32nd United States Congress
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 Sixth Census of the United States in 1840. Both chambers had a Democratic majority.
It was one of the least productive Congresses, forwarding only 74 bills that were signed by the president.
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,
Territories organized
- March 2, 1853: Washington Territory was formed from Oregon Territory.
Party summary
Senate
House of Representatives
Leadership
Senate
- President: Vacant
- President pro tempore: William R. King, until December 20, 1852
- * David R. Atchison, from December 20, 1852
House of Representatives
- Speaker: Linn Boyd
Members
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.[List of [United States Senators from Alabama|Alabama]]
- 2. Jeremiah Clemens
- 3. William R. King, until December 20, 1852
- * Benjamin Fitzpatrick, from January 14, 1853
Arkansas">List of United States Senators from Arkansas">Arkansas
- 2. William K. Sebastian
- 3. Solon Borland
California">List of United States Senators from California">California
- 1. John B. Weller, from January 30, 1852
- 3. William M. Gwin
Connecticut">List of United States Senators from Connecticut">Connecticut
- 1. Isaac Toucey, from May 12, 1852
- 3. Truman Smith
Delaware">List of United States Senators from Delaware">Delaware
- 1. James A. Bayard, Jr.
- 2. Presley Spruance
Florida">List of United States Senators from Florida">Florida
- 1. Stephen Mallory
- 3. Jackson Morton
Georgia">List of United States Senators from Georgia">Georgia
- 2. John M. Berrien, until May 28, 1852
- * Robert M. Charlton, from May 31, 1852
- 3. William C. Dawson
Illinois">List of United States Senators from Illinois">Illinois
- 2. Stephen A. Douglas
- 3. James Shields
Indiana">List of United States Senators from Indiana">Indiana
- 1. Jesse D. Bright
- 3. James Whitcomb, until October 4, 1852
- * Charles W. Cathcart, from December 6, 1852, until January 18, 1853
- * John Pettit, from January 18, 1853
Iowa">List of United States Senators from Iowa">Iowa
- 2. George W. Jones
- 3. Augustus C. Dodge
Kentucky">List of United States Senators from Kentucky">Kentucky
- 2. Joseph R. Underwood
- 3. Henry Clay, until June 29, 1852
- * David Meriwether, from July 6, 1852, until August 31, 1852
- * Archibald Dixon, from September 1, 1852
Louisiana">List of United States Senators from Louisiana">Louisiana
- 2. Solomon W. Downs
- 3. Pierre Soulé
Maine">List of United States Senators from Maine">Maine
- 1. Hannibal Hamlin
- 2. James W. Bradbury
Maryland">List of United States Senators from Maryland">Maryland
- 1. Thomas Pratt
- 3. James Pearce
Massachusetts">List of United States Senators from Massachusetts">Massachusetts
- 1. Charles Sumner, from April 24, 1851
- 2. John Davis
Michigan">List of United States Senators from Michigan">Michigan
- 1. Lewis Cass
- 2. Alpheus Felch
Mississippi">List of United States Senators from Mississippi">Mississippi
- 1. Jefferson Davis, until September 23, 1851
- * John J. McRae, from December 1, 1851, until March 17, 1852
- * Stephen Adams, from March 17, 1852
- 2. Henry S. Foote, until January 8, 1852
- * Walker Brooke, from February 18, 1852
Missouri">List of United States Senators from Missouri">Missouri
- 1. Henry S. Geyer
- 3. David R. Atchison
New Hampshire">List of United States Senators from New Hampshire">New Hampshire
- 2. John P. Hale
- 3. Moses Norris Jr.
New Jersey">List of United States Senators from New Jersey">New Jersey
- 1. Robert F. Stockton, until January 1, 1853
- 2. Jacob W. Miller
New York">List of United States Senators from New York">New York
- 1. Hamilton Fish, from March 19, 1851
- 3. William H. Seward
North Carolina">List of United States Senators from North Carolina">North Carolina
- 2. Willie P. Mangum
- 3. George E. Badger
Ohio">List of United States Senators from Ohio">Ohio
- 1. Benjamin Wade, from March 15, 1851
- 3. Salmon P. Chase
Pennsylvania">List of United States Senators from Pennsylvania">Pennsylvania
- 1. Richard Brodhead
- 3. James Cooper
Rhode Island">List of United States Senators from Rhode Island">Rhode Island
- 1. Charles T. James
- 2. John H. Clarke
South Carolina">List of United States Senators from South Carolina">South Carolina
- 2. Robert Rhett, until May 7, 1852
- * William F. De Saussure, from May 10, 1852
- 3. Andrew Butler
Tennessee">List of United States Senators from Tennessee">Tennessee
- 1. James C. Jones
- 2. John Bell
Texas">List of United States Senators from Texas">Texas
- 1. Thomas J. Rusk
- 2. Sam Houston
Vermont">List of United States Senators from Vermont">Vermont
- 1. Solomon Foot
- 3. William Upham, until January 14, 1853
- * Samuel S. Phelps, from January 17, 1853
Virginia">List of United States Senators from Virginia">Virginia
- 1. James M. Mason
- 2. Robert M. T. Hunter
Wisconsin">List of United States Senators from Wisconsin">Wisconsin
- 1. Henry Dodge
- 3. Isaac P. Walker
House of Representatives
[List of [United States Representatives from Alabama|Alabama]]
- . John Bragg
- . James Abercrombie
- . Sampson W. Harris
- . William R. Smith
- . George S. Houston
- . Williamson R. W. Cobb
- . Alexander White
Arkansas">List of United States Representatives from Arkansas">Arkansas
- . Robert W. Johnson
California">List of United States Representatives from California">California
- . Edward C. Marshall
- . Joseph W. McCorkle
Connecticut">List of United States Representatives from Connecticut">Connecticut
- . Charles Chapman
- . Colin M. Ingersoll
- . Chauncey F. Cleveland
- . Origen S. Seymour
Delaware">List of United States Representatives from Delaware">Delaware
- . George R. Riddle
Florida">List of United States Representatives from Florida">Florida
- . Edward C. Cabell
Georgia">List of United States Representatives from Georgia">Georgia
- . Joseph W. Jackson
- . James Johnson
- . David J. Bailey
- . Charles Murphey
- . Elijah W. Chastain
- . Junius Hillyer
- . Alexander Stephens
- . Robert Toombs
Illinois">List of United States Representatives from Illinois">Illinois
- . William H. Bissell
- . Willis Allen
- . Orlando B. Ficklin
- . Richard S. Molony
- . William A. Richardson
- . Thompson Campbell
- . Richard Yates
Indiana">List of United States Representatives from Indiana">Indiana
- . James Lockhart
- . Cyrus L. Dunham
- . John L. Robinson
- . Samuel W. Parker
- . Thomas A. Hendricks
- . Willis A. Gorman
- . John G. Davis
- . Daniel Mace
- . Graham N. Fitch
- . Samuel Brenton
Iowa">List of United States Representatives from Iowa">Iowa
- . Bernhart Henn
- . Lincoln Clark
Kentucky">List of United States Representatives from Kentucky">Kentucky
- . Linn Boyd
- . Benjamin E. Grey
- . Presley Ewing
- . William T. Ward
- . James W. Stone
- . Addison White
- . Humphrey Marshall, until August 4, 1852
- * William Preston, from December 6, 1852
- . John C. Breckinridge
- . John C. Mason
- . Richard H. Stanton
Louisiana">List of United States Representatives from Louisiana">Louisiana
- . Louis St. Martin
- . J. Aristide Landry
- . Alexander G. Penn
- . John Moore
Maine">List of United States Representatives from Maine">Maine
- . Moses MacDonald
- . John Appleton
- . Robert Goodenow
- . Charles Andrews, until April 30, 1852
- * Isaac Reed, from June 25, 1852
- . Ephraim K. Smart
- . Israel Washburn, Jr.
- . Thomas Fuller
Maryland">List of United States Representatives from Maryland">Maryland
- . Richard Bowie
- . William T. Hamilton
- . Edward Hammond
- . Thomas Yates Walsh
- . Alexander Evans
- . Joseph S. Cottman
Massachusetts">List of United States Representatives from Massachusetts">Massachusetts
- . William Appleton
- . Robert Rantoul Jr., until August 7, 1852
- * Francis B. Fay, from December 13, 1852
- . James H. Duncan
- . Benjamin Thompson, until September 24, 1852
- * Lorenzo Sabine, from December 13, 1852
- . Charles Allen
- . George T. Davis
- . John Z. Goodrich
- . Horace Mann
- . Orin Fowler, until September 3, 1852
- * Edward P. Little, from December 13, 1852
- . Zeno Scudder
Michigan">List of United States Representatives from Michigan">Michigan
- . Ebenezer J. Penniman
- . Charles E. Stuart
- . James L. Conger
Mississippi">List of United States Representatives from Mississippi">Mississippi
- . Benjamin D. Nabers
- . John A. Wilcox
- . John D. Freeman
- . Albert G. Brown
Missouri">List of United States Representatives from Missouri">Missouri
- . John F. Darby
- . Gilchrist Porter
- . John G. Miller
- . Willard P. Hall
- . John S. Phelps
New Hampshire">List of United States Representatives from New Hampshire">New Hampshire
- . Amos Tuck
- . Charles H. Peaslee
- . Jared Perkins
- . Harry Hibbard
New Jersey">List of United States Representatives from New Jersey">New Jersey
- . Nathan T. Stratton
- . Charles Skelton
- . Isaac Wildrick
- . George H. Brown
- . Rodman M. Price
New York">List of United States Representatives from New York">New York
- . John G. Floyd
- . Obadiah Bowne
- . Emanuel B. Hart
- . John Haws
- . George Briggs
- . James Brooks
- . Abraham P. Stephens
- . Gilbert Dean
- . William Murray
- . Marius Schoonmaker
- . Josiah Sutherland
- . David L. Seymour
- . John L. Schoolcraft
- . John H. Boyd
- . Joseph Russell
- . John Wells
- . Alexander H. Buell, until January 29, 1853
- . Preston King
- . Willard Ives
- . Timothy Jenkins
- . William W. Snow
- . Henry Bennett
- . Leander Babcock
- . Daniel T. Jones
- . Thomas Y. Howe, Jr.
- . Henry S. Walbridge
- . William A. Sackett
- . Abraham M. Schermerhorn
- . Jerediah Horsford
- . Reuben Robie
- . Frederick S. Martin
- . Solomon G. Haven
- . Augustus P. Hascall
- . Lorenzo Burrows
North Carolina">List of United States Representatives from North Carolina">North Carolina
- . Thomas L. Clingman
- . Joseph P. Caldwell
- . Alfred Dockery
- . James T. Morehead
- . Abraham W. Venable
- . John R. J. Daniel
- . William S. Ashe
- . Edward Stanly
- . David Outlaw
Ohio">List of United States Representatives from Ohio">Ohio
- . David T. Disney
- . Lewis D. Campbell
- . Hiram Bell
- . Benjamin Stanton
- . Alfred P. Edgerton
- . Frederick W. Green
- . Nelson Barrere
- . John L. Taylor
- . Edson B. Olds
- . Charles Sweetser
- . George H. Busby
- . John Welch
- . James M. Gaylord
- . Alexander Harper
- . William F. Hunter
- . John Johnson
- . Joseph Cable
- . David K. Cartter
- . Eben Newton
- . Joshua R. Giddings
- . Norton S. Townshend
Pennsylvania">List of United States Representatives from Pennsylvania">Pennsylvania
- . Thomas B. Florence
- . Joseph R. Chandler
- . Henry D. Moore
- . John Robbins, Jr.
- . John McNair
- . Thomas Ross
- . John A. Morrison
- . Thaddeus Stevens
- . J. Glancey Jones
- . Milo M. Dimmick
- . Henry M. Fuller
- . Galusha A. Grow
- . James Gamble
- . Thomas M. Bibighaus
- . William H. Kurtz
- . James X. McLanahan
- . Andrew Parker
- . John L. Dawson
- . Joseph H. Kuhns
- . John Allison
- . Thomas M. Howe
- . John W. Howe
- . Carlton B. Curtis
- . Alfred Gilmore
Rhode Island">List of United States Representatives from Rhode Island">Rhode Island
- . George G. King
- . Benjamin B. Thurston
South Carolina">List of United States Representatives from South Carolina">South Carolina
- . Daniel Wallace
- . James L. Orr
- . Joseph A. Woodward
- . John McQueen
- . Armistead Burt
- . William Aiken, Jr.
- . William F. Colcock
Tennessee">List of United States Representatives from Tennessee">Tennessee
- . Andrew Johnson
- . Albert G. Watkins
- . William M. Churchwell
- . John H. Savage
- . George W.Jones
- . William H. Polk
- . Meredith P. Gentry
- . William Cullom
- . Isham G. Harris
- . Frederick P. Stanton
- . Christopher H. Williams
Texas">List of United States Representatives from Texas">Texas
- . Richardson A. Scurry
- . Volney E. Howard
Vermont">List of United States Representatives from Vermont">Vermont
- . Ahiman L. Miner
- . William Hebard
- . James Meacham
- . Thomas Bartlett, Jr.
Virginia">List of United States Representatives from Virginia">Virginia
- . John S. Millson
- . Richard K. Meade
- . Thomas H. Averett
- . Thomas S. Bocock
- . Paulus Powell
- . John Caskie
- . Thomas H. Bayly
- . Alexander Holladay
- . James F. Strother
- . Charles J. Faulkner
- . John Letcher
- . Henry A. Edmundson
- . LaFayette McMullen
- . James M. H. Beale
- . George W. Thompson, until July 30, 1852
- * Sherrard Clemens, from December 6, 1852
Wisconsin">List of United States Representatives from Wisconsin">Wisconsin
- . Charles Durkee
- . Ben C. Eastman
- . James D. Doty
Non-voting members
- . Henry H. Sibley
- . Richard H. Weightman
- . Joseph Lane
- . John M. Bernhisel
Changes in membership
The count below reflects changes from the beginning of the first session of this Congress.Senate
- replacements: 8
- * Democrats : 1 seat net gain
- * Whigs : 1 seat net loss
- deaths: 3
- resignations: 6
- interim appointments: 3
- Total seats with changes: 13
House of Representatives
- replacements: 6
- * Democrats : 1 seat net loss
- * Whigs : 1 seat net gain
- deaths: 2
- resignations: 5
- Total seats with changes: 7
Committees
Senate
- Agriculture
- Audit and Control the Contingent Expenses of the Senate
- Claims
- Commerce
- Contested Election of 1850
- Distributing Public Revenue Among the States
- District of Columbia
- Emigrant Route and Telegraphic Line to California
- Ether Discovery
- Finance
- Foreign Relations
- French Spoilations
- Indian Affairs
- Judiciary
- Manufactures
- Library
- Mexican Boundary
- Mexican Boundary Commission
- Mexican Claims Commission
- Military Affairs
- Militia
- Naval Affairs
- Ordnance and War Ships
- Patents and the Patent Office
- Pensions
- Post Office and Post Roads
- Printing
- Private Land Claims
- Public Buildings and Grounds
- Public Lands
- Purchase of Catlin's Collection of Indian Scenes
- Retrenchment
- Revolutionary Claims
- Roads and Canals
- Tariff Regulation
- Territories
- Seventh Census
- Whole
House of Representatives
- Accounts
- Agriculture
- Bounty Land Act of 1850
- Bounty Land Bill
- Claims
- Commerce
- District of Columbia
- Elections
- Engraving
- Expenditures in the Navy Department
- Expenditures in the Post Office Department
- Expenditures in the State Department
- Expenditures in the Treasury Department
- Expenditures in the War Department
- Expenditures on Public Buildings
- Foreign Affairs
- Indian Affairs
- Invalid Pensions
- Judiciary
- Manufactures
- Mileage
- Military Affairs
- Militia
- Naval Affairs
- Patents
- Post Office and Post Roads
- Private Land Claims
- Public Buildings and Grounds
- Public Expenditures
- Public Lands
- Revisal and Unfinished Business
- Revolutionary Claims
- Revolutionary Pensions
- Roads and Canals
- Rules
- Standards of Official Conduct
- Territories
- Ways and Means
- Whole
Joint committees
- Enrolled Bills
- The Library
- Printing
Caucuses
- Senate Democratic Caucus
- House Democratic Caucus
Employees
Legislative branch agency">List of federal agencies in the United States#Legislative branch">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
- Secretary: Asbury Dickins
- Sergeant at Arms: Robert Beale
House of Representatives
- Chaplain: Ralph Randolph Gurley, until December 1, 1851
- * Lyttleton Morgan, elected December 1, 1851
- * James Gallagher, 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:
- Sergeant at Arms: Adam J. Glossbrenner
- Postmaster: John M. Johnson