What is the relationship between the Compromise of 1877 and Reconstruction?

Ideal Answer: The ideal answer should:
1. Define the Compromise of 1877 as the political deal reached between the Republican and Democratic parties to decide the disputed 1876 presidential election.
2. Explain the problem: unclear election returns from Louisiana, Florida, and South Carolina led to both parties claiming victory in the electoral college.
3. Point out that Rutherford B. Hayes, a Republican governor from Ohio and Civil War general, became the new President of the United States.
4. Note that Samuel J. Tilden, a Democratic governor of New York, conceded the race but did so under the pretext that Republican governments would be removed from Louisiana, South Carolina, and Florida.
5. Conclude that the Republicans agreed to pull troops out of the South, ending Reconstruction and returning the southern states to white Democrat control.