In the Compromise of 1877, or what African Americans later called The Great Betrayal, Rutherford B. Hayes, in order to ensure his election to the Presidency, made a deal with the Democrats, promising to withdraw all troops from the south. Hayes made good on his deal, withdrawing the first troops from the south just weeks after he assumed office. This was the beginning of the end of Reconstruction. While this action calmed the nation's troubled waters in the short term, it would have major consequences for the country over the next century. When the final troops were withdrawn from the former Confederacy, the Democrats immediately seized control both politically and legally. Immediately, they implemented policies maintaining the political authority of white landowners. Rights for blacks were regularly suppressed. Black officeholders were immediately voted out of office. This period also marked the beginning of the segregation of public facilities. This denial of rights for African Americans, including the right to vote, would continue for nearly a century. In my opinion, Hayes betrayed his country by ending the Reconstruction and allowing the Old South to rise again. He promised the Democrats to end Reconstruction if they handed him the election. However, what's the point in getting elected if you cannot change anything? What's the point in getting elected if you are forced to submit to the continued suppression of a group of people's God-given rights? In ending the Reconstruction, Rutherford B. Hayes singlehandedly set in motion the denial of freedom to thousands and thousands of African Americans for nearly a century.