27th United States Congress

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27th United States Congress
26th ←
→ 28th
Capitol1846.jpg
United States Capitol (1846)

March 4, 1841 – March 4, 1843
Members52 senators
242 representatives
3 non-voting delegates
Senate MajorityWhig
Senate PresidentJohn Tyler (W)
(until April 4, 1841)
Vacant
(from April 4, 1841)
House MajorityWhig
House SpeakerJohn 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)

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 administration of U.S. President 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 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: 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[]

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 previous congress 29 23 52 0
Begin 22 29 51 1
End 20 493
Final voting share 40.8% 59.2%
Beginning of next congress 22 26 48 4

House of Representatives[]

Party
(shading shows control)
Total Vacant
Democratic
(D)
Independent
Democratic

(ID)
Whig
(W)
Other
End of previous congress 124 0 111 2[a] 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[b] 223 0

Leadership[]

President of the Senate
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.

Skip to House of Representatives, below

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 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.

House of Representatives[]

Changes in membership[]

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

Senate[]

  • Replacements: 9
    • Democrats: no net change
    • Whigs: no net change
  • 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[d]
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
    • Democrats: 3 seat net gain
    • Whigs: 3 seat net loss
  • 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[d]
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 (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)
  • (Select)
  • District of Columbia (Chairman: Richard H. Bayard)
  • Finance (Chairman: Clement C. Clay)
  • (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)
  • (Chairman: Augustus S. Porter)
  • Tariff Regulation (Select)
  • Whole

House of Representatives[]

  • Accounts (Chairman: Osmyn Baker)
  • Agriculture (Chairman: Edmund Deberry)
  • (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: James Iver McKay)
  • 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)
  • (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[]

  • Enrolled Bills (Chairman: Sen. Augustus Porter then Sen. William Sprague)
  • The Library (Chairman: N/A)

Employees[]

  • Librarian of Congress: John Silva Meehan

Senate[]

  • Secretary: Asbury Dickins
  • Sergeant at Arms: , until March 8, 1841
    • , elected March 8, 1841
  • Chaplain: George G. Cookman, Methodist, until June 12, 1841
    • Septimus Tustin, Presbyterian, elected June 12, 1841

House of Representatives[]

  • Clerk: Hugh A. Garland, until May 31, 1841
    • Matthew St. Clair Clarke, elected May 31, 1841
  • Sergeant at Arms: , until June 8, 1841
    • , elected June 8, 1841
  • Doorkeeper:
  • Postmaster:
  • Chaplain: John W. French, Episcopalian, elected May 31, 1841
    • John N. Maffit, Methodist, elected December 6, 1841
    • , Episcopalian, elected December 5, 1842
  • Reading Clerks:[data unknown/missing]

See also[]

Notes[]

  1. ^ Conservative
  2. ^ Law and Order
    & Independent Whig
  3. ^ Robert M. T. Hunter is sometimes called a "States' Rights Whig".
  4. ^ a b When seated or oath administered, not necessarily when service began.

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[]

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