56th United States Congress

56th United States Congress
55th 
 57th

March 4, 1899 – March 4, 1901
Senate President Garret Hobart (R)
until November 21, 1899
Vacant
from November 21, 1899
Senate Pres. pro tem William P. Frye (R)
House Speaker David B. Henderson (R)
Members 90 Senators
357 Representatives
4 Non-voting members
Senate Majority Republican
House Majority Republican
Sessions
1st: December 4, 1899 – June 7, 1900
2nd: December 3, 1900 – March 3, 1901

The Fifty-sixth United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, DC from March 4, 1899, to March 4, 1901, during the third and fourth years of William McKinley's presidency. The apportionment of seats in this House of Representatives was based on the Eleventh Census of the United States in 1890. Both chambers had a Republican majority. There was one African-American member, George Henry White of North Carolina, who served his second and final term as a Representative in this Congress, and would be the last black member of Congress until 1928, and the last black member of Congress from the South until 1972.

Major events

Major legislation

Party summary

The count below identifies party affiliations at the beginning of the first session of this Congress, and includes members from vacancies and newly admitted states, when they were first seated. Changes resulting from subsequent replacements are shown below in the "Changes in membership" section.

Senate

Party
(shading shows control)
Total Vacant
Democratic
(D)
Populist
(P)
Republican
(R)
Silver
Republican

(SR)
Silver
(S)
End of the previous congress 34 5 44 5 2 90 0
Begin 26 4 51 3 2 86 4
End 5 53 891
Final voting share 29.2% 5.6% 59.6% 3.4% 2.2%
Beginning of the next congress 28 3 54 2 0 87 3

House of Representatives

Party
(shading shows control)
Total Vacant
Democratic
(D)
Populist
(P)
Republican
(R)
Silver
Republican

(SR)
Silver
(S)
End of the previous congress 124 22 207 3 1 357 0
Begin 163 6 183 2 1 355 2
End 159 186 3543
Final voting share 44.9% 1.7% 52.5% 0.6% 0.3%
Non-voting members 1 0200 3 1
Beginning of the next congress 151 5 200 1 0 357 0

Leadership

President of the Senate
Garret Hobart
Speaker of the House
David B. Henderson

Senate

House of Representatives

Majority (Republican) leadership

Minority (Democratic) leadership

Members

This list is arranged by chamber, then by state. Senators are listed by class, and Representatives are listed by district.

Skip to House of Representatives, below

Senate

At this time, 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, requiring re-election in 1904; Class 2 meant their term ended with this Congress, requiring re-election in 1900; and Class 3 meant their term began in the last Congress, requiring re-election in 1902.

Alabama

Arkansas

California

Colorado

Connecticut

Delaware

Florida

Georgia

Idaho

Illinois

Indiana

Iowa

Kansas

Kentucky

Louisiana

Maine

Maryland

Massachusetts

Michigan

Minnesota

Mississippi

Missouri

Montana

Nebraska

Nevada

New Hampshire

New Jersey

New York

North Carolina

North Dakota

Ohio

Oregon

Pennsylvania

Rhode Island

South Carolina

South Dakota

Tennessee

Texas

Utah

Vermont

Virginia

Washington

West Virginia

Wisconsin

Wyoming

Senate composition, by party

House of Representatives

Alabama

Arkansas

California

Colorado

Connecticut

Delaware

Florida

Georgia

Idaho

Illinois

Indiana

Iowa

Kansas

Kentucky

Louisiana

Maine

Maryland

Massachusetts

Michigan

Minnesota

Mississippi

Missouri

Montana

Nebraska

Nevada

New Hampshire

New Jersey

New York

North Carolina

North Dakota

Ohio

Oregon

Pennsylvania

Rhode Island

South Carolina

South Dakota

Tennessee

Texas

Utah

Vermont

Virginia

Washington

West Virginia

Wisconsin

Wyoming

Non-voting members

House seats by party holding plurality in state
  80+% to 100% Democratic
  80+% to 100% Republican
  60+% to 80% Democratic
  60+% to 80% Republican
  Up to 60% Democratic
  Up to 60% Republican

Changes in membership

The count below reflects changes from the beginning of the first session of this Congress.

Senate

State
(class)
Vacator Reason for vacancy Subsequent Date of successor's installation
Nebraska
(1)
Vacant Legislature failed to elect to fill vacancy in term. Monroe Hayward (R) March 8, 1899
California
(1)
Vacant Legislature failed to elect to fill vacancy in term. Thomas R. Bard (R) February 7, 1900
Florida
(1)
Samuel Pasco (D) Successor was elected April 18, 1899. James Taliaferro (D) April 20, 1899
Nebraska
(1)
Monroe Hayward (R) Died December 5, 1899. Successor was appointed. William V. Allen (Pop.) December 13, 1899
Montana
(1)
William A. Clark (D) Resigned May 15, 1900, over claim of election fraud.
Seat remained vacant until the next Congress.
Vacant
Iowa
(2)
John H. Gear (R) Died July 14, 1900. Successor was appointed and subsequently elected. Jonathan P. Dolliver (R) August 22, 1900
Vermont
(3)
Jonathan Ross (R) Successor was elected October 18, 1900. William P. Dillingham (R) October 18, 1900
Minnesota
(1)
Cushman K. Davis (R) Died November 7, 1900. Successor was appointed. Charles A. Towne (D) December 5, 1900
Pennsylvania
(1)
Vacant Due to a failure to elect, Governor appointed Quay at beginning of term, but Senate refused to seat him. He then won a special election. Matthew Quay (R) January 16, 1901
Minnesota
(1)
Charles A. Towne (D) Successor was elected January 23, 1901. Moses E. Clapp (R) January 23, 1901
Utah
(1)
Vacant failure to elect Thomas Kearns (R) January 16, 1901

House of Representatives

District Previous Reason for change Subsequent Date of successor's installation
Maine 2nd Vacant Rep. Nelson Dingley Jr. died during previous congress Charles E. Littlefield (R) June 19, 1899
Utah At-large Vacant B. H. Roberts was denied seat. King was elected to finish term. William H. King (D) June 19, 1899
New York 34th Vacant Rep. Warren B. Hooker resigned during previous congress Edward B. Vreeland (R) November 7, 1899
Nebraska 6th William L. Greene (Pop.) Died June 15, 1899. William Neville (Pop.) December 4, 1899
Louisiana 5th Samuel T. Baird (D) Died April 22, 1899. Joseph E. Ransdell (D) August 29, 1899
Missouri 8th Richard P. Bland (D) Died June 15, 1899. Dorsey W. Shackleford (D) August 29, 1899
Ohio 16th Lorenzo Danford (R) Died June 19, 1899 Joseph J. Gill (R) December 4, 1899
Maine 1st Thomas B. Reed (R) Resigned September 4, 1899. Amos L. Allen (R) November 6, 1899
Pennsylvania 9th Daniel Ermentrout (D) Died September 17, 1899. Henry D. Green (D) November 7, 1899
Kentucky 7th Evan E. Settle (D) Died November 16, 1899. June Ward Gayle (D) January 15, 1900
Maryland 1st John W. Smith (D) Resigned January 12, 1900, after being elected Governor of Maryland Josiah Kerr (R) November 6, 1900
New York 24th Charles A. Chickering (R) Died February 13, 1900 Albert D. Shaw (R) November 6, 1900
Virginia 4th Sidney P. Epes (D) Died March 3, 1900. Francis R. Lassiter (D) April 9, 1900
Pennsylvania 5th Alfred C. Harmer (R) Died March 6, 1900 Edward Morrell (R) November 6, 1900
Alabama 4th Gaston A. Robbins (D) Lost contested election March 8, 1900 William F. Aldrich (R) March 8, 1900
Virginia 2nd William A. Young (D) Lost contested election March 12, 1900 Richard A. Wise (R) March 12, 1900
Alabama 8th Joseph Wheeler (D) Resigned April 20, 1900. William N. Richardson (D) December 3, 1900
North Carolina 9th William T. Crawford (D) Lost contested election May 10, 1900 Richmond Pearson (R) May 10, 1900
Iowa 9th Smith McPherson (R) Resigned June 6, 1900, after being appointed judge for the United States District Court for the Southern District of Iowa Walter I. Smith (R) December 3, 1900
Delaware At-large John H. Hoffecker (R) Died June 16, 1900 Walter O. Hoffecker (R) December 3, 1900
New Jersey 7th William D. Daly (D) Died July 31, 1900. Allan L. McDermott (D) December 3, 1900
California 2nd Marion De Vries (D) Resigned August 20, 1900, after being appointed to the Board of General Appraisers Samuel D. Woods (R) December 3, 1900
Iowa 10th Jonathan P. Dolliver (R) Resigned August 22, 1900, after being appointed to the U.S. Senate James P. Conner (R) December 4, 1900
Hawaii Territory New seat Seat established by the Hawaiian Organic Act April 30, 1900 Robert W. Wilcox (Home Rule) November 6, 1900
Virginia 2nd Richard A. Wise (R) Died December 21, 1900 Seat remained vacant until next Congress
New Hampshire 2nd Frank G. Clarke (R) Died January 9, 1901 Seat remained vacant until next Congress
New York 24th Albert D. Shaw (R) Died February 10, 1901 Seat remained vacant until next Congress
Maine 4th Charles A. Boutelle (R) Resigned March 3, 1901 Seat remained vacant until next Congress

Committees

Lists of committees and their party leaders, for members (House and Senate) of the committees and their assignments, go into the Official Congressional Directory at the bottom of the article and click on the link (4 links), in the directory after the pages of terms of service, you will see the committees of the Senate, House (Standing with Subcommittees, Select and Special) and Joint and after the committee pages, you will see the House/Senate committee assignments in the directory, on the committees section of the House and Senate in the Official Congressional Directory, the committee's members on the first row on the left side shows the chairman of the committee and on the right side shows the ranking member of the committee.

Senate

House of Representatives

Joint committees

Employees

Senate

House of Representatives

See also

References

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