6th United States Congress

6th United States Congress
5th   7th

United States Capitol (1800)

Duration: March 4, 1799 – March 4, 1801

Senate President: Thomas Jefferson (DR)
Senate Pres. pro tem: Samuel Livermore (F)
Uriah Tracy (F)
John E. Howard (F)
James Hillhouse (F)
House Speaker: Theodore Sedgwick (F)
Members: 32 Senators
106 Representatives
1 Non-voting members
Senate Majority: Federalist
House Majority: Federalist

Sessions
1st: December 2, 1799 – May 14, 1800 (Philadelphia)
2nd: November 17, 1800 – March 3, 1801 (Washington, D.C. — a lame duck session)

The Sixth 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 and in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1799, to March 4, 1801, during the last two years of John Adams's presidency. It was the last Congress of the 18th century and the first to convene in the 19th. The apportionment of seats in House of Representatives was based on the First Census of the United States in 1790. Both chambers had a Federalist majority. This was the last Congress in which the Federalist Party controlled the presidency or either chamber of Congress.

President of the Senate Thomas Jefferson

Major events

Major legislation

States admitted and territories organized

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-
Republican

(DR)
Federalist
(F)
End of the previous congress 9 22 31 1
Begin 9 22 31 1
End 11 21 320
Final voting share 34.4% 65.6%
Beginning of the next congress 15 17 32 0

House of Representatives

Party
(shading shows control)
Total Vacant
Democratic-
Republican

(DR)
Federalist
(F)
End of the previous congress 50 56 106 0
Begin 46 60 106 0
End 49 56 1051
Final voting share 46.7% 53.3%
Beginning of the next congress 72 33 105 1

Leadership

Senate

House of Representatives

President pro tempore
Samuel Livermore

Members

This list is arranged by chamber, then by state. Senators are listed in order of seniority, and Representatives are listed by district.

Skip to House of Representatives, below

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 the last Congress, requiring reelection in 1802; Class 2 meant their term began in this Congress, requiring reelection in 1804; and Class 3 meant their term ended with this 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

Speaker of the House Theodore Sedgwick

House of Representatives

The names of members of the House of Representatives elected statewide on the general ticket or otherwise at-large, are preceded by an "At-large," and the names of those elected from districts, whether plural or single member, are preceded by their district numbers.

Connecticut

All representatives were elected statewide on a general ticket.
(7 Federalists)

Delaware

(1 Federalist)

Georgia

Both representatives were elected statewide on a general ticket.
(2 Federalists)

Kentucky

(2 Democratic-Republicans)

Maryland

(5-3 Federalist)

Massachusetts

(12-2 Federalist)

New Hampshire

All representatives were elected statewide on a general ticket.
(4 Federalists)

New Jersey

(3-2 Democratic-Republican)

New York

(6-4 Democratic-Republican)

North Carolina

(6-4 Democratic-Republican)

Pennsylvania

The 4th district was a plural district with two representatives.
(8-4 Democratic-Republican)

Rhode Island

Both representatives were elected statewide on a general ticket.
(2 Federalists)

South Carolina

(5-1 Democratic-Republican)

Tennessee

(1 Democratic-Republican)

Vermont

(1-1 split)

Virginia

(13-6 Democratic-Republican)

Non-voting members

(no representation)

Changes in membership

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

Senate

There were 7 resignations and 1 vacancy at the beginning of Congress. The Federalists had a 1-seat net loss and the Democratic-Republicans had a 2-seat net gain.

State
(class)
Vacator Reason for change Successor Date of successor's
formal installation
Virginia
(2)
Vacant Henry Tazewell (DR) died before the beginning of this Congress Wilson C. Nicholas (DR) Elected December 5, 1799
New York
(1)
James Watson (F) Resigned March 19, 1800 Gouverneur Morris (F) Elected April 3, 1800
Massachusetts
(2)
Samuel Dexter (F) Resigned May 30, 1800 Dwight Foster (F) Elected June 6, 1800
New York
(3)
John Laurance (F) Resigned sometime in August, 1800 John Armstrong (DR) Elected November 6, 1800
Massachusetts
(1)
Benjamin Goodhue (F) Resigned November 8, 1800 Jonathan Mason (F) Elected November 14, 1800
Maryland
(3)
James Lloyd (F) Resigned December 1, 1800 William Hindman (F) Elected December 12, 1800
New Jersey
(1)
James Schureman (F) Resigned February 16, 1801 Aaron Ogden (F) Elected February 28, 1801
Delaware
(1)
Henry Latimer (F) Resigned February 28, 1801 Samuel White (F) Appointed February 28, 1801

House of Representatives

There were 6 resignations and 3 deaths. The Federalists had a 4-seat net loss and the Democratic-Republicans had a 3-seat net gain.


District Vacator Reason for change Successor Date successor
seated
New York
1st
Jonathan Havens (DR) Died October 25, 1799 John Smith (DR) February 27, 1800
Northwest Territory
At-large
William Henry Harrison Resigned May 14, 1800 to become Territorial Governor of Indiana William McMillan November 24, 1800
Connecticut
At-large
Jonathan Brace (F) Resigned sometime in 1800 John Cotton Smith (F) November 17, 1800
Massachusetts
10th
Samuel Sewall (F) Resigned January 10, 1800 to become a justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court Nathan Read (F) November 25, 1800
Massachusetts
4th
Dwight Foster (F) Resigned June 6, 1800, having been elected U.S. Senator Levi Lincoln (DR) December 15, 1800
Virginia
13th
John Marshall (F) Resigned June 7, 1800 to become Secretary of State Littleton W. Tazewell (DR) November 26, 1800
New Hampshire
At-large
William Gordon (F) Resigned June 12, 1800, to become New Hampshire Attorney General Samuel Tenney (F) December 8, 1800
Massachusetts
3rd
Samuel Lyman (F) Resigned November 6, 1800 Ebenezer Mattoon (F) February 2, 1801
Pennsylvania
8th
Thomas Hartley (F) Died December 21, 1800 John Stewart (DR) February 3, 1801
Georgia
At-large
James Jones (F) Died January 11, 1801 Vacant until next Congress

Committees

Lists of committees and their party leaders.

Senate

House of Representatives

Joint committees

Administrative officers

Senate

House of Representatives

References

    See also

    External links

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