On this date in 1854, the South Carolina General Assembly met at Janney’s Hall in Columbia, marking a historic moment. This session included 85 Black representatives and 70 white representatives, making it the first and only time in American history that a legislative body had a Black majority.

In the South Carolina Senate, there were 10 Black and 21 white senators, while in the House of Representatives, there were 75 Black and 49 white members. This remarkable moment occurred during the period of Reconstruction, when newly freed African Americans gained political power, particularly in the southern states. However, due to the end of Reconstruction and the rise of Jim Crow laws, Black political power in the South was systematically dismantled, and this would be the last time Black individuals held a majority in any American legislature.