20th United States Congress
The 20th 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, 1827, to March 4, 1829, during the third and fourth years of John Quincy Adams's presidency. The apportionment of seats in the House of Representatives was based on the 1820 United States census. Both chambers had a Jacksonian majority.
| 20th United States Congress | |
|---|---|
19th ← → 21st | |
 United States Capitol (1827) | |
March 4, 1827 – March 4, 1829 | |
| Members | 48 senators 213 representatives 3 non-voting delegates |
| Senate majority | Jacksonian |
| Senate President | John C. Calhoun (J) |
| House majority | Jacksonian |
| House Speaker | Andrew Stevenson (J) |
| Sessions | |
| 1st: December 3, 1827 – May 26, 1828 2nd: December 1, 1828 – March 3, 1829 | |
Major events
- December 3, 1828: U.S. presidential election, 1828: Challenger Andrew Jackson beat incumbent John Quincy Adams and was elected President of the United States
Major legislation
- May 24, 1828: Tariff of Abominations, ch. 111, 4 Stat. 308
Party summary
The count below identifies party affiliations at the beginning of the first session of this congress. Changes resulting from subsequent replacements are shown below in the "Changes in membership" section.
Senate
| Party (shading shows control) |
Total | Vacant | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| National Republican (NR) |
Jacksonian (J) | |||
| End of previous congress | 23 | 25 | 48 | 0 |
| Begin | 20 | 27 | 47 | 1 |
| End | 21 | 26 | ||
| Final voting share | 44.7% | 55.3% | ||
| Beginning of next congress | 22 | 26 | 48 | 0 |
House of Representatives
| Party (shading shows control) |
Total | Vacant | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| National Republican (NR) |
Jacksonian (J) | Other | |||
| End of previous congress | 111 | 102 | 0 | 213 | 0 |
| Begin | 99 | 113 | 0 | 212 | 1 |
| End | |||||
| Final voting share | 46.7% | 53.3% | 0.0% | ||
| Beginning of next congress | 71 | 136 | 4[lower-alpha 1] | 211 | 2 |
Leadership
President of the Senate John C. Calhoun
Senate President pro tempore Samuel Smith
Speaker Andrew Stevenson
Senate
House of Representatives
- Speaker: Andrew Stevenson (J)
Members
This list is arranged by chamber, then by state. Senators are listed by class and members of the House 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 with this Congress, facing re-election in 1832; Class 2 meant their term ended with this Congress, facing re-election in 1828; and Class 3 meant their term began in the last Congress, facing re-election in 1830.
House of Representatives
The names of members of the House of Representatives are preceded by their district numbers.
Changes in membership
The count below reflects changes from the beginning of the first session of this Congress.
Senate
- Replacements: 6
- National Republican (NR): no net change
- Jacksonian (J): no net change
- Deaths: 0
- Resignations: 7
- Interim appointments: 0
- Total seats with changes: 8
| State (class) |
Vacated by | Reason for change | Successor | Date of successor's formal installation[lower-alpha 2] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Massachusetts (1) |
Vacant | Seat remained vacant because legislature had failed to elect. Winner was elected June 8, 1827. |
Daniel Webster (NR) | Installed December 17, 1827 |
| Ohio (3) |
William Henry Harrison (NR) | Resigned May 20, 1828, to become U.S. Minister Plenipotentiary to Gran Colombia. A special election was held December 10, 1828. |
Jacob Burnet (NR) | Installed December 10, 1828 |
| Maine (1) |
Albion K. Parris (J) | Resigned August 26, 1828, after being appointed to the Maine Supreme Judicial Court. A special election was held January 15, 1829. |
John Holmes (NR) | Installed January 15, 1829 |
| Georgia (2) |
Thomas W. Cobb (J) | Resigned before November 7, 1828. A special election was held November 7, 1828. |
Oliver H. Prince (J) | Installed November 7, 1828 |
| North Carolina (3) |
Nathaniel Macon (J) | Resigned November 14, 1828. A special election was held December 15, 1828. |
James Iredell Jr. (J) | Installed December 15, 1828 |
| New York (1) |
Martin Van Buren (J) | Resigned December 20, 1828, to become Governor of New York. A special election was held January 15, 1829. |
Charles E. Dudley (J) | Installed January 15, 1829 |
| New Jersey (1) |
Ephraim Bateman (NR) | Resigned January 12, 1829, due to failing health. A special election was held January 30, 1829. |
Mahlon Dickerson (J) | Installed January 30, 1829 |
| New Jersey (2) |
Mahlon Dickerson (J) | Resigned January 30, 1829, after being elected to New Jersey's Class 1 U.S. Senate seat. | Vacant | Not filled in this Congress |
House of Representatives
- Replacements: 9
- National Republican (NR): 1-seat net loss
- Jacksonian (J): 1-seat net gain
- Deaths: 5
- Resignations: 9
- Contested election: 1
- Total seats with changes: 15
| District | Vacated by | Reason for change | Successor | Date of successor's formal installation[lower-alpha 2] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Georgia's 1st | Edward F. Tattnall (J) | Resigned some time in 1827 before the assembling of Congress | George R. Gilmer (J) | Seated October 1, 1827 |
| Delaware at-large | Vacant | Louis McLane (J) resigned despite winning reelection in 1826 after being elected to the US Senate. | Kensey Johns Jr. (NR) | Seated October 2, 1827 |
| New York's 29th | David E. Evans (J) | Resigned May 2, 1827 | Phineas L. Tracy (NR) | Seated November 5, 1827 |
| Massachusetts's 1st | Daniel Webster (NR) | Resigned May 30, 1827, to run for the US Senate | Benjamin Gorham (NR) | Seated July 23, 1827 |
| Ohio's 8th | William Wilson (NR) | Died June 6, 1827 | William Stanbery (J) | Seated October 9, 1827 |
| Maine's 1st | William Burleigh (NR) | Died July 2, 1827 | Rufus McIntire (J) | Seated September 10, 1827 |
| Kentucky's 11th | William S. Young (NR) | Died September 20, 1827 | John Calhoon (NR) | Seated November 5, 1827 |
| Kentucky's 11th | John Calhoon (NR) | Resigned November 7, 1827, to avoid an election dispute | Thomas Chilton (J) | Seated December 22, 1827 |
| Georgia's 2nd | John Forsyth (J) | Resigned November 7, 1827, after being elected Governor of Georgia | Richard H. Wilde (J) | Seated November 17, 1827 |
| Arkansas Territory at-large | Henry W. Conway | Died November 9, 1827 | Ambrose H. Sevier | Seated February 13, 1828 |
| New Jersey at-large | George Holcombe (J) | Died January 14, 1828 | James F. Randolph (NR) | Seated December 1, 1828 |
| New York's 5th | Thomas J. Oakley (J) | Resigned May 9, 1828, after being appointed judge of the Superior Court of New York City | Thomas Taber II (J) | Seated November 5, 1828 |
| Kentucky's 2nd | Thomas Metcalfe (NR) | Resigned June 1, 1828, after being elected Governor of Kentucky | John Chambers (NR) | Seated December 1, 1828 |
| New Jersey at-large | Hedge Thompson (NR) | Died July 23, 1828 | Thomas Sinnickson (NR) | Seated December 1, 1828 |
| Mississippi at-large | William Haile (J) | Resigned September 12, 1828 | Thomas Hinds (J) | Seated October 21, 1828 |
| Ohio's 6th | William Creighton Jr. (NR) | Resigned before December 19, 1828, after being nominated as a judge to district court | Francis S. Muhlenberg (NR) | Seated December 19, 1828 |
| New York's 20th | Silas Wright (J) | Resigned February 16, 1829 | Vacant | Not filled this Congress |
Committees
Lists of committees and their party leaders.
Senate
- Agriculture (Chairman: John Branch)
- Alabama Land Purchase (Select)
- Audit and Control the Contingent Expenses of the Senate (Chairman: Elias Kane)
- Claims (Chairman: Benjamin Ruggles)
- Commerce (Chairman: Levi Woodbury)
- Debt Imprisonment Abolition (Select)
- Distributing Public Revenue Among the States (Select)
- District of Columbia (Chairman: John Eaton)
- Engrossed Bills (Chairman: William Marks)
- Finance (Chairman: Samuel Smith)
- Foreign Relations (Chairman: Nathaniel Macon then Littleton Tazewell)
- French Spoilations (Select)
- Indian Affairs (Chairman: Thomas Hart Benton then Hugh Lawson White)
- Judiciary (Chairman: Martin Van Buren then John M. Berrien)
- Manufactures (Chairman: Samuel Smith)
- Military Affairs (Chairman: William Henry Harrison then Thomas Hart Benton)
- Militia (Chairman: John Chandler)
- Naval Affairs (Chairman: Robert Y. Hayne)
- Pensions (Chairman: James Noble)
- Post Office and Post Roads (Chairman: Richard M. Johnson)
- Private Land Claims (Chairman: William Smith)
- Public Lands (Chairman: David Barton)
- Revolutionary Officers (Select)
- Roads and Canals (Select) (Chairman: William Hendricks)
- Tariff Regulation (Select)
- Vaccination (Select)
- Whole
House of Representatives
- Accounts (Chairman: Samuel C. Allen)
- Agriculture (Chairman: Stephen Van Rensselaer)
- Assault on the President's Secretary (Select)
- American Colonization Society (Select)
- Claims (Chairman: Lewis Williams)
- Commerce (Chairman: Churchill C. Cambreleng)
- District of Columbia (Chairman: Mark Alexander)
- Elections (Chairman: John Sloane)
- Ethics (Chairman: N/A)
- Expenditures in the Navy Department (Chairman: Peter Little)
- Expenditures in the Post Office Department (Chairman: Gabriel Holmes)
- Expenditures in the State Department (Chairman: John Blair)
- Expenditures in the Treasury Department (Chairman: Thomas H. Hall)
- Expenditures in the War Department (Chairman: Charles Eaton Haynes)
- Expenditures on Public Buildings (Chairman: Michael C. Sprigg)
- Foreign Affairs (Chairman: Edward Everett)
- Indian Affairs (Chairman: William McLean)
- Judiciary (Chairman: Philip P. Barbour)
- Manufactures (Chairman: Rollin C. Mallary)
- Military Affairs (Chairman: James Hamilton Jr.)
- Military Pensions (Chairman: Tristam Burges)
- Naval Affairs (Chairman: Michael Hoffman)
- Post Office and Post Roads (Chairman: Samuel D. Ingham then Samuel McKean)
- Private Land Claims (Chairman: Richard Aylett Buckner)
- Public Expenditures (Chairman: Jeromus Johnson)
- Public Lands (Chairman: Jacob C. Isacks)
- Revisal and Unfinished Business (Chairman: Dutee J. Pearce)
- Revolutionary Claims (Chairman: George Wolf)
- Rules (Select)
- Standards of Official Conduct
- Territories (Chairman: James Strong)
- Ways and Means (Chairman: George McDuffie)
- Whole
Joint committees
- Enrolled Bills
- The Library
- To Prepare a Code of Laws for the District of Columbia
Employees
Legislative branch agency directors
Senate
- Chaplain: William Ryland (Methodist)
- Secretary: Walter Lowrie
- Sergeant at Arms: Mountjoy Bayly
House of Representatives
- Chaplain: Reuben Post (Presbyterian)
- Clerk: Matthew St. Clair Clarke
- Doorkeeper: Benjamin Birch
- Reading Clerks: [data missing]
- Sergeant at Arms: John O. Dunn
See also
- 1826 United States elections (elections leading to this Congress)
- 1828 United States elections (elections during this Congress, leading to the next Congress)
Notes
- Anti-Masonic
- 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
- Statutes at Large, 1789-1875
- Senate Journal, First Forty-three Sessions of Congress
- House Journal, First Forty-three Sessions of Congress
- Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress
- U.S. House of Representatives: House History
- U.S. Senate: Statistics and Lists
- Congressional Directory for the 1st Session of the 20th Congress.
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