27th United States Congress
"27th Congress" redirects here. For the Soviet congress, see 27th Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.
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The Twenty-seventh 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, 1841 to March 4, 1843, during the one-month administration of U.S. President William Henry Harrison and the first two years of the administration of his successor, John Tyler. The apportionment of seats in the House of Representatives was based on the Fifth Census of the United States in 1830. Both chambers had a Whig majority.
Major events
- March 4, 1841: William Henry Harrison was inaugurated as President of the United States
- April 4, 1841: Harrison died and 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
Major legislation
Main article: Major legislation: 27th United States Congress
- 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
- August 9, 1842: Webster-Ashburton Treaty signed, establishing the United States–Canada border east of the Rocky Mountains.
Party summary
Senate
| Party (shading shows control) |
Total | Vacant | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic (D) |
Whig (W) | |||
| End of the previous congress | 30 | 20 | 50 | 0 |
| Begin | 22 | 29 | 51 | 1 |
| End | 20 | 49 | 3 | |
| Final voting share | 40.8% | 59.2% | ||
| Beginning of the next congress | 22 | 26 | 48 | 4 |
House of Representatives
| Affiliation | Party (Shading indicates majority caucus) |
Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Independent Democratic |
States Rights Whig |
Whig | Other | Vacant | ||
| End of previous Congress | 124 | 0 | 0 | 111 | 2 | 242 | 0 |
| Begin | 97 | 1 | 1 | 142 | 0 | 241 | 1 |
| End | 100 | 139 | |||||
| Final voting share | 41.5% | 0.4% | 0.4% | 57.7% | 0.0% | ||
| Beginning of next Congress | 147 | 1 | 0 | 72 | 3 | 223 | 0 |
Leadership
President of the Senate
John Tyler
John Tyler
Senate
- 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
- Speaker: John D. White (W)
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 began in the last Congress, requiring reelection in 1844; Class 2 meant their term began with this Congress, requiring reelection in 1846; and Class 3 meant their term ended with this Congress, requiring reelection in 1842.
House of Representatives
Changes in membership
The count below reflects changes from the beginning of the first session of this Congress.
Senate
- replacements: 9
- deaths: 2
- resignations: 8
- interim appointments: 0
- vacancy: 1
- Total seats with changes: 10
| State (class) |
Vacator | Reason for change | Successor | Date of successor's formal installation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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
- replacements: 17
- deaths: 8
- resignations: 12
- contested election: 1
- Total seats with changes: 20
| District | Vacator | Reason for change | Successor | Date successor seated |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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
Lists of committees and their party leaders.
Senate
- Agriculture
- Audit and Control the Contingent Expenses of the Senate
- Claims
- Commerce
- Distributing Public Revenue Among the States (Select)
- District of Columbia
- Finance
- Fiscal Corporation of the United States (Select)
- Foreign Relations
- Indian Affairs
- Judiciary
- Manufactures
- Military Affairs
- Militia
- Naval Affairs
- Patents and the Patent Office
- Pensions
- Post Office and Post Roads
- Printing
- Private Land Claims
- Public Buildings and Grounds
- Public Lands
- Revolutionary Claims
- Roads and Canals
- Tariff Regulation (Select)
- Whole
House of Representatives
- Accounts
- Agriculture
- Apportionment of Representatives (Select)
- Claims
- Commerce
- District of Columbia
- Elections
- 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
- Memorial of the Agricultural Bank of Mississippi (Select)
- 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 (Select)
- Standards of Official Conduct
- Territories
- Ways and Means
- Whole
Joint committees
Employees
Senate
- Secretary: Asbury Dickens of North Carolina elected December 12, 1836
- Sergeant at Arms:
- Stephen Haight of New York, elected September 4, 1837
- Edward Dyer of Maryland, elected March 8, 1841
- Chaplain:
- George G. Cookman, Methodist, elected December 31, 1839
- Septimus Tustin, Presbyterian, elected June 12, 1841
House of Representatives
- Clerk: Matthew St. Clair Clarke of Pennsylvania, elected May 31, 1841
- Sergeant at Arms: Eleazor M. Townsend of Connecticut, elected June 8, 1841
- Doorkeeper: Joseph Follansbee of Massachusetts, elected June 8, 1841
- Postmaster: William J. McCormick, elected June 8, 1841
- 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
See also
- United States elections, 1840 (elections leading to this Congress)
- United States elections, 1842 (elections during this Congress, leading to the next Congress)
References
- 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 27th Congress, 1st Session.
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