that led to this collision, such as; when America expanded into the western terrain after the Mexican-American
The Compromise of 1850 became difficult and dangerous to implement as a result of the Northerners’ violence and clear disobedience to the federal law. Such widespread assistance to fugitive slaves caused Southerners to lose faith in the Compromise or uphold it. Clay’s resolutions of this compromise didn’t play out fairly on both sides, as the law wasn't obeyed by Northerners. However, although the compromise was followed by conflict, it wasn't enough to make war certain. For example, the compromise did have positive outcomes such as allowing the country to expand by accepting California as a state.
Although the new change in government brought other changes to the south. Between 1871 and 1873 an epidemic spent through most of the south. This was yellow fever and it was infecting the non-acclimated population left and right. Mostly these people included the stationed union soldiers and other northern peoples in the south. Many people of the north wanted their soldiers to come home so that they could escape the epidemic and thus, the compromise of 1877 was easily created. During 1876, Rutherford Hayes met with southern Democrats in secret to negotiate acceptance of Hayes' election. Southern Democrats therefore agreed to allow Hayes's victory in the election if Republicans withdrew federal troops from the south. So, the compromise of 1877
“I know no South, no North, no East, no West, to which I owe any allegiance, The Union, sir, is my country” - Henry Clay (United States History). The Compromise of 1850 was once considered despising, loathing, and abhorring. This would become altered, as it would turn out to be one of the greatest compromises in the United States and would make its mark in history. The Compromise of 1850 adopted the Fugitive Slave Act and the reason for California statehood. The compromise attempted to avoid a crisis between the North and the South, with the assistance of Henry Clay and his colleagues. The document came to be with three main ideas: significance, conflict, and compromise. The Compromise of 1850, proposed by Henry Clay, dealt with disputes
The Compromise of 1850 was a desperate attempt to keep the southern states from seceding from the United States of America. While the goal was to keep the south from seceding, the new laws actually created more tension than it solved. Since the division in America over slave ownership had been holding a delicate balance with the states on both sides, the North and the South. When California petitioned to join the Union in 1849 as a free state, that delicate balance tipped and the conflict once again erupted. The Compromise consisted of 5 laws, admitting California as a free state, creating Utah and New Mexico territories with the question of slavery in each is determined by popular sovereignty, settling a Texas-New Mexico boundary dispute in the former’s favor, ending the slave trade in Washington D.C. and making it easier for southerners to recover fugitive slaves (History).
African-Americans may sometimes wonder at the contradictory facts about their history presented in many standard history texts. These texts state that blacks were given the right to vote in 1870, yet the same texts will acknowledge that this right did not really exist for African-Americans until the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s.
The Compromise of 1877 was a very effective time period in history. Its main focus was to rebuild the South physically and as a nation. It was the compromise of the Reconstruction Era and the U.S. presidential election of 1876. Problems now went from the battlefields to politics. After the Civil War over, 3.9 million slaves were freed and given rights. This then created tensions between black and whites. The presidential election was another conflict that was resolved. Democrats and Republicans had many different opinions when it came to them being a bipartisan government, which created some tensions. Nevertheless, the Compromise of 1877 was the a compromise of the Reconstruction Era and the U.S. presidential election of 1876.
The Compromise of 1850 brought relative calm to the nation. Though most blacks and abolitionists strongly opposed the Compromise, the majority of Americans embraced it, believing that it offered a final, workable solution to the slavery question. Most importantly, it saved the Union from the terrible split that many had feared. People were all too ready to leave the slavery controversy behind them and move on. But the feeling of relief that spread throughout the country would prove to be the calm before the storm.
Due to the gradual elimination of African-American rights and the withdrawal of Federal troops from the South to enforce such rights, the end of Reconstruction surfaced in 1877. In the eyes of blacks, Reconstruction was a point in history where they could see their civil rights expanding before their very own eyes. On the contrary, whites were deeply disturbed at the way their once “white supremacy” government was dwindling in the rear-view mirror behind them. This fourteen year period known as Reconstruction houses the memories of temporary freedom, scandal, backdoor deals, and the unresolved social, political, and economical issues of our country.
As tensions between the North and the South rose on the issues of slavery and states’ rights, numerous compromises were proposed to ease the conflict. Such compromises included the Missouri Compromise, the Compromise of 1850, and the Crittenden Compromise. These compromises had intentions of defining where slavery was permitted and clarifying states’ rights. They were only temporary fixes to a more pressing issue. Between the Missouri Compromise and the Crittenden Compromise, a series of events changed the political atmosphere of the United States and prevented any more compromises on the institution of slavery from being passed.