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1856–57 United States House of Representatives elections

← 1854 & 1855 August 4, 1856 – November 4, 1857 1858 & 1859 →
All 237 seats in the United States House of Representatives 118 seats needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party   Leader James Orr Galusha A. Grow Party Democratic Republican Leader's seat South Carolina 5th Pennsylvania 14th Last election 81 seats 46 seats Seats won 132 90 Seat change 51 45 Popular vote 1,805,827 1,425,265 Percentage 46.85% 36.98% Swing 2.90% 21.36%   Third party Fourth party   Party Know Nothing Independent Last election 51 seats 1 seats Seats won 14 1 Seat change 37 Popular vote 586,254 34,120 Percentage 15.21% 0.89% Swing 4.35% 1.72%
Results      Democratic gain      Democratic hold      Republican gain      Republican hold      Know Nothing gain      Know Nothing hold
Speaker before election Nathaniel Banks Know Nothing Elected Speaker James Orr Democratic

The 1856–57 United States House of Representatives elections were held on various dates in various states between August 4, 1856, and November 4, 1857. Each state set its own date for its elections to the House of Representatives. 236 representatives were elected in 31 states and the pending new state of Minnesota before the first session of the 35th United States Congress convened on December 7, 1857.

The elections briefly returned a semblance of normalcy to the Democratic Party, restoring its House majority alongside the election of Democratic President James Buchanan. However, superficial victory masked severe, ultimately irretrievable divisions over slavery. Voters next would return a Democratic House majority only in 1874.

Party realignments continued. In 1856, the Whig Party disbanded, the Know Nothing movement declined, and its vehicle, the American Party, began to collapse. Many Northern Whig, American, and other Opposition Party Representatives joined the new, rapidly consolidating Republican Party, which contested the Presidency in 1856. Though the Republican Party did not yet demand abolition, its attitude toward slavery was stridently negative. It was an openly sectional Northern party which opposed fugitive slave laws and slavery in the territories. For the first time, the party offered a mainstream platform to outspoken abolitionists.

In March 1857, after almost all Northern states had voted, the Supreme Court issued its infamous Dred Scott decision, amplifying tensions and hardening voter divisions. Remaining elections were concentrated in the South. Southern voters widely drove the American Party from office, rallying to the Democrats in firm opposition to the Republicans.

In October 1857, the pending new state of Minnesota elected its first Representatives, to be seated by the 35th Congress. Between the admissions of Vermont in 1791 and Wisconsin in 1848, Congress had admitted new states roughly in pairs: one slave, one free. California was admitted alone as a free state in 1850 only as part of a comprehensive compromise including significant concessions to slave state interests. Admission of Minnesota in May 1858, also alone but with no such deal, helped expose the declining influence of the South, destroying the formerly binding concept that slave and free state power was best kept in balance even in the Senate while solidifying a sense that the West would exclude slavery.

Election summaries

Two seats were added for the new state of Minnesota, which was unrepresented for part of the 1st session.

State	Type	Date	Total seats	Democratic		Know Nothing		Republican
				Seats	Change	Seats	Change	Seats	Change
Arkansas	District	August 4, 1856	2	2		0		0
Iowa	District		2	0	1	0		2	1
Missouri	District		7	5	4	2	2	0	6
Vermont	District	September 2, 1856	3	0		0		3
Maine	District	September 8, 1856	6	0	1	0		6	1
Florida	At-large	October 6, 1856	1	1		0		0
South Carolina	District	October 13–14, 1856	6	6		0		0
Indiana	District	October 14, 1856	11	6	4	0		5	4
Ohio	District		21	9	9	0		12	9
Pennsylvania	District		25	15	8	0	1	10	7
California	At-large	November 4, 1856 (Election Day)	2	2		0		0
Delaware	At-large		1	1	1	0	1	0
Illinois	District		9	5		0		4
Massachusetts	District		11	0		0	11	11	11
Michigan	District		4	0	1	0		4	1
New Jersey	District		5	3	2	0		2	2
New York	District		33	12	7	0	3	21	4
Wisconsin	District		3	0	1	0		3	1
New Hampshire	District	March 10, 1857	3	0		0	3	3	3
Rhode Island	District	April 1, 1857	2	0		0	2	2	2
Connecticut	District	April 6, 1857	4	2	2	0	4	2	2
Virginia	District	May 28, 1857	13	13	1	0	1	0
Alabama	District	August 3, 1857	7	7	2	0	2	0
Kentucky	District		10	8	4	2	4	0
Texas	District		2	2	1	0	1	0
North Carolina	District	August 6, 1857	8	7	2	1	2	0
Tennessee	District		10	7	2	3	2	0
Georgia	District	October 5, 1857	8	6		2		0
Mississippi	District	October 5–6, 1857	5	5	1	0	1	0
Minnesota	At-large	October 13, 1857	2	2	2	0		0
Louisiana	District	November 3, 1857	4	3		1		0
Maryland	District	November 4, 1857	6	3	1	3	1	0
Total			236	133 56.1%	50	14 5.9%	37	90 38.0%	10

Special elections

There were a total of thirteen special elections in 1856 and 1857 during the 34th and 35th Congresses.

34th Congress

35th Congress

Alabama

Arkansas

California

Connecticut

Delaware

Florida

Georgia

Illinois

Indiana

Iowa

Kansas Territory

See non-voting delegates, below.

Kentucky

Louisiana

Maine

Maryland

Elections were held November 3-4, 1857.

Massachusetts

Michigan

Minnesota

Minnesota Territory elected three members in advance of Minnesota's 1848 statehood. "Although three men won this election, which was held before Minnesota was actually a state, only two representatives from Minnesota were allowed in the congressional bill creating the state in 1858. George L. Becker lost in the drawing of lots to decide who would present their credentials, therefore he did not serve in Congress."

Mississippi

Elections held late, from October 5 to 6, 1857.

Missouri

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (December 2020)

Nebraska Territory

See non-voting delegates, below.

New Hampshire

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (December 2020)

New Jersey

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (December 2020)

New York

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (December 2020)

North Carolina

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (December 2020)

Ohio

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (December 2020)

Oregon Territory

See non-voting delegates, below.

Pennsylvania

Rhode Island

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (December 2020)

South Carolina

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (December 2020)

Tennessee

District	Incumbent			This race
	Member	Party	First elected	Results	Candidates
Tennessee 1	Albert G. Watkins	Democratic	1855	Incumbent re-elected.	▌Y Albert G. Watkins (Democratic) 50.58% ▌Nathaniel G. Taylor (Know Nothing) 49.42%
Tennessee 2	William H. Sneed	Know Nothing	1855	Incumbent retired. Know Nothing hold.	▌Y Horace Maynard (Know Nothing) 50.89% ▌Wayne W. Wallace (Democratic) 49.11%
Tennessee 3	Samuel A. Smith	Democratic	1853	Incumbent re-elected.	▌Y Samuel A. Smith (Democratic) 52.98% ▌William Heiskell (Know Nothing) 47.02%
Tennessee 4	John H. Savage	Democratic	1855	Incumbent re-elected.	▌Y John H. Savage (Democratic) 55.16% ▌Joseph Pickett (Know Nothing) 44.84%
Tennessee 5	Charles Ready	Know Nothing	1853	Incumbent re-elected.	▌Y Charles Ready (Know Nothing) 51.25% ▌Joseph Guild (Democratic) 48.75%
Tennessee 6	George W. Jones	Democratic	1842	Incumbent re-elected.	▌Y George W. Jones (Democratic) 100%
Tennessee 7	John V. Wright	Democratic	1855	Incumbent re-elected.	▌Y John V. Wright (Democratic) 83.81% ▌D. E. McElrath (Know Nothing) 16.19%
Tennessee 8	Felix Zollicoffer	Know Nothing	1853	Incumbent re-elected.	▌Y Felix Zollicoffer (Know Nothing) 52.18% ▌James M. Quarles (Democratic) 47.82%
Tennessee 9	Emerson Etheridge	Know Nothing	1853	Incumbent lost re-election. Democratic gain.	▌Y John D. C. Atkins (Democratic) 50.37% ▌Emerson Etheridge (Know Nothing) 49.63%
Tennessee 10	Thomas Rivers	Know Nothing	1855	Incumbent retired. Democratic gain.	▌Y William T. Avery (Democratic) 51.32% ▌William H. Stevens (Know Nothing) 48.68%

Texas

This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (December 2020)

Vermont

Virginia

Wisconsin

Non-voting delegates

See also

• 1856 United States elections
  • 1856 United States presidential election
  • 1856–57 United States Senate elections
• List of United States House of Representatives elections (1856–present)
• 34th United States Congress
• 35th United States Congress

Notes

1. Excludes states admitted during this Congress
2. Number of the seats that made up the Parties involved in the Opposition Coalition, excluding the Whig Party.
3. In comparison to the performance of the Parties involved in the Opposition Coalition, excluding the Whig Party.
4. Included one Independent Whig: Anthony Ellmaker Roberts of Pennsylvania.
5. ^ Includes one Independent Democrat (a.k.a. a "Benton Democrat"): Francis Preston Blair Jr. of MO-01. Note that while Martis (p. 110) and Dubin (p. 176) list him as an "Independent Democrat" or "Benton Democrat," others sources (e.g. the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress) list Blair as a "Republican".
6. Includes votes for those who ran labeled as an "Independent," "Benton Democrat," "Independent Democrat," or "Independent American."
7. ^ Compared to the 100 Opposition Party members in previous election of 1854.
8. In 1845, Congress passed a law providing for a uniform date for choosing presidential electors (see: Statutes at Large, 28th Congress, 2nd Session, p. 721). Congressional elections were unaffected by this law, but the date was gradually adopted by the states for congressional elections as well.
9. New state. Representatives seated May 11, 1858, during the 1st session.
10. ^ First name unknown.

References

1. 11 Stat. 166
2. "Our Campaigns - KS Territorial Delegate - Special Election Race - Nov 05, 1856".
3. ^ Guide to U.S. Elections. Vol. II (6th ed.). Washington, D.C.: CQ Press. 2010. p. 1024. ISBN 9781604265361. LCCN 2009033938. OCLC 430736650.
4. "State of Connecticut Elections Database » Search Past Election Results". State of Connecticut Elections Database. Retrieved 2024-10-09.
5. "MI - District 01 Race - Nov 04, 1856". Our Campaigns. January 11, 2010. Retrieved June 27, 2022.
6. "MI - District 02 Race - Nov 04, 1856". Our Campaigns. January 11, 2010. Retrieved June 27, 2022.
7. "MI - District 03 Race - Nov 04, 1856". Our Campaigns. January 11, 2010. Retrieved June 27, 2022.
8. "MI - District 04 Race - Nov 04, 1856". Our Campaigns. January 11, 2010. Retrieved June 27, 2022.
9. ^ "Our Campaigns - MN At-Large Race - Oct 13, 1857". www.ourcampaigns.com.
10. "MS - District 01". Our Campaigns. Retrieved 9 March 2021.
11. "MS - District 02". Our Campaigns. Retrieved 9 March 2021.
12. "MS - District 03". Our Campaigns. Retrieved 9 March 2021.
13. "MS - District 04". Our Campaigns. Retrieved 9 March 2021.
14. "MS - District 05". Our Campaigns. Retrieved 9 March 2021.
15. "TN - District 01". Our Campaigns. Retrieved 17 February 2021.
16. "TN - District 02". Our Campaigns. Retrieved 17 February 2021.
17. "TN - District 03". Our Campaigns. Retrieved 17 February 2021.
18. "TN - District 04". Our Campaigns. Retrieved 17 February 2021.
19. "TN - District 05". Our Campaigns. Retrieved 17 February 2021.
20. "TN - District 06". Our Campaigns. Retrieved 17 February 2021.
21. "TN - District 07". Our Campaigns. Retrieved 17 February 2021.
22. "TN - District 08". Our Campaigns. Retrieved 17 February 2021.
23. "TN - District 09". Our Campaigns. Retrieved 17 February 2021.
24. "TN - District 10". Our Campaigns. Retrieved 17 February 2021.
25. "VT Elections Database » Vermont Election Results and Statistics". VT Elections Database. Retrieved 2024-08-29.
26. "Virginia Elections Database » Virginia Election Results and Statistics". Virginia Elections Database. Retrieved 2024-09-02.
27. "Wisconsin U.S. House Election Results" (PDF). Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 5, 2012. Retrieved August 27, 2014.
28. "KS Territorial Delegate – Special Election". Our Campaigns. Retrieved November 15, 2023.
29. "Collections of the NSHS - Volume 18". www.usgennet.org.

Bibliography

• 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.
• Moore, John L., ed. (1994). Congressional Quarterly's Guide to U.S. Elections (Third ed.). Congressional Quarterly Inc. ISBN 978-0871879967.
• "Party Divisions of the House of Representatives* 1789–Present". Office of the Historian, House of 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)

• 1856 United States House of Representatives elections
• 1857 United States House of Representatives elections
• Presidency of James Buchanan
• Schuyler Colfax