The Thirty-sixth United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States of America federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1859 to March 3, 1861, during the last two years of the administration of U.S. President James Buchanan.
The apportionment of seats in this House of Representatives was based on the Seventh Census of the United States in 1850. The Senate had a Democratic majority, and the House had a Republican plurality.
Dates of sessions
March 4, 1859 - March 3, 1861
- Special session of the Senate: March 4, 1859 - March 10, 1859
- First session: December 5, 1859 - June 26, 1860
- Special session of the Senate: June 26, 1860 - June 28, 1860
- Second session: December 3, 1860 - March 3, 1861
- Previous congress: 35th Congress
- Next congress: 37th Congress
Party summary
Kansas was newly admitted to the Union and first represented as a state in this Congress. South Carolina, Mississippi, Alabama (U.S. state), Florida, Louisiana, Georgia, and Texas declared their secession from the Union during this Congress and withdrew their representatives.
In this session, the Republican party had its first plurality in the House, but was four members short of a majority; until Southern Democrats began withdrawing near the end of the term. 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
TOTAL members: 66
|
- House of Representatives
TOTAL members: 238
|
Leadership
Senate
- Vice President of the United States (President of the Senate):
- President pro tempore of the Senate:
- Benjamin Fitzpatrick, Democratic of Alabama (U.S. state), elected March 9, 1859
- Jesse D. Bright, Democratic of Indiana, elected June 12, 1860
- Benjamin Fitzpatrick, Democratic of Alabama (U.S. state), elected June 26, 1860
- Solomon Foot, Republican of Vermont, elected February 16, 1861
House of Representatives
Major events
Events of 1859, 1860 and 1861
Major legislation
List of United States federal legislation in the 36th Congress
Membership highlights by chamber
This list is arranged by chamber, then by state. Senators are listed in order of seniority, and Representatives are listed by district.
Senate
- See also: 36th United States Congress/Senators
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 the last Congress, requiring reelection in 1862; Class 2 meant their term began with this Congress, requiring reelection in 1864; and Class 3 meant their term ended with this Congress, requiring reelection in 1860.
House of Representatives
- See also: 36th United States Congress/Representatives
The names of members of the House of Representatives elected statewide on the general ticket or otherwise at-large, are preceded by an "A/L," and the names of those elected from districts, whether plural or single member, are preceded by their district numbers.
Many of the congressional district numbers are linked to articles describing the district itself. Since the boundaries of the districts have changed often and substantially, the linked article may only describe the district as it exists today, and not as it was at the time of this Congress.
Delegates
- Kansas Territory
- Nebraska Territory
|
- New Mexico Territory
- Utah Territory
|
- Washington Territory
|
Membership detail by Chamber/Party
The list below is arranged by chamber, then by political party. Members are shown in alphabetical order.
Senate
Senators were elected by the state legislatures every two years, with one-third beginning new six year terms with each Congress.
- A-F
- James A. Bayard, Jr., Delaware
- Judah P. Benjamin, Louisiana
- William Bigler, Pennsylvania
- Thomas Bragg, North Carolina
- Jesse D. Bright, Indiana
- David C. Broderick, California (U.S. state)
- Albert G. Brown, Mississippi
- James Chesnut, Jr., South Carolina
- Clement C. Clay, Jr., Alabama (U.S. state)
- Thomas L. Clingman, North Carolina
- Jefferson Davis, Mississippi
- Stephen A. Douglas, Illinois (U.S. state)
- Graham N. Fitch, Indiana
- Benjamin Fitzpatrick, Alabama (U.S. state)
|
- G-O
- James S. Green, Missouri
- William M. Gwin, California (U.S. state)
- James H. Hammond, South Carolina
- Henry P. Haun, California (U.S. state)
- John Hemphill, Texas
- Robert M. T. Hunter, Virginia
- Alfred Iverson, Sr., Georgia
- Andrew Johnson, Tennessee
- Robert W. Johnson, Arkansas (U.S. state)
- Joseph Lane, Oregon
- Milton S. Latham, California (U.S. state)
- David Levy Yulee, Florida
- Stephen R. Mallory, Florida
- James M. Mason, Virginia
- Alfred O. P. Nicholson, Tennessee
|
- P-Z
- James A. Pearce, Maryland
- Trusten Polk, Missouri
- Lazarus W. Powell, Kentucky
- George E. Pugh, Ohio
- Henry M. Rice, Minnesota
- Willard Saulsbury, Sr., Delaware
- William K. Sebastian, Arkansas (U.S. state)
- John Slidell, Louisiana
- John R. Thomson, New Jersey
- Robert A. Toombs, Georgia
- Matthias Ward, Texas
- Louis T. Wigfall, Texas
- David Levy Yulee, Florida
|
- A-F
- Henry B. Anthony, Rhode Island
- Edward D. Baker, Oregon
- Kinsley S. Bingham, Michigan
- Simon Cameron, Pennsylvania
- Zachariah Chandler, Michigan
- Daniel Clark, New Hampshire
- Jacob Collamer, Vermont
- James Dixon, Connecticut
- James R. Doolittle, Wisconsin
- Charles Durkee, Wisconsin
- William Pitt Fessenden, Maine
- Solomon Foot, Vermont
- La Fayette S. Foster, Connecticut
|
- G-O
|
- P-Z
|
House of Representatives
Members of the House of Representatives were elected by popular vote, variously to single member districts or at-large.
- A-B-C
- William Allen, Ohio
- John D. Ashmore, South Carolina
- William T. Avery, Tennessee
- William Barksdale, Mississippi
- John R. Barret, Missouri
- Thomas S. Bocock, Virginia
- Milledge L. Bonham, South Carolina
- William W. Boyce, South Carolina
- Lawrence O'Bryan Branch, North Carolina
- John Y. Brown, Kentucky
- John C. Burch, California (U.S. state)
- Henry C. Burnett, Kentucky
- John B. Clark, Missouri
- Sherrard Clemens, Virginia
- David Clopton, Alabama (U.S. state)
- Williamson R. W. Cobb, Alabama (U.S. state)
- John Cochrane), New York
- George B. Cooper, Michigan
- Samuel S. Cox, Ohio
- James Craig, Missouri
- F. Burton Craige, North Carolina
- Martin J. Crawford, Georgia
- Jabez L. M. Curry, Alabama (U.S. state)
- D-E-F
|
- G-H-I
- Muscoe R. H. Garnett, Virginia
- Lucius J. Gartrell, Georgia
- William O. Goode, Virginia
- Thomas L. Harris, Illinois (U.S. state)
- George S. Hawkins, Florida
- Thomas C. Hindman, Arkansas (U.S. state)
- William S. Holman, Indiana
- George S. Houston, Alabama (U.S. state)
- William Howard, Ohio
- George W. Hughes, Maryland
- J-K-L
- M-N-O
- Lucius Q. C. Lamar, Mississippi
- John M. Landrum, Louisiana
- Charles H. Larrabee, Wisconsin
- John A. Logan, Illinois (U.S. state)
- Peter E. Love, Georgia
- William B. Maclay, New York
- Charles D. Martin, Ohio
- John A. McClernand, Illinois (U.S. state)
- Jacob K. McKenty, Pennsylvania
- John McQueen, South Carolina
- John J. McRae, Mississippi
- William P. Miles, South Carolina
- John S. Millson, Virginia
- William Montgomery, Pennsylvania
- Sydenham Moore, Alabama (U.S. state)
- Isaac N. Morris, Illinois (U.S. state)
- William E. Niblack, Indiana
- John W. Noell, Missouri
|
- P-Q-R
- S-T-U-V
- Charles L. Scott, California (U.S. state)
- Daniel E. Sickles, New York
- William E. Simms), Kentucky
- Otho R. Singleton, Mississippi
- William Smith, Virginia
- James A. Stallworth, Alabama (U.S. state)
- John W. Stevenson, Kentucky
- James A. Stewart, Maryland
- Lansing Stout, Oregon
- Miles Taylor, Louisiana
- James H. Thomas, Tennessee
- John W. H. Underwood, Georgia
- Clement L. Vallandigham, Ohio
- W-X-Y-Z
|
- A-B-C
- Charles Francis Adams Sr., Massachusetts
- Cyrus Aldrich, Minnesota
- John B. Alley, Massachusetts
- James M. Ashley, Ohio
- Elijah Babbitt, Pennsylvania
- Charles L. Beale, New York
- John A. Bingham, Ohio
- Francis P. Blair, Jr., Missouri
- Samuel S. Blair, Pennsylvania
- Harrison G. O. Blake, Ohio
- William D. Brayton, Rhode Island
- George Briggs, New York
- James Buffinton, Massachusetts
- Anson Burlingame, Massachusetts
- Alfred A. Burnham, Connecticut
- Silas M. Burroughs, New York
- Martin Butterfield, New York
- James H. Campbell, Pennsylvania
- John Carey, Ohio
- Luther C. Carter, New York
- Charles Case, Indiana
- Stephen Coburn, Maine
- Clark B. Cochrane, New York
- Schuyler Colfax, Indiana
- Roscoe Conkling, New York
- Martin F. Conway, Kansas …
- Thomas Corwin, Ohio
- John Covode, Pennsylvania
- Samuel R. Curtis, Iowa
- D-E-F
- Henry L. Dawes, Massachusetts
- Charles Delano, Massachusetts
- R. Holland Duell, New York
- William McKee Dunn, Indiana
- Sidney Edgerton, Ohio
- Thomas M. Edwards, New Hampshire
- Thomas D. Eliot, Massachusetts
- Alfred Ely, New York
- John F. Farnsworth, Illinois (U.S. state)
- Reuben E. Fenton, New York
- Orris S. Ferry, Connecticut
- Stephen C. Foster, Maine
- Augustus Frank, New York
- Ezra B. French, Maine
|
- G-H-I
- Daniel W. Gooch, Massachusetts
- James H. Graham, New York
- Galusha A. Grow, Pennsylvania
- John A. Gurley, Ohio
- James T. Hale, Pennsylvania
- Chapin Hall, Pennsylvania
- William Helmick, Ohio
- Charles B. Hoard, New York
- William A. Howard, Michigan
- James Humphrey, New York
- John Hutchins, Ohio
- William Irvine, New York
- J-K-L
- Benjamin F. Junkin, Pennsylvania
- Francis W. Kellogg, Michigan
- William Kellogg, Illinois (U.S. state)
- William S. Kenyon, New York
- David Kilgore, Indiana
- John W. Killinger, Pennsylvania
- De Witt C. Leach, Michigan
- M. Lindley Lee, New York
- Henry C. Longnecker, Pennsylvania
- Dwight Loomis, Connecticut
- Owen Lovejoy, Illinois (U.S. state)
- M-N-O
- Gilman Marston, New Hampshire
- James B. McKean, New York
- Robert McKnight, Pennsylvania
- Edward McPherson, Pennsylvania
- William Millward, Pennsylvania
- James K. Moorhead, Pennsylvania
- Justin S. Morrill), Vermont
- Edward Joy Morris, Pennsylvania
- Freeman H. Morse, Maine
- John T. Nixon, New Jersey
- Abram B. Olin, New York
|
- P-Q-R
- George W. Palmer, New York
- William Pennington, New Jersey
- John J. Perry, Maine
- John U. Pettit, Indiana
- Albert G. Porter, Indiana
- John F. Potter, Wisconsin
- Emory B. Pottle, New York
- Edwin R. Reynolds, New York
- Alexander H. Rice, Massachusetts
- Christopher Robinson, Rhode Island
- Homer E. Royce, Vermont
- S-T-U-V
- George W. Scranton, Pennsylvania
- Charles B. Sedgwick, New York
- John Sherman, Ohio
- Daniel E. Somes, Maine
- Elbridge G. Spaulding, New York
- Cyrus Spink, Ohio
- Francis E. Spinner, New York
- Benjamin Stanton, Ohio
- Thaddeus Stevens, Pennsylvania
- William Stewart, Pennsylvania
- John L. N. Stratton, New Jersey
- Mason W. Tappan, New Hampshire
- Eli Thayer, Massachusetts
- Thomas C. Theaker, Ohio
- Cydnor B. Tompkins, Ohio
- Charles R. Train, Massachusetts
- Carey A. Trimble, Ohio
- Charles H. Van Wyck, New York
- William Vandever, Iowa
- John P. Verree, Pennsylvania
- W-X-Y-Z
- Edward Wade, Ohio
- Henry Waldron, Michigan
- Eliakim P. Walton, Vermont
- Cadwallader C. Washburn, Wisconsin
- Israel Washburn, Jr., Maine
- Elihu B. Washburne, Illinois (U.S. state)
- Alfred Wells, New York
- James Wilson, Indiana
- William Windom, Minnesota
- John Wood), Pennsylvania
- John Woodruff, Connecticut
|
Independent
- A-F
|
- G-O
- John A. Gilmer, North Carolina
- Thomas Hardeman, Jr., Georgia
- Robert H. Hatton, Tennessee
- Joshua Hill, Georgia
- James M. Leach, North Carolina
- Robert Mallory, Kentucky
- Horace Maynard, Tennessee
- Laban T. Moore, Kentucky
- Thomas A. R. Nelson, Tennessee
|
- P-Z
|
Membership Changes
The count below reflects changes from the beginning of the first session of this Congress.
- Senate
- replacements: 3
- deaths: 1
- resignations: 1
- interim appointments: 1
- withdrawals: 13
- Total seats with changes: 17
|
- House of Representatives
- deaths: 4
- resignations: 3
- contested election: 1
- withdrawals: 28
- Total seats with changes: 41
|
Officers
- Senate
- Other
|
- House of Representatives
|
Notes