When the Reconstruction of the American South was formally abandoned in the spring of 1877, a new stage arrived in the sectional conflict of the nineteenth century. The intense North-South antagonism of earlier years gave way to a greater measure of intersectional compromise and accommodation. But despite the moderating influences of the new era, sectionalism remained a powerful theme in American life, both in national politics and in the public affairs of states and localities. The consciousness of northerners and southerners was still infused with the dramatic and tragic experiences of the recent past, and politics inevitably reflected these recollections