A History Lesson

We are setting our Wayback Machine to after the Civil War when Union Troops occupied the South (Hint: They didn't like it.) The Kahn Academy writes...

The Compromise of 1877

Overview

• The Compromise of 1877 resolved the disputed 1876 presidential election between Democratic candidate Samuel Tilden and Republican candidate Rutherford B. Hayes.
• Democrats agreed that Rutherford B. Hayes would become president in exchange for the withdrawal of federal troops from the South and the granting of home rule in the South.
• President Hayes’ withdrawal of federal troops from Louisiana and South Carolina marked a major turning point in American political history, effectively ending the Reconstruction Era and issuing in the system of Jim Crow.

The Compromise of 1877 resolved the tumult that had arisen following the 1876 presidential election. In that election, Democratic candidate Samuel J. Tilden of New York won 247,448 more popular votes than Republican Rutherford B. Hayes of Ohio. But the electoral votes in the three southern states of Florida, Louisiana, and South Carolina were disputed. For almost four months, from November into late February, tensions remained high as the question of who was to become the nation’s next president remained unresolved.

[...]

The Compromise of 1877 gave white Southerners their chance to stop the military occupation of the South. In the compromise, Southern Democrats agreed not to block the vote by which Congress awarded the contested electoral votes to Rutherford B. Hayes, and Hayes therefore became president. In return, Republicans agreed to withdraw federal troops from actively intervening in the politics of Louisiana and South Carolina (the last two states occupied by federal troops). Accordingly, within two months of becoming president, Hayes ordered federal troops in Louisiana and South Carolina to return to their bases.

So the south didn't like troops in their cities... hmm, sound familiar?

Then there was the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878:

Rutherford B. Hayes (1877-1881): The Great Railroad Strike

ENO trns

July 19, 2024

By Philip Plotch

After serving as a major general for the Union Army, a member of Congress, and governor of Ohio – Rutherford B. Hayes accepted the Republican Party’s nomination for president in 1876, promising to serve only one term if elected. 

At the time, the U.S. was in the midst of an economic depression that had been triggered by a number of factors including a speculative boom in railroad construction. During a five-year period after the Civil War, more than 30,000 miles of new track had been laid across the country.   

[...]

Even though federal troops had never before been deployed in states during a labor dispute, President Hayes ordered troops sent to Maryland, West Virginia, and Pittsburgh, and by early August — with the help of federal troops — all the strikes were over and the trains were running again. The president made clear that he sent troops to preserve order not to side with the railroad’s management.

That was one of the things that lead up to the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878.

But before that there was the Insurrection Act (1807). the act was all about:

Thomas Jefferson Signed the Insurrection Act in 1807 to Foil a Plot by Aaron Burr

With his political career in ruins after killing Alexander Hamilton, Aaron Burr set off to claim lands in the Southwest—and President Jefferson intended to stop him.

The History Channel

By Dave Roos

June 03, 2020 : Updated: May 28, 2025

The Insurrection Act gives U.S. presidents the authority to deploy active duty military to maintain or restore peace in times of crisis. The Insurrection Act was invoked numerous times in the 20th century, most famously when Dwight D. Eisenhower sent the 101st Airborne Division to enforce the desegregation of public schools in Little Rock, Arkansas.

But the origins of the Insurrection Act date back more than 200 years to a bizarre chapter in American history—when Aaron Burr plotted to raise an army and establish his own dynasty in either the Louisiana Territory or Mexico.

Burr, a decorated Revolutionary War officer and senator from New York, served as vice president during Thomas Jefferson’s first term. Burr had grand political aspirations, but they were dashed after he killed his rival Alexander Hamilton in a duel in 1804.

 

So now we have... the Los Angeles occupation which has been going on for around 81 days. What is keeping the troops in LA? Trumps penchant for tying things up in court. As different legal points are argued out with the lawyers.

[...]

So while the Insurrection Act was written expressly to foil Burr’s plot, it wasn’t used to capture him. The very first time the Insurrection Act was actually invoked was a year later in 1808 when American merchant ships in the Great Lakes flouted Jefferson’s trade embargo with the British. In response, Jefferson accused the rogue traders of “forming insurrections against the authority of the laws of the United States” and authorized the military to take action.

With Trump threatening to move troops into Chicago has the requirements for the Insurrection Act and the Posse Comitatus Act been met?

• ❌ No insurrection has been declared; no legal invocation
• ❌ Illinois Gov. Pritzker has explicitly rejected federal help
• ❌ No such law passed by Congress

So the answer is no, none of the law requirements have been met.

Do you think that will stop Trump... he will just tie everything up in legal “stalling” buying time, in which the troops will still be on the streets!

The bottom-line: Does Congress have enough backbone to stand up to Trump, so far they haven't.