So we're back with part two of lecture number 20 on reconstruction. We need to understand a little bit about the election of Ulysses S. Grant to the presidency. He'll be elected the first time in 1868 and will be reelected a second time in 1870. Grant became a national figure by helping the Union Army along to victory against the Confederate States of America during the Civil War. Many people were deeply loyal to Grant for his military acumen, his ability to lead the Union on to victory. Predictably, however, in the 1868 election Grant fared very poorly in the south. Southerners saw him - continue to see him as the enemy. And so they are not supportive at all of his efforts to protect the rights of freedmen. Remember, southern whites are also very angry at this point in time about the military occupation of the South - the U.S. Army - their presence in that region to try and safeguard the rights of freedmen. This is bitterly resented among white southerners who demand "home rule" and to be left alone. In fact, when you think politically about some of the the fallout of the reconstruction era, you end up with a phenomenon that sometimes referred to as the solid south. White southerners will vote for anyone - and I mean like a martian - before they would vote a Republican into office. Remember that the Republican Party was the party of Abraham Lincoln. So freedman - former slaves - want to vote for that party. White southerners? No. So they will cling to the Democratic Party for decades after the Civil War - the party of white supremacy in the south, one that defends the the ideas of segregation. It will be the Democratic Party in the south. And you can see the electoral maps for several elections afterwards. You see the swath of blue, for instance, in the 1884 election. As you still see a core group of these lower south states in 1928 clinging to the Democratic Party. The same is true even through the 1950s. It won't be really until the 1960s that white southerners will begin leaving the Democratic Party in protest, because by the 1960s the Democratic Party will actually begin to embrace a civil rights platform, one in which they are interested in overturning segregation. But that happens much, much later on. During this time period the solid south means white southerners are voting democratic in every single election. So we have some problems during Grant's presidencies - a number of scandals involving fraud, money laundering, all that. None of that had to do with Grant himself but several of his advisors didn't really kind of take things as seriously as they should. This will tarnish the reputation of the Republican Party so that by the time the 1876 presidential election rolls around - take a look at the electoral map here - you've got a number of northern whites who've decided to leave the Republican Party. They may have supported it during the war and immediately afterwards. But they're leaving the Republican Party in part due to some of these scandals. And they're now voting for the Democratic candidate in '76, who was Samuel J. Tilden. So take a look at the electoral vote and the popular vote. It's pretty much split halfsies between those who wanted the Republican candidate that year - Rutherford B. Hayes - and those who wanted the Democratic candidate that year - Tilden. This will be a contested election. Four weeks after the election of 1876 people will still not know who their new president is. There were allegations of voter fraud, for example, in places like Florida and Louisiana. Many Republicans were claiming that the Democrats had kept away freed men - about 250,000 former slaves had not been allowed to cast their ballot in this election. And if they had, they would have voted for the Republican candidate. So a contested election, people not knowing who their president should be. These are tense times, folks. We have the benefit of hindsight. We know that there was no second Civil War. However, these peoples are living only a little bit more than a decade after the conclusion of that terrible terrible war. Both sides are now to the point - both the Democrats and Republicans - neither one wants to back down. They say it's my candidate in office or who knows what's going to happen? For example, the Democrats were pledging that if they didn't get Samuel J. Tilden as their new president they would march on Washington D.C. - that they would prevent Hayes from taking office. And who knows where that would have gone? Would things have unraveled again to a second civil war? People are on edge, to say the least. Ultimately, what we're going to see is a few behind-the-scenes deals worked out. By a vote of 8-7 the Republicans in Congress, they're going to be the ones that finally decide. By a vote of 8-7 the Republican candidate for President Rutherford B. Hayes will be allowed to take office. But the only way that the Democrats would back down is if they got something in exchange. So this is the Compromise of 1877 - a backroom deal that was reached between Democratic and Republican leaders in Congress over this hotly contested presidential election. Essentially, the only way the Democrats would sit down and shut up and let Hayes be their next president is if they got something in return. There are two core parts of the Compromise of 1877 that Democrats insisted on. Number one: that as soon as he took office Hayes is going to turn on that tap of federal funds. He's going to start sending money to the south to help it rebuild. Remember, a lot of infrastructure had been destroyed during the war - bridges, warehouses, railroad lines. Even now, more than a decade after the conflict had drawn to a close, there are huge areas of the south that have not gotten back up and running because there's no money to replace some of these projects. So now Hayes will agree that okay, if you let me become President I met make sure that I start sending money to the south. The second major compromise that Hayes has to agree to is he will yank U.S. troops out of the south once and for all. Remember, this had been very Irritating to white southerners for years under the terms of the Reconstruction Acts - that there is an army in their backyard watching what they're doing. So Hayes will say, okay, you put me in the presidency. And I will make sure and take care of these things. Now in exchange, Hayes and the Republicans did extract also a promise especially from white southerners. "Okay guys. We do this. We send you the money." "We pull out those troops." "You must pledge to protect the rights of freed men and women." And, of course, white southerners said "Scouts' honor." "We promise. Cross our heart, hope to die." All that kind of stuff. We promise we'll be good. But, of course, they will not. Among the black community the Compromise of 1877 was often referred to as the 'great betrayal' because they understood that as the last of those federal troops left the region, that it was going to be back to what had been happening, which is violence and intimidation at the hands of the KKK and other groups. So it is with the Compromise of 1877 that reconstruction - this whole process - this phase in American history - finally comes to an end.