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1857-1859 U.S. Congress From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The 35th 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, 1857, to March 4, 1859, during the first two years of James Buchanan's presidency. The apportionment of seats in the House of Representatives was based on the 1850 United States census. Both chambers had a Democratic majority.
| 35th United States Congress | |
|---|---|
34th ← → 36th | |
 United States Capitol (1860) | |
March 4, 1857 – March 4, 1859 | |
| Members | 66 senators 237 representatives 7 non-voting delegates |
| Senate majority | Democratic |
| Senate President | John C. Breckinridge (D) |
| House majority | Democratic |
| House Speaker | James L. Orr (D) |
| Sessions | |
| Special[a]: March 4, 1857 – March 14, 1857 1st: December 7, 1857 – June 14, 1858 Special[b]: June 15, 1858 – June 16, 1858 2nd: December 6, 1858 – March 3, 1859 | |
During this congress, two Senate seats were added for each of the new states of Minnesota and Oregon.
| Party (shading shows control) |
Total | Vacant | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Know Nothing (A) |
Democratic (D) | Republican (R) | |||
| End of previous congress | 2 | 40 | 20[c] | 62 | 0 |
| Begin | 4 | 37 | 20 | 61 | 1 |
| End | 42 | 66 | 0 | ||
| Final voting share | 6.1% | 63.6% | 30.3% | ||
| Beginning of next congress | 2 | 38 | 26 | 66 | 0 |
During this congress, two House seats were added for the new state of Minnesota and one House seat was added for the new state of Oregon.
| Party (shading shows control) |
Total | Vacant | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Know Nothing (A) |
Democratic (D) | Independent Democratic (ID) | Republican (R) | Other | |||
| End of previous congress | 52 | 81 | 0 | 97[d] | 0 | 230 | 4 |
| Begin | 14 | 127 | 0 | 92 | 0 | 233 | 1 |
| End | 130 | 1 | 237 | 0 | |||
| Final voting share | 5.9% | 54.9% | 0.4% | 38.8% | 0.0% | ||
| Beginning of next congress | 6 | 84 | 7 | 113 | 25 | 235 | 2 |
This list is arranged by chamber, then by state. Senators are listed in order of seniority, and representatives are listed by district.
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, facing re-election in 1862; Class 2 meant their term ended with this Congress, facing re-election in 1858; and Class 3 meant their term began in the last Congress, facing re-election in 1860.
Alabama
Arkansas
California
Connecticut
Delaware
Florida
Georgia
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maine
Maryland
Massachusetts
Michigan
Minnesota
Mississippi
|
Missouri
New Hampshire
New Jersey
New York
North Carolina
Ohio
Oregon
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
South Carolina
Tennessee
Texas
Vermont
Virginia
Wisconsin
|
 2 Democrats
1 Democrat and 1 Republican
2 Republicans
2 Know-Nothings |
 James Murray Mason, March 4, 1857  Thomas J. Rusk, March 14, 1857 – July 29, 1857  Benjamin Fitzpatrick, from December 7, 1857
|
The names of members of the House of Representatives are preceded by their district numbers.
The count below reflects changes from the beginning of the first session of this Congress.
| State (class) |
Vacated by | Reason for change | Successor | Date of successor's formal installation[e] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tennessee (1) |
Vacant | Legislature had failed to elect. Successor elected October 8, 1857. |
Andrew Johnson (D) | October 8, 1857 |
| South Carolina (3) |
Andrew Butler (D) | Died May 25, 1857. Successor elected December 7, 1857. |
James H. Hammond (D) | December 7, 1857 |
| New Hampshire (3) |
James Bell (R) | Died May 26, 1857. Successor elected June 27, 1857. |
Daniel Clark (R) | June 27, 1857 |
| Texas (1) |
Thomas J. Rusk (D) | Died July 29, 1857. Successor appointed November 9, 1857. |
J. Pinckney Henderson (D) | November 9, 1857 |
| North Carolina (3) |
Asa Biggs (D) | Resigned May 5, 1858, to become judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of North Carolina. Successor appointed May 7, 1858. Appointee elected November 23, 1858. |
Thomas L. Clingman (D) | May 7, 1858 |
| South Carolina (2) |
Josiah J. Evans (D) | Died May 6, 1858. Successor appointed May 11, 1858. |
Arthur P. Hayne (D) | May 11, 1858 |
| Minnesota (1) |
New seat | Minnesota admitted to the Union May 11, 1858, and its first Senators were elected that day. | Henry M. Rice (D) | May 11, 1858 |
| Minnesota (2) |
New seat | Minnesota admitted to the Union May 11, 1858, and its first Senators were elected that day. | James Shields (D) | May 11, 1858 |
| Texas (1) |
J. Pinckney Henderson (D) | Died June 4, 1858. Successor appointed September 27, 1858. |
Matthias Ward (D) | September 27, 1858 |
| South Carolina (2) |
Arthur P. Hayne (D) | Interim appointee retired. Successor elected December 2, 1858. |
James Chesnut Jr. (D) | December 3, 1858 |
| Oregon (2) |
New seat | Oregon admitted to the Union February 14, 1859, and its first Senators were elected that day. | Delazon Smith (D) | February 14, 1859 |
| Oregon (3) |
New seat | Oregon admitted to the Union February 14, 1859, and its first Senators were elected that day. | Joseph Lane (D) | February 14, 1859 |
| District | Vacated by | Reason for change | Successor | Date of successor's formal installation[e] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Missouri 3rd | Vacant | Rep. James S. Green was elected to this term but resigned after being elected in turn to the US Senate | John B. Clark (D) | Seated December 7, 1857 |
| Indiana 10th | Samuel Brenton (R) | Died March 29, 1857 | Charles Case (R) | Seated December 7, 1857 |
| Pennsylvania 12th | John G. Montgomery (D) | Died April 24, 1857 | Paul Leidy (D) | Seated December 7, 1857 |
| Indiana 1st | James Lockhart (D) | Died September 7, 1857 | William E. Niblack (D) | Seated December 7, 1857 |
| Massachusetts 7th | Nathaniel P. Banks (R) | Resigned December 24, 1857, after being elected Governor of Massachusetts | Daniel W. Gooch (R) | Seated January 31, 1858 |
| North Carolina 8th | Thomas L. Clingman (D) | Resigned May 7, 1858, after being appointed to the US Senate | Zebulon B. Vance (D) | Seated December 7, 1858 |
| Minnesota At-Large | New seat | Minnesota was admitted to the Union May 11, 1858 | James M. Cavanaugh (D) | Seated May 11, 1858 |
| Minnesota Territory At-Large | William W. Kingsbury (D) | Minnesota was admitted to the Union May 11, 1858 | Seat eliminated | |
| Minnesota At-Large | New seat | Minnesota was admitted to the Union May 11, 1858 | William W. Phelps (D) | Seated May 11, 1858 |
| Ohio 3rd | Lewis D. Campbell (R) | Lost contested election May 25, 1858 | Clement Vallandigham (D) | Seated May 25, 1858 |
| Mississippi 5th | John A. Quitman (D) | Died July 17, 1858 | John J. McRae (D) | Seated December 7, 1858 |
| Pennsylvania 8th | J. Glancy Jones (D) | Resigned October 30, 1858 | William H. Keim (R) | Seated December 7, 1858 |
| Illinois 6th | Thomas L. Harris (D) | Died November 24, 1858 | Charles D. Hodges (D) | Seated January 4, 1859 |
| New York 4th | John Kelly (D) | Resigned December 25, 1858 | Thomas J. Barr (D) | Seated January 7, 1859 |
| Oregon Territory At-Large | Joseph Lane (D) | Oregon was admitted to the Union February 14, 1859 | Seat eliminated | |
| Oregon At-Large | New seat | Oregon was admitted to the Union February 14, 1859 | La Fayette Grover (D) | Seated February 14, 1859 |
Lists of committees and their party leaders.
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