The 7th congressional district of South Carolina existed in the 19th century, but was eliminated in 1853 as a result of the 1850 census.

(Such disfranchisement occurred among all the states of the former Confederacy, and their use of poll taxes, literacy tests, grandfather clauses, and white primaries survived several US Supreme Court challenges.)

During the first half of the 20th century, 6.5 million blacks in total left South Carolina and other southern states in the Great Migration to the North, Midwest and West.

Following cumulative declines in state population, after the 1930 census, South Carolina lost a seat and the 7th district was eliminated in redistricting.

Increases in population led to the state's receiving another congressional seat in the redistricting cycle following the 2010 census.