Editing Radical Republicans (section)

==End of Reconstruction==
By 1872, the Radicals were increasingly splintered and in the [[1874 United States elections|congressional elections of 1874]], the Democrats took control of Congress. Many former Radicals joined the "[[Stalwart (politics)|Stalwart]]" faction of the Republican Party while many opponents joined the "[[Half-Breeds (politics)|Half-Breeds]]", who differed primarily on matters of patronage rather than policy.<ref>John G. Sproat, "'Old Ideals' and 'New Realities' in the Gilded Age," ''Reviews in American History'', Vol. 1, No. 4 (Dec., 1973), pp. 565–70</ref>

In state after state in the South, the so-called [[Redeemers|Redeemers' movement]] seized control from the Republicans until in 1876 only three Republican states were left: South Carolina, Florida, and Louisiana. In the intensely disputed [[1876 U.S. presidential election]], Republican presidential candidate [[Rutherford B. Hayes]] was declared the winner following the [[Compromise of 1877]] (a [[corrupt bargain]]): he obtained the electoral votes of those states, and with them the presidency, by committing himself to removing federal troops from those states. Deprived of military support, Reconstruction came to an end. "Redeemers" took over in these states as well. As white Democrats now dominated all Southern state legislatures, the period of [[Jim Crow laws]] began, and rights were progressively taken away from blacks. This period would last over 80 years, until the gains made by the [[Civil Rights Movement]].