What agreement followed the 1876 presidential election that led to the withdrawal of federal troops from the South?

• A. Compromise of 1877
• B. Monroe Doctrine
• C. Wade-Davis Bill
• D. Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo

Answer: (A)

After the contested 1876 election, leaders reached the Compromise of 1877. This arrangement settled the electoral dispute by awarding Rutherford B. Hayes the presidency in exchange for concessions from the Democrats, including the withdrawal of federal troops from the South (notably from Louisiana, South Carolina, and Florida). With the troops withdrawn, federal enforcement of Reconstruction policies collapsed, allowing Southern white governments to regain control and roll back many civil rights gains for freedpeople. This effectively ends Reconstruction and ushers in the Jim Crow era. The other options are from unrelated events: the Monroe Doctrine is a 19th-century foreign-policy principle, the Wade-Davis Bill was an earlier Reconstruction proposal, and the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ended the Mexican-American War.