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Difficulty: EasyResistance to Reconstruction and its Ultimate Collapse

"What the South now needs is peace, and peace can be secured by a policy of local self-government... The people of the South must be permitted to manage their own affairs in their own way, subject only to the Constitution of the United States."

— President Rutherford B. Hayes, Inaugural Address, 1877

Which of the following historical developments was a direct result of the policy advocated in the excerpt?

  1. The withdrawal of federal troops from the South, effectively ending ReconstructionAnswer
  2. B
    The passage of the Reconstruction Acts dividing the former Confederacy into military districts
  3. C
    The ratification of the Fifteenth Amendment to protect the voting rights of African Americans
  4. D
    The establishment of the Freedmen's Bureau to assist newly emancipated individuals

Answer

The withdrawal of federal troops from the South, effectively ending Reconstruction
The correct answer is correct because President Rutherford B. Hayes's call for 'local self-government' was realized through the Compromise of 1877, in which Republicans agreed to withdraw federal troops from the South. This ended the federal government's military protection of Reconstruction state governments and allowed Southern Democrats (Redeemers) to regain political control, marking the formal end of Reconstruction.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the stimulus context and the speaker's main argument.
President Rutherford B. Hayes is speaking in 1877, advocating for a policy of 'local self-government' for the South, which means reducing federal intervention.
Understanding the core argument helps identify the policy shift away from Radical Reconstruction.
2
Connect the speaker's policy to the historical events of 1877.
The Compromise of 1877 resolved the disputed 1876 election by granting Hayes the presidency in exchange for withdrawing remaining federal troops from the South.
This links the political rhetoric of Hayes's speech to the actual historical outcome of his administration.
3
Evaluate the options based on chronological order and ideological alignment.
The removal of federal troops matches the timing (1877) and the outcome (restoring local white Democratic 'home rule'), while the other options occurred much earlier in the Reconstruction era.
This isolates the single correct direct effect of the policy shift.

Key Concept

The Compromise of 1877 and the end of Reconstruction
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Topics

Resistance to Reconstruction and its Ultimate Collapse

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