37th United States Congress explained

Imagedate:1861
Number:37th
Previous:36th
Next:38th
Start:March 4, 1861
End:March 4, 1863
Sessionnumber1:Special
Sessionstart1:March 4, 1861
Sessionend1:March 28, 1861
Sessionnumber2:1st
Sessionstart2:July 4, 1861
Sessionend2:August 6, 1861
Sessionnumber3:2nd
Sessionstart3:December 2, 1861
Sessionend3:July 17, 1862
Sessionnumber4:3rd
Sessionstart4:December 1, 1862
Sessionend4:March 3, 1863
Vp:Hannibal Hamlin (R)
Pro Tem:Solomon Foot (R)
Speaker:Galusha A. Grow (R)
Senators:50
Reps:183
Delegates:7
S-Majority:Republican
H-Majority:Republican

The 37th 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, 1861, to March 4, 1863, during the first two years of Abraham Lincoln's presidency.[1] The apportionment of seats in the House of Representatives was based on the 1850 United States census.

For the first time since the party's establishment, the Republicans won the majority of both chambers, and thus full control of Congress. And with Abraham Lincoln becoming the first Republican President after being sworn in on March 4, 1861, the Republicans had their first ever overall federal government trifecta.

Major events

Two special sessions

The Senate, a continuing body, was called into special session by President Lincoln, meeting from March 4 to 28, 1861.[1] The border states and Texas were still represented. Shortly after the Senate session adjourned, Fort Sumter was attacked. The immediate results were to draw four additional states[9] "into the confederacy with their more Southern sisters", and Lincoln called Congress into extraordinary session on July 4, 1861. The Senate confirmed calling forth troops and raising money to suppress rebellion as authorized in the Constitution.[10]

Both Houses then duly met July 4, 1861. Seven states which would send representatives held their state elections for Representative over the months of May to June 1861.[11] Members taking their seats had been elected before the secession crisis, during the formation of the Confederate government, and after Fort Sumter.

Once assembled with a quorum in the House, Congress approved Lincoln's war powers innovations as necessary to preserve the Union. Following the July Federal defeat at First Manassas, the Crittenden Resolution[12] asserted the reason for "the present deplorable civil war." It was meant as an address to the nation, especially to the Border States at a time of U.S. military reverses, when the war support in border state populations was virtually the only thing keeping them in the Union.

Following resignations and expulsions occasioned by the outbreak of the Civil War, five states had some degree of dual representation in the U.S and the C.S. congresses. Congress accredited Members elected running in these five as Unionist (19), Democratic (6), Constitutional Unionist (1) and Republican (1).All ten Kentucky and all seven Missouri representatives were accepted. The other three states seated four of thirteen representatives from Virginia, three of ten Tennesseans, and two of four from Louisiana.

The Crittenden Resolution declared the civil war "… has been forced upon the country by the disunionists of the southern States…" and it would be carried out for the supremacy of the Constitution and the preservation of the Union, and, that accomplished, "the war ought to cease". Democrats seized on this document, especially its assurances of no conquest or overthrowing domestic institutions (emancipation of slaves).

Slaves and slavery

Congressional policy and military strategy were intertwined. In the first regular March session, Republicans superseded the Crittenden Resolution, removing the prohibition against emancipation of slaves.

In South Carolina, Gen. David Hunter issued a General Order in early May 1862 freeing all slaves in Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina. President Lincoln quickly rescinded the order, reserving this "supposed power" to his own discretion if it were indispensable to saving the Union.[13] Later in the same month without directly disobeying Lincoln's prohibition against emancipation, General Benjamin Butler at Fort Monroe Virginia declared slaves escaped into his lines as "contraband of war", that is, forfeit to their rebel owners.[14] On May 24, Congress followed General Butler's lead, and passed the First Confiscation Act in August, freeing slaves used for rebellion.[15]

In Missouri, John C. Frémont, the 1856 Republican nominee for president, exceeded his authority as a General, declaring that all slaves held by rebels within his military district would be freed.[15] Republican majorities in Congress responded on opening day of the December Session. Sen. Lyman Trumbull introduced a bill for confiscation of rebel property and emancipation for their slaves. "Acrimonious debate on confiscation proved a major preoccupation" of Congress. On March 13, 1862, Congress banned military officers from enforcing the Fugitive Slave Act under penalty of dismissal. The next month, the Congress abolished slavery in the District of Columbia with compensation for loyal citizens. An additional Confiscation Act in July declared free all slaves held by citizens in rebellion, but it had no practical effect without addressing where the act would take effect, or how ownership was to be proved.

Lincoln's preliminary Emancipation Proclamation was issued September 22, 1862. It became the principal issue before the public in the mid-term elections that year for the 38th Congress. But Republican majorities in both houses held (see 'Congress as a campaign machine' below), and the Republicans actually increased their majority in the Senate.[16]

On January 1, 1863, the war measure by executive proclamation directed the army and the navy to treat all escaped slaves as free when entering Union lines from territory still in rebellion. The measure would take effect when the escaped slave entered Union lines and loyalty of the previous owner was irrelevant. Congress passed enabling legislation to carry out the Proclamation including "Freedman's Bureau" legislation.[17] The practical effect was a massive internal evacuation of Confederate slave labor, and augmenting Union Army teamsters, railroad crews and infantry for the duration of the Civil War.

File:Zachariah Chandler.jpg

Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War

Congress assumed watchdog responsibilities with this and other investigating committees.

The principle conflict between the president and congress was found in the Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War. Eight thick volumes of testimony were filled with investigations of Union defeats and contractor scandals.

They were highly charged with partisan opinions "vehemently expressed" by chair Benjamin Wade of Ohio, Representative George Washington Julian of Indiana, and Zachariah Chandler of Michigan.

Sen. Chandler, who had been one of McClellan's advocates promoting his spectacular rise,[18] particularly documented criticism of McClellan's Peninsular Campaign with its circuitous maneuvering, endless entrenchment and murderous camp diseases. It led to support for his dismissal.

A congressional committee could ruin a reputation, without itself having any military expertise. It would create the modern Congressional era in which generals fought wars with Congress looking over their shoulders, "and with public opinion following closely behind."

Republican Platform goals

Republican majorities in both houses, apart from pro-union Democrats, and without vacant southern delegations, were able to enact their party platform. These included the Legal Tender Act, February 20, 1862, and increases in the tariff that amounted to protective tariffs. The Homestead Act, May 20, 1862, for government lands, and the Morrill Land Grant Act, July 2, 1862, for universities promoting practical arts in agriculture and mining, had no immediate war purpose. But they would have long range effects, as would the Pacific Railroad Act, July 1, 1862, for a transcontinental railroad.

Treasury innovations were driven by Secretary Salmon P. Chase and necessity of war. The Income Tax of 1861, numerous taxes on consumer goods such as whiskey, and a national currency all began in Civil War Congresses.

Congress as election machinery

Member's floor speeches were not meant to be persuasive, but for publication in partisan newspapers. The real audience was the constituents back home. Congressional caucuses organized and funded political campaigns, publishing pamphlet versions of speeches and circulating them by the thousands free of postage on the member's franking privilege. Party congressional committees stayed in Washington during national campaigns, keeping an open flow of subsidized literature pouring back into the home districts.

Nevertheless, like other Congresses in the 1850s and 1860s, this Congress would see less than half of its membership reelected.[19] The characteristic turmoil found in the "3rd Party Period, 1855-1896" stirred political party realignment in the North even in the midst of civil war. In this Congress, failure to gain nomination and loss at the general election together accounted for a Membership turnover of 25%.[20]

Major legislation

States admitted and territories organized

States admitted

Territories organized

States in rebellion

See main article: Secession in the United States.

See also: Confederate States of America. Congress did not accept secession. Most of the Representatives and Senators from states that attempted to secede left Congress; those who took part in the rebellion were expelled.

Although secessionist factions passed resolutions of secession in Missouri October 31, 1861,[26] and in Kentucky November 20, 1861,[26] their state delegations in the U.S. Congress remained in place, seven from Missouri and ten from Kentucky. Exile state governments resided with Confederate armies out-of-state, army-elected congressional representatives served as a solid pro-Jefferson Davis administration voting bloc in the Confederate Congress.

Party summary

House of Representatives

Leadership

Senate

House of Representatives

Members

This list is arranged by chamber, then by state. Senators are listed by class, and representatives 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 ended with this Congress, facing re-election in 1862; Class 2 meant their term began in the last Congress, facing re-election in 1864; and Class 3 meant their term began in this Congress, facing re-election in 1866.

2. Vacant

3. Vacant

2. William K. Sebastian (D), until July 11, 1861, vacant thereafter

3. Charles B. Mitchel (D), until July 11, 1861, vacant thereafter

1. Milton S. Latham (D)

3. James A. McDougall (D)

1. James Dixon (R)

3. Lafayette S. Foster (R)

1. James A. Bayard Jr. (D)

2. Willard Saulsbury Sr. (D)

1. Vacant

3. Vacant

2. Vacant

3. Vacant

2. Stephen A. Douglas (D), until June 3, 1861

Orville H. Browning (R), June 26, 1861 – January 12, 1863

William A. Richardson (D), from January 12, 1863

3. Lyman Trumbull (R)

1. Jesse D. Bright (D), until February 5, 1862

Joseph A. Wright (U), February 24, 1862 – January 14, 1863

David Turpie (D), from January 14, 1863

3. Henry S. Lane (R)

2. James W. Grimes (R)

3. James Harlan (R)

2. Jim Lane (R), from April 4, 1861

3. Samuel C. Pomeroy (R), from April 4, 1861

2. Lazarus W. Powell (D)

3. John C. Breckinridge (D), until December 4, 1861

Garrett Davis (UU), from December 23, 1861

2. Vacant

3. Vacant

1. Lot M. Morrill (R)

2. William P. Fessenden (R)

1. Anthony Kennedy (UU)

3. James Pearce (D), until December 20, 1862

Thomas H. Hicks (UU), from December 29, 1862

1. Charles Sumner (R)

2. Henry Wilson (R)

1. Zachariah Chandler (R)

2. Kinsley S. Bingham (R), until October 5, 1861

Jacob M. Howard (R), from January 17, 1862

1. Henry M. Rice (D)

2. Morton S. Wilkinson (R)

1. Vacant

2. Vacant

1. Trusten Polk (D), until January 10, 1862

John B. Henderson (UU), from January 17, 1862

3. Waldo P. Johnson (D), March 17, 1861 – January 10, 1862

Robert Wilson (UU), from January 17, 1862

2. John P. Hale (R)

3. Daniel Clark (R)

1. John R. Thomson (D), until September 12, 1862

Richard S. Field (R), November 21, 1862 – January 14, 1863

James W. Wall (D), from January 14, 1863

2. John C. Ten Eyck (R)

1. Preston King (R)

3. Ira Harris (R)

2. Thomas Bragg (D), until March 6, 1861, vacant thereafter

3. Thomas L. Clingman (D), until March 28, 1861, vacant thereafter

1. Benjamin F. Wade (R)

3. Salmon P. Chase (R), until March 7, 1861

John Sherman (R), from March 21, 1861

2. Edward D. Baker (R), until October 21, 1861

Benjamin Stark (D), October 29, 1861 – September 12, 1862

Benjamin F. Harding (D), from September 12, 1862

3. James W. Nesmith (D)

1. Simon Cameron (R), until March 4, 1861

David Wilmot (R), from March 14, 1861

3. Edgar Cowan (R)

1. James F. Simmons (R), until August 15, 1862

Samuel G. Arnold (R), from December 1, 1862

2. Henry B. Anthony (R)

2. Vacant

3. Vacant

1. Andrew Johnson (D), until March 4, 1862, vacant thereafter

2. Vacant

1. Louis Wigfall (D), until March 23, 1861, vacant thereafter

2. John Hemphill (D), until July 11, 1861, vacant thereafter

1. Solomon Foot (R)

3. Jacob Collamer (R)

1. James M. Mason (D), until March 28, 1861

Waitman T. Willey (UU), from July 9, 1861

2. Robert M. T. Hunter (D), until March 28, 1861

John S. Carlile (UU), from July 9, 1861

1. James R. Doolittle (R)

3. Timothy O. Howe (R)

House of Representatives

Members of the House of Representatives are listed by their districts.

. Vacant

. Vacant

. Vacant

. Vacant

. Vacant

. Vacant

. Vacant

. Vacant

. Vacant

All representatives were elected statewide on a general ticket.

. Frederick F. Low (R), from June 3, 1862

. Timothy G. Phelps (R)

. Aaron A. Sargent (R)

. Dwight Loomis (R)

. James E. English (D)

. Alfred A. Burnham (R)

. George C. Woodruff (D)

. George P. Fisher (UU)

. Vacant

. Vacant

. Vacant

. Vacant

. Vacant

. Vacant

. Vacant

. Vacant

. Vacant

. Elihu B. Washburne (R)

. Isaac N. Arnold (R)

. Owen Lovejoy (R)

. William Kellogg (R)

. William A. Richardson (D), until January 29, 1863, vacant thereafter

. John A. McClernand (D), until October 28, 1861

Anthony L. Knapp (D), from December 12, 1861

. James C. Robinson (D)

. Philip B. Fouke (D)

. John A. Logan (D), until April 2, 1862

William J. Allen (D), from June 2, 1862

. John Law (D)

. James A. Cravens (D)

. William McKee Dunn (R)

. William S. Holman (D)

. George W. Julian (R)

. Albert G. Porter (R)

. Daniel W. Voorhees (D)

. Albert S. White (R)

. Schuyler Colfax (R)

. William Mitchell (R)

. John P. C. Shanks (R)

. Samuel Curtis (R), until August 4, 1861

James F. Wilson (R), from October 8, 1861

. William Vandever (R)

. Martin F. Conway (R)

. Henry C. Burnett (D), until December 3, 1861

Samuel L. Casey (UU), from March 10, 1862

. James S. Jackson (UU), until December 13, 1861

George H. Yeaman (UU), from December 1, 1862

. Henry Grider (UU)

. Aaron Harding (UU)

. Charles A. Wickliffe (UU)

. George W. Dunlap (UU)

. Robert Mallory (UU)

. John J. Crittenden (UU)

. William H. Wadsworth (UU)

. John W. Menzies (UU)

. Benjamin F. Flanders (UA), from December 3, 1862

. Michael Hahn (UA), from December 3, 1862

. Vacant

. Vacant

. John N. Goodwin (R)

. Charles W. Walton (R), until May 26, 1862

Thomas A. D. Fessenden (R), from December 1, 1862

. Samuel C. Fessenden (R)

. Anson P. Morrill (R)

. John H. Rice (R)

. Frederick A. Pike (R)

. John W. Crisfield (UU)

. Edwin H. Webster (UU)

. Cornelius L. L. Leary (UU)

. Henry May (UU)

. Francis Thomas (UU)

. Charles B. Calvert (UU)

. Thomas D. Eliot (R)

. James Buffington (R)

. Charles F. Adams Sr. (R), until May 1, 1861

Benjamin Thomas (U), from June 11, 1861

. Alexander H. Rice (R)

. William Appleton (CU), until September 27, 1861

Samuel Hooper (R), from December 2, 1861

. John B. Alley (R)

. Daniel W. Gooch (R)

. Charles R. Train (R)

. Goldsmith F. Bailey (R), until May 8, 1862

Amasa Walker (R), from December 1, 1862

. Charles Delano (R)

. Henry L. Dawes (R)

. Bradley F. Granger (R)

. Fernando C. Beaman (R)

. Francis W. Kellogg (R)

. Rowland E. Trowbridge (R)

Both representatives were elected statewide on a general ticket.

. Cyrus Aldrich (R)

. William Windom (R)

. Vacant

. Vacant

. Vacant

. Vacant

. Vacant

. Francis P. Blair Jr. (R)

. James S. Rollins (CU)

. John B. Clark (D), until July 13, 1861

William A. Hall (D), from January 20, 1862

. Elijah H. Norton (D)

. John W. Reid (D), until August 3, 1861

Thomas L. Price (D), from January 21, 1862

. John S. Phelps (D)

. John W. Noell (D)

. Gilman Marston (R)

. Edward H. Rollins (R)

. Thomas M. Edwards (R)

. John T. Nixon (R)

. John L. N. Stratton (R)

. William G. Steele (D)

. George T. Cobb (D)

. Nehemiah Perry (D)

. Edward H. Smith (D)

. Moses F. Odell (D)

. Benjamin Wood (D)

. James E. Kerrigan (ID)

. William Wall (R)

. Frederick A. Conkling (R)

. Elijah Ward (D)

. Isaac C. Delaplaine (D)

. Edward Haight (D)

. Charles H. Van Wyck (R)

. John B. Steele (D)

. Stephen Baker (R)

. Abram B. Olin (R)

. Erastus Corning (D)

. James B. McKean (R)

. William A. Wheeler (R)

. Socrates N. Sherman (R)

. Chauncey Vibbard (D)

. Richard Franchot (R)

. Roscoe Conkling (R)

. R. Holland Duell (R)

. William E. Lansing (R)

. Ambrose W. Clark (R)

. Charles B. Sedgwick (R)

. Theodore M. Pomeroy (R)

. Jacob P. Chamberlain (R)

. Alexander S. Diven (R)

. Robert B. Van Valkenburgh (R)

. Alfred Ely (R)

. Augustus Frank (R)

. Burt Van Horn (R)

. Elbridge G. Spaulding (R)

. Reuben Fenton (R)

. Vacant

. Vacant

. Vacant

. Vacant

. Vacant

. Vacant

. Vacant

. Vacant

. George H. Pendleton (D)

. John A. Gurley (R)

. Clement Vallandigham (D)

. William Allen (D)

. James M. Ashley (R)

. Chilton A. White (D)

. Thomas Corwin (R), until March 12, 1861

Richard A. Harrison (U), from July 4, 1861

. Samuel Shellabarger (R)

. Warren P. Noble (D)

. Carey A. Trimble (R)

. Valentine B. Horton (R)

. Samuel S. Cox (D)

. John Sherman (R), until March 21, 1861

Samuel T. Worcester (R), from July 4, 1861

. Harrison G. O. Blake (R)

. Robert H. Nugen (D)

. William P. Cutler (R)

. James R. Morris (D)

. Sidney Edgerton (R)

. Albert G. Riddle (R)

. John Hutchins (R)

. John Bingham (R)

. Andrew J. Thayer (D), until July 30, 1861

George K. Shiel (D), from July 30, 1861

. William E. Lehman (D)

. Edward Joy Morris (R), until June 8, 1861

Charles J. Biddle (D), from July 2, 1861

. John P. Verree (R)

. William D. Kelley (R)

. William Morris Davis (R)

. John Hickman (R)

. Thomas B. Cooper (D), until April 4, 1862

John D. Stiles (D), from June 3, 1862

. Sydenham E. Ancona (D)

. Thaddeus Stevens (R)

. John W. Killinger (R)

. James H. Campbell (R)

. George W. Scranton (R), until March 24, 1861

Hendrick B. Wright (D), from July 4, 1861

. Philip Johnson (D)

. Galusha A. Grow (R)

. James T. Hale (R)

. Joseph Bailey (D)

. Edward McPherson (R)

. Samuel S. Blair (R)

. John Covode (R)

. Jesse Lazear (D)

. James K. Moorhead (R)

. Robert McKnight (R)

. John W. Wallace (R)

. John Patton (R)

. Elijah Babbitt (R)

. William P. Sheffield (U)

. George H. Browne (U)

. Vacant

. Vacant

. Vacant

. Vacant

. Vacant

. Vacant

. Vacant

. Horace Maynard (UU)

. George W. Bridges (UU), from February 25, 1863

. Andrew J. Clements (UU)

. Vacant

. Vacant

. Vacant

. Vacant

. Vacant

. Vacant

. Vacant

. Vacant

. Eliakim P. Walton (R)

. Justin S. Morrill (R)

. Portus Baxter (R)

. Joseph E. Segar (UU), from May 6, 1862[27]

. Vacant

. Vacant

. Vacant

. Vacant

. Vacant

. Charles H. Upton (UU), July 4, 1861 – February 27, 1862[27]

Lewis McKenzie (UU), from February 16, 1863

. Vacant

. Vacant

. William G. Brown Sr. (UU)

. John S. Carlile (UU), until July 9, 1861[27]

Jacob B. Blair (UU), from December 2, 1861

. Kellian Whaley (UU)

. Vacant

. John F. Potter (R)

. Luther Hanchett (R), until November 24, 1862

Walter D. McIndoe (R), from January 26, 1863

. A. Scott Sloan (R)

Non-voting members

. Hiram P. Bennet (R), from August 19, 1861

. John B. S. Todd (D), from December 9, 1861

. Samuel G. Daily (R)

. John Cradlebaugh (I), from December 2, 1861

. John S. Watts (R)

. John M. Bernhisel (I)

. William H. Wallace (R)

Changes in membership

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

Senate

See also: List of special elections to the United States Senate.

|-| Missouri (3)| Vacant| Did not take seat until after Congress commenced.| nowrap | Waldo P. Johnson (D)| March 17, 1861

|-| Kansas (2)| Vacant| Election not recognized by US Senate.| nowrap | Jim Lane (R)| April 4, 1861

|-| Kansas (3)| Vacant| Election not recognized by the Senate.| nowrap | Samuel C. Pomeroy (R)| April 4, 1861

|-| Pennsylvania (1)| nowrap | Simon Cameron (R)| Resigned March 4, 1861, to become Secretary of War.
Successor was elected.| nowrap | David Wilmot (R)| March 14, 1861

|-| North Carolina (2)| nowrap | Thomas Bragg (D)| Withdrew[28] March 6, 1861; expelled later in 1861.| colspan=2 | Vacant thereafter

|-| Ohio (3)| nowrap | Salmon P. Chase (R)| Resigned March 7, 1861, to become Secretary of the Treasury.
Successor was elected.| nowrap | John Sherman (R)| March 21, 1861

|-| Texas (1)| nowrap | Louis T. Wigfall (D)| Withdrew March 23, 1861.| colspan=2 | Vacant thereafter

|-| North Carolina (3)| nowrap | Thomas L. Clingman (D)| Withdrew[28] March 28, 1861; expelled later in 1861.| colspan=2 | Vacant thereafter

|-| Virginia (2)| nowrap | Robert M. T. Hunter (D)| Withdrew[28] March 28, 1861, and later expelled for support of the rebellion.
Successor was elected.| nowrap | John S. Carlile (UU)| July 9, 1861

|-| Virginia (1)| nowrap | James M. Mason (D)| Expelled March 28, 1861, for supporting the rebellion.
Successor was elected.| nowrap | Waitman T. Willey (UU)| July 9, 1861

|-| Illinois (2)| nowrap | Stephen A. Douglas (D)| Died June 3, 1861.
Successor was appointed.| nowrap | Orville H. Browning (R)| June 26, 1861

|-| Texas (2)| nowrap | John Hemphill (D)| Expelled sometime in July 1861.| colspan=2 | Vacant thereafter

|-| Illinois (2)| nowrap | Orville H. Browning (R)| Interim appointee lost election to finish the term.
Successor elected January 12, 1863.| nowrap | William A. Richardson (D)| January 30, 1863

|-| Arkansas (2)| nowrap | William K. Sebastian (D)| Expelled July 11, 1861.| colspan=2 | Vacant thereafter

|-| Arkansas (3)| nowrap | Charles B. Mitchel (D)| Expelled July 11, 1861.| colspan=2 | Vacant thereafter

|-| Michigan (2)| nowrap | Kinsley S. Bingham (R)| Died October 5, 1861.
Successor was elected.| nowrap | Jacob M. Howard (R)| January 17, 1862

|-| Oregon (2)| nowrap | Edward D. Baker (R)| Killed at Battle of Ball's Bluff October 21, 1861.
Successor was appointed.| nowrap | Benjamin Stark (D)| October 29, 1861

|-| Kentucky (3)| nowrap | John C. Breckinridge (D)| Expelled December 4, 1861, for supporting the rebellion.
Successor was elected.| nowrap | Garrett Davis (UU)| December 23, 1861

|-| Missouri (1)| nowrap | Trusten Polk (D)| Expelled January 10, 1862, for supporting the rebellion.
Successor was appointed.| nowrap | John B. Henderson (UU)| January 17, 1862

|-| Missouri (3)| nowrap | Waldo P. Johnson (D)| Expelled January 10, 1862, for disloyalty to the government.
Successor was appointed.| nowrap | Robert Wilson (UU)| January 17, 1862

|-| Indiana (1)| nowrap | Jesse D. Bright (D)| Expelled February 5, 1862, on charges of disloyalty.
Successor was appointed.| nowrap | Joseph A. Wright (U)| February 24, 1862

|-| Tennessee (1)| nowrap | Andrew Johnson (D)| Resigned March 4, 1862.| colspan=2 | Vacant thereafter

|-| Rhode Island (1)| nowrap | James F. Simmons (R)| Resigned August 15, 1862.
Successor was elected.| nowrap | Samuel G. Arnold (R)| December 1, 1862

|-| New Jersey (1)| nowrap | John R. Thomson (D)| Died September 12, 1862.
Successor was appointed.| nowrap | Richard S. Field (R)| November 21, 1862

|-| Oregon (2)| nowrap | Benjamin Stark (D)| Retired September 12, 1862, upon election of a successor.| nowrap | Benjamin F. Harding (D)| September 12, 1862

|-| Maryland (3)| nowrap | James Pearce (D)| Died December 20, 1862.
Successor was appointed.| nowrap | Thomas H. Hicks (UU)| December 29, 1862

|-| Indiana (1)| nowrap | Joseph A. Wright (U)| Retired January 14, 1863, upon election of a successor.| nowrap | David Turpie (D)| January 14, 1863

|-| New Jersey (1)| nowrap | Richard S. Field (R)| Retired January 14, 1863, upon election of a successor.| nowrap | James W. Wall (D)| January 14, 1863|}

House of Representatives

See also: List of special elections to the United States House of Representatives.

|-| | colspan=2 | New seat.| nowrap | Hiram P. Bennett (Conservative R)| August 19, 1861

|-| | colspan=2 | New seat.| nowrap | John Cradlebaugh (I)| December 2, 1861

|-| | colspan=2 | New seat.| nowrap | John B. S. Todd (D)| December 9, 1861

|-| | colspan=2 | Vacant.| nowrap | Benjamin F. Flanders (U)| December 3, 1862

|-| | colspan=2 | Vacant.| nowrap | Michael Hahn (UU)| December 3, 1862

|-| | Vacant| Representative-elect George W. Bridges was arrested by Confederate troops while en route to Washington, D.C., and held prisoner before he escaped.| nowrap | George W. Bridges (UU)| February 25, 1863

|-| | colspan=2 | Vacant.| nowrap | Joseph E. Segar (UU)| May 6, 1862[27]

|-| | Vacant| Low not permitted to take seat, qualified later under special act of Congress, | nowrap | Frederick F. Low (R)| June 3, 1862

|-| | colspan=2 | Vacant.| nowrap | Charles H. Upton (UU)| July 4, 1861[27]

|-| | nowrap | Thomas Corwin (R)| Resigned March 12, 1861, to become Minister to Mexico.| nowrap | Richard A. Harrison (U)| July 4, 1861

|-| | nowrap | John Sherman (R)| Resigned March 12, 1861, when elected U.S. Senator.| nowrap | Samuel T. Worcester (R)| July 4, 1861

|-| | nowrap | George W. Scranton (R)| Died March 24, 1861.| nowrap | Hendrick B. Wright (D)| July 4, 1861

|-| | nowrap | Charles F. Adams Sr. (R)| Resigned May 1, 1861, to become Ambassador to Great Britain.| nowrap | Benjamin Thomas (U)| June 11, 1861

|-| | nowrap | Edward Joy Morris (R)| Resigned June 8, 1861, to become Minister Resident to Turkey.| nowrap | Charles J. Biddle (D)| July 2, 1861

|-| | nowrap | John S. Carlile (UU)| Resigned July 9, 1861, to become United States Senator from the loyal faction of Virginia.| nowrap | Jacob B. Blair (UU)| December 2, 1861

|-| | nowrap | John Bullock Clark (D)| Expelled July 13, 1861, for having taken up arms against the Union.| nowrap | William A. Hall (D)| January 20, 1862

|-| | nowrap | Andrew J. Thayer (D)| Election was successfully contested July 30, 1861.| nowrap | George K. Shiel (D)| July 30, 1861

|-| | nowrap | John W. Reid (D)| Withdrew August 3, 1861, and then expelled December 2, 1861, for having taken up arms against the Union.| nowrap | Thomas L. Price (D)| January 21, 1862

|-| | nowrap | Samuel Curtis (R)| Resigned August 4, 1861, to become colonel of the 2nd Iowa Infantry.| nowrap | James F. Wilson (R)| October 8, 1861

|-| | nowrap | William Appleton (CU)| Resigned September 27, 1861, due to failing health.| nowrap | Samuel Hooper (R)| December 2, 1861

|-| | nowrap | John A. McClernand (D)| Resigned October 28, 1861, to accept a commission as brigadier general of volunteers for service in the Civil War.| nowrap | Anthony L. Knapp (D)| December 12, 1861

|-| | nowrap | Henry C. Burnett (D)| Expelled December 3, 1861, for support of secession.| nowrap | Samuel L. Casey (UU)| March 10, 1862

|-| | nowrap | James S. Jackson (UU)| Resigned December 13, 1861, to enter the Union Army.| nowrap | George H. Yeaman (UU)| December 1, 1862

|-| | nowrap | Charles H. Upton (UU)| Declared not entitled to seat February 27, 1862.| nowrap | Lewis McKenzie (UU)| February 16, 1863

|-| | nowrap | John A. Logan (D)| Resigned April 2, 1862, to enter the Union Army.| nowrap | William J. Allen (D)| June 2, 1862

|-| | nowrap | Thomas B. Cooper (D)| Died April 4, 1862.| nowrap | John D. Stiles (D)| June 3, 1862

|-| | nowrap | Goldsmith F. Bailey (R)| Died May 8, 1862.| nowrap | Amasa Walker (R)| December 1, 1862

|-| | nowrap | Charles W. Walton (R)| Resigned May 26, 1862, to become associate justice of the Maine Supreme Judicial Court.| nowrap | Thomas A. D. Fessenden (R)| December 1, 1862

|-| | nowrap | Luther Hanchett (R)| Died November 24, 1862.| nowrap | Walter D. McIndoe (R)| January 26, 1863

|-| | nowrap | William A. Richardson (D)| Resigned January 29, 1863, after being elected to the U.S. Senate.| colspan=2 | Vacant thereafter

|}

Committees

Senate

See also: List of United States Senate committees and List of defunct United States congressional committees. Standing committees of the Senate resolved, Friday, March 8, 1861[29]

Order in the Galleries (Select)

House of Representatives

Members by committee assignments, Congressional Globe, as published July 8, 1861.[30] Spellings conform to those found in the Congressional Biographical Dictionary.

Unless otherwise noted, all committees listed are Standing, as found at the Library of Congress[31]

See also: List of United States House of Representatives committees and List of defunct United States congressional committees.

Confiscation of Rebel Property (Select)

Listed in Library of Congress summary, but not in Congressional Globe of July 22, 1861

Listed in Library of Congress summary, but not in Congressional Globe of July 22, 1861

Listed in Library of Congress summary, but not in Congressional Globe of July 22, 1861

Also known as Foreign Relations

Listed in Library of Congress summary, but not in Congressional Globe of July 22, 1861

Listed in the Congressional Globe, but not listed in the Library of Congress summary page

Listed in the Congressional Globe, but not listed in the Library of Congress summary page

Also known as Military

Listed in Library of Congress summary, but not in Congressional Globe of July 22, 1861

Also known as Military Affairs and the Militia

Niagara Ship Canal (Select)

Listed in Library of Congress summary, but not in Congressional Globe of July 22, 1861

Listed in Library of Congress summary, but not in Congressional Globe of July 22, 1861

Also known as Patents and Patent Office

Listed in Library of Congress summary, but not in Congressional Globe of July 22, 1861

Also known as Joint Committee on Printing

Listed in the Congressional Globe, but not listed in the Library of Congress summary page

Listed in Library of Congress summary, but not in Congressional Globe of July 22, 1861

Joint committees

Caucuses

Employees

Legislative branch agency directors

Senate

House of Representatives

See also

Sources

External links

Notes and References

  1. http://history.house.gov/Congressional-Overview/Profiles/37th/ Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress (1774–2005)
  2. Heidler . D. S. . Heidler . J. T. . Coles . D. J. . Encyclopedia of the American Civil War: A Political, Social and Military History . 2000 . 0-393-04758-X . 441 . W.W. Norton & Company .
  3. Web site: The White House Historical Association, "The Great Cause of Union" search on 'habeas corpus' .
  4. Web site: Ordinance of Secession of Arkansas . Csawardept.com . December 5, 2011 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110927074226/http://www.csawardept.com/documents/secession/AR/ . September 27, 2011 . dead . mdy-all.
  5. Book: Hart . Albert Bushnell . Channing . Edward . Ordinances of Secession and Other Documents. 1860-1861 . en . November 1893 . A. Lovell & Company . American History Leaflets Colonial and Constitutional . 12 . New York . 7759360 . October 8, 2019. Alt URL
  6. Web site: Ordinance of Secession of North Carolina . Csawardept.com . December 5, 2011 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120330225401/http://www.csawardept.com/documents/secession/NC/ . March 30, 2012 . dead . mdy-all.
  7. Web site: Ordinance of Secession of Virginia . Csawardept.com . December 5, 2011 . https://web.archive.org/web/20111204174642/http://www.csawardept.com/documents/secession/VA/ . December 4, 2011 . dead . mdy-all.
  8. Web site: Ordinance of Secession of Tennessee . Csawardept.com . December 5, 2011 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120206015434/http://www.csawardept.com/documents/secession/TN/ . February 6, 2012 . dead . mdy-all.
  9. Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Arkansas.
  10. Excerpt from Isaac Bassett's Memoir re-published on the U.S. Senate webpage
  11. McPherson . James M. . Tried by War: Abraham Lincoln as Commander in Chief . The Penguin Press . 2008 . 978-1-59420-191-2 . 23 . registration .
  12. Congressional Globe, 37 Cong., 1 sess., p. 233.
  13. http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=lprbscsm&fileName=scsm0579/lprbscsmscsm0579.db "Presidential Proclamation May 19, 1862"
  14. https://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/03/magazine/mag-03CivilWar-t.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1 New York Times: "How Slavery Really Ended in America"
  15. McPherson, pp. 57–58.
  16. McPherson, p. 142.
  17. Web site: Blaine . James G. . Memoir re-published on the National Archives webpage .
  18. McPherson, p. 76.
  19. Web site: Erickson . Stephen C. . The Entrenching of Incumbency: Reelections in the U.S. House of Representatives, 1790-1994 . The Cato Journal . Winter 1995 . November 4, 2010 . https://web.archive.org/web/20100623031741/http://www.cato.org/pubs/journal/cj14n3-2.html . June 23, 2010 . dead . mdy-all.
  20. Swain, John W., et al., "A New Look at Turnover in the U.S. House of Representatives, 1789-1998", American Politics Research 2000, (28:435), pp. 444, 452.
  21. The text of Virginia's Ordinance of Secession .
  22. The text of Arkansas's Ordinance of Secession .
  23. The text of North Carolina's Ordinance of Secession .
  24. The text of Tennessee's Ordinance of Secession .
  25. The Tennessee legislature ratified an agreement to enter a military league with the Confederate States on May 7, 1861. Tennessee voters approved the agreement on June 8, 1861.
  26. Web site: Gun Reviews Archives . https://web.archive.org/web/20040611023102/http://civil-war.net/pages/ordinances_secession.asp . dead . June 11, 2004.
  27. Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress, (1774–2005), "Official Annotated Membership Roster by State with Vacancy and Special Election Information for the 37th Congress ".
  28. Withdrawal" meant that these senators announced they were withdrawing from the Senate due to their states' decisions to secede from the Union. Their seats were later declared vacant by the Senate, but some seats were actually unfilled since the beginning of this Congress on March 4, 1861.
  29. Web site: Journal of the Senate of the United States of America, 1789-1873 . 412 .
  30. Web site: Congressional Globe . July 8, 1861 . 21–22 .
  31. Web site: A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation: U.S. Congressional Documents and Debates, 37th Congress, Browse by Committee .
  32. Book: The Bibliography of Vermont, Gilman, M.D.,The Free Press Association, 1897 . 320 . Gilman . Marcus Davis . 1897 .
  33. Book: Lanman, Charles . Biographical annals of the civil government of the United States . JM Morrison . New York . 1887 . 514 . committee on the Niagara Ship Canal..
  34. Web site: US Senate Art & History webpage, "Ashbury Dickens, Secretary of the Senate, 1836-1861" .
  35. Web site: Congressional Biographical Dictionary, 37th Congress . 162, footnote fn 2 . June 29, 2010 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110610211244/http://clerk.house.gov/art_history/house_history/bioguide-front/37.pdf . June 10, 2011 . dead . mdy-all.

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