31st United States Congress
| 31st United States Congress | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The Thirty-first United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1849 to March 4, 1851, during the 16 months of the Zachary Taylor presidency and the first eight months of Millard Fillmore's. The apportionment of seats in this House of Representatives was based on the Sixth Census of the United States in 1840. The Senate had a Democratic majority, while there was a Democratic plurality in the House.
Major events
- March 4, 1849: Zachary Taylor became President of the United States
- December 22, 1849: Howell Cobb is elected Speaker after sixty-three ballots, the longest election for the position ever held.[1]
- March 7, 1850: Senator Daniel Webster gave his "Seventh of March" speech in which he endorsed the Compromise of 1850 to prevent a possible civil war
- July 9, 1850: Taylor died and Millard Fillmore became President.
Major legislation
Main article: Major legislation: 31st United States Congress
- September 9, 1850: Compromise of 1850, sess. 1, chs. 48-51, 9 Stat. 446 - 9 Stat. 458
- September 18, 1850: Fugitive Slave Act, sess. 1, ch. 60, 9 Stat. 462
- September 20, 1850: "An Act to suppress the Slave Trade in the District of Columbia," sess. 1, ch. 63, 9 Stat. 467
- September 29, 1850: Donation Land Claim Act, sess. 1, ch. 76, 9 Stat. 496
States admitted and territories organized
- September 9, 1850 — As part of the Compromise of 1850:
- Texas's borders were changed, ch. 49, 9 Stat. 446
- New Mexico Territory was organized, ch. 49, 9 Stat. 448
- California was admitted as a state into the Union, ch. 50, 9 Stat. 452
- Utah Territory was organized, ch. 51, 9 Stat. 453
Party summary
Senate
During this Congress, two Senate seats were added for the new state of California.
| Party (shading shows control) |
Total | Vacant | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic (D) |
Free Soil (FS) | Whig (W) | Other | |||
| End of the previous congress | 36 | 0 | 23 | 1 | 60 | 0 |
| Begin | 33 | 2 | 25 | 0 | 60 | 0 |
| End | 36 | 24 | 62 | |||
| Final voting share | 58.1% | 3.2% | 38.7% | 0.0% | ||
| Beginning of the next congress | 34 | 2 | 21 | 0 | 57 | 5 |
House of Representatives
During this Congress, two House seats were added for the new state of California.
| Party (shading shows control) |
Total | Vacant | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| American (A) |
Democratic (D) | Free Soil (FS) | Whig (W) | Independent (I) | Other | |||
| End of the previous congress | 1 | 111 | 0 | 114 | 1 | 2 | 229 | 1 |
| Begin | 1 | 113 | 9 | 107 | 0 | 0 | 230 | 1 |
| End | 112 | 108 | 1 | 231 | ||||
| Final voting share | 0.4% | 48.5% | 3.9% | 46.8% | 0.4% | 0.0% | ||
| Beginning of the next congress | 0 | 128 | 3 | 85 | 0 | 17 | 233 | 0 |
Leadership
President of the Senate
Millard Fillmore
Millard Fillmore
Senate
- President: Millard Fillmore (W), until July 9, 1850; vacant thereafter.
- President pro tempore: David Atchison (D), until May 5, 1850
- William R. King (D), from May 6, 1850
House of Representatives
- Speaker: Howell Cobb (D)
Members
This list is arranged by chamber, then by state. Senators are listed in order of seniority, and Representatives are listed by district.
Senate
Senators were elected by the state legislatures every two years, with one-third beginning new six-year terms with each Congress. Preceding the names in the list below are Senate class numbers, which indicate the cycle of their election. In this Congress, Class 1 meant their term ended with this Congress, facing re-election in 1850; Class 2 meant their term began in the last Congress, facing re-election in 1852; and Class 3 meant their term began in this Congress, facing re-election in 1854.
House of Representatives
Speaker Howell Cobb
The names of members of the House of Representatives are preceded by their district numbers.
Changes in membership
The count below reflects changes from the beginning of the first session of this Congress.
Senate
- replacements: 5
- Democrats (D): no net change
- Whigs (W): no net change
- deaths: 1
- resignations: 3
- seats from newly admitted states: 2
- interim appointments: 4
- Total seats with changes: 8
| State (class) |
Vacator | Reason for change | Successor | Date of successor's formal installation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Illinois (3) |
James Shields (D) | Senate voided election March 6, 1849 as Sen. Shields was determined not to have been a US citizen for the number of years required by the Constitution. Incumbent was re-elected October 27, 1849, having by then qualified. |
James Shields (D) | Seated December 3, 1849 |
| Maryland (1) |
Reverdy Johnson (W) | Resigned March 7, 1849 having been appointed United States Attorney General | David Stewart (W) | Appointed December 6, 1849 |
| Alabama (2) |
Benjamin Fitzpatrick (D) | Sen. Dixon Lewis successor elected November 30, 1849 | Jeremiah Clemens (D) | Elected November 30, 1849 |
| Maryland (1) |
David Stewart (W) | Successor elected January 12, 1850 | Thomas Pratt (W) | Elected January 12, 1850 |
| South Carolina (2) |
John C. Calhoun (D) | Died March 31, 1850 | Franklin H. Elmore (D) | Appointed April 11, 1850 |
| South Carolina (2) |
Franklin H. Elmore (D) | Died May 29, 1850 | Robert W. Barnwell (D) | Appointed June 4, 1850 |
| Ohio (1) |
Thomas Corwin (W) | Resigned July 20, 1850 after being appointed United States Secretary of the Treasury | Thomas Ewing (W) | Appointed July 20, 1850 |
| Massachusetts (1) |
Daniel Webster (W) | Resigned July 22, 1850 after being appointed United States Secretary of State | Robert C. Winthrop (W) | Appointed July 30, 1850 |
| California (1) |
New state | California admitted to the Union September 9, 1850. The first Senator was elected September 10, 1850. |
John C. Frémont (D) | Elected September 10, 1850 |
| California (3) |
New state | California admitted to the Union September 9, 1850. The first Senator was elected September 10, 1850. |
William M. Gwin (D) | Elected September 10, 1850 |
| South Carolina (2) |
Robert W. Barnwell (D) | Successor elected December 18, 1850 | Robert Rhett (D) | Elected December 18, 1850 |
| Massachusetts (1) |
Robert C. Winthrop (W) | Successor elected February 1, 1851 | Robert Rantoul, Jr. (W) | Elected February 1, 1851 |
House of Representatives
- replacements: 11
- Democrats (D): 2 seat net gain
- Whigs (W): 2 seat net loss
- deaths: 8
- resignations: 5
- contested election:1
- seats from newly admitted states: 2
- Total seats with changes: 16
| District | Vacator | Reason for change | Successor | Date successor seated |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Minnesota Territory At-large | Vacant | Seat remained vacant after territory became organized at end of previous congress | Henry H. Sibley | Seated July 7, 1849 |
| Vermont 3rd | George Perkins Marsh (W) | Resigned some time in 1849 | James Meacham (W) | Seated December 3, 1849 |
| Ohio 6th | Rodolphus Dickinson (D) | Died March 20, 1849 | Amos E. Wood (D) | Seated December 3, 1849 |
| Virginia 15th | Alexander Newman (D) | Died September 8, 1849 | Thomas Haymond (W) | Seated November 8, 1849 |
| Georgia 1st | Thomas B. King (W) | Resigned March 3, 1850 | Joseph W. Jackson (D) | Seated March 4, 1850 |
| Iowa 1st | William Thompson (D) | Seat declared vacant June 29, 1850 after contested election. House ruled neither candidate entitled to seat and forced special election | Daniel F. Miller (W) | Seated December 20, 1850 |
| Massachusetts 1st | Robert C. Winthrop (W) | Resigned July 30, 1850 after being appointed to the US Senate | Samuel A. Eliot (W) | Seated August 22, 1850 |
| Louisiana 2nd | Charles M. Conrad (W) | Resigned August 17, 1850 after being appointed United States Secretary of War | Henry A. Bullard (W) | Seated December 5, 1850 |
| New Hampshire 3rd | James Wilson (W) | Resigned September 9, 1850 | George W. Morrison (D) | Seated October 8, 1850 |
| California At-large | California admitted into the Union September 9, 1850 and seat remained vacant until September 11, 1850 | Edward Gilbert (D) | Seated September 11, 1850 | |
| California At-large | California admitted into the Union September 9, 1850 and seat remained vacant until September 11, 1850 | George W. Wright (I) | Seated September 11, 1850 | |
| Pennsylvania 15th | Henry Nes (W) | Died September 10, 1850 | Joel B. Danner (D) | Seated December 2, 1850 |
| Pennsylvania 11th | Chester P. Butler (W) | Died October 5, 1850 | John Brisbin (D) | Seated November 13, 1850 |
| Louisiana 3rd | John H. Harmanson (D) | Died October 24, 1850 | Alexander G. Penn (D) | Seated December 30, 1850 |
| Ohio 6th | Amos E. Wood (D) | Died November 19, 1850 | John Bell (W) | Seated January 7, 1851 |
| Texas 1st | David S. Kaufman (D) | Died December 31, 1851 | Vacant | Not filled this term |
Committees
Lists of committees and their party leaders.
Senate
- Agriculture
- Audit and Control the Contingent Expenses of the Senate
- California's Admission to the Union (Select)
- Claims
- Commerce
- Disorder in the Senate of April 17, 1850 (Select)
- Distributing Public Revenue Among the States (Select)
- District of Columbia
- Eligibility of James Shields (Special)
- Finance
- Foreign Relations
- French Spoilations (Select)
- Indian Affairs
- Judiciary
- Manufactures
- Mexican Boundary Commission (Select)
- Military Affairs
- Militia
- Naval Affairs
- Ordnance and War Ships (Select)
- Patents and the Patent Office
- Pensions
- Post Office and Post Roads
- Printing
- Private Land Claims
- Public Buildings and Grounds
- Public Lands
- Retrenchment
- Revolutionary Claims
- Roads and Canals
- Seventh Census (Select)
- Settlement of the Slavery Question (Select)
- Tariff Regulation (Select)
- Territories
- Whole
House of Representatives
- Accounts
- Agriculture
- Bounty Land Act of 1850 (Select)
- Claims
- Commerce
- District of Columbia
- Elections
- Engraving
- Expenditures in the Navy Department
- Expenditures in the Post Office Department
- Expenditures in the State Department
- Expenditures in the Treasury Department
- Expenditures in the War Department
- Expenditures on Public Buildings
- Foreign Affairs
- Indian Affairs
- Invalid Pensions
- Manufactures
- Mileage
- Military Affairs
- Militia
- Naval Affairs
- Patents
- Post Office and Post Roads
- Public Buildings and Grounds
- Public Expenditures
- Public Lands
- Revisal and Unfinished Business
- Revolutionary Claims
- Roads and Canals
- Rules
- Standards of Official Conduct
- Territories
- Ways and Means
- Whole
Joint committees
Employees
Senate
- Chaplain: Henry Slicer (Methodist)
- Clement M. Butler (Episcopalian), elected January 9, 1850
- Secretary: Asbury Dickens
- Sergeant at Arms: Robert Beale
House of Representatives
- Chaplain: Ralph Gurley (Presbyterian)
- Clerk: Thomas J. Campbell, died April 13, 1850
- Richard M. Young, elected April 17, 1850
- Doorkeeper: Robert E. Horner
- Postmaster: John M. Johnson
- Sergeant at Arms: Adam J. Glossbrenner
See also
- United States elections, 1848 (elections leading to this Congress)
- United States elections, 1850 (elections during this Congress, leading to the next Congress)
References
- Notes
- ↑ Jenkins, Jeffery A.; Stewart III, Charles (April 2001). Sophisticated Behavior and Speakership Elections: The Elections of 1849 and 1855–56. Midwest Political Science Association. Chicago, IL. p. 29. Retrieved January 8, 2013.
- Bibliography
- Martis, Kenneth C. (1989). The Historical Atlas of Political Parties in the United States Congress. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company.
- Martis, Kenneth C. (1982). The Historical Atlas of United States Congressional Districts. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company.
External links
- Statutes at Large, 1789-1875
- Senate Journal, First Forty-three Sessions of Congress
- House Journal, First Forty-three Sessions of Congress
- Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress
- U.S. House of Representatives: House History
- U.S. Senate: Statistics and Lists
- Congressional Directory for the 31st Congress, 1st Session.
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