The Fourth United States Congress was a meeting of the United States national legislature, comprised of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met at Congress Hall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania from March 4, 1795 to March 3, 1797, during the last two years of the second administration of U.S. President George Washington. The apportionment of seats in this House of Representatives was based on the First Census of the United States in 1790. The Senate had a Federalist majority, and the House had a Democratic-Republican majority.

Dates of Sessions

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March 4, 1795–March 3, 1797

• Special Session of the Senate: June 8, 1795 - June 26, 1795
• First session: December 7, 1795 - June 1, 1796
• Second session: December 5, 1796 - March 3, 1797 — a lame duck session

Previous congress: 3rd Congress
Next congress: 5th Congress

Major events

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Main article: Events of 1795; Events of 1796; Events of 1797

• August 3, 1795 - The signing of the Treaty of Greenville ended the Northwest Indian War.
• October 27, 1795 - The United States and Spain signed the Treaty of Madrid, which established the boundaries between Spanish colonies and the United States.
• September 17, 1796 - U.S. President George Washington issued his Farewell Address, which warned against partisan politics and foreign entanglements.
• November 4, 1796 - The Treaty of Tripoli, between the United States and Tripoli was signed at Tripoli.
• French Revolutionary Wars (1793-1797) of the First Coalition

Major legislation

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''Main article : List of United States federal legislation in the 4th Congress

• June 1, 1796 - Tennessee was admitted to Union. It was formerly the Southwest Territory.

Party summary

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Senate

• Democratic-Republican: 11
• Federalist: 21

TOTAL members: 32

House of Representatives

• Democratic-Republican: 59
• Federalist: 47

TOTAL members: 106

Leadership

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Senate

• Vice President of the United States (President of the Senate):
  • John Adams of Massachusetts.
• President pro tempore of the Senate:
  • Henry Tazewell of Virginia, first elected December 7, 1795.
  • Samuel Livermore of New Hampshire, elected May 6, 1796
  • William Bingham of Pennsylvania, elected February 16, 1797

House of Representatives

• Speaker of the House
  • Jonathan Dayton of New Jersey, elected December 7, 1795.

Members

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

See also: 4th United States Congress - Political Parties

See also: 4th United States Congress - State Delegations

See also: United States House election, 1794

Senate

At this time, Senators were elected by the state legislatures every two years, with one-third beginning new six year terms with each Congress. The Senate class numbers, which indicate the cycle of their election, precede the names in the list below. In this Congress, Class 1 meant their term ended with this Congress, requiring reelection in 1796; Class 2 meant their term began in the last Congress, requiring reelection in 1798; and Class 3 meant their term began in this Congress, requiring reelection in 1800.

Connecticut

• 1. Oliver Ellsworth (Fed.) …resigned March 8, 1796,

  James Hillhouse (Fed.) …elected to fill vacancy, seated December 6, 1796.

• 3. Jonathan Trumbull, Jr. (Fed.) …resigned June 10, 1796,

  Uriah Tracy (Fed.) …elected to fill vacancy, seated December 6, 1796.

Delaware

• 2. John Vining (Fed.)
• 1. Henry Latimer (Fed.)

Georgia

• 3. James Gunn (Dem.-Rep.)
• 2. James Jackson (Dem.-Rep.) …resigned 1795.

  George Walton (Fed.) …appointed to fill vacancy, seated December 18, 1795.

  Josiah Tattnall (Dem.-Rep.) …elected to fill vacancy, seated April 12, 1796.

Kentucky

• 2. John Brown (Dem.-Rep.)
• 3. Humphrey Marshall (Fed.)

Maryland

• 3. John Henry (Fed.)
• 1. Richard Potts (Fed.) …resigned October 24, 1796.

  John E. Howard (Fed.) …elected to fill vacancy, seated December 27, 1796.

Massachusetts

• 2. Caleb Strong (Fed.) …resigned June 1, 1796,

  Theodore Sedgwick (Fed.) …elected to fill vacancy, seated December 21, 1796.

• 1. George Cabot (Fed.) …resigned June 9, 1796.

  Benjamin Goodhue (Fed.) …elected to fill vacancy, seated December 6, 1796.

New Hampshire

• 3. John Langdon (Dem.-Rep.)
• 2. Samuel Livermore (Fed.)

New Jersey

• 1. John Rutherfurd (Fed.)
• 2. Frederick Frelinghuysen (Fed.) …resigned November 12, 1796.

  Richard Stockton (Fed.) …elected to fill vacancy, seated December 6, 1796.

New York

• 2. Rufus King (Fed.) …resigned May 23, 1796.

  John Laurance (Fed.) …elected to fill vacancy, seated December 8, 1796.

• 1. Aaron Burr (Dem.-Rep.)

North Carolina

• 2. Alexander Martin (Dem.-Rep.)
• 3. Timothy Bloodworth (Dem.-Rep.)

Pennsylvania

• 1. James Ross (Fed.)
• 3. William Bingham (Fed.)

Rhode Island

• 1. Theodore Foster (Fed.)
• 2. William Bradford (Fed.)

South Carolina

• 2. Pierce Butler (Dem.-Rep.) …resigned October 25, 1796.

  John Hunter (Dem.-Rep.) …elected to fill vacancy, seated January 27, 1797.

• 3. Jacob Read (Fed.)

Tennessee

• 2. William Blount (Dem.-Rep.) …newly admitted state, seated December 5, 1796.
• 1. William Cocke (Dem.-Rep.) …newly admitted state, seated December 5, 1796.

Vermont

• 1. Moses Robinson (Dem.-Rep.) …resigned October 15, 1796.

  Isaac Tichenor (Fed.) …elected to fill vacancy, seated December 6, 1796.

• 3. Elijah Paine (Fed.)

Virginia

• 2. Henry Tazewell (Dem.-Rep.)
• 1. Stevens T. Mason (Dem.-Rep.)

House of Representatives

The names of members of the House of Representatives known to have been elected statewide at-large, are preceded by an "A/L," and the names of those known to have been elected from single member districts, are preceded by their district numbers. A district number with an "A/L" indicates more than one member may be elected from that district. The methodology used for the election of the others is undetermined. 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.

Connecticut

• A/L. James Hillhouse (Fed.) …resigned fall 1796.

  James Davenport (Fed.) …elected to fill vacancy, seated December 5, 1796.

• A/L. Chauncey Goodrich (Fed.)
• A/L. Joshua Coit (Fed.)
• A/L. Roger Griswold (Fed.)
• A/L. Nathaniel Smith (Fed.)
• A/L. Zephaniah Swift (Fed.)
• A/L. Uriah Tracy (Fed.) …resigned October 13, 1796.

  Samuel W. Dana (Fed.) …elected to fill vacancy, seated January 3, 1797.

Delaware

• A/L. John Patten (Dem.-Rep.)

Georgia

• A/L. Abraham Baldwin (Dem.-Rep.)
• A/L. John Milledge (Dem.-Rep.)

Kentucky

• Alexander D. Orr (Dem.-Rep.)
• Christopher Greenup (Dem.-Rep.)

Maryland

• George Dent (Fed.)
• Gabriel Duvall (Dem.-Rep.) …resigned March 28, 1796.

  Richard Sprigg, Jr. (Dem.-Rep.) …elected to fill vacancy, seated May 5, 1796.

• Jeremiah Crabb (Fed.) …resigned 1796.

  William Craik (Fed.) …elected to fill vacancy, seated December 5, 1796.

• Thomas Sprigg (Dem.-Rep.)
• Samuel Smith (Dem.-Rep.)
• Gabriel Christie (Dem.-Rep.)
• William Hindman (Fed.)
• William Vans Murray (Fed.)

Massachusetts

• Theodore Sedgwick (Fed.) …resigned June 1796.

  Thomson J. Skinner (Dem.-Rep.) …elected to fill vacancy, seated January 27, 1797.

• William Lyman (Dem.-Rep.)
• Samuel Lyman (Fed.)
• Dwight Foster (Fed.)
• Nathaniel Freeman, Jr. (Fed.)
• John Reed, Sr. (Fed.)
• George Leonard (Fed.)
• Fisher Ames (Fed.)
• Joseph B. Varnum (Dem.-Rep.)
• Benjamin Goodhue (Fed.) …resigned June 1796.

  Samuel Sewall (Fed.) …elected to fill vacancy, seated December 7, 1797.

• Theophilus Bradbury (Fed.)
• Henry Dearborn (Dem.-Rep.)
• Peleg Wadsworth (Fed.)
• George Thatcher (Fed.)

New Hampshire

• A/L. Jeremiah Smith (Fed.)
• A/L. Nicholas Gilman (Dem.-Rep.)
• A/L. John S. Sherburne (Dem.-Rep.)
• A/L. Abiel Foster (Fed.)

New Jersey

• A/L. Jonathan Dayton (Fed.)
• A/L. Thomas Henderson (Fed.)
• A/L. Aaron Kitchell (Dem.-Rep.)
• A/L. Isaac Smith (Fed.)
• A/L. Mark Thomson (Fed.)

New York

• Edward Livingston (Dem.-Rep.)
• Jonathan N. Havens (Dem.-Rep.)
• Philip Van Cortlandt (Dem.-Rep.)
• John Hathorn (Dem.-Rep.)
• Theodorus Bailey (Dem.-Rep.)
• Ezekiel Gilbert (Fed.)
• John E. Van Alen (Fed.)
• Henry Glen (Fed.)
• John Williams (Fed.)
• William Cooper (Fed.)

North Carolina

• Jesse Franklin (Dem.-Rep.)
• Matthew Locke (Dem.-Rep.)
• James Holland (Dem.-Rep.)
• Absalom Tatom (Dem.-Rep.) …resigned June 1, 1796,

  William F. Strudwick (Fed.) …elected to fill vacancy, seated December 13, 1796.

• Nathaniel Macon (Dem.-Rep.)
• James Gillespie (Dem.-Rep.)
• William Barry Grove (Fed.)
• Dempsey Burges (Dem.-Rep.)
• Thomas Blount (Dem.-Rep.)
• Nathan Bryan (Dem.-Rep.)

Pennsylvania Several of these representatives were elected at large from one of eight districts, as indicated.

• John Swanwick (Dem.-Rep.)
• Richard Thomas (Fed.)
• Andrew Gregg (Dem.-Rep.)
• Frederick A.C. Muhlenberg (Dem.-Rep.)
• Samuel Sitgreaves (Fed.)
• John Richards (Dem.-Rep.) …contested election, seated January 18, 1796.
• Daniel Hiester (Dem.-Rep.) …resigned July 1, 1796.

  George Ege (Fed.) …elected to fill vacancy, seated December 8, 1796.

• John Wilkes Kittera (Fed.)
• Thomas Hartley (Fed.)
• David Bard (Dem.-Rep.)
• Samuel Maclay (Dem.-Rep.)
• William Findley (Dem.-Rep.)
• Albert Gallatin (Dem.-Rep.)

Rhode Island

• A/L. Benjamin Bourne (Fed.) …resigned 1796, before commencement of 5th Congress.

  Elisha R. Potter (Fed.) …elected to fill vacancy, seated December 19, 1796.

• A/L. Francis Malbone (Fed.)

South Carolina Several of these representatives were elected at large from one of four districts, as indicated.

• William L. Smith (Fed.)
• Robert Goodloe Harper (Fed.)
• Lemuel Benton (Dem.-Rep.)
• Richard Winn (Dem.-Rep.)
• Wade Hampton (Dem.-Rep.)
• Samuel Earle (Dem.-Rep.)

Tennessee

• Andrew Jackson (Dem.-Rep.) …newly admitted state, seated December 5, 1796.

Vermont

• Israel Smith (Dem.-Rep.)
• Daniel Buck (Fed.)

Virginia Several of these representatives were elected at large from one of fourteen districts, as indicated.

• Robert Rutherford (Dem.-Rep.)
• Andrew Moore (Dem.-Rep.)
• George Jackson (Dem.-Rep.)
• George Hancock (Fed.)
• Francis Preston (Dem.-Rep.)
• Isaac Coles (Dem.-Rep.)
• Abraham B. Venable (Dem.-Rep.)
• Thomas Claiborne (Dem.-Rep.)
• William B. Giles (Dem.-Rep.)
• Josiah Parker (Fed.)
• Anthony New (Dem.-Rep.)
• John Page (Dem.-Rep.)
• Carter B. Harrison (Dem.-Rep.)
• John Heath (Dem.-Rep.)
• John Clopton (Dem.-Rep.)
• Samuel J. Cabell (Dem.-Rep.)
• James Madison (Dem.-Rep.)
• John Nicholas (Dem.-Rep.)
• Richard Brent (Dem.-Rep.)

Delegates

Southwest Territory

• James White (Dem.-Rep.) …served until Tennessee statehood granted, June 1, 1796.

Changes in Membership

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Tennessee was newly admitted as a state and is first represented in this Congress.

See also: 4th United States Congress - Membership Changes

Senate

• Democratic-Republicans: 1 net gain
• Federalists: 1 net gain

• deaths: 0
• resignations: 10
• interim appointment: 1
• new seats: 2
• Total seats with changes: 12

House of Representatives

• Democratic-Republicans: 1 net gain
• Federalists: 1 net gain

• deaths: 0
• resignations: 9
• contested elections: 1
• new seats: 1
• Total seats with changes: 11

Officers

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Senate

• Secretary of the Senate:
  • Samuel A. Otis of Massachusetts, elected April 8, 1789
• Doorkeeper of the Senate:
  • James Mathers of New York, elected April 7, 1789
• Chaplain of the Senate
  • The Rev. William White, Episcopalian, elected December 9, 1790.

House of Representatives

• Clerk of the House:
  • John Beckley of Virginia, elected December 7, 1795.
• Sergeant at Arms of the House:
  • Joseph Wheaton of Rhode Island, elected December 7, 1795.
• Doorkeeper of the House:
  • Thomas Claxton, elected December 7, 1795.
• Chaplain of the House
  • The Rev. Ashbel Green, Presbyterian, elected November 5, 1792.

Other

• Architect of the Capitol
  • Dr. William Thornton

Notes

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References

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United States Congresses