Elected to the United States Senate in 1796 and 1797

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The election to the Senate of the United States in 1796 and 1797 to the 5th Congress of the United States took place at different times. The election took place parallel to the presidential election in 1796 , in which John Adams was elected. Prior to the adoption of the 17th Amendment , the senators were not elected directly, but were appointed by the state parliaments.

The ten seats of the Senators of Class I , which had been elected for a term of six years in 1790 and 1791, stood for election. Tennessee was admitted as a state into the Union in 1796 and elected two senators, one of whom was also Class I. In addition, there were ten by-elections before the regular election in Connecticut (both seats, Class I and III), Georgia (Class III), Maryland (Class I), Massachusetts (both seats, Class I and II), New Jersey (Class II) , New York (Class III), South Carolina (Class II), and Vermont (Class I). In Georgia, where the governor had appointed a federalist for an outcast Republican (now commonly called Democratic Republicans or Jeffersonian Republicans ), the Republicans were able to win back that seat. The seat in Vermont went from the Republicans to the federalists, otherwise the by-elections resulted in no changes in the party-political composition of the Senate. The majority of federalists at the end of the 4th Congress was 21 to 11.

Nine of the Class I senators were re-elected, including the four recently elected by-elections. Only one of them was a Republican, eight federalists. The federalists won the seat in New York, but the Republicans temporarily lost another seat because the Tennessee Parliament failed to elect a Class I Senator in time. The majority of federalists rose briefly to 22 to 9. After the start of the 5th Congress, five more by-elections were held in Maryland, Rhode Island , Tennessee (both seats) and Vermont, with the Republicans being able to take back the vacant seat, otherwise party politics changed Nothing. At the end of 1797 there were again 10 Republicans in the Senate.

Results

Distribution of seats
  
A total of 30 seats
  • Federalist Party : 20
  • Democratic Republican Party : 10

Elections during the 4th Congress

The winners of these elections were accepted into the Senate before March 4, 1797, during the 4th Congress .

Country Acting Senator Political party By-election date Result New senator
Connecticut Oliver Ellsworth federalist Class I. May 12, 1796 held by federalists James Hillhouse
Connecticut Jonathan Trumbull federalist Class III October 13, 1796 held by federalists Uriah Tracy
Georgia George Walton , appointed federalist Class III February 20, 1796 Gain Republicans Josiah Tattnall
Maryland Richard Potts federalist Class I. November 28, 1796 held by federalists John Eager Howard
Massachusetts George Cabot federalist Class I. June 16, 1796 held by federalists Benjamin Goodhue
Massachusetts Caleb Strong federalist Class II June 16, 1796 held by federalists Theodore Sedgwick
New Jersey Frederick Frelinghuysen federalist Class II November 12, 1796 held by federalists Richard Stockton
new York Rufus King federalist Class III 0November 9, 1796 held by federalists John Laurance
South carolina Pierce Butler republican Class II 0December 8, 1796 held by Republicans John Hunter
Tennessee new state Class I. 0August 2, 1796 Gain Republicans William Cocke
Tennessee new state Class II 0August 2, 1796 Gain Republicans William Blount
Vermont Moses Robinson republican Class I. October 18, 1796 Federalists gain Isaac Tichenor
  • Appointed: Senator was appointed by the governor to replace a retired Senator, by-election required

Elections to the 5th Congress

The winners of these elections were accepted into the Senate on March 4, 1797, when the 5th Congress met . All seats of the Senators belong to class I .

Country Acting Senator Political party date Result New senator
Connecticut James Hillhouse federalist 1797 re-elected James Hillhouse
Delaware Henry Latimer federalist 0January 6, 1797 re-elected Henry Latimer
Maryland John Eager Howard federalist 0December 9, 1796 re-elected John Eager Howard
Massachusetts Benjamin Goodhue federalist June 15, 1797 re-elected Benjamin Goodhue
New Jersey John Rutherfurd federalist 1796 re-elected John Rutherfurd
new York Aaron Burr republican January 24, 1797 Federalists gain Philip Schuyler
Pennsylvania James Ross federalist February 16, 1797 re-elected James Ross
Rhode Island Theodore Foster federalist 1797 re-elected Theodore Foster
Tennessee William Cocke republican lost by Republicans vacant
Vermont Isaac Tichenor federalist October 18, 1796 re-elected Isaac Tichenor
Virginia Stevens Mason republican November 29, 1796 re-elected Stevens Mason
  • re-elected: an elected incumbent was re-elected

Elections during the 5th Congress

The winners of these elections were accepted into the Senate after March 4, 1797, during the 5th Congress .

Country Acting Senator Political party By-election date Result New senator
Maryland John Henry federalist Class III 0December 8, 1797 held by federalists James Lloyd
Rhode Island William Bradford federalist Class II November 13, 1797 held by federalists Ray Greene
Tennessee William Cocke , appointed republican Class I. September 26, 1797 held by Republicans Andrew Jackson
Tennessee William Blount republican Class II September 26, 1797 held by Republicans Joseph Anderson
Vermont Isaac Tichenor federalist Class I. October 17, 1797 held by federalists Nathaniel Chipman
  • Appointed: Senator was appointed by the governor to replace a retired Senator, by-election required

Individual states

In all states, senators were elected by parliaments, as provided by the United States Constitution, prior to the passage of the 17th Amendment . The electoral process was determined by the states themselves and therefore differed from state to state. In some cases, the sources only reveal who was elected, but not how.

There were no parties in the modern sense, but most politicians in the young United States can be classified in the First Party system of the Federalist Party , which President Adams supported, or the Republican Party , which is usually called the Grand Old Party, which was founded in 1854 Democratic Republican Party or Jeffersonian Republicans is called.

Connecticut

Oliver Ellsworth , Senator for Connecticut since 1789 , resigned March 8, 1796 to become Chief Justice of the United States . James Hillhouse was elected as his successor for the remainder of the term on May 18, 1796 . In 1797 he was re-elected for a full six-year term. Jonathan Trumbull , a Class III Senator for Connecticut since 1795, resigned June 10, 1796 to become assistant governor of the state. On October 13, 1796, Uriah Tracy was elected to succeed him.

Delaware

Henry Latimer , Senator for Delaware since 1795 , was re-elected January 6, 1797. In the joint session of the Senate and the House of Representatives, consisting of seven Senators and 15 MPs, he received 16 votes, six votes went to David Hall , the future governor of Delaware.

Georgia

James Jackson , Senator for Georgia since 1793 , had resigned October 31, 1795. George Walton was appointed as his successor on November 16, unlike Jackson a federalist. Josiah Tattnall , a Republican, was elected for the remainder of the term on February 20, 1796, and took office on April 12.

Maryland

Richard Potts , Senator for Maryland since 1793 , resigned October 24, 1796 to serve as judge. On November 28, John Eager Howard was elected as his successor for the remainder of the term by a large majority. On December 9, 1796, he was then re-elected for a new six-year term.

John Henry , who had been Class II Senator for Maryland since 1789 , resigned on July 10, 1797 to become governor of the state. James Lloyd was elected as his successor on December 8th . He had only a one-vote majority, with four MPs who were believed to have preferred his opponent, absent from the vote.

Massachusetts

Caleb Strong , Class II Senator for Massachusetts since 1789 , resigned June 1, 1796. His Class I colleague George Cabot , a senator since 1790, also resigned on June 9th. Theodore Sedgwick was elected to succeed Strong in early June . In the second ballot, he received 21 votes in the Senate and 86 votes in the House of Representatives. Edward Robbins , the Speaker of Parliament , received 5 votes in the Senate and 38 in the House of Representatives despite withdrawing his candidacy. Individual votes went to Levi Lincoln  (2), Nathaniel Dane (1) and Thomson J. Skinner  (1).

Benjamin Goodhue was elected on June 11 for the remaining nine months of Cabot's tenure . In the first ballot on June 10, Edward Robbins received a majority in the House of Representatives, but Goodhue received a majority in the Senate, so a second ballot was necessary the following day, in which Goodhue also received a majority in the House. The election for the full term of office beginning on March 4, 1797 followed on June 15. In the first two rounds of voting again Robbins received a majority in the House of Representatives, Goodhue a majority in the Senate, so that a third ballot was required in which Goodhue was elected.

New Jersey

Frederick Frelinghuysen , Class II Senator for New Jersey since 1793 , resigned in November 1796. On November 12, Richard Stockton was elected unanimously to succeed him for the remainder of the term. John Rutherfurd , Senator since 1791, was re-elected in 1796.

new York

Rufus King , Class III Senator for New York since 1789 , resigned on May 23, 1796 to become Ambassador to Great Britain. On November 9th, John Laurance was elected almost unanimously to succeed him for the remainder of the term, with a single vote in the House of Representatives going to Zephaniah Platt . Aaron Burr , Republican Senator since 1791 and later Vice President of the United States, ran unsuccessfully for re-election. On January 24, 1797, the federalist Philip Schuyler , who had represented New York in the Senate from 1789 to 1791, was elected to succeed him. Schuyler was elected almost unanimously, with one vote going to James Kent , a well-known lawyer.

Pennsylvania

James Ross , Senator for Pennsylvania since 1794 , was re-elected on February 16, 1797. He received 41 votes in the State House of Representatives , 15 in the Senate , his Republican opponent William Irvine , a former member of the US House of Representatives, received 30 votes in the House of Representatives and 8 in the Senate. Seven MPs and one senator abstained.

Rhode Island

Theodore Foster , one of the first two Senators for Rhode Island since 1790 , was re-elected in 1797. His Class II colleague William Bradford , a senator since 1793, resigned in October 1797. Ray Greene was elected for the remainder of his term on November 13th .

South carolina

Pierce Butler , a Class II Senator for South Carolina since 1789 , resigned October 25, 1796. John Hunter was elected as his successor for the remainder of the term on December 8th . He received 72 votes, his opponent John Chestnut 66.

Tennessee

Tennessee became the 16th state to join the United States on June 1, 1796. The Republicans William Cocke and William Blount , who took office on August 2, 1796, were elected as the first senators . Cocke received the Class I seat, his term of office ending March 3, 1797, Blount the Class II seat, which ended March 3, 1799. The Parliament of Tennessee failed to elect the class in time for the 5th Congress -I seat to be held so that it was briefly vacant. On April 22, 1797, Cocke was appointed by the governor as his own successor.

On July 8, Blount was relieved of his office because he had planned to enable a British conquest of West Florida with Indian help , since after Spain's defeat by France it was feared that free access to the Mississippi for American traders could be restricted if that Territory fell to France. On September 26, the Tennessee Parliament voted on both Senate seats. Only Joseph Anderson applied for the class II seat , who was unanimously elected for the remaining year and a half. Cocke ran again for his Senate seat but received only 13 votes. The future President Andrew Jackson was elected with 20 votes .

Vermont

Moses Robinson , senator since Vermont joined the Union in 1791 , resigned on October 15, 1796. Isaac Tichenor was elected as his successor for the remainder of the term and for the term of office beginning March 4, 1797 . He resigned a year later on October 17, 1797 to become governor of the state. On November 13, 1797, Nathaniel Chipman was elected to succeed him.

Virginia

Republican Stevens Mason , Senator for Virginia since 1794 , was re-elected on November 29, 1796. He received 114 votes, his federalist rival James Breckinridge received 60 votes.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ ELLSWORTH, Oliver, (1745-1807) , Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, accessed December 1, 2019
  2. ↑ HILLHOUSE, James, (1754-1832) , Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, accessed December 1, 2019
  3. ↑ TRUMBULL, Jonathan, Jr., (1740 - 1809) , Biographical Directory of the United States Congress called, December 1, 2019
  4. ↑ TRACY, Uriah, (1755 - 1807) , Biographical Directory of the United States Congress called, December 1, 2019
  5. ↑ LATIMER, Henry, (1752-1819) , Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, accessed December 1, 2019
  6. ^ A New Nation Votes, Delaware 1797 U.S. Senate , January 11, 2012, accessed December 1, 2019
  7. ↑ JACKSON, James, (1757 - 1806) , Biographical Directory of the United States Congress called, December 1, 2019
  8. ↑ WALTON, George, (ca. 1749-1804) , Biographical Directory of the United States Congress called, December 1, 2019
  9. ↑ Tattnall, Josiah, (1762 - 1803) , Biographical Directory of the United States Congress called, December 1, 2019
  10. ^ POTTS, Richard, (1753-1808) , Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, accessed December 1, 2019
  11. ^ A New Nation Votes, Maryland 1796 U.S. Senate, Special , January 11, 2012, accessed December 1, 2019
  12. ↑ HOWARD, John Eager, (1752-1827) , Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, accessed December 1, 2019
  13. ^ HENRY, John, (1750-1798) , Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, accessed December 1, 2019
  14. ↑ LLOYD, James, (1756-1830) , Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, accessed December 1, 2019
  15. ^ A New Nation Votes, Maryland 1797 U.S. Senate, Special , January 11, 2012, accessed December 1, 2019
  16. ↑ STRONG, Caleb, (1745-1819) , Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, accessed December 1, 2019
  17. ↑ CABOT, George, (1752 - 1823) , Biographical Directory of the United States Congress called, December 1, 2019
  18. ↑ Sedgwick, Theodore (1746 - 1813) , Biographical Directory of the United States Congress called, December 1, 2019
  19. ^ A New Nation Votes, Massachusetts 1796 U.S. Senate, Special, Ballot 2 , January 11, 2012, accessed December 1, 2019
  20. ↑ GOODHUE, Benjamin, (1748-1814) , Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, accessed December 1, 2019
  21. ^ A New Nation Votes, Massachusetts 1796 U.S. Senate, Special , January 11, 2012, accessed December 1, 2019
  22. ^ A New Nation Votes, Massachusetts 1796 U.S. Senate, Special, Ballot 2 , January 11, 2012, accessed December 1, 2019
  23. ^ A New Nation Votes, Massachusetts 1796 US Senate , January 11, 2012, accessed December 1, 2019
  24. ^ A New Nation Votes, Massachusetts 1796 US Senate, Ballot 2 , January 11, 2012, accessed December 1, 2019
  25. ^ A New Nation Votes, Massachusetts 1796 US Senate, Ballot 3 , January 11, 2012, accessed December 1, 2019
  26. ↑ Frelinghuysen, Frederick, (1753 - 1804) , Biographical Directory of the United States Congress called, December 1, 2019
  27. ↑ STOCKTON, Richard, (1764 - 1828) , Biographical Directory of the United States Congress called, December 1, 2019
  28. ^ A New Nation Votes, New Jersey 1796 Senate , January 11, 2012, accessed December 1, 2019
  29. ↑ Rutherfurd, John, (1760 - 1840) , Biographical Directory of the United States Congress called, December 1, 2019
  30. ^ KING, Rufus, (1755-1827) , Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, accessed December 1, 2019
  31. ↑ LAURANCE, John, (1750-1810) , Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, accessed December 1, 2019
  32. ^ A New Nation Votes, New York 1796 U.S. Senate, Special , January 11, 2012, accessed December 1, 2019
  33. ↑ BURR, Aaron, (1756 - 1836) , Biographical Directory of the United States Congress called, December 1, 2019
  34. ↑ SCHUYLER, Philip John, (1733-1804) , Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, accessed December 1, 2019
  35. ^ A New Nation Votes, New York 1797 US Senate , January 11, 2012, accessed December 1, 2019
  36. ^ ROSS, James, (1762-1847) , Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, accessed December 1, 2019
  37. ^ A New Nation Votes, Pennsylvania 1797 U.S. Senate , January 11, 2012, accessed December 1, 2019
  38. ↑ FOSTER, Theodore (1752 - 1828) , Biographical Directory of the United States Congress called, December 1, 2019
  39. ↑ BRADFORD, William, (1729 - 1808) , Biographical Directory of the United States Congress called, December 1, 2019
  40. ↑ GREENE, Ray (1765 - 1849) , Biographical Directory of the United States Congress called, December 1, 2019
  41. ^ BUTLER, Pierce, (1744-1822) , Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, accessed December 1, 2019
  42. ↑ HUNTER, John, (ca. 1752-1802) , Biographical Directory of the United States Congress called, December 1, 2019
  43. ^ A New Nation Votes, South Carolina 1796 U.S. Senate, Special , January 11, 2012, accessed December 1, 2019
  44. ↑ Cocke, William, (1748 - 1828) , Biographical Directory of the United States Congress called, December 1, 2019
  45. ↑ BLOUNT, William, (1749 - 1800) , Biographical Directory of the United States Congress called, December 1, 2019
  46. ↑ ANDERSON, Joseph Inslee, (1757 - 1837) , Biographical Directory of the United States Congress called, December 1, 2019
  47. ^ A New Nation Votes, Tennessee 1797 U.S. Senate (Class II), January 11, 2012, accessed December 1, 2019
  48. ^ A New Nation Votes, Tennessee 1797 U.S. Senate (Class I), January 11, 2012, accessed December 1, 2019
  49. ↑ JACKSON, Andrew, (1767--1845) , Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, accessed December 1, 2019
  50. ^ ROBINSON, Moses, (1741-1813) , Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, accessed December 1, 2019
  51. ↑ TICHENOR, Isaac, (1754-1838) , Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, accessed December 1, 2019
  52. ↑ CHIPMAN, Nathaniel, (1752-1843) , Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, accessed December 1, 2019
  53. ^ MASON, Stevens Thomson, (1760-1803) , Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, accessed December 1, 2019
  54. ^ A New Nation Votes, Virginia 1796 Senate , January 11, 2012, accessed December 1, 2019