5.11 Failure of Reconstruction

Political Backlash and Redemption

White Southerners resisted Reconstruction through Redeemer governments seeking to regain control from Republicans. Groups like the Ku Klux Klan used violence and intimidation to suppress Black political participation and terrorize freedpeople and their allies. Northern public and political will to enforce Reconstruction gradually weakened due to scandals, economic troubles, and racism.

Compromise of 1877 and Its End

The disputed election of 1876 led to the Compromise of 1877: Republican Rutherford B. Hayes became president in exchange for withdrawing federal troops from the South. This officially ended Reconstruction, allowing Southern states to install Jim Crow laws, disenfranchise Black voters, and enforce racial segregation.

Legacy: New System of Racial Control

Without federal enforcement, Southern states passed Black Codes, poll taxes, literacy tests, and grandfather clauses to strip African Americans of civil rights. Sharecropping and debt peonage created economic dependency similar to slavery. The Supreme Court's *Plessy v. Ferguson* (1896) legalized “separate but equal,” cementing segregation for decades.

Key terms

Compromise of 1877

Agreement making Hayes president in exchange for withdrawing federal troops from the South, ending Reconstruction.

Redeemers

White Southern Democrats who sought to regain political control and reverse Reconstruction-era reforms.

Ku Klux Klan

White supremacist group that used violence and intimidation to suppress Black political participation.

Jim Crow laws

State and local laws enforcing racial segregation and disenfranchisement in the South after Reconstruction.

Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)

Supreme Court case upholding 'separate but equal,' legalizing racial segregation for decades.

Try an AP-style question

The Compromise of 1877…

1. ended Reconstruction by removing federal troops
2. admitted new Southern states
3. gave freedpeople land
4. extended Reconstruction for decades