2nd United States Congress

The Second United States Congress, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives, met at Congress Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, from March 4, 1791, to March 4, 1793, during the third and fourth years of George Washington's presidency. The apportionment of seats in the House of Representatives was based on the provisions of Article I, Section 2, Clause 3 of the United States Constitution. Additional House seats were assigned to the two new states of Vermont and Kentucky. Both chambers had a Pro-Administration majority.

2nd United States Congress
1st ←
→ 3rd
March 4, 1791 – March 4, 1793
Senate PresidentJohn Adams (P)
Senate President pro temRichard Henry Lee (P)
John Langdon (P)
House SpeakerJonathan Trumbull, Jr. (P)
Members26–30 senators
69–73 members of the House
Senate MajorityPro-Administration
House MajorityPro-Administration
Sessions
Special: March 4, 1791 – March 4, 1791
1st: October 24, 1791 – May 8, 1792
2nd: November 5, 1792 – March 2, 1793 (lame duck)
Modern tour group visiting the House of Representatives chamber at Congress Hall
Senate chamber at Congress Hall
Not to be confused with Second Continental Congress.

Major events
Main articles: 1791 in the United States, 1792 in the United States, and 1793 in the United States

Major legislation
Main article: List of United States federal legislation, 1789–1901 § 2nd United States Congress

States admitted

Constitutional amendments
  • December 15, 1791: The first 10 amendments to the United States Constitution, collectively known as the Bill of Rights, were ratified by the requisite number of states (then 11) to become part of the Constitution.

Party summary

There were no political parties in this Congress. Members are informally grouped into factions of similar interest, based on an analysis of their voting record.[1]

Details on changes are shown below in the "Changes in membership" section.

Senate

During this congress, two new Senate seats were added for each of the new states of Vermont and Kentucky.

Faction
(shading shows control)		 Total Vacant
Anti-
Administration
(A)		 Pro-
Administration
(P)
End of previous congress 8 18 26 0
Begin 8 17 25 1
End 13 300
Final voting share 43.3% 56.7%
Beginning of next congress 14 16 30 0

House of Representatives
Members of the House of Representatives as shared by each state

During this congress, two new House seats were added for each of the new states of Vermont and Kentucky. (Sess. 3, ch. 9, 1 Stat. 191)

Faction
(shading shows control)		 Total Vacant
Anti-
Administration
(A)		 Pro-
Administration
(P)
End of previous congress 28 36 64 1
Begin 25 37 62 3
End 29 39 681
Final voting share 42.6% 57.4%
Beginning of next congress 55 50 105 0

Leadership
Senate President
John Adams

Senate

House of Representatives
  • Speaker: Jonathan Trumbull, Jr. (P)

Members

This list is arranged by chamber, then by state. Senators are listed by Class, and Representatives 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 in this Congress, facing re-election in 1796; Class 2 meant their term ended with this Congress, facing re-election in 1792; and Class 3 meant their term began in the last Congress, facing re-election in 1794.

House of Representatives

The names of members of the House of Representatives are preceded by their districts.

Membership changes

There were no political parties in this Congress. Members are informally grouped into factions of similar interest, based on an analysis of their voting record.[2]

Vermont and Kentucky were newly admitted as states and are first represented in this Congress.

Senate

There were three resignations, one contested election, and four new seats of admitted states, resulting in a four-seat net gain of the Anti-Administration Senators.

See also: List of special elections to the United States Senate
State
(class)		 Vacator Reason for change Successor Date of successor's
formal installation[lower-alpha 1]
Pennsylvania
(1)		 Vacant Legislature failed to elect Senator.
Successor elected February 28, 1793.		 Albert Gallatin (A) December 2, 1793
Connecticut
(3)		 William S. Johnson (P) Resigned March 4, 1791.
Successor elected June 13, 1791.		 Roger Sherman (P) June 13, 1791
Vermont
(3)		 New seat Vermont was admitted to the Union March 4, 1791.
Winners elected October 17, 1791.		 Stephen R. Bradley (A) November 4, 1791
Vermont
(1)		 Moses Robinson (A) November 4, 1791
Kentucky
(3)		 New seat Kentucky was admitted to the Union June 1, 1792.
Winners elected June 18, 1792.		 John Edwards (A) June 18, 1792
Kentucky
(2)		 John Brown (A) June 18, 1792
Virginia
(2)		 Richard Henry Lee (A) Resigned October 8, 1792.
Successor elected October 18, 1792.		 John Taylor (A) October 18, 1792
Maryland
(1)		 Charles Carroll (P) Resigned November 30, 1792.
Successor elected January 10, 1793.		 Richard Potts (P) January 10, 1793

House of Representatives

There were 3 resignations, 1 vacancy of a member-elect, 1 contested election, 2 late elections, and 4 new seats of admitted states, resulting in a 3-seat net gain of the Anti-Administration members and a 1-seat net gain of the Pro-Administration members.

Main article: List of special elections to the United States House of Representatives
District Vacator Reason for change Successor Date of successor's
formal installation[lower-alpha 1]
Massachusetts 8th Vacant Due to failure to reach a majority, four ballots were needed to elect. Incumbent was elected late April 4, 1791. George Thatcher (P) April 4, 1791
New York 1st Vacant Representative-elect James Townsend died on May 24, 1790, before Congress assembled. Thomas Tredwell (A) October 24, 1791
Vermont 1st New seat Vermont was admitted to the Union on March 4, 1791. Israel Smith (A) October 24, 1791
Vermont 2nd Nathaniel Niles (A) October 24, 1791
Maryland 3rd William Pinkney (P) Resigned November 1791 John Francis Mercer (A) February 6, 1792
Massachusetts 6th Vacant Due to failure to reach a majority, eight ballots were needed to elect. Incumbent was elected late April 2, 1792. George Leonard (P) April 2, 1792
Virginia 2nd John Brown (A) Resigned June 1, 1792, to become U.S. Senator from Kentucky. Vacant Seat went with Kentucky
Kentucky 2nd New seat Kentucky was admitted to the Union on June 1, 1792. Alexander D. Orr (A) November 8, 1792
Kentucky 1st Christopher Greenup (A) November 9, 1792
Georgia 1st Anthony Wayne (A) Anthony Wayne served until March 21, 1792, when seat declared vacant because the election was contested John Milledge (A) November 22, 1792
Maryland 2nd Joshua Seney (A) Resigned December 6, 1792. William Hindman (P) January 30, 1793

Committees

Lists of committees and their party leaders.

Senate

House of Representatives

Joint committees

Employees

Senate

House of Representatives

See also

Notes
  1. This is the date the member was seated or an oath administered, not necessarily the same date her/his service began.

References
  1. Martis, Kenneth C. The Historical Atlas of Political Parties in the United States Congress.
  2. Martis, Kenneth C. The Historical Atlas of Political Parties in the United States Congress.
  • 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.
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