By most historical accounts, Reconstruction formally ended on March 3, 1877, the day that Rutherford B. Hayes was inaugurated president. His inauguration followed months of political wrangling that culminated in what became known as the Compromise of 1877. Under that compromise the Democrats agreed to let Republican candidate Hayes receive twenty disputed electoral votes, thereby awarding him the presidency. In exchange, they demanded the withdrawal of all remaining federal troops from the South and the end of federal interference in southern state governments.

Although Reconstruction was not solely about civil rights, the rapid decline in blacks’ civil rights in the two decades that followed the Compromise of 1877 helps explain why many scholars believe Reconstruction was a failure. For example, as northern citizens became engrossed with issues such as the sharp influx of immigrants, the growth of the labor movement, and the conquest of the West, they...