Reconstruction Ends

Why did Reconstruction come to an end in 1877?

• There was a confrontation between President Johnson and Congress over the reconstruction of the South and the Radical Republicans wanted Johnson out of office. Congress wanted to stop Johnson from firing senate-approved officials, especially Edwin E. Stanton, so they passed the Tenure of Office Act in 1867. Stanton was the Secretary of War appointed by Lincoln and he did not with Johnson's reconstruction policies. But Johnson dismissed Stanton anyways and he was tried in the House who voted 126 to 47 to impeach the president for "high crimes and misdemeanors". Johnson was one vote off of being impeached.

          Several years later in 1868, Ulysses E. Grant be