2nd United States Congress

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Not to be confused with Second Continental Congress.

2nd United States Congress
1st ←
→ 3rd
Congress Hall exterior.jpg
Congress Hall (2007)
March 4, 1791 – March 4, 1793
Members26–30 senators
69–73 representatives
Senate MajorityPro-Administration
Senate PresidentJohn Adams (P)
House MajorityPro-Administration
House SpeakerJonathan Trumbull, Jr. (P)
Sessions
Special: March 4, 1791 – March 4, 1791
1st: October 24, 1791 – May 8, 1792
2nd: November 5, 1792 – March 2, 1793
Modern tour group visiting the House of Representatives chamber at Congress Hall
Senate chamber at Congress Hall

The 2nd United States Congress, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives, met at Congress Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from March 4, 1791, to March 4, 1793, during the third and fourth years of George Washington's presidency. The apportionment of seats in the House of Representatives was based on the provisions of Article I, Section 2, Clause 3 of the United States Constitution. Additional House seats were assigned to the two new states of Vermont and Kentucky. Both chambers had a Pro-Administration majority.

Major events[]

Main articles: 1791 in the United States, 1792 in the United States, and 1793 in the United States
  • April 5, 1792: President Washington used the veto for the first time, vetoing a bill designed to apportion representatives among U.S. states.
  • April–May, 1792: the House conducted the government's first investigative hearings, examining Gen. Arthur St. Clair's Defeat in the Battle of the Wabash.
  • October 13, 1792: Foundation of Washington, D.C.: The cornerstone of the United States Executive Mansion, now known as the White House, was laid.

Major legislation[]

Main article: List of United States federal legislation, 1789–1901 § 2nd United States Congress
  • February 20, 1792: Postal Service Act, Sess. 1, ch. 7, 1 Stat. 232, established the U.S. Post Office
  • March 1, 1792: Act relative to the Election of a President and Vice President of the United States, and to Presidential Succession, Sess. 1, ch. 8, 1 Stat. 239, stated the process for electors and Congress to follow when electing a president and vice president, and established which federal officer would act as president if both the offices of president and vice president became vacant.
  • April 2, 1792: Coinage Act of 1792, Sess. 1, ch. 16, 1 Stat. 246, established the United States Mint and regulated coinage
  • April 14, 1792: Apportionment Act of 1792, Sess. 1, ch. 23 1 Stat. 253, increased the size of the House of Representatives from 69 seats in the 2nd Congress to 105 in the 3rd and apportioned those seats among the several states according to the 1790 Census
  • May 2, 1792: First Militia Act of 1792, Sess. 1, ch. 28, 1 Stat. 264, empowered the president to call out the militias of the various states in the event of an invasion or rebellion.
  • May 5, 1792: Debtors' Prison Relief Act of 1792, Sess. 1, ch. 29, 1 Stat. 265, established penal regulations and restrictions for persons' gaoled for property debt, tax evasion, and tax resistance.
  • May 8, 1792: Second Militia Act of 1792, Sess. 1, ch. 33, 1 Stat. 271, required that every free able-bodied white male citizen of the various states, between the ages of 18 and 45, enroll in the militia of the state in which they reside.
  • February 12, 1793: Fugitive Slave Act of 1793, Sess. 2, ch. 7, 1 Stat. 302
  • March 2, 1793: Judiciary Act of 1793 (including Anti-Injunction Act), Sess. 2, ch. 22, 1 Stat. 333

States admitted[]

  • March 4, 1791: Vermont was admitted as the 14th state, 1 Stat. 191
  • June 1, 1792: Kentucky was admitted as the 15th state, 1 Stat. 189

Constitutional amendments[]

  • December 15, 1791: The first 10 amendments to the United States Constitution, collectively known as the Bill of Rights, were ratified by the requisite number of states (then 11) to become part of the Constitution.

Party summary[]

There were no political parties in this Congress. Members are informally grouped into factions of similar interest, based on an analysis of their voting record.[1]

Details on changes are shown below in the "Changes in membership" section.

Senate[]

During this congress, two new Senate seats were added for each of the new states of Vermont and Kentucky.

Faction
(Shading indicates faction control)
 Total
Anti-Administration
(A) 		Pro-Administration
(P) 		Vacant
End of
previous Congress 		8 18 26 0
Begin 8 17 25 1
March 4, 1791[a] 16 24 2
June 13, 1791[b] 17 25 1
November 4, 1791[c] 10 27
June 18, 1792[d] 12 29
October 8, 1792[e] 11 28 2
October 18, 1792[f] 12 29 1
November 30, 1792[g] 16 28 2
January 10, 1793[h] 17 29 1
February 28, 1793[i] 13 30 0
Final voting share 43.3% 56.7%
Beginning of the
next Congress 		14 16 30 0

House of Representatives[]

Members of the House of Representatives as shared by each state

During this congress, two new House seats were added for each of the new states of Vermont and Kentucky. (Sess. 3, ch. 9, 1 Stat. 191)

  • House membership

  • Beginning of the Congress

Faction
(Shading indicates faction control)
 Total
Anti-Administration
(A) 		Pro-Administration
(P) 		Vacant
End of
previous Congress 		28 36 64 1
Begin
March 4, 1791 		25 37 62 3
April 4, 1791[j] 38 63 2
October 24, 1791[k] 28 66 1
November 1791[l] 37 65 2
February 6, 1792 [m] 29 66 1
March 21, 1792[n] 28 65 2
April 2, 1792[o] 38 66 1
June 1, 1792[p] 27 65 4
November 8, 1792[q] 28 66 3
November 9, 1792[r] 29 67 2
November 22, 1792[s] 30 68 1
December 6, 1792[t] 29 67 2
January 30, 1793[u] 39 68 1
Final voting share 42.6% 57.4%
Beginning of the
next Congress 		55 50 105 0

Leadership[]

Senate President
John Adams

Senate[]

  • President: John Adams (P)
  • President pro tempore:
    • Richard Henry Lee (P)
    • John Langdon (P), elected November 5, 1792

House of Representatives[]

  • Speaker: Jonathan Trumbull, Jr. (P)

Members[]

This list is arranged by chamber, then by state. Senators are listed by class, 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 this Congress, facing re-election in 1796; Class 2 meant their term ended with this Congress, facing re-election in 1792; and Class 3 meant their term began in the last Congress, facing re-election in 1794.

House of Representatives[]

The names of members of the House of Representatives are preceded by their districts.

Membership changes[]

There were no political parties in this Congress. Members are informally grouped into factions of similar interest, based on an analysis of their voting record.[2]

Vermont and Kentucky were newly admitted as states and are first represented in this Congress.

Senate[]

There were three resignations, one contested election, and four new seats of admitted states, resulting in a four-seat net gain of the Anti-Administration Senators.

See also: List of special elections to the United States Senate
State
(class) 		Vacator Reason for change Successor Date of successor's
formal installation[v]
Pennsylvania
(1) 		Vacant Legislature failed to elect Senator.
Successor elected February 28, 1793. 		Albert Gallatin (A) December 2, 1793
Connecticut
(3) 		William S. Johnson (P) Resigned March 4, 1791.
Successor elected June 13, 1791. 		Roger Sherman (P) June 13, 1791
Vermont
(3) 		New seat Vermont was admitted to the Union March 4, 1791.
Winners elected October 17, 1791. 		Stephen R. Bradley (A) November 4, 1791
Vermont
(1) 		Moses Robinson (A) November 4, 1791
Kentucky
(3) 		New seat Kentucky was admitted to the Union June 1, 1792.
Winners elected June 18, 1792. 		John Edwards (A) June 18, 1792
Kentucky
(2) 		John Brown (A) June 18, 1792
Virginia
(2) 		Richard Henry Lee (A) Resigned October 8, 1792.
Successor elected October 18, 1792. 		John Taylor (A) October 18, 1792
Maryland
(1) 		Charles Carroll (P) Resigned November 30, 1792.
Successor elected January 10, 1793. 		Richard Potts (P) January 10, 1793

House of Representatives[]

There were 3 resignations, 1 vacancy of a member-elect, 1 contested election, 2 late elections, and 4 new seats of admitted states, resulting in a 3-seat net gain of the Anti-Administration members and a 1-seat net gain of the Pro-Administration members.

Main article: List of special elections to the United States House of Representatives
District Vacator Reason for change Successor Date of successor's
formal installation[v]
Massachusetts 8th Vacant Due to failure to reach a majority, four ballots were needed to elect. Incumbent was elected late April 4, 1791. George Thatcher (P) April 4, 1791
New York 1st Vacant Representative-elect James Townsend died on May 24, 1790, before Congress assembled. Thomas Tredwell (A) October 24, 1791
Vermont 1st New seat Vermont was admitted to the Union on March 4, 1791. Israel Smith (A) October 24, 1791
Vermont 2nd Nathaniel Niles (A) October 24, 1791
Maryland 3rd William Pinkney (P) Resigned November 1791 John Francis Mercer (A) February 6, 1792
Massachusetts 6th Vacant Due to failure to reach a majority, eight ballots were needed to elect. Incumbent was elected late April 2, 1792. George Leonard (P) April 2, 1792
Virginia 2nd John Brown (A) Resigned June 1, 1792, to become U.S. Senator from Kentucky. Vacant Seat went with Kentucky
Kentucky 2nd New seat Kentucky was admitted to the Union on June 1, 1792. Alexander D. Orr (A) November 8, 1792
Kentucky 1st Christopher Greenup (A) November 9, 1792
Georgia 1st Anthony Wayne (A) Anthony Wayne served until March 21, 1792, when seat declared vacant because the election was contested John Milledge (A) November 22, 1792
Maryland 2nd Joshua Seney (A) Resigned December 6, 1792. William Hindman (P) January 30, 1793

Committees[]

Lists of committees and their party leaders.

Senate[]

House of Representatives[]

  • Elections (Chairman: Samuel Livermore)
  • Rules (Select)
  • Whole

Joint committees[]

  • Enrolled Bills (Chairman: John Rutherfurd)

Employees[]

Senate[]

House of Representatives[]

  • Clerk: John Beckley
  • Sergeant at Arms: Joseph Wheaton
  • Doorkeeper: Gifford Dalley
  • Chaplain:
    • Samuel Blair Presbyterian
    • Ashbel Green, Presbyterian, elected November 5, 1792
  • Reading Clerks:[data unknown/missing]

See also[]

Notes[]

  1. ^ In Connecticut: William Samuel Johnson resigned.
  2. ^ In Connecticut: Roger Sherman was elected to fill the vacancy created when William Samuel Johnson resigned.
  3. ^ In Vermont: the state was admitted to the Union on March 4, 1791, and elected two Senators.
  4. ^ In Kentucky: the state was admitted to the Union on June 1, 1792, and elected two Senators.
  5. ^ In Virginia: Richard Henry Lee resigned.
  6. ^ In Virginia: John Taylor was elected to fill the vacancy created when Richard Henry Lee resigned.
  7. ^ In Maryland: Charles Carroll resigned.
  8. ^ In Maryland: Richard Potts was elected to fill the vacancy created when Charles Carroll resigned.
  9. ^ In Pennsylvania: the legislature, having failed to elect a Senator at the start of the Congress, did so now. Albert Gallatin was not actually seated until the next Congress.
  10. ^ In Massachusetts's 8th district, George Thatcher was seated late after three runoff elections.
  11. ^ In New York's 1st district, Representative-elect James Townsend died before the Congress began, and Thomas Tredwell was elected to fill the seat. In Vermont, two seats were added as the state joined the union.
  12. ^ In Maryland's 3rd district, William Pinkney resigned.
  13. ^ In Maryland's 3rd district, John Francis Mercer was elected to fill the vacancy created when William Pinkney resigned.
  14. ^ In Georgia's 1st district, Anthony Wayne had been elected in a contested election, and his seat was now declared vacant.
  15. ^ In Massachusetts's 6th district, George Leonard was seated late after seven runoff elections.
  16. ^ When Kentucky entered the union, it received two seats. In Virginia's 2nd district, John Brown resigned to become a Senator from Kentucky. the seat was not filled until the next Congress
  17. ^ In Kentucky's 2nd district, Alexander D. Orr was elected to the new seat.
  18. ^ In Kentucky's 1st district, Christopher Greenup was elected to the new seat.
  19. ^ In Georgia's 1st district, John Milledge was elected to the seat declared vacant because the previous election was contested.
  20. ^ In Maryland's 2nd district, Joshua Seney resigned to become a judge.
  21. ^ In Maryland's 2nd district, William Hindman was elected to fill the vacancy created when Joshua Seney resigned.
  22. ^ Jump up to: a b When seated or oath administered, not necessarily when service began.

References[]

  1. ^ Martis, Kenneth C. The Historical Atlas of Political Parties in the United States Congress.
  2. ^ Martis, Kenneth C. The Historical Atlas of Political Parties in the United States Congress.
  • 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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