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The 27th 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., between March 4, 1841, and March 4, 1843, during the one-month presidency of William Henry Harrison and the first two years of the presidency of his successor, John Tyler. The apportionment of seats in the House of Representatives was based on the 1830 United States census. Both chambers had a Whig majority, making the 27th Congress the only Whig-controlled Congress of the Second Party System.
| 27th United States Congress | |
|---|---|
26th ← → 28th | |
 United States Capitol (1846) | |
March 4, 1841 – March 4, 1843 | |
| Members | 52 senators 242 representatives 3 non-voting delegates |
| Senate majority | Whig |
| Senate President | John Tyler (W)[a] (until April 4, 1841) Vacant (from April 4, 1841) |
| House majority | Whig |
| House Speaker | John White (W) |
| Sessions | |
| Special: March 4, 1841 – March 15, 1841 1st: May 31, 1841 – September 13, 1841 2nd: December 6, 1841 – August 31, 1842 3rd: December 5, 1842 – March 3, 1843 (lame duck) | |
Major events
edit- March 4, 1841: William Henry Harrison was inaugurated as President of the United States
- April 4, 1841: President Harrison died and Vice President John Tyler became President
- August 16, 1841: President Tyler's veto of a bill to re-establish the Second Bank of the United States led Whig Party members to riot outside the White House in the most violent demonstration on White House grounds in U.S. history.
- May 19, 1842: Dorr Rebellion
- December 17, 1842: Samuel W. Trotti of South Carolina, became the first Italian American to serve in Congress.
Major legislation
edit- April 19, 1841: Bankruptcy Act of 1841, ch. 9, 5 Stat. 440
- September 4, 1841: Preemption Act of 1841, ch. 16, 5 Stat. 453
- August 4, 1842: Armed Occupation Act, 5 Stat. 502
- August 30, 1842: Tariff of 1842 ("Black Tariff"), ch. 270, 5 Stat. 548
Treaties
edit- August 9, 1842: Webster-Ashburton Treaty signed, establishing the United States–Canada border east of the Rocky Mountains.
Party summary
editSenate
edit| Party (shading shows control) |
Total | Vacant | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic (D) |
Whig (W) | |||
| End of previous congress | 29 | 23 | 52 | 0 |
| Begin | 22 | 29 | 51 | 1 |
| End | 20 | 49 | 3 | |
| Final voting share | 40.8% | 59.2% | ||
| Beginning of next congress | 22 | 26 | 48 | 4 |
House of Representatives
edit| Party (shading shows control) |
Total | Vacant | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic (D) |
Independent Democratic (ID) | Whig (W) | Other |
|||
| End of previous congress | 124 | 0 | 111 | 2[b] | 237 | 0 |
| Begin | 98 | 1 | 142 | 0 | 241 | 1 |
| End | 101 | 139 | ||||
| Final voting share | 41.9% | 0.4% | 57.7% | 0.0% | ||
| Beginning of next congress | 147 | 1 | 72 | 3[c] | 223 | 0 |
Leadership
edit
John Tyler
Senate
edit- President: John Tyler (W), until April 4, 1841, thereafter vacant
- Presidents pro tempore: William R. King (D), elected March 4, 1841
- Samuel L. Southard (W), elected March 11, 1841
- Willie P. Mangum (W), elected May 31, 1842
House of Representatives
edit- Speaker: John D. White (W)
Members
editThis list is arranged by chamber, then by state. Senators are listed in order of seniority, and representatives are listed by district.
Senate
editSenators 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 in the last Congress, requiring re-election in 1844; Class 2 meant their term began with this Congress, requiring re-election in 1846; and Class 3 meant their term ended with this Congress, requiring re-election in 1842.
|
|
 2 Democrats 1 Democrat and 1 Whig 2 Whigs |
 William R. King  Samuel L. Southard  Willie Person Mangum
|
House of Representatives
edit
Changes in membership
editThe count below reflects changes from the beginning of the first session of this Congress.
Senate
edit- Replacements: 9
- Deaths: 2
- Resignations: 8
- Interim appointments: 0
- Vacancy: 1
- Total seats with changes: 10
| State (class) |
Vacated by | Reason for change | Successor | Date of successor's formal installation[e] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama (3) |
Clement C. Clay (D) | Resigned November 15, 1841 | Arthur P. Bagby (D) | Elected November 24, 1841 |
| Rhode Island (1) |
Nathan F. Dixon (W) | Died January 29, 1842 | William Sprague (W) | Elected February 18, 1842 |
| Tennessee (1) |
Alfred O. P. Nicholson (D) | Resigned February 7, 1842 | Vacant | Not filled this term |
| New Hampshire (3) |
Franklin Pierce (D) | Resigned February 28, 1842 | Leonard Wilcox (D) | Appointed March 1, 1842, and subsequently elected |
| Louisiana (3) |
Alexandre Mouton (D) | Resigned March 1, 1842, after being elected Governor of Louisiana | Charles M. Conrad (W) | Appointed April 14, 1842 |
| Kentucky (3) |
Henry Clay (W) | Resigned March 31, 1842 | John J. Crittenden (W) | Appointed March 31, 1842, and subsequently elected |
| Vermont (3) |
Samuel Prentiss (W) | Resigned April 11, 1842, to become judge of the U.S. District Court of Vermont | Samuel C. Crafts (W) | Appointed April 23, 1842, and subsequently elected |
| New Jersey (1) |
Samuel L. Southard (W) | Died June 26, 1842 | William L. Dayton (W) | Appointed July 2, 1842 |
| South Carolina (3) |
William C. Preston (W) | Resigned November 29, 1842 | George McDuffie (D) | Elected December 23, 1842 |
| Maine (1) |
Reuel Williams (D) | Resigned February 15, 1843 | Vacant | Not filled this term |
House of Representatives
edit- Replacements: 17
- Deaths: 8
- Resignations: 12
- Contested election: 1
- Total seats with changes: 20
| District | Vacated by | Reason for change | Successor | Date of successor's formal installation[e] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maine 4th | Vacant | Rep. George Evans resigned in previous congress | David Bronson (W) | Seated May 31, 1841 |
| New York 26th | Francis Granger (W) | Resigned March 5, 1841, after being appointed United States Postmaster General | John Greig (W) | Seated May 21, 1841 |
| Massachusetts 5th | Levi Lincoln Jr. (W) | Resigned March 16, 1841, after being appointed Collector of the port of Boston | Charles Hudson (W) | Seated May 3, 1841 |
| Pennsylvania 20th | Enos Hook (D) | Resigned April 18, 1841 | Henry W. Beeson (D) | Seated May 31, 1841 |
| Pennsylvania 18th | Charles Ogle (W) | Died May 10, 1841 | Henry Black (W) | Seated June 28, 1841 |
| Pennsylvania 2nd | John Sergeant (W) | Resigned September 15, 1841 | Joseph R. Ingersoll (W) | Seated October 12, 1841 |
| New York 26th | John Greig (W) | Resigned September 25, 1841 | Francis Granger (W) | Seated November 27, 1841 |
| Georgia at-large | Julius C. Alford (W) | Resigned October 1, 1841 | Edward J. Black (D) | Seated January 3, 1842 |
| Georgia at-large | Eugenius A. Nisbet (W) | Resigned October 12, 1841 | Mark A. Cooper (D) | Seated January 3, 1842 |
| Georgia at-large | William C. Dawson (W) | Resigned November 13, 1841 | Walter T. Colquitt (D) | Seated January 3, 1842 |
| Pennsylvania 18th | Henry Black (W) | Died November 28, 1841 | James M. Russell (W) | Seated December 21, 1841 |
| Virginia 13th | Linn Banks (D) | Lost contested election December 6, 1841 | William Smith (D) | Seated December 6, 1841 |
| Pennsylvania 17th | Davis Dimock Jr. (D) | Died January 13, 1842 | Almon H. Read (D) | Seated March 18, 1842 |
| North Carolina 13th | Lewis Williams (W) | Died February 23, 1842 | Anderson Mitchell (W) | Seated April 27, 1842 |
| Ohio 16th | Joshua R. Giddings (W) | Resigned March 22, 1842, after vote of his censure and re-elected to same seat | Joshua R. Giddings (W) | Seated December 5, 1842 |
| Pennsylvania 21st | Joseph Lawrence (W) | Died April 17, 1842 | Thomas M. T. McKennan (W) | Seated May 30, 1842 |
| Massachusetts 1st | Robert C. Winthrop (W) | Resigned May 25, 1842 | Nathan Appleton (W) | Seated June 9, 1842 |
| Massachusetts 9th | William S. Hastings (W) | Died June 17, 1842 | Vacant | Not filled this Congress |
| South Carolina 4th | Sampson H. Butler (D) | Resigned September 27, 1842 | Samuel W. Trotti (D) | Seated December 17, 1842 |
| Massachusetts 1st | Nathan Appleton (W) | Resigned September 28, 1842 | Robert C. Winthrop (W) | Seated November 29, 1842 |
| Georgia at-large | Richard W. Habersham (W) | Died December 2, 1842 | George W. Crawford (W) | Seated January 7, 1843 |
| Maryland 3rd | James W. Williams (D) | Died December 2, 1842 | Charles S. Sewall (D) | Seated January 2, 1843 |
Committees
editLists of committees and their party leaders.
Senate
edit- Agriculture (Chairman: Lewis F. Linn)
- Audit and Control the Contingent Expenses of the Senate (Chairman: Albert S. White then Benjamin Tappan)
- Claims (Chairman: William A. Graham)
- Commerce (Chairman: Jabez Huntington)
- Distributing Public Revenue Among the States (Select)
- District of Columbia (Chairman: Richard H. Bayard)
- Finance (Chairman: Clement C. Clay)
- Fiscal Corporation of the United States (Select)
- Foreign Relations (Chairman: William C. Rives then William S. Archer)
- Indian Affairs (Chairman: James T. Morehead then Albert White)
- Judiciary (Chairman: John M. Berrien)
- Manufactures (Chairman: George Evans)
- Military Affairs (Chairman: William C. Preston then John J. Crittenden)
- Militia (Chairman: Samuel S. Phelps)
- Naval Affairs (Chairman: Willie P. Mangum)
- Patents and the Patent Office (Chairman: Samuel Prentiss then John Leeds Kerr then Samuel S. Phelps)
- Pensions (Chairman: Isaac C. Bates)
- Post Office and Post Roads (Chairman: John Henderson)
- Printing (Chairman: N/A)
- Private Land Claims (Chairman: Richard H. Bayard)
- Public Buildings and Grounds (Chairman: Alexander Barrow)
- Public Lands (Chairman: Oliver H. Smith)
- Revolutionary Claims (Chairman: Nathan F. Dixon)
- Roads and Canals (Chairman: Augustus S. Porter)
- Tariff Regulation (Select)
- Whole
House of Representatives
edit- Accounts (Chairman: Osmyn Baker)
- Agriculture (Chairman: Edmund Deberry)
- Apportionment of Representatives (Select)
- Claims (Chairman: Joshua Giddings)
- Commerce (Chairman: John P. Kennedy)
- District of Columbia (Chairman: Joseph R. Underwood)
- Elections (Chairman: William Halstead)
- Expenditures in the Navy Department (Chairman: Thomas Jones Yorke)
- Expenditures in the Post Office Department (Chairman: Joshua A. Lowell)
- Expenditures in the State Department (Chairman: John Van Buren)
- Expenditures in the Treasury Department (Chairman: A. Lawrence Foster)
- Expenditures in the War Department (Chairman: James Iver McKay)
- Expenditures on Public Buildings (Chairman: Cave Johnson)
- Foreign Affairs (Chairman: Caleb Cushing then John Quincy Adams)
- Indian Affairs (Chairman: John Quincy Adams)
- Invalid Pensions (Chairman: Calvary Morris)
- Judiciary (Chairman: Daniel D. Barnard)
- Manufactures (Chairman: Leverett Saltonstall I)
- Memorial of the Agricultural Bank of Mississippi (Select)
- Mileage (Chairman: Thomas W. Williams)
- Military Affairs (Chairman: William C. Dawson)
- Militia (Chairman: George May Keim)
- Naval Affairs (Chairman: Henry A. Wise)
- Patents (Chairman: Thomas B. Osborne)
- Post Office and Post Roads (Chairman: George N. Briggs)
- Private Land Claims (Chairman: John Moore)
- Public Buildings and Grounds (Chairman: William W. Boardman)
- Public Expenditures (Chairman: James Graham)
- Public Lands (Chairman: William C. Johnson then Jeremiah Morrow then Reuben Chapman then Jeremiah Morrow)
- Revisal and Unfinished Business (Chairman: Francis James)
- Revolutionary Claims (Chairman: Hiland Hall)
- Revolutionary Pensions (Chairman: John Taliaferro)
- Roads and Canals (Chairman: Joseph Lawrence)
- Rules (Select)
- Standards of Official Conduct
- Territories (Chairman: Garrett Davis)
- Ways and Means (Chairman: Millard Fillmore)
- Whole
Joint committees
edit- Enrolled Bills (Chairman: Sen. Augustus Porter then Sen. William Sprague)
- The Library (Chairman: N/A)
Employees
editSenate
edit- Secretary: Asbury Dickins
- Sergeant at Arms: Stephen Haight, until March 8, 1841
- Edward Dyer, elected March 8, 1841
- Chaplain: George G. Cookman, Methodist, until June 12, 1841
- Septimus Tustin, Presbyterian, elected June 12, 1841
House of Representatives
edit- Clerk: Hugh A. Garland, until May 31, 1841
- Matthew St. Clair Clarke, elected May 31, 1841
- Sergeant at Arms: Roderick Dorsey, until June 8, 1841
- Eleazor M. Townsend, elected June 8, 1841
- Doorkeeper: Joseph Follansbee
- Postmaster: William J. McCormick
- Chaplain: John W. French, Episcopalian, elected May 31, 1841
- John N. Maffit, Methodist, elected December 6, 1841
- Frederick T. Tiffany, Episcopalian, elected December 5, 1842
- Reading Clerks: [data missing]
See also
edit- 1840 United States elections (elections leading to this Congress)
- 1842 United States elections (elections during this Congress, leading to the next Congress)
Notes
edit- ^ U.S. Vice President Tyler's term as President of the Senate ended on April 4, 1841 when he ascended to the presidency. President pro tempore Samuel L. Southard acted his duties as the president of the Senate until he retired on May 31, 1842, due to health reasons, and Willie P. Mangum took over to act his duties until at the end of Congress.
- ^ Conservative
- ^ Law and Order
& Independent Whig - ^ Robert M. T. Hunter is sometimes called a "States' Rights Whig".
- ^ a b When seated or oath administered, not necessarily when service began.
References
edit- 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
edit- 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 27th Congress, 1st Session. 1841.