44th United States Congress | |
---|---|
43rd ← → 45th | |
March 4, 1875 – March 4, 1877 | |
Members | 76 senators 293 representatives 9 non-voting delegates |
Senate majority | Republican |
Senate President | Henry Wilson (R) (until November 22, 1875) Vacant (from November 22, 1875) |
House majority | Democratic |
House Speaker | Michael C. Kerr (D) until August 19, 1876 Samuel J. Randall (D) from December 4, 1876 |
Sessions | |
Special: March 5, 1875 – March 24, 1875 1st: December 6, 1875 – August 15, 1876 2nd: December 4, 1876 – March 3, 1877 |
The 44th 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, 1875, to March 4, 1877, during the seventh and eighth years of Ulysses S. Grant's presidency. The apportionment of seats in the House of Representatives was based on the 1870 United States census. For the first time since the American Civil War, the House had a Democratic majority. The Senate maintained a Republican majority.
See also: 1875 in the United States, 1876 in the United States, and 1877 in the United States |
Main article: List of United States federal legislation § 44th United States Congress |
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.
During this Congress, two Senate seats and one House seat were added for the new state, Colorado.
Party (shading shows control) |
Total | Vacant | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Democratic (D) |
Anti- Monopoly (AM) | Republican (R) | Other |
|||
End of previous congress | 20 | 0 | 51 | 2[a] | 73 | 1 |
Begin | 28 | 1 | 44 | 0 | 73 | 1 |
End | 30 | 45 | 76 | 0 | ||
Final voting share | 39.5% | 1.3% | 59.2% | 0.0% | ||
Beginning of next congress | 35 | 1 | 39 | 1[b] | 76 | 0 |
Affiliation | Party (Shading indicates majority caucus)
|
Total | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Democratic (D) |
Independent Democratic (ID) |
Independent (I) |
Independent Republican (IR) |
Republican (R) |
Other | Vacant | ||
End of previous Congress | 95 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 199 | (Liberal Republican) 4 |
290 | 2 |
Begin | 176 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 104 | 0 | 289 | 3 |
End | 179 | 3 | 103 | 290 | 3 | |||
Final voting share | 62.8% | 1.4% | 35.8% | 0.0% | ||||
Beginning of the next Congress | 144 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 146 | 0 | 292 | 1 |
This list is arranged by chamber, then by state. Senators are listed by class, and representatives are listed by district.
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 1880; Class 2 meant their term ended in this Congress, facing re-election in 1876; and Class 3 meant their term began in the last Congress, facing re-election in 1878.
The names of members of the House of Representatives are preceded by their district numbers.
The count below reflects changes from the beginning of the first session of this Congress.
See also: List of special elections to the United States Senate |
State (class) |
Vacated by | Reason for change | Successor | Date of successor's formal installation[c] |
---|---|---|---|---|
Louisiana (3) | Vacant | Senate had declined to seat rival claimants William L. McMillen and P. B. S. Pinchback.[1] Successor elected January 12, 1876. | James B. Eustis (D) | January 10, 1876 |
Tennessee (1) | Andrew Johnson (D) | Died July 31, 1875. Successor appointed August 18, 1875, to continue the term. |
David M. Key (D) | August 18, 1875 |
Connecticut (3) | Orris S. Ferry (R) | Died November 21, 1875. Successor appointed November 27, 1875, to continue the term. |
James E. English (D) | November 27, 1875 |
Connecticut (3) | James E. English (D) | Interim appointee retired May 17, 1876 when successor elected. Successor elected May 17, 1876. |
William H. Barnum (D) | May 18, 1876 |
Maine (2) | Lot M. Morrill (R) | Resigned July 7, 1876 to become U.S. Secretary of the Treasury. Successor appointed July 10, 1876, to continue the term. Interim appointee later elected January 17, 1877. |
James G. Blaine (R) | July 10, 1876 |
West Virginia (1) | Allen T. Caperton (D) | Died July 26, 1876. Successor appointed August 26, 1876, to continue the term. |
Samuel Price (D) | August 26, 1876 |
Colorado (2) | New seat | Colorado admitted to the Union August 1, 1876. First senator elected November 15, 1876 |
Henry M. Teller (R) | November 15, 1876 |
Colorado (3) | New seat | Colorado admitted to the Union August 1, 1876. First senator elected November 15, 1876 |
Jerome B. Chaffee (R) | November 15, 1876 |
Tennessee (1) | David M. Key (D) | Interim appointee lost special election. Successor elected January 19, 1877. |
James E. Bailey (D) | January 19, 1877 |
West Virginia (1) | Samuel Price (D) | Interim appointee lost special election. Successor elected January 26, 1877, but seat remained vacant until successor qualified by resigning from the U.S. House on January 31, 1877. |
Frank Hereford (D) | January 31, 1877 |
House seats by party holding plurality in state | |
---|---|
80+% Democratic | 80+% Republican |
60+ to 80% Democratic | 60+ to 80% Republican |
Up to 60% Democratic | Up to 60% Republican |
See also: List of special elections to the United States House of Representatives |
District | Vacated by | Reason for change | Successor | Date of successor's formal installation[c] |
---|---|---|---|---|
Georgia 9 | Vacant | Rep-elect Garnett McMillan died before taking seat | Benjamin H. Hill (D) | May 5, 1875 |
Maine 4 | Vacant | Rep. Samuel F. Hersey died during previous congress | Harris M. Plaisted (R) | September 13, 1875 |
New York 33 | Vacant | Rep.-elect Augustus F. Allen died before taking seat | Nelson I. Norton (R) | December 6, 1875 |
Massachusetts 1 | James Buffington (R) | Died March 7, 1875 | William W. Crapo (R) | November 2, 1875 |
Oregon at-large | George A. La Dow (D) | Died May 1, 1875 | Lafayette Lane (D) | October 25, 1875 |
Tennessee 4 | Samuel M. Fite (D) | Died October 23, 1875 | Haywood Y. Riddle (D) | December 14, 1875 |
Connecticut 3 | Henry H. Starkweather (R) | Died January 28, 1876 | John T. Wait (R) | April 12, 1876 |
Florida 2 | Josiah T. Walls (R) | Lost contested election April 19, 1876 | Jesse J. Finley (D) | April 19, 1876 |
Illinois 3 | Charles B. Farwell (R) | Lost contested election May 6, 1876 | John V. Le Moyne (D) | May 6, 1876 |
Connecticut 4 | William H. Barnum (D) | Resigned May 18, 1876, after being elected to the US Senate | Levi Warner (D) | December 4, 1876 |
Louisiana 5 | Frank Morey (R) | Lost contested election June 8, 1876 | William B. Spencer (D) | June 8, 1876 |
Idaho Territory at-large | Thomas W. Bennett (I) | Lost contested election June 23, 1876 | Stephen S. Fenn (D) | June 23, 1876 |
Maine 3 | James G. Blaine (R) | Resigned July 10, 1876, after being appointed to the US Senate | Edwin Flye (R) | December 4, 1876 |
Kentucky 5 | Edward Y. Parsons (D) | Died July 8, 1876 | Henry Watterson (D) | August 12, 1876 |
Pennsylvania 12 | Winthrop W. Ketcham (R) | Resigned July 19, 1876, after being appointed judge to the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania | William H. Stanton (D) | November 7, 1876 |
South Carolina 2 | Edmund W. M. Mackey (IR) | Seat declared vacant July 19, 1876 | Charles W. Buttz (R) | November 7, 1876 |
Massachusetts 4 | Rufus S. Frost (R) | Lost contested election July 28, 1876 | Josiah G. Abbott (D) | July 28, 1876 |
Colorado Territory at-large | Thomas M. Patterson (D) | Colorado admitted to the Union August 1, 1876 | Statehood achieved | |
Colorado at-large | New seat | Colorado admitted to the Union August 1, 1876. Seat remained vacant until October 3, 1876. | James B. Belford (R) | October 3, 1876 |
Indiana 3 | Michael C. Kerr (D) | Died August 19, 1876 | Nathan T. Carr (D) | December 15, 1876 |
Indiana 2 | James D. Williams (D) | Resigned December 1, 1876, after being elected Governor of Indiana | Andrew Humphreys (D) | December 5, 1876 |
New York 7 | Smith Ely Jr. (D) | Resigned December 11, 1876 | David D. Field II (D) | January 11, 1877 |
Louisiana 5 | William B. Spencer (D) | Resigned January 8, 1877, to become an associate justice of the Louisiana Supreme Court | Vacant | Not filled this term |
West Virginia 3 | Frank Hereford (D) | Resigned January 31, 1877, after being elected to the US Senate | Vacant | Not filled this term |
Georgia 9 | Benjamin H. Hill (D) | Resigned March 3, 1877, after being elected to the US Senate | Vacant | Not filled this term |
Lists of committees and their party leaders for members of the House and Senate committees can be found through the Official Congressional Directory at the bottom of this article. The directory after the pages of terms of service lists committees of the Senate, House (Standing with Subcommittees, Select and Special) and Joint and, after that, House/Senate committee assignments. 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.