37th United States Congress

The 37th United States Congress , made up of the House and Senate , was the United States' legislature . Its legislative period lasted from March 4, 1861 to March 4, 1863. All members of the House of Representatives and a third of the senators ( Class III ) were elected in the 1860 congressional elections. This resulted in a majority for the Republican Party in both chambers . The only remaining role for the Democratic Party was in the opposition. The Congress met in the American capital Washington, DC President was Abraham Lincoln . At the end of the previous legislature, the United States consisted of 35 states from the perspective of the northern states. However, between the congressional elections and the beginning of the legislative term of the 37th Congress, the states of South Carolina , Mississippi , Florida , Alabama , Georgia , Louisiana and Texas had left the Union, but they did not recognize this. Between April and June 1861, the states of Virginia , Arkansas , North Carolina and Tennessee left . The states that had left then formed the Confederate States . In April 1861 the American Civil War began between the Union (Northern States) and the Confederation (Southern States). Congress flatly rejected the withdrawal of the southern states. Most of the southern MPs and senators voluntarily gave up their positions. Others were expelled from Congress as supporters of the so-called rebels. There were a few exceptions, however. The state of Louisiana remained represented in the House of Representatives with two representatives (unionists) until 1863. A special regulation also applied to Virginia. The pro-union part of the state (later West Virginia ) was also represented in Congress with two senators and five MPs until 1863. The distribution of seats in the House of Representatives was based on the 1850 census .

Important events

See also 1861 1862 and 1863

• March 4, 1861: Beginning of the legislative period of the 37th Congress. At the same time, the Republican Abraham Lincoln, who was also elected in November 1860, was introduced to his new office as US President. He succeeds the Democrat James Buchanan .
• The entire legislative period is overshadowed by the events of the civil war. In addition, the Indian Wars continue in the West .
• March 11, 1861: The Confederate States Constitution is promulgated in the Southern States .
• April 12, 1861: The civil war begins with the attack on Fort Sumter by Confederate troops. For details see Civil War .
• May 15, 1862: President Lincoln signs the Charter of the United States Bureau of Agriculture, which later becomes the Department of Agriculture.
• May 20, 1862: The Homestead Act enters into force.
• July 1, 1862: President Lincoln signs a law that creates the basis for a transcontinental rail link.
• July 1, 1862: Bureau of Internal Revenue established
• September 22, 1862: President Lincoln announces the Emancipation Proclamation . It comes into force on January 1, 1863.
• November 1862: In the congressional elections, the Republicans win a majority in both houses.
• February 24, 1863: The Arizona Territory is founded
• March 3, 1863: Creation of the Idaho Territory

The main laws

During the session of the 37th Congress, the following federal laws were passed ( see also: Legislative procedure ):

• August 5, 1861: Revenue Act of 1861
• August 6, 1861: Confiscation Act of 1861
• February 25, 1862: Legal Tender Act of 1862
• April 16, 1862: Slavery in the District of Columbia abolished
• May 15, 1862: An Act to Establish a Department of Agriculture
• May 20, 1862: Homestead Act
• June 19, 1862: An Act to secure Freedom to all persons within the Territories of the United States,
• July 1, 1862: Morrill Anti-Bigamy Act
• July 1, 1862: Revenue Act of 1862
• July 1, 1862: Pacific Railway Act
• July 2, 1862: Morrill Land Grant Colleges Act see Morrill Acts
• July 17, 1862: Militia Act of 1862
• February 25, 1863: National Banking Act
• March 2, 1863: False Claims Act
• March 3, 1863: Enrollment Act
• March 3, 1863: Habeas Corpus Suspension Act 1863
• March 3, 1863: Tenth Circuit Act

Composition according to parties

senate

• Democratic Party: 13
• Republican Party: 30
• Others: 7 (all unionists)
• Vacant: 20 (Senators from the fallen southern states except Virginia see above)

Total: 70 at the end of the legislative period

House of Representatives

• Democratic Party: 45
• Republican Party: 106
• Others: 32 (including 30 unionists)
• Vacant: 57 (from the fallen southern states)

Total: 240 at the end of the legislative period

There were also seven congressional delegates who were not entitled to vote

Public officials

senate

• President of the Senate : Hannibal Hamlin (R)
• President pro tempore : Solomon Foot (R)

House of Representatives

• Speaker of the House of Representatives : Galusha A. Grow (R)

Senate members

The following senators represented their respective states in the 37th Congress:

Alabama 2. Vacant 3. Vacant Arkansas 2. William King Sebastian (D) until July 11, 1861, after which the seat remained vacant 3. Charles B. Mitchel (D) until July 11, 1861, after which the seat remained vacant California 1. Milton Latham (D) 3. James A. McDougall (D) Connecticut 1. James Dixon (R) 3. Lafayette S. Foster (R) Delaware 1. James A. Bayard (D) 2. Willard Saulsbury (D) Florida 1. Vacant 3. Vacant Georgia 2. Vacant 3. Vacant Illinois 2. Stephen A. Douglas (D) until June 3, 1861 Orville Hickman Browning (R) from June 26, 1861 to January 12, 1863 William Alexander Richardson (D) from January 12, 1863 3. Lyman Trumbull (R) Indiana 1. Jesse D. Bright (D) until February 5, 1862 Joseph Wright (U = Unionist) Feb. 24, 1862 to Jan. 14, 1863 David Turpie (D) from January 14, 1863 3. Henry Smith Lane (R) Iowa 2. James W. Grimes (R) 3. James Harlan (R) Kansas 2. James Henry Lane (R) from April 4, 1861 3. Samuel C. Pomeroy (R) from April 4, 1861 Kentucky 2. Lazarus W. Powell (D) 3. John C. Breckinridge (D) until December 4, 1861 Garrett Davis (U) from December 23, 1861 Louisiana 2. Vacant 3. Vacant Maine 1. Lot M. Morrill (R) 2. William P. Fessenden (R) Maryland 1. Anthony Kennedy (U) 3. James Pearce (D) until December 20, 1862 Thomas Holliday Hicks (U) from December 29, 1862 Massachusetts 1. Charles Sumner (R) 2. Henry Wilson (R) Michigan 1. Zachariah Chandler (R) 2. Kinsley S. Bingham (R) until October 5, 1861 Jacob M. Howard (R) from January 17, 1862 Minnesota 1. Henry Mower Rice (D) 2. Morton S. Wilkinson (R)

Mississippi 1. Vacant 2. Vacant Missouri 1. Trusten Polk (D) until January 10, 1862 John B. Henderson (U) from January 17, 1862 3. Waldo P. Johnson (D) from March 17, 1861 to January 10, 1862 Robert Wilson (U) from January 17, 1862 New Hampshire 2. John P. Hale (R) 3. Daniel Clark (R) New Jersey 1. John Renshaw Thomson (D) until September 12, 1862 Richard Stockton Field (R) between November 21, 1862 through January 14, 1863 James Walter Wall (D) from January 14, 1863 2. John C. Ten Eyck (R) new York 1. Preston King (R) 3. Ira Harris (R) North Carolina 2. Thomas Bragg (D) until March 6, 1861, after which the seat remained vacant 3. Thomas Lanier Clingman (D) until March 28, 1861, after which the seat remained vacant Ohio 1. Benjamin Wade (R) 3. Salmon P. Chase (R) bom 4. through March 7, 1861 (three days) John Sherman from March 21, 1861 Oregon 2. Edward Dickinson Baker (R) until October 21, 1861 Benjamin Stark (D) From October 29, 1861 to September 12, 1862 Benjamin F. Harding (D) from September 12, 1862 3. James W. Nesmith (D) Pennsylvania 1. Simon Cameron (R) until March 4, 1861 (one day) David Wilmot (R) from March 14, 1861 3. Edgar Cowan (R) Rhode Island 1. James F. Simmons (R) through August 15, 1862 Samuel G. Arnold (R) from December 1, 1862 2. Henry B. Anthony (R) South carolina 2. Vacant 3. Vacant Tennessee 1. Andrew Johnson (D) until March 4, 1862, after which the seat remained vacant 2. Vacant Texas 1. Louis Wigfall (D) until March 23, 1861, after which the seat remained vacant 2. John Hemphill (D) until July 11, 1861, after which the seat remained vacant Vermont 1. Solomon Foot (R) 3. Jacob Collamer (R) Virginia 1. James Murray Mason (D) until March 28, 1861 Waitman T. Willey (U) from July 9, 1861 2. Robert Hunter (D) until March 28, 1861 John S. Carlile (U) from June 9, 1861 Wisconsin 1. James Rood Doolittle (R) 3. Timothy Otis Howe (R)

Members of the House of Representatives

The following congressmen represented the interests of their respective states in the 37th Congress:

Alabama 7 constituencies 1. Vacant 2. Vacant 3. Vacant 4. Vacant 5. Vacant 6. Vacant 7. Vacant Arkansas 2 constituencies 1. Vacant 2. Vacant California 3 constituencies (all elected state-wide) 1. Frederick Low (R) from June 3, 1862 2. Timothy Guy Phelps (R) 3. Aaron Augustus Sargent (R) Connecticut 4 constituencies 1. Dwight Loomis (R) 2. James E. English (D) 3. Alfred A. Burnham (R) 4. George C. Woodruff (D) Delaware state-wide choice George P. Fisher (U) Florida State Vacant Georgia 8 constituencies 1. Vacant 2. Vacant 3. Vacant 4. Vacant 5. Vacant 6. Vacant 7. Vacant 8. Vacant Illinois 9 constituencies 1. Elihu Benjamin Washburne (R) 2. Isaac N. Arnold (R) 3. Owen Lovejoy (R) 4. William Kellogg (R) 5. William Alexander Richardson (D) until January 29, 1863, after which the seat remained vacant 6. John Alexander McClernand (D) until October 28, 1861 Anthony L. Knapp (D) from December 12, 1861 7. James Carroll Robinson (D) 8. Philip B. Fouke (D) 9. John A. Logan (D) until April 2, 1862 William J. Allen (D) from June 2, 1862 Indiana 11 constituencies 1. John Law (D) 2. James A. Cravens (D) 3. William McKee Dunn (R) 4. William S. Holman (D) 5. George Washington Julian (R) 6. Albert Porter (R) 7. Daniel W. Voorhees (D) 8. Albert Smith White (R) 9. Schuyler Colfax (R) 10. William Mitchell (R) 11. John PC Shanks (R) Iowa 2 constituencies 1st Samuel Ryan Curtis (R) through August 4, 1861 James F. Wilson (R) from October 8, 1861 2. William Vandever (R) Kansas state election Martin F. Conway (R) Kentucky 10 constituencies 1. Henry Cornelius Burnett (D) until December 3, 1861 Samuel L. Casey (U) n from March 10, 1862 2. James Streshly Jackson (U) until December 13, 1861 George Helm Yeaman (U) from December 1, 1862 3. Henry Grider (U) 4. Aaron Harding (U) 5. Charles A. Wickliffe (U) 6. George W. Dunlap (U) 7. Robert Mallory (U) 8. John J. Crittenden (U) 9. William H. Wadsworth (U) 10. John W. Menzies (U) Louisiana 4 constituencies 1. Benjamin Flanders (U) from December 3, 1862 (occupied territory of the Union of the State) 2. George Michael Hahn (U) from December 3, 1862 (occupied area of ​​the Union of the State) 3. Vacant 4. Vacant Maine 6 constituencies 1. John Noble Goodwin (R) 2. Charles W. Walton (R) until May 26, 1862 Thomas Fessenden (R) from December 1, 1862 3. Samuel C. Fessenden (R) 4. Anson Morrill (R) 5. John H. Rice (R) 6. Frederick A. Pike (R) Maryland 6 constituencies. 1. John W. Crisfield (U) 2. Edwin Hanson Webster (U) 3. Cornelius Leary (U) 4. Henry May (U) 5. Francis Thomas (U) 6. Charles Benedict Calvert (U) Massachusetts 11 constituencies 1. Thomas D. Eliot (R) 2. James Buffinton (R) 3. Charles Francis Adams, Sr. (R) through May 1, 1861 Benjamin Thomas (U) from June 11, 1861 4. Alexander H. Rice (R) 5. William Appleton (CU = Constitutional Union Party) until September 27, 1861 Samuel Hooper (R) from December 2, 1861 6. John B. Alley (R) 7. Daniel W. Gooch (R) 8. Charles R. Train (R) 9. Goldsmith Bailey (R) until May 8, 1862 Amasa Walker (R) from December 1, 1862 10. Charles Delano (R) 11. Henry L. Dawes (R) Michigan 4 constituencies 1. Bradley F. Granger (R) 2. Fernando C. Beaman (R) 3. Francis William Kellogg (R) 4. Rowland E. Trowbridge (R) Minnesota State Election Cyrus Aldrich (R) William Windom (R) Mississippi 5 constituencies 1. Vacant 2. Vacant 3. Vacant 4. Vacant 5. Vacant Missouri 7 constituencies 1. Francis Blair until July 1862, after which the seat remained vacant 2. James S. Rollins (CU) 3. John Bullock Clark (D) until July 13, 1861 William Augustus Hall (D) from January 20, 1862 4. Elijah Hise Norton (D) 5. John William Reid (D) until August 3, 1861 Thomas Lawson Price (D) from January 21, 1862 6. John S. Phelps (D) 7. John William Noell (D) New Hampshire 3 electoral divisions 1. Gilman Marston (R) 2. Edward H. Rollins (R) 3. Thomas M. Edwards (R) New Jersey 5 constituencies 1. John T. Nixon (R) 2. John LN Stratton (R) 3. William G. Steele (D) 4. George T. Cobb (D) 5. Nehemiah Perry (D)

New York 33 constituencies. 1. Edward H. Smith (D) 2. Moses F. Odell (D) 3. Benjamin Wood (D) 4. James Kerrigan (Independent Democrat) 5. William Wall (R) 6. Frederick A. Conkling (R) 7. Elijah Ward (D) 8. Isaac C. Delaplaine (D) 9. Edward Haight (D) 10. Charles Van Wyck (R) 11. John B. Steele (D) 12. Stephen Baker (R) 13. Abram B. Olin (R) 14. Erastus Corning (D) 15. James B. McKean (R) 16. William A. Wheeler (R) 17. Socrates N. Sherman (R) 18. Chauncey Vibbard (D) 19. Richard Franchot (R) 20. Roscoe Conkling (R) 21. R. Holland Duel (R) 22. William E. Lansing (R) 23. Ambrose W. Clark (R) 24. Charles B. Sedgwick (R) 25. Theodore Medad Pomeroy (R) 26. Jacob P. Chamberlain (R) 27. Alexander S. Diven (R) 28. Robert B. Van Valkenburgh (R) 29. Alfred Ely (R) August 30th Frank (R) 31. Burt Van Horn (R) 32. Elbridge G. Spaulding (R) 33. Reuben Fenton (R) North Carolina 8 constituencies 1. Vacant 2. Vacant 3. Vacant 4. Vacant 5. Vacant 6. Vacant 7. Vacant 8. Vacant Ohio 21 constituencies 1. George H. Pendleton (D) 2. John A. Gurley (R) 3. Clement Vallandigham (D) 4. William Allen (D) 5. James Mitchell Ashley (R) 6. Chilton A. White (D) 7. Thomas Corwin (R) until March 12, 1861 Richard A. Harrison (U) from July 4, 1861 8. Samuel Shellabarger (R) 9. Warren P. Noble (D) 10. Carey A. Trimble (R) 11. Valentine B. Horton (R) 12. Samuel S. Cox (D) 13. John Sherman (R) by March 21, 1861 Samuel T. Worcester (R) from July 4, 1861 14. Harrison GO Blake (R) 15. Robert H. Nugen (D) 16. William P. Cutler (R) 17. James R. Morris (D) 18. Sidney Edgerton (R) 19. Albert G. Riddle (R) 20. John Hutchins (R) 21. John Bingham (R) Oregon state-wide election Andrew J. Thayer (D) until July 30, 1861 George K. Shiel (D) from July 30, 1861 Pennsylvania 25 constituencies 1. William Eckart Lehman (D) 2. Edward Joy Morris (R) until June 8, 1861 Charles John Biddle (D) from July 2, 1861 3. John Paul Verree (R) 4. William D. Kelley (R) 5. William Morris Davis (R) 6. John Hickman (R) 7. Thomas Buchecker Cooper (D) until April 4, 1862 John Dodson Stiles (D) from June 3, 1862 8. Sydenham Elnathan Ancona (D) 9. Thaddeus Stevens (R) 10. John Weinland Killinger (R) 11. James Hepburn Campbell (R) 12. George W. Scranton (R) through March 24, 1861 Hendrick Bradley Wright (D) from July 4, 1861 13. Philip Johnson (D) 14. Galusha A. Grow (R) 15. James Tracy Hale (R) 16. Joseph Bailey (D) 17. Edward McPherson (R) 18. Samuel Steel Blair (R) 19. John Covode (R) 20. Jesse Lazear (D) 21. James K. Moorhead (R) 22. Robert McKnight (R) 23. John Winfield Wallace (R) 24. John Patton (R) 25. Elijah Babbitt (R) Rhode Island 2 electoral districts 1. William Paine Sheffield (U) 2. George H. Browne (U) South Carolina 6 constituencies 1. Vacant 2. Vacant 3. Vacant 4. Vacant 5. Vacant 6. Vacant Tennessee 10 constituencies 1. Vacant 2. Horace Maynard (U) 3. George Washington Bridges (U) as of February 25, 186 4. Andrew Jackson Clements (U) 5. Vacant 6. Vacant 7. Vacant 8. Vacant 9. Vacant 10. Vacant Texas 2 electoral districts 1. Vacant 2. Vacant Vermont 3 constituencies 1. Eliakim Persons Walton (R) 2. Justin Smith Morrill (R) 3. Portus Baxter (R) Virginia 13 constituencies 1. Joseph Segar (U) from May 6, 1862 2. Vacant 3. Vacant 4. Vacant 5. Vacant 6. Vacant 7. Charles H. Upton (U) From July 4, 1861 to February 27, 1862 Lewis McKenzie (U) from February 16, 1863 8. Vacant 9. Vacant 10. William Brown (U) 11. John S. Carlile (U) until July 9, 1861 Jacob B. Blair (U) from December 2, 1861 12. Kellian Whaley (U) 13. Vacant Wisconsin 3 constituencies 1. John F. Potter (R) 2. Luther Hanchett (R) until November 24, 1862 Walter D. McIndoe (R) from January 26, 1863 3. A. Scott Sloan (R)

Members of the House of Representatives who are not entitled to vote:

• Colorado Territory : Hiram Pitt Bennet (R) from August 19, 1861
• Dakota Territory : John Todd from December 9, 1861
• Nebraska Territory : Samuel Gordon Daily (R)
• Nevada Territory : John Cradlebaugh
• New Mexico Territory : John Sebrie Watts (R)
• Utah Territory : John Milton Bernhisel
• Washington Territory : William Henson Wallace (R)

Web links

Commons : 37th United States Congress  - Collection of Images, Videos, and Audio Files

• bioguide.congress.gov (by entering 37 under Year OR Congress: you get a list of the members of the 37th Congress with a link to the official biographies; English)