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56th United States Congress

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The 56th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C., from March 4, 1899, to March 4, 1901, during the third and fourth years of William McKinley's presidency. The apportionment of seats in this House of Representatives was based on the 1890 United States census. Both chambers had a Republican majority. There was one African-American member, George Henry White of North Carolina, who served his second and final term as a representative in this Congress, and would be the last black member of Congress until 1928, and the last black member of Congress from the South until 1972.

56th United States Congress
55th ←
→ 57th
United States Capitol (1906)
March 4, 1899 – March 4, 1901
Members90 senators
357 representatives
4 non-voting delegates
Senate majorityRepublican
Senate PresidentGarret Hobart (R)
(until November 21, 1899)
Vacant
(from November 21, 1899)
House majorityRepublican
House SpeakerDavid B. Henderson (R)
Sessions
1st: December 4, 1899 – June 7, 1900
2nd: December 3, 1900 – March 3, 1901

Major events

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Main articles: 1899 in the United States, 1900 in the United States, and 1901 in the United States

Major legislation

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Main article: List of United States federal legislation § 56th United States Congress

Territory organized

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Party summary

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The count below identifies party affiliations at the beginning of the first session of this Congress, and includes members from vacancies and newly admitted states, when they were first seated. Changes resulting from subsequent replacements are shown below in the "Changes in membership" section.

Senate

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Senate membership (final)
     26 Democrats
     53 Republicans

     5 Populists
     3 Silver Republicans
     2 Silver

(1 Vacant)
Party
(shading shows control) 		Total Vacant
Democratic
(D) 		Populist
(P)		Republican
(R)		Silver
Republican
(SR)		Silver
(S)
End of previous congress 34 5 44 5 2 90 0
Begin 26 4 50 3 2 85 5
End 25 5 53 882
Final voting share 28.4% 5.7% 60.2% 3.4% 2.3%
Beginning of next congress 28 3 53 2 0 86 4

House of Representatives

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Party
(shading shows control) 		Total Vacant
Democratic
(D) 		Populist
(P)		Republican
(R)		Silver
Republican
(SR)		Silver
(S)
End of previous congress 122 22 202 3 1 350 7
Begin 162 6 183 2 1 354 3
End 158 186 3534
Final voting share 44.8% 1.7% 52.7% 0.6% 0.3%
Non-voting members 1 0200 3 1
Beginning of next congress 152 5 196 1 1 355 2

Leadership

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President of the Senate
Garret Hobart
 
Speaker of the House
David B. Henderson

Senate

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House of Representatives

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Majority (Republican) leadership

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Minority (Democratic) leadership

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Members

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This list is arranged by chamber, then by state. Senators are listed by class, and representatives are listed by district.

Skip to House of Representatives, below

Senate

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At this time, 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 began with this Congress, requiring re-election in 1904; Class 2 meant their term ended with this Congress, requiring re-election in 1900; and Class 3 meant their term began in the last Congress, requiring re-election in 1902.

House of Representatives

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Changes in membership

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The count below reflects changes from the beginning of the first session of this Congress.

Senate

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  • Replacements: 7
  • Deaths: 3
  • Resignations: 1
  • Vacancies: 5
  • Interim appointments: 2
  • Total seats with changes: 9
State
(class) 		Vacated by Reason for vacancy Subsequent Date of successor's installation
Delaware
(1) 		Vacant Senator George Gray's (D) term had expired at the end of previous Congress having failed to get re-elected. Legislature failed to elect Senator for this Congress, seat remained vacant for the entire Congress. Seat remained vacant until next Congress.
Nebraska
(1) 		Vacant Legislature failed to elect to fill vacancy in term. Monroe Hayward (R) March 8, 1899
California
(1) 		Vacant Legislature failed to elect to fill vacancy in term. Thomas R. Bard (R) February 7, 1900
Florida
(1) 		Samuel Pasco (D) Successor was elected April 18, 1899. James Taliaferro (D) April 20, 1899
Nebraska
(1) 		Monroe Hayward (R) Died December 5, 1899. Successor was appointed. William V. Allen (Pop.) December 13, 1899
Montana
(1) 		William A. Clark (D) Resigned May 15, 1900, over claim of election fraud.
Seat remained vacant until the next Congress. 		Vacant
Iowa
(2) 		John H. Gear (R) Died July 14, 1900. Successor was appointed and subsequently elected. Jonathan P. Dolliver (R) August 22, 1900
Vermont
(3) 		Jonathan Ross (R) Successor was elected October 18, 1900. William P. Dillingham (R) October 18, 1900
Minnesota
(1) 		Cushman K. Davis (R) Died November 27, 1900. Successor was appointed. Charles A. Towne (D) December 5, 1900
Pennsylvania
(1) 		Vacant Due to a failure to elect, Governor appointed Quay at beginning of term, but Senate refused to seat him. He then won a special election. Matthew Quay (R) January 16, 1901
Minnesota
(1) 		Charles A. Towne (D) Successor was elected January 23, 1901. Moses E. Clapp (R) January 28, 1901
Utah
(1) 		Vacant failure to elect Thomas Kearns (R) January 23, 1901

House of Representatives

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  • Replacements: 21
  • Deaths: 12
  • Resignations: 7
  • Contested election: 3
  • New seats: 1
  • Total seats with changes: 26
District Previous Reason for change Subsequent Date of successor's installation
Maine 2nd Vacant Rep. Nelson Dingley Jr. died during previous congress Charles E. Littlefield (R) June 19, 1899
Utah At-large Vacant B. H. Roberts was denied seat. King was elected to finish term. William H. King (D) June 19, 1899
New York 34th Vacant Rep. Warren B. Hooker resigned during previous congress Edward B. Vreeland (R) November 7, 1899
Nebraska 6th William L. Greene (Pop.) Died March 11, 1899. William Neville (Pop.) December 4, 1899
Louisiana 5th Samuel T. Baird (D) Died April 22, 1899. Joseph E. Ransdell (D) August 29, 1899
Missouri 8th Richard P. Bland (D) Died June 15, 1899. Dorsey W. Shackleford (D) August 29, 1899
Ohio 16th Lorenzo Danford (R) Died June 19, 1899 Joseph J. Gill (R) December 4, 1899
Maine 1st Thomas B. Reed (R) Resigned September 4, 1899. Amos L. Allen (R) November 6, 1899
Pennsylvania 9th Daniel Ermentrout (D) Died September 17, 1899. Henry D. Green (D) November 7, 1899
Kentucky 7th Evan E. Settle (D) Died November 16, 1899. June Ward Gayle (D) January 15, 1900
Maryland 1st John W. Smith (D) Resigned January 12, 1900, after being elected Governor of Maryland Josiah Kerr (R) November 6, 1900
New York 24th Charles A. Chickering (R) Died February 13, 1900 Albert D. Shaw (R) November 6, 1900
Virginia 4th Sidney P. Epes (D) Died March 3, 1900. Francis R. Lassiter (D) April 9, 1900
Pennsylvania 5th Alfred C. Harmer (R) Died March 6, 1900 Edward Morrell (R) November 6, 1900
Alabama 4th Gaston A. Robbins (D) Lost contested election March 8, 1900 William F. Aldrich (R) March 8, 1900
Virginia 2nd William A. Young (D) Lost contested election March 12, 1900 Richard A. Wise (R) March 12, 1900
Alabama 8th Joseph Wheeler (D) Resigned April 20, 1900. William N. Richardson (D) December 3, 1900
North Carolina 9th William T. Crawford (D) Lost contested election May 10, 1900 Richmond Pearson (R) May 10, 1900
Iowa 9th Smith McPherson (R) Resigned June 6, 1900, after being appointed judge for the United States District Court for the Southern District of Iowa Walter I. Smith (R) December 3, 1900
Delaware At-large John H. Hoffecker (R) Died June 16, 1900 Walter O. Hoffecker (R) November 6, 1900
New Jersey 7th William D. Daly (D) Died July 31, 1900. Allan L. McDermott (D) December 3, 1900
California 2nd Marion De Vries (D) Resigned August 20, 1900, after being appointed to the Board of General Appraisers Samuel D. Woods (R) December 3, 1900
Iowa 10th Jonathan P. Dolliver (R) Resigned August 22, 1900, after being appointed to the U.S. Senate James P. Conner (R) December 4, 1900
Hawaii Territory New seat Seat established by the Hawaiian Organic Act April 30, 1900 Robert W. Wilcox (Home Rule) November 6, 1900
Virginia 2nd Richard A. Wise (R) Died December 21, 1900 Seat remained vacant until next Congress
New Hampshire 2nd Frank G. Clarke (R) Died January 9, 1901 Seat remained vacant until next Congress
New York 24th Albert D. Shaw (R) Died February 10, 1901 Seat remained vacant until next Congress
Maine 4th Charles A. Boutelle (R) Resigned March 3, 1901 Seat remained vacant until next Congress

Committees

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Lists of committees and their party leaders for members of the House and Senate committees can be found through the Official Congressional Directory at the bottom of this article. The directory after the pages of terms of service lists committees of the Senate, House (Standing with Subcommittees, Select and Special) and Joint and, after that, House/Senate committee assignments. On the committees section of the House and Senate in the Official Congressional Directory, the committee's members on the first row on the left side shows the chairman of the committee and on the right side shows the ranking member of the committee.

Senate

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House of Representatives

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Joint committees

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Caucuses

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Employees

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Legislative branch agency directors

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Senate

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House of Representatives

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See also

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References

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  • 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.
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