DISCUSSION QUESTION EXAMPLE

Folks, here is an example Discussion Question (DQ) response. This is the quality and length that I expect your DQ's to have...if you wish to get full credit for your DQ responses. Please be sure to allow yourself adequate time to respond to each DQ in this fashion - - you may need every point you can muster when I calculate your end of the class grades. Good luck and smooth sailing! M. D. Hill

1. What was the Compromise of 1877 and why was it important?

With political scandals, disagreements over the "money question" and hard times beseeching his administration, many Republicans opted not to back Grant for a third-term in office. Instead, they chose Rutherford B. Hayes, a former governor of Ohio and someone, the Republicans thought, would not disagree with the Reformers or Radicals in the party. During the 1876 campaign, both parties used whatever means necessary to promote their candidates, but early tabulations showed that Tilden, the Democratic candidate, had a small lead over Hayes. However, there were several southern states where the results were questionable and the Republican Senate and Democratic House decided to set up a special Electoral Commission to investigate and report its findings. The Commission was made up of 15 members, whom, in the end, voted along party lines: 8 to 7 in favor of Hayes. The votes for Hayes by the Commission was also supported by the House due to a compromise between parties. This compromise saw Republicans meeting with key Democrats at the Wormley House in February 1877, where the Republicans, if Hayes was elected, promised to pull the last of federal troops from Louisiana and South Carolina, thereby letting the Republican governments there collapse. The Democrats promised to withdraw their opposition to Hayes and accept the Reconstruction amendments, which included civil rights for blacks, and to discontinue partisan attacks on Republicans in the South. This compromise was important in that, following the removal of federal troops from south, it allowed Southern Democrats an opportunity to oust the current Republican governments and return to pre-War state governments that were ruled by them. In addition, Hayes’ friends also promised more economic support for the south and a key cabinet position to go to a white-southerner.