Election+of+1876+&+Compromise+of+1877

In the election of 1876, the Republicans elected Rutherford B. Hayes to run and the Democrats elected Samuel Tilden. Many thought that Tilden was going to win the election, for he had earned 250, 000 votes. But, the 20 electoral votes from Florida, Louisiana, South Carolina, and Oregon kept everyone unsure of the final outcome. Tilden only needed one electoral vote to win the election, but if Hayes got all 20 votes, he would become president. To solve this, Congress created a “commission” that consisted of seven Republicans, seven Democrats, and one neutral from the political parties. The neutral member quit the commission and was replaced by a Republican. Hayes won all 20 votes because of the commission’s vote: 8-7. The democrats were very angry about this situation and wanted to fight against the decision. As a solution, Congress created the Compromise of 1877. The goal of this compromise was to make the Democrats recognize that Hayes was president. This compromise stated that the Government would remove all of the troops from the South if the Democrats would give the African American their rights. This compromise did accomplish its goal of having the Democrats accept Hayes, but both sides did not fulfill their sides of the compromise. The north did remove their troops but the South did not give the African Americans their rights.

Appleby, J. et al (2003). //The// //American// //Republic// //to 1877//. Columbus, Ohio: Glencoe & McGraw Hill