1788–89 United States House of Representatives elections explained

Election Name:	1788–89 United States House of Representatives elections
Country:	United States
Flag Year:	1777
Type:	legislative
Ongoing:	no
Elected Members:	1st United States Congress
Next Election:	1790–91 United States House of Representatives elections
Seats For Election:	All 59 seats in the United States House of Representatives
Majority Seats:	30
Election Date:	November 24, 1788 – March 5, 1789
Party1:	Pro-Administration Party (US)
Image1:	Frederick Muhlenberg.jpg
Leader1:	Frederick Muhlenberg
Seats1:	37^[1]
Party2:	Anti-Administration Party (US)
Leader2:	James Madison
Seats2:	28
Map Size:	320px
Speaker
Before Election:	None
After Election:	Frederick Muhlenberg
After Party:	Pro-Administration Party (US)

The 1788–89 United States House of Representatives elections were the first U.S. House of Representatives elections following the adoption of the Constitution of the United States. Each state set its own date for its congressional elections, ranging from November 24, 1788, to March 5, 1789, before or after the first session of the 1st United States Congress convened on March 4, 1789. They coincided with the election of George Washington as the first president of the United States.

With the new form of government needing to be operational prior to the completion of the first national census, ArticleI, Section 1, Clause3 of the U.S. Constitution set a temporary apportionment of seats. Among the original 13 states, 11 of them ratified the Constitution and elected 59 total representatives. North Carolina and Rhode Island did not ratify the Constitution until after the 1st Congress began, and consequently did not elect their representatives until 1790.

Actual political parties did not yet exist, but new members of Congress were informally categorized as either "pro-Administration" (i.e., pro-Washington and pro-Hamilton) or "anti-Administration".

The first session of the first House of Representatives came to order in Federal Hall, New York City on March 4, 1789, with only thirteen members present. The requisite quorum (thirty members out of fifty-nine) was not present until April 1, 1789. The first order of business was the election of a Speaker of the House. On the first ballot, Frederick Muhlenberg was elected Speaker by a majority of votes. The business of the first session was largely devoted to legislative procedure rather than policy.

Election summaries

ArticleI, Section 1, Clause3 of the U.S. Constitution set a temporary congressional apportionment until the first national census was completed in 1790.

In the 18th and much of the 19th century, each state set its own date for elections. In many years, elections were even held after the legal start of the Congress, although typically before the start of the first session. In the elections for the 1st Congress, five states held elections in 1788, electing a total of 29 Representatives, and six held elections in 1789, electing a total of 30 Representatives. Two states, North Carolina and Rhode Island, did not ratify the Constitution until November 21, 1789 and May 29, 1790 respectively, well after the Congress had met for the first time, and, consequently, elected representatives late, in 1790, leaving North Carolina unrepresented in the 1st session and Rhode Island in the 1st and 2nd sessions of a total of 3 sessions.

State	Type	data-sort-type="date"	Date ↑	Total seats		Anti- Administration		Pro- Administration
General elections
South Carolina	Districts	November 24–25, 1788	5		3	Pro-Administration	2
Pennsylvania	At-large	November 26, 1788	8	Anti-Administration	2		6
New Hampshire	At-large	December 15, 1788	3	Anti-Administration	1		2
Massachusetts	Districts	December 18, 1788	8	Anti-Administration	2		6
Connecticut	At-large	December 22, 1788	5	Anti-Administration	0		5
Delaware	At-large	January 7, 1789	1	Anti-Administration	0		1
Maryland	At-large / Districts	January 7–11, 1789	6		4	Pro-Administration	2
Virginia	Districts	February 2, 1789	10		7	Pro-Administration	3
Georgia	At-large / Districts	February 9, 1789	3		3	Pro-Administration	0
New Jersey	At-large	February 11, 1789	4	Anti-Administration	0		4
New York	Districts	March 3–5, 1789	6		3		3
Late elections
North Carolina	Districts	February 1790	5	Anti-Administration	3		2
Rhode Island	At-large	August 31, 1790	1	Anti-Administration	0		1
Total			65		28		37

House composition

Beginning of the 1st Congress

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End of the 1st Congress (1791)

Six seats were filled late because North Carolina and Rhode Island ratified the Constitution late. One pro-Administration representative resigned and the seat remained open at the end of the Congress.

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Key:	align=center width=25px A = Anti-Administration align=center width=25px P = Pro-Administration align=center width=25px V = Vacant

Special election

This was the first special election to the United States House of Representatives.

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

|-! nowrap | | Benjamin West| | Pro-Administration| 1788/89| | Member-elect (see below) chose not to serve.
New member elected June 22, 1789.
Pro-Administration hold.| nowrap | |}

Connecticut

See main article: 1788 United States House of Representatives election in Connecticut.

See also: List of United States representatives from Connecticut.

District	Result	Candidates
		Pro-Administration win
		Pro-Administration win
		Pro-Administration win
		Pro-Administration win
		Pro-Administration win

Delaware

See main article: 1789 United States House of Representatives election in Delaware.

See also: List of United States representatives from Delaware.

Delaware had a single representative. The election was held January 7, 1789. Under the law at the time, each voter cast two votes for representative, at least one of whom had to be from a different county.^[2]

Georgia

See main article: 1789 United States House of Representatives elections in Georgia.

See also: List of United States representatives from Georgia.

Georgia had a mixed at-large/district system for the 1st Congress. Representatives were elected at-large, but for three district-based seats.

District	Result	Candidates
		Anti-Administration win	nowrap
		Anti-Administration win	nowrap
		Anti-Administration win	nowrap

Maryland

See main article: 1789 United States House of Representatives elections in Maryland.

See also: List of United States representatives from Maryland. Maryland had a mixed district/at-large system similar to Georgia's. Under Maryland law, "candidates were elected at-large but had to be residents of a specific district with the statewide vote determining winners from each district."^[3]

District	Result	Candidates
		Anti-Administration win	nowrap
		Anti-Administration win	nowrap
		Anti-Administration win	nowrap
		Anti-Administration win	nowrap
		Pro-Administration win	nowrap
		Pro-Administration win	nowrap

Massachusetts

See main article: 1788–1789 United States House of Representatives elections in Massachusetts.

See also: List of United States representatives from Massachusetts.

Massachusetts required a majority vote, necessitating additional votes if no one won a majority. This was necessary in 4 of the districts.

In the fourth district,

In the fifth district,

In the eighth district,

District	Result	Candidates
		Pro-Administration win	nowrap
		Pro-Administration win	nowrap
		Anti-Administration win	nowrap
		Pro-Administration win	nowrap	Third ballot: : :
		Pro-Administration win	nowrap
		Pro-Administration win	nowrap
		Pro-Administration win	nowrap
		Anti-Administration win	nowrap

New Hampshire

See main article: 1788–1789 United States House of Representatives election in New Hampshire.

See also: List of United States representatives from New Hampshire.

New Hampshire law required a winning candidate to receive votes from a majority of voters (16.7% of votes). No candidate won such a majority on the first ballot, so a second ballot was held February 2, 1789.

District	Result	Candidates
		Pro-Administration win. First place winner chose not to serve before the start of the Congress. A special election was held June 22, 1789, see above.	nowrap rowspan=3
		Anti-Administration win.
		Pro-Administration win.

New Jersey

See main article: 1789 United States House of Representatives election in New Jersey.

See also: List of United States representatives from New Jersey.

District	Result	Candidates
		Pro-Administration win
		Pro-Administration win
		Pro-Administration win
		Pro-Administration win

The election of all four representatives was contested, but the records that explained the precise grounds on which the election was contested have been lost due to the burning of Washington in the War of 1812. It is known to have related to questions of regularity and procedure. All four representatives' elections were ruled valid.^[4]

New York

See main article: 1789 United States House of Representatives elections in New York.

See also: List of United States representatives from New York.

New York held elections to the 1st Congress on March 3 and 4, 1789. At the time, districts were unnumbered. They are retroactively numbered in this section.

District	Result	Candidates
		Anti-Administration win	nowrap
		Pro-Administration win	nowrap
		Pro-Administration win	nowrap
		Anti-Administration win	nowrap
		Pro-Administration win	nowrap
		Anti-Administration win	nowrap

North Carolina

See also: List of United States representatives from North Carolina. North Carolina ratified the Constitution late and thus elected representatives to the 1st Congress in 1790.

Pennsylvania

See main article: 1788 United States House of Representatives election in Pennsylvania.

See also: List of United States representatives from Pennsylvania.

Pennsylvania held elections to the 1st Congress on November 26, 1788. For this first election (and again in 1792 election for the 3rd Congress), Pennsylvania chose to elect all of its representatives on a single statewide general ticket, an attempt by the pro-Administration-majority legislature to prevent anti-Administration candidates from winning seats.

District	Result	Candidates^[5]
		Pro-Administration win
		Pro-Administration win
		Pro-Administration win
		Pro-Administration win
		Pro-Administration win
		Pro-Administration win
		Anti-Administration win
		Anti-Administration win

Rhode Island

See main article: August 1790 United States House of Representatives election in Rhode Island.

See also: List of United States representatives from Rhode Island. Rhode Island ratified the Constitution late and thus elected representatives to the 1st Congress in 1790.

South Carolina

See main article: 1788 United States House of Representatives elections in South Carolina.

See also: List of United States representatives from South Carolina.

District	Result	Candidates
		Pro-Administration win	nowrap
		Anti-Administration win	nowrap
		Pro-Administration win	nowrap
		Anti-Administration win	nowrap
		Anti-Administration win	nowrap

In the, William L. Smith (Pro-Administration)'s election was contested by David Ramsay (Pro-Administration) who claimed that Smith had not been a citizen for the required 7 years at the time of his election, the House Committee on Elections ruled in Smith's favor ^[4]

Virginia

See main article: 1789 United States House of Representatives elections in Virginia.

See also: List of United States representatives from Virginia.

District	Result	Candidates
		Pro-Administration win	nowrap
		Anti-Administration win	nowrap
		Anti-Administration win	nowrap
		Pro-Administration win	nowrap
		Anti-Administration win	nowrap
		Anti-Administration win	nowrap
		Anti-Administration win	nowrap
		Anti-Administration win	nowrap
		Anti-Administration win	nowrap
		Pro-Administration win	nowrap

See also

• 1788–89 United States elections
  • List of United States House of Representatives elections (1789–1822)
  • 1788–89 United States Senate elections
  • 1788–89 United States presidential election
• 1st United States Congress

Bibliography

• Web site: A New Nation Votes: American Election Returns 1787-1825 . Tufts Digital Library, Tufts University . January 17, 2015 . January 29, 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150129054451/http://elections.lib.tufts.edu/catalog/tufts:de.uscongress.1789 . dead .
• Book: Dubin, Michael J. . United States Congressional Elections, 1788-1997: The Official Results of the Elections of the 1st Through 105th Congresses . McFarland and Company . March 1, 1998 . 978-0786402830.
• Book: Martis, Kenneth C. . The Historical Atlas of Political Parties in the United States Congress, 1789-1989 . Macmillan Publishing Company . January 1, 1989 . 978-0029201701.
• Web site: Party Divisions of the House of Representatives* 1789–Present . Office of the Historian, United States House of Representatives . January 21, 2015.

External links

• Office of the Historian (Office of Art & Archives, Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives)

Notes and References

1. Web site: Party Divisions of the House of Representatives, 1789 to Present US House of Representatives: History, Art & Archives . 2024-06-30 . history.house.gov . en.
2. Web site: A New Nation Votes: American Election Returns 1787-1825 - Delaware 1789 U.S. House of Representatives . Tufts Digital Library, Tufts University . June 3, 2018 . January 29, 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150129054451/http://elections.lib.tufts.edu/catalog/tufts:de.uscongress.1789 . dead .
3. Web site: A New Nation Votes: American Election Returns 1787-1825 - Maryland 1789 U.S. House of Representatives . Tufts Digital Library, Tufts University . January 17, 2015 . March 5, 2016 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160305031338/http://elections.lib.tufts.edu/catalog/tufts:md.uscongress.1789 . dead .
4. Web site: First Congress March 4, 1789, to March 3, 1791 [membership roster] ]. artandhistory.house.gov . January 17, 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20141205220514/http://artandhistory.house.gov/house_history/bioguide-front/1.pdf . December 5, 2014 . dead . mdy-all.
5. Web site: 1st Congress 1789-1791 At Large Election . Wilkes University Elections Statistics Project . January 16, 2007 . January 17, 2015.