 If the loss of his property was a bitter blow, the triumph of the so-called Redeemers, self-styled Conservatives and their opposition to the black franchise and their dismantling of all racial progress, was even more so.The ascendant Democrats also strongly opposed Reconstruction, and regained control of the United States House of Representatives in 1874.In 1877, U.S. Army Troops were removed from the South, which ended Reconstruction and all real hope of protection for newly enfranchised blacks.