What was the Compromise of 1877, and why is it pivotal to Reconstruction's end?

• A. An unwritten deal to appoint Rutherford B. Hayes.
• B. A formal treaty with the Southern states.
• C. An unwritten deal resolving the 1876 election in favor of Hayes in exchange for removing federal troops from the South.
• D. A constitutional amendment guaranteeing Black suffrage.

Answer: (C)

The main idea here is that the Compromise of 1877 was an informal settlement that settled the disputed 1876 presidential election in favor of Rutherford B. Hayes in exchange for the withdrawal of federal troops from the South. That withdrawal ended the federal military presence that had been enforcing Reconstruction policies and protecting newly won rights for freedpeople. With the troops gone, Southern states quickly rolled back many Reconstruction gains through discriminatory laws and violence, leading to a rapid collapse of federal efforts to remake Southern society. Because this arrangement effectively ended federal reconstruction policy in the South, it marks the moment Reconstruction dies and the South returns to self-rule under systems that denied Black citizens their rights. The other options don’t fit: it wasn’t a formal treaty with the Southern states, it wasn’t a constitutional amendment guaranteeing Black suffrage, and while Hayes’s presidency was involved, the essential point is the unwritten deal centered on removing federal troops in exchange for Hayes's victory.