United States House of Representatives elections, 1796

United States House of Representatives elections, 1796

August 12, 1796 - October 15, 1797

All 106 seats to the United States House of Representatives 54 seats were needed for a majority   Majority party Minority party   Leader Jonathan Dayton[1] Nathaniel Macon Party Federalist Democratic-Republican Leader's seat New Jersey-AL North Carolina-5th Last election 47 seats 59 seats Seats won 57 49 Seat change 10 10

Results:   Federalist majority   Anti-Federalist majority   Even split

Speaker before election Jonathan Dayton Federalist Elected Speaker Jonathan Dayton Federalist

Elections to the United States House of Representatives for the 5th Congress took place in the various states took place between August 12, 1796 (in North Carolina), and October 15, 1797 (in Tennessee). The first session was convened on May 15, 1797, at the proclamation of the new President of the United States, John Adams. Since Kentucky and Tennessee had not yet voted, they were unrepresented until the second session.

A number of gains for the Federalist Party provided the president with a reliable majority in support of his policies. Many of the Federalist pick-ups in Congress came from the former Middle Colonies (New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware). New England remained heavily Federalist, whereas the South and West favored Democratic-Republican candidates. Federalist trade and infrastructure policies found widespread approval in the Mid-Atlantic states during this era. With the growth of cities in Maryland, Pennsylvania, and New York, government intervention in the interest of industrialization and mercantilism became more attractive to voting citizens in these areas.

During this period, each state fixed its own date for a congressional general election. Elections to a Congress took place both in the even-numbered year before and in the odd-numbered year when the Congress convened. In some states the congressional delegation was not elected until after the legal start of the Congress (on the 4th day of March in the odd-numbered year).

Election summaries

During this period, each state fixed its own date for a congressional general election. Elections took place both in the even-numbered year before and in the odd-numbered year when a Congress convened. In some states, the congressional delegation was not elected until after the legal start of the Congress (on the 4th day of March in the odd-numbered year). The 1st session of the 5th Congress ran May 15 – July 10, 1797,^[1] before the states of Kentucky and Tennessee had their elections, causing those states to be unrepresented in the 1st session.

State	Type	Date	Total seats	Federalist	Democratic- Republican
				Seats	Change	Seats	Change
Connecticut	At-large	September 19, 1796	7	7		0
Delaware	At-large	October 4, 1796	1	1	1	0	1
Georgia	At-large	November 7, 1796	2	0		2
Maryland	District (8)	October 3, 1796	8	6	2	2	2
Massachusetts	District (14)	November 7, 1796[Note 1]	14	11	1	3	1
New Hampshire	At-large	August 29, 1796[Note 2]	4	4	1	0	1
New York	District (10)	December 15, 1796	10	6	2	4	2
North Carolina	District (10)	August 12, 1796	10	1		9
Pennsylvania	District (12[Note 3])	October 11, 1796	13	6	2	7	2
Rhode Island	At-large	August 30, 1796	2	2		0
South Carolina	District (6)	October 11, 1796	6	3	1	3	1
Vermont	District (2)	September 9, 1796[Note 4]	2	1		1
1797 elections
Kentucky	District (2)	September 2, 1797	2	0		2
New Jersey	At-large	January 11, 1797	5	5		0
Tennessee	At-large	October 15, 1797	1	0		1
Virginia	District (19)	March 20, 1797	19	4	2	15	2
Total			106	57 53.8%	10	49 46.2%	10

Late elections to the 4th Congress

Tennessee

Tennessee became a state in 1796 near the end of the 4th Congress. Elections for its first representative were held the same year.

Complete returns

Connecticut

Connecticut's results by district

Four vacancies occurred during the 5th Congress, two of which were before the Congress met when Zephariah Swift declined to serve in the 5th Congress and Uriah Tracy resigned after being elected to the Senate. These two vacancies were filled by John Allen and James Davenport. The third occurred when James Davenport (F) died on August 3, 1797, and was replaced by William Edmond (F). The fourth occurred when Joshua Coit (F) died on September 5, 1798, and was replaced by Jonathan Brace (F).

An unsuccessful motion was made to expel Roger Griswold after a fight with Matthew Lyon of Vermont.

Delaware

Delaware's results by district

Georgia

Georgia's results by district

Kentucky

Kentucky's results by district

Maryland

Maryland's results by district

Massachusetts

Massachusetts's results by district

Maine District of Massachusetts's results by district

Massachusetts' electoral law required a majority for election, necessitating additional trials in three districts.

In the 11th district, Theophilus Bradbury (F) resigned July 24, 1797, which vacancy was filled in a special election by Bailey Bartlett (F)^[1]

New Hampshire

New Hampshire's results by district

In 1796, New Hampshire had a single at-large district with 4 seats. Each voter cast 4 votes and a majority of voters (12.5% of votes) was required to be elected. Since only three candidates received a majority, a run-off was held between the candidates in fourth and fifth place to fill the remaining seat.

Jeremiah Smith (F) resigned July 26, 1797, and a special election was held to fill the resulting vacancy, which elected Peleg Sprague (F).

New Jersey

New Jersey's results by district

New York

New York's results by district

North Carolina

North Carolina's results by district

Nathan Bryan (DR) of the 10th district died June 4, 1798, and was replaced in a special election by Richard Dobbs Spaight (DR)

Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania's results by district

Three vacancies occurred during the 5th Congress. The first occurred when George Ege (F) of the 5th district resigned in October 1797, and was replaced by Joseph Hiester (DR). The second occurred when Samuel Sitgreaves (F) of the 4th district resigned upon being appointed Commissioner to Great Britain and was replaced by Robert Brown (DR). The third occurred in the 1st district when John Swanwick (DR) died on August 1, 1798, and was replaced by Robert Waln (F).

Rhode Island

Rhode Island's results by district

Rhode Island had an at-large district with two seats, each of which were elected separately.

Benjamin Bourne (F) resigned before the end of the 4th Congress but after being re-elected, and a special election was held to fill the resulting vacancies in both the 4th and 5th Congresses, which was won by Elisha R. Potter (F). Potter himself subsequently resigned sometime after July 1797, and was replaced in a second special election by Thomas Tillinghast (F).

South Carolina

South Carolina's results by district

One vacancy occurred during the 5th Congress in the 1st district when William L. Smith (F) resigned on July 10, 1797, and was replaced in a special election by Thomas Pinckney (F).

Tennessee

Tennessee's results by district

Vermont

Vermont's results by district

Due to Vermont's election law requiring a majority to secure a congressional seat, the 1st district required three ballots to choose a winner.

Daniel Buck in the 2nd district resigned before the start of Congress and was replaced by Lewis R. Morris (F)

Virginia

Virginia's results by district

Morgan's election in the 1st district was unsuccessfully challnged by Rutherford.^[1]

One vacancy occurred during the 5th Congress on October 2, 1798, when William B. Giles (DR) of the 9th district resigned on the grounds of ill health and in protest against the Alien and Sedition Acts. He was replaced in a special election by Joseph Eggleston (DR).

See also

• United States elections, 1796
  • List of United States House of Representatives elections, 1789–1822
  • United States Senate elections, 1796 and 1797
  • United States presidential election, 1796
• 4th United States Congress
• 5th United States Congress

Notes

References

Bibliography

• "A New Nation Votes: American Election Returns 1787-1825". Tufts Digital Library, Tufts University. Retrieved January 17, 2015. 
• Dubin, Michael J. (March 1, 1998). United States Congressional Elections, 1788-1997: The Official Results of the Elections of the 1st Through 105th Congresses. McFarland and Company. ISBN 978-0786402830. 
• Martis, Kenneth C. (January 1, 1989). The Historical Atlas of Political Parties in the United States Congress, 1789-1989. Macmillan Publishing Company. ISBN 978-0029201701. 
• "Party Divisions of the House of Representatives* 1789–Present". Office of the Historian, United States House of Representatives. Retrieved January 21, 2015. 

External links

• Office of the Historian (Office of Art & Archives, Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives)