32nd United States Congress

32nd United States Congress
31st ← → 33rd
United States Capitol (1846)
March 4, 1851 – March 4, 1853
Members	62 senators 233 representatives 4 non-voting delegates
Senate majority	Democratic
Senate President	Vacant
House majority	Democratic
House Speaker	Linn Boyd (D)
Sessions
Special: March 4, 1851 – March 13, 1851 1st: December 1, 1851 – August 31, 1852 2nd: December 6, 1852 – March 4, 1853

The 32nd 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, 1851, to March 4, 1853, during the last two years of Millard Fillmore's presidency. The apportionment of seats in the House of Representatives was based on the 1840 United States census. Both chambers had a Democratic majority.

It was one of the least active Congresses, forwarding only 74 bills that were signed by the president.^[1]

Major events

• March 20, 1852: Uncle Tom's Cabin published.
• July 1, 1852: Henry Clay was the first to lie in state in the United States Capitol rotunda.
• November 2, 1852: 1852 United States presidential election: Democrat Franklin Pierce defeated Whig Winfield Scott.

Major legislation

• March 2, 1853: An act providing for administering the oath of office to William R. King, Vice President elect of the United States of America. Sess. 2, Ch. 93, 10 Stat. 180

Territories organized

• March 2, 1853: Washington Territory was formed from Oregon Territory.

Party summary

Senate

	Party (shading shows control)			Total	Vacant
	Democratic (D)	Free Soil (FS)	Whig (W)
End of previous congress	36	2	24	62	0
Begin	34	2	21	57	5
End	35	3	23	61	1
Final voting share	57.4%	4.9%	37.7%
Beginning of next congress	36	3	22	61	2

House of Representatives

	Party (Shading indicates majority caucus)								Total	Vacant
	Democratic (D)	Independent Democratic (ID)	Free Soil (FS)	States' Rights (SR)	Unionist (U)	Whig (W)	Independent Whig (IW)	Other
End of previous Congress	113	0	9	0	0	107	0	2	231	2
Begin	127	3	4	3	10	85	1	0	233	0
End	125					86			232	1
Final voting share	54.7%	1.3%	1.3%	1.3%	4.3%	36.8%	0.4%	0.0%
Beginning of next Congress	158	1	3	0	0	71	0	1	234	0

Leadership

Senate

• President: Vacant (since the ascension of Millard Fillmore to U.S. President on July 9, 1850)
• President pro tempore: William R. King (D), until December 20, 1852
  • David R. Atchison (D), from December 20, 1852

House of Representatives

• Speaker: Linn Boyd (D)

Members

This list is arranged by chamber, then by state. Senators are listed by class and representatives 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 1856; Class 2 meant their term ended with this Congress, facing re-election in 1852; and Class 3 meant their term began in the last Congress, facing re-election in 1854.

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: 8
  • Democrats (D): 1 seat net gain
  • Whigs (W): 1 seat net loss
• Deaths: 3
• Resignations: 6
• Interim appointments: 3
• Total seats with changes: 13

Senate changes

State (class)	Vacated by	Reason for change	Successor	Date of successor's formal installation[a]
Ohio (1)	Vacant	Failure to elect. The winner was elected late on March 15, 1851, on the 37th ballot over the incumbent appointee.[2] Successor was elected March 15, 1851.	Benjamin Wade (W)	Elected March 15, 1851
New York (1)	Vacant	Failure to elect. Successor was elected March 19, 1851.	Hamilton Fish (W)	Elected March 19, 1851
Massachusetts (1)	Vacant	Failure to elect. Successor was elected April 24, 1851.	Charles Sumner (FS)	Elected April 24, 1851
California (1)	Vacant	Failure to elect. Successor was elected January 30, 1852.	John B. Weller (D)	Elected January 30, 1852
Connecticut (1)	Vacant	Failure to elect. Successor was elected May 12, 1852.	Isaac Toucey (D)	Seated May 12, 1852
Mississippi (1)	Jefferson Davis (D)	Resigned September 23, 1851, to run for Governor of Mississippi. Successor appointed December 1, 1851.	John J. McRae (D)	Appointed December 1, 1851
Mississippi (2)	Henry S. Foote (D)	Resigned January 8, 1852, to become Governor of Mississippi. Successor elected February 18, 1852.	Walker Brooke (W)	Elected February 18, 1852
Mississippi (1)	John J. McRae (D)	Appointee was replaced by an elected successor. Successor elected March 17, 1852.	Stephen Adams (D)	Elected March 17, 1852
South Carolina (2)	Robert Rhett (D)	Resigned May 7, 1852. Successor appointed May 10, 1852, and elected sometime thereafter to finish the term.	William F. De Saussure (D)	Appointed May 10, 1852
Georgia (2)	John M. Berrien (W)	Resigned May 28, 1852. Successor appointed May 31, 1852, to finish the term.	Robert M. Charlton (D)	Appointed May 31, 1852
Kentucky (3)	Henry Clay (W)	Died June 29, 1852. Successor appointed July 6, 1852.	David Meriwether (D)	Appointed July 6, 1852
Indiana (3)	James Whitcomb (D)	Died October 4, 1852. Successor appointed December 6, 1852.	Charles W. Cathcart (D)	Appointed December 6, 1852
Kentucky (3)	David Meriwether (D)	Appointee was replaced by an elected successor. Successor elected September 1, 1852.	Archibald Dixon (W)	Elected September 1, 1852
Alabama (3)	William R. King (D)	Resigned December 20, 1852, due to ill health, having recently being elected Vice President of the United States Successor appointed January 14, 1853, and elected December 12, 1853[3] thereafter to finish the term.	Benjamin Fitzpatrick (D)	Appointed January 14, 1853
New Jersey (1)	Robert F. Stockton (D)	Resigned January 1, 1853, to become president of the Delaware and Raritan Canal Company. Successor was not elected until the next Congress.	Vacant	Not filled this term
Vermont (3)	William Upham (W)	Died January 14, 1853. Successor appointed January 17, 1853, to continue the term.	Samuel S. Phelps (W)	Appointed January 17, 1853
Indiana (3)	Charles W. Cathcart (D)	Appointee was replaced by an elected successor. Successor elected January 18, 1853.	John Pettit (D)	Elected January 18, 1853

House of Representatives

• Replacements: 6
  • Democrats (D): 1 seat net loss
  • Whigs (W): 1 seat net gain
• Deaths: 2
• Resignations: 5
• Total seats with changes: 7

House changes

District	Vacated by	Reason for change	Successor	Date of successor's formal installation[a]
Maine 4th	Charles Andrews (D)	Died April 30, 1852	Isaac Reed (W)	Seated June 25, 1852
Virginia 15th	George W. Thompson (D)	Resigned July 30, 1852, after being appointed judge of the Circuit Court of Virginia	Sherrard Clemens (D)	Seated December 6, 1852
Kentucky 7th	Humphrey Marshall (W)	Resigned August 4, 1852, after being appointed Minister to China	William Preston (W)	Seated December 6, 1852
Massachusetts 2nd	Robert Rantoul Jr. (D)	Died August 7, 1852	Francis B. Fay (W)	Seated December 13, 1852
Massachusetts 9th	Orin Fowler (W)	Died September 3, 1852	Edward P. Little (D)	Seated December 13, 1852
Massachusetts 4th	Benjamin Thompson (W)	Died September 24, 1852	Lorenzo Sabine (W)	Seated December 13, 1852
New York 17th	Alexander H. Buell (D)	Died January 29, 1853	Vacant	Not filled this term

Committees

Lists of committees and their party leaders.

Senate

• Agriculture (Chairman: Pierre Soule)
• Audit and Control the Contingent Expenses of the Senate (Chairman: Augustus Dodge)
• Claims (Chairman: Richard Brodhead)
• Commerce (Chairman: Hannibal Hamlin)
• Contested Election of 1850 (Chairman: N/A)
• Distributing Public Revenue Among the States (Select)
• District of Columbia (Chairman: James Shields)
• Emigrant Route and Telegraphic Line to California (Select)
• Ether Discovery (Select)
• Finance (Chairman: Robert M.T. Hunter)
• Foreign Relations (Chairman: James M. Mason)
• French Spoilations (Select)
• Indian Affairs (Chairman: David R. Atchison)
• Judiciary (Chairman: Andrew P. Butler)
• Manufactures (Chairman: William K. Sebastian)
• Library (Chairman: James A. Pearce)
• Mexican Boundary (Select)
• Mexican Boundary Commission (Select)
• Mexican Claims Commission (Select)
• Military Affairs (Chairman: James Shields)
• Militia (Chairman: Sam Houston)
• Naval Affairs (Chairman: William M. Gwin)
• Ordnance and War Ships (Select)
• Patents and the Patent Office (Chairman: Moses Norris Jr. and Charles T. James)
• Pensions (Chairman: George Wallace Jones)
• Post Office and Post Roads (Chairman: Thomas J. Rusk)
• Printing (Chairman: Hannibal Hamlin)
• Private Land Claims (Chairman: Solomon W. Downs)
• Public Buildings and Grounds (Chairman: James Whitcomb)
• Public Lands (Chairman: Alpheus Felch)
• Purchase of Catlin's Collection of Indian Scenes (Select)
• Retrenchment (Chairman: James W. Bradbury)
• Revolutionary Claims (Chairman: Issac P. Walker)
• Roads and Canals (Chairman: Jesse D. Bright)
• Tariff Regulation (Select)
• Territories (Chairman: Stephen A. Douglas)
• Seventh Census (Select)
• Whole

House of Representatives

• Accounts (Chairman: John C. Mason)
• Agriculture (Chairman: John G. Floyd)
• Bounty Land Act of 1850 (Select)
• Bounty Land Bill (Chairman: Cyrus L. Dunham)
• Claims (Chairman: John Reeves Jones Daniel)
• Commerce (Chairman: David L. Seymour)
• District of Columbia (Chairman: Orlando B. Ficklin)
• Elections (Chairman: William S. Ashe)
• Engraving (Chairman: Edward Hammond)
• Expenditures in the Navy Department (Chairman: Fayette McMullen)
• Expenditures in the Post Office Department (Chairman: Alexander G. Penn)
• Expenditures in the State Department (Chairman: Charles E. Stuart)
• Expenditures in the Treasury Department (Chairman: Benjamin B. Thurston)
• Expenditures in the War Department (Chairman: Milo M. Dimmick)
• Expenditures on Public Buildings (Chairman: Thomas Bartlett Jr.)
• Foreign Affairs (Chairman: Thomas H. Bayly)
• Indian Affairs (Chairman: Robert W. Johnson)
• Invalid Pensions (Chairman: Isham G. Harris)
• Judiciary (Chairman: James X. McLanahan)
• Manufactures (Chairman: James M.H. Beale)
• Mileage (Chairman: Thomas A. Hendricks)
• Military Affairs (Chairman: William H. Bissell)
• Militia (Chairman: Charles H. Peaslee)
• Naval Affairs (Chairman: Frederick P. Stanton)
• Patents (Chairman: David K. Cartter)
• Post Office and Post Roads (Chairman: Edson B. Olds)
• Private Land Claims (Chairman: Timothy Jenkins)
• Public Buildings and Grounds (Chairman: Richard H. Stanton)
• Public Expenditures (Chairman: Charles Sweetser)
• Public Lands (Chairman: Willard P. Hall)
• Revisal and Unfinished Business (Chairman: Williamson R. W. Cobb)
• Revolutionary Claims (Chairman: Moses Macdonald)
• Revolutionary Pensions (Chairman: John S. Millson)
• Roads and Canals (Chairman: John L. Robinson)
• Rules (Chairman: Willard P. Hall)
• Standards of Official Conduct
• Territories (Chairman: William A. Richardson)
• Ways and Means (Chairman: George S. Houston)
• Whole

Joint committees

• Enrolled Bills (Chairman: Rep. Isaac Wildrick)
• The Library (Chairman: Joseph R. Chandler)
• Printing (Chairman: Willis A. Gorman)

Caucuses

• Senate Democratic Caucus
• House Democratic Caucus

Employees

Legislative branch agency directors

• Architect of the Capitol: Thomas U. Walter, appointed June 11, 1851
• Librarian of Congress: John Silva Meehan

Senate

• Chaplain: Clement M. Butler (Episcopalian)
• Secretary: Asbury Dickins
• Sergeant at Arms: Robert Beale

House of Representatives

• Chaplain: Ralph Randolph Gurley (Presbyterian), until December 1, 1851
  • Lyttleton Morgan (Methodist), elected December 1, 1851
  • James Gallagher (Presbyterian), elected December 6, 1852
• Clerk: Richard M. Young, until December 1, 1851
  • John W. Forney, from December 1, 1851
• Doorkeeper: Zadock W. McKnew
• Reading Clerks:[data missing]
• Sergeant at Arms: Adam J. Glossbrenner
• Postmaster: John M. Johnson

See also

• 1850 United States elections (elections leading to this Congress)
  • 1850–51 United States Senate elections
  • 1850–51 United States House of Representatives elections
• 1852 United States elections (elections during this Congress, leading to the next Congress)
  • 1852 United States presidential election
  • 1852–53 United States Senate elections
  • 1852–53 United States House of Representatives elections

Notes

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 32nd Congress, 1st Session.
• Congressional Directory for the 32nd Congress, 2nd Session.