1877 — Reconstruction Ends in South Carolina, Black Political Power Dismantled

On May 7, 1877, federal troops withdrew from South Carolina, signaling the end of Reconstruction and the dismantling of Black political power in the state. Black legislators had made historic gains following the Civil War, with South Carolina’s legislature becoming majority-Black for a time. However, with the federal government’s retreat, white supremacist groups quickly reinstated discriminatory laws and violence to suppress African American rights. This tragic shift inaugurated the long Jim Crow era, reversing much of the progress made during Reconstruction and perpetuating systemic inequality for nearly a century afterward.