5th United States Congress

5th United States Congress
4th   6th

Congress Hall (2007)

Duration: March 4, 1797 – March 4, 1799

Senate President: Thomas Jefferson
Senate Pres. pro tem: William Bradford
Jacob Read
Theodore Sedgwick
John Laurance
James Ross
House Speaker: Jonathan Dayton
Members: 32 Senators
106 Representatives
Senate Majority: Federalist
House Majority: Federalist

Sessions
Special: March 4, 1797 – March 4, 1797
1st: May 15, 1797 – July 10, 1797
2nd: November 13, 1797 – July 16, 1798
Special: July 17, 1798 – July 19, 1798
3rd: December 3, 1798 – March 3, 1799

The Fifth 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 at Congress Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania from March 4, 1797 to March 4, 1799, during the first two years of John Adams's presidency.

The apportionment of seats in this House of Representatives was based on the First Census of the United States in 1790. Both chambers had a Federalist majority.

Major events

Major legislation

Territories organized

Treaties ratified

Party summary

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

Senate

Party
(Shading shows control)
Total Vacant
Democratic-
Republican

(DR)
Federalist
(F)
End of the previous congress 11 21 32 0
Begin 10 21 31 1
End 9 22
Final voting share 29.0% 71.0%
Beginning of the next congress 9 22 31 1

House of Representatives

Party
(Shading shows control)
Total Vacant
Democratic-
Republican

(DR)
Federalist
(F)
End of the previous congress 59 47 106 0
Begin 49 56 105 1
End 50 57 1070
Final voting share 46.7% 53.3%
Beginning of the next congress 46 60 106 0
President of the Senate Thomas Jefferson

Leadership

Senate

House of Representatives

Members

This list is arranged by chamber, then by state. Senators are listed in order of seniority, 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, requiring reelection in 1802; Class 2 meant their term ended with this Congress, requiring reelection in 1798; and Class 3 meant their term began in the last Congress, requiring reelection in 1800.

Connecticut

Delaware

Georgia

Kentucky

Maryland

Massachusetts

New Hampshire

New Jersey

New York

North Carolina

Pennsylvania

Rhode Island

South Carolina

Tennessee

Vermont

Virginia

President pro tempore of the Senate Jacob Read

House of Representatives

Connecticut

All representatives were elected statewide on a general ticket.

Delaware

Georgia

Both representatives were elected statewide on a general ticket.

Kentucky

Maryland

Massachusetts

New Hampshire

All representatives were elected statewide on a general ticket.

New Jersey

All representatives were elected statewide on a general ticket.

New York

North Carolina

Pennsylvania

The 4th district was a plural district with two representatives.

Rhode Island

Both representatives were elected statewide on a general ticket.

South Carolina

Tennessee

Vermont

Virginia

Speaker of the House Jonathan Dayton

Changes in membership

The count below reflects changes from the beginning of this Congress

Senate

There were 9 resignations, 2 deaths, 1 expulsion, 1 late selection, and 2 elections to replace appointees. Neither party had a net gain of seats.


State
(class)
Vacator Reason for change Successor Date of successor's
formal installation
Tennessee
(1)
Vacant Tennessee failed to elect a Senator on time William Cocke (DR) Appointed May 15, 1797
Tennessee
(2)
William Blount (DR) Expelled July 8, 1797 Joseph Anderson (DR) Elected September 26, 1797
Tennessee
(1)
William Cocke (DR) Interim appointment until September 26, 1797 Andrew Jackson (DR) Elected September 26, 1797
Rhode Island
(2)
William Bradford (F) Resigned sometime in October, 1797 Ray Greene (F) Elected November 13, 1797
Vermont
(1)
Isaac Tichenor (F) Resigned October 17, 1797 Nathaniel Chipman (F) Elected October 17, 1797
Maryland
(3)
John Henry (F) Resigned December 10, 1797 James Lloyd (F) Elected December 11, 1797
New York
(1)
Philip John Schuyler (F) Resigned January 3, 1798 John Sloss Hobart (F) Elected January 11, 1798
Delaware
(2)
John Vining (F) Resigned January 19, 1798 Joshua Clayton (F) Elected January 19, 1798
Tennessee
(1)
Andrew Jackson (DR) Resigned sometime in April, 1798 Daniel Smith (DR) Appointed October 6, 1798
New York
(1)
John Sloss Hobart (F) Resigned April 16, 1798 William North (F) Appointed May 5, 1798
Delaware
(2)
Joshua Clayton (F) Died August 11, 1798 William H. Wells (F) Elected January 17, 1799
New York
(1)
William North (F) Interim appointment until August 17, 1798 James Watson (F) Elected August 17, 1798
New Jersey
(1)
John Rutherfurd (F) Resigned November 26, 1798 Franklin Davenport (F) Appointed December 5, 1798
South Carolina
(2)
John Hunter (DR) Resigned November 26, 1798 Charles Pinckney (DR) Elected December 6, 1798
Virginia
(2)
Henry Tazewell (DR) Died January 24, 1799 Vacant Not filled in this Congress

House of Representatives

There were 9 resignations and 3 deaths. The Federalists had a 1-seat net loss and the Democratic-Republicans had a 1-seat net gain.


District Vacator Reason for change Successor Date successor
seated
Vermont
2nd
Vacant Daniel Buck (F) had been re-elected, but declined to serve. Lewis R. Morris (F) May 24, 1797
Rhode Island
At-large
Elisha Potter (F) Resigned sometime in 1797 Thomas Tillinghast (F) Seated November 13, 1797
South Carolina
1st
William L. Smith (F) Resigned July 10, 1797 Thomas Pinckney (F) Seated November 23, 1797
Massachusetts
11th
Theophilus Bradbury (F) Resigned July 24, 1797 Bailey Bartlett (F) Seated November 27, 1797
New Hampshire
At-large
Jeremiah Smith (F) Resigned July 26, 1797 Peleg Sprague (F) Seated December 15, 1797
Connecticut
At-large
James Davenport (F) Died August 3, 1797 William Edmond (F) Seated November 13, 1797
Tennessee
At-large
Andrew Jackson (DR) Resigned sometime in September, 1797 to become U.S. Senator William C.C. Claiborne (DR) Seated November 23, 1797
Pennsylvania
5th
George Ege (F) Resigned sometime in October, 1797 Joseph Hiester (DR) Seated December 1, 1797
Pennsylvania
4th
Samuel Sitgreaves (F) Resigned sometime in 1798 Robert Brown (DR) Seated December 4, 1798
North Carolina
10th
Nathan Bryan (DR) Died June 4, 1798 Richard Dobbs Spaight (DR) Seated December 10, 1798
Pennsylvania
1st
John Swanwick (DR) Died August 1, 1798 Robert Waln (F) Seated December 3, 1798
Connecticut
At-large
Joshua Coit (F) Died September 5, 1798 Jonathan Brace (F) Seated December 3, 1798
Virginia
9th
William Giles (DR) Resigned October 2, 1798 Joseph Eggleston (DR) Seated December 3, 1798

Employees

Senate

House of Representatives

References

  1. "Executive Journal (Fourteenth session)". Journal of the Executive Proceedings of the Senate of the United States of America. Library of Congress. June 7, 1797. p. 244.

External links

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