56th United States Congress
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The Fifty-sixth 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, DC 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 Eleventh Census of the United States in 1890. 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.
Major events
- June 2, 1899: The Filipino Rebellion began the Philippine–American War.
- November 21, 1899: Vice President Garret Hobart died.
- January 8, 1900: President McKinley placed Alaska under military rule.
- January 17, 1900: Brigham H. Roberts was refused a seat in the United States House of Representatives because of his polygamy.
- February 5, 1900: Britain and the United States signed a treaty for the building of a Central American shipping canal through Nicaragua.
- February 16, 1900: The United States, Germany and Great Britain ratified the Tripartite Convention partitioning the Samoan Islands.
- November 6, 1900: U.S. presidential election, 1900: Republican incumbent William McKinley was reelected by defeating Democratic challenger William Jennings Bryan.
Major legislation
- March 14, 1900: Gold Standard Act, Sess. 1, ch. 41, 31 Stat. 45
- April 2, 1900: Foraker Act, Sess. 1, ch. 191, 31 Stat. 77 (Puerto Rico Civil Code)
Party summary
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
| Party (shading shows control) |
Total | Vacant | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic (D) |
Populist (P) | Republican (R) | Silver Republican (SR) | Silver (S) | |||
| End of the previous congress | 34 | 5 | 44 | 5 | 2 | 90 | 0 |
| Begin | 26 | 4 | 51 | 3 | 2 | 86 | 4 |
| End | 5 | 53 | 89 | 1 | |||
| Final voting share | 29.2% | 5.6% | 59.6% | 3.4% | 2.2% | ||
| Beginning of the next congress | 28 | 3 | 54 | 2 | 0 | 87 | 3 |
House of Representatives
| Party (shading shows control) |
Total | Vacant | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic (D) |
Populist (P) | Republican (R) | Silver Republican (SR) | Silver (S) | |||
| End of the previous congress | 124 | 22 | 207 | 3 | 1 | 357 | 0 |
| Begin | 163 | 6 | 183 | 2 | 1 | 355 | 2 |
| End | 159 | 186 | 354 | 3 | |||
| Final voting share | 44.9% | 1.7% | 52.5% | 0.6% | 0.3% | ||
| Non-voting members | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 |
| Beginning of the next congress | 151 | 5 | 200 | 1 | 0 | 357 | 0 |
Leadership
President of the Senate
Garret Hobart
Garret Hobart
Speaker of the House
David B. Henderson
David B. Henderson
Senate
- President: Garret Hobart (R), until November 21, 1899; vacant thereafter.
- President pro tempore: William P. Frye (R)
- Democratic Caucus Chairman: James K. Jones (D)
- Republican Conference Chairman: William B. Allison (R)
House of Representatives
- Speaker: David B. Henderson (R)
- Democratic Caucus Chairman: James Hay (D)
- Republican Conference Chairman: Joseph G. Cannon (R)
Majority (Republican) leadership
Minority (Democratic) leadership
Members
This list is arranged by chamber, then by state. Senators are listed by class, and Representatives are listed by district.
Senate
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
Changes in membership
The count below reflects changes from the beginning of the first session of this Congress.
Senate
- replacements: 7
- Democratic: no net change
- Republican: 1 seat loss
- Populist: 1 seat gain
- deaths: 3
- resignations: 1
- vacancy: 5
- interim appointments: 2
- Total seats with changes: 9
| State (class) |
Vacator | Reason for vacancy | Subsequent | Date of successor's installation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 7, 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 23, 1901 |
| Utah (1) |
Vacant | failure to elect | Thomas Kearns (R) | January 16, 1901 |
House of Representatives
- replacements: 21
- Democratic: 5 seat loss
- Republican: 5 seat gain
- Populist: no net change
- 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 June 15, 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) | December 3, 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
Lists of committees and their party leaders.
Senate
- Additional Accommodations for the Library of Congress (Select)
- Agriculture and Forestry
- Appropriations
- Audit and Control the Contingent Expenses of the Senate
- Canadian Relations
- Census
- Civil Service and Retrenchment
- Claims
- Coast and Insular Survey
- Coast Defenses
- Commerce
- Corporations Organized in the District of Columbia
- Cuban Relations
- Distributing Public Revenue Among the States (Select)
- District of Columbia
- Education and Labor
- Engrossed Bills
- Enrolled Bills
- Establish a University in the United States (Select)
- Examine the Several Branches in the Civil Service
- Expenditures in Executive Departments
- Finance
- Fisheries
- Five Civilized Tribes of Indians (Select)
- Foreign Relations
- Forest Reservations and the Protection of Game
- Geological Survey (Select)
- Immigration
- Immigration and Naturalization
- Indian Affairs
- Irrigation and Reclamation
- Industrial Expositions
- International Expositions (Select)
- Interoceanic Canals
- Interstate Commerce
- Judiciary
- Library
- Manufactures
- Military Affairs
- Mines and Mining
- Mississippi River and its Tributaries (Select)
- National Banks (Select)
- Naval Affairs
- Nicaragua Canal (Select)
- Pacific Islands and Puerto Rico
- Pacific Railroads
- Patents
- Pensions
- Philippines
- Post Office and Post Roads
- Potomac River Front (Select)
- Printing
- Private Land Claims
- Privileges and Elections
- Public Buildings and Grounds
- Public Health and National Quarantine
- Public Lands
- Railroads
- Revision of the Laws
- Revolutionary Claims
- Rules
- Tariff Regulation (Select)
- Territories
- Transportation and Sale of Meat Products (Select)
- Transportation Routes to the Seaboard
- Washington City Centennial (Select)
- Whole
- Woman Suffrage (Select)
House of Representatives
- Accounts
- Agriculture
- Alcoholic Liquor Traffic
- Appropriations
- Banking and Currency
- Claims
- Coinage, Weights and Measures
- Disposition of Executive Papers
- District of Columbia
- Education
- Election of the President, Vice President and Representatives in Congress
- Elections
- Enrolled Bills
- Expenditures in the Agriculture Department
- Expenditures in the Interior Department
- Expenditures in the Justice Department
- 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
- Immigration and Naturalization
- Indian Affairs
- Insular Affairs
- Interstate and Foreign Commerce
- Invalid Pensions
- Irrigation of Arid Lands
- Labor
- Levees and Improvements of the Mississippi River
- Manufactures
- Merchant Marine and Fisheries
- Mileage
- Military Affairs
- Militia
- Mines and Mining
- Naval Affairs
- Pacific Railroads
- Patents
- Pensions
- Post Office and Post Roads
- Public Buildings and Grounds
- Public Lands
- Railways and Canals
- Reform in the Civil Service
- Revision of Laws
- Rivers and Harbors
- Rules
- Standards of Official Conduct
- Territories
- Ventilation and Acoustics
- War Claims
- Ways and Means
- Whole
Joint committees
- Conditions of Indian Tribes (Special)
- Disposition of (Useless) Executive Papers
Employees
- Architect of the Capitol: Edward Clark
- Librarian of Congress: John Russell Young (until 1899), Herbert Putnam (starting 1899)
- Public Printer of the United States: Frank W. Palmer
Senate
- Chaplain: William H. Millburn (Methodist)
- Secretary: William Ruffin Cox
- Charles G. Bennett, elected February 1, 1900
- Sergeant at Arms: Richard J. Bright
- Daniel M. Ransdell, elected February 1, 1900
House of Representatives
- Chaplain: Henry N. Couden (Universalist)
- Clerk: Alexander McDowell
- Clerk at the Speaker’s Table: Asher C. Hinds
- Doorkeeper: William J. Glenn
- Postmaster: Joseph C. McElroy
- Sergeant at Arms: Henry Casson
See also
- United States elections, 1898 (elections leading to this Congress)
- United States elections, 1900 (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
- Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress
- U.S. House of Representatives: Congressional History
- U.S. Senate: Statistics and Lists
- Official Congressional Directory for the 56th Congress, 1st Session.
- Official Congressional Directory for the 56th Congress, 1st Session (1st Revision).
- Official Congressional Directory for the 56th Congress, 1st Session (2nd Revision).
- Official Congressional Directory for the 56th Congress, 2nd Session.
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