First United States Congress

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Contents 1 Dates of Sessions 2 Major events 3 Major legislation 4 Party summary 4.1 Senate 4.2 House of Representatives 5 Officers 5.1 Senate 5.2 House of Representatives 6 Members of the First United States Congress 6.1 Senate 6.2 House of Representatives 6.2.1 Connecticut 6.2.2 Delaware 6.2.3 Georgia 6.2.4 Maryland 6.2.5 Massachusetts 6.2.6 New Hampshire 6.2.7 New Jersey 6.2.8 New York 6.2.9 North Carolina 6.2.10 Pennsylvania 6.2.11 Rhode Island 6.2.12 South Carolina 6.2.13 Virginia 7 External links

Dates of Sessions

The first United States Congress met from 1789 to 1791.

• First Session: Held in New York City from March 4, 1789 to September 29, 1789, but there was no quorum until April.
• Second Session: Held in New York City from January 4, 1790 to August 12, 1790.
• Third Session: Held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania from December 6, 1790 to March 3, 1791.

Major events

• March 4, 1789 - Senate and House of Representatives first convene (without quorum) in New York City representing eleven States:
  • Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Virginia
• April 1, 1789 - House first met with quorum to elect Speaker
• April 6 1789 - Senate first met with quorum to elect President pro tempore and tally results of the U.S. presidential election of 1789
• April 30, 1789 - Inauguration of George Washington, first President of the United States
• July 27, 1789 - Established the Foreign Affairs (State) Department
• August 7, 1789 - Established the United States War Department
• August 7, 1789 - Adopted provisions of the Northwest Ordinance under the U.S. Constitution
• September 2, 1789 - Established the Treasury Department
• September 24, 1789 - Enacted Judiciary Act of 1789 established Office of Attorney General, the composition of Supreme Court, and the entire rest of the Judiciary system
• November 21, 1789 - North Carolina ratifies Constitution
• March 1, 1790 - Made provisions for the first U.S. Census
• April 2, 1790 - Accepted the cession of claims on western territory (which was to become the state of Tennessee) by North Carolina
• May 26, 1790 - Organized the Southwest Territory out of territory ceded by North Carolina
• May 29, 1790 - Rhode Island and Providence Plantations ratified Constitution
• February 4, 1791 - Kentucky admitted to Union, effective June 1, 1792
• February 18, 1791 - Vermont admitted to Union, effective March 4, 1791

Major legislation

• June 1 1789 - An act to regulate the time and manner of administering certain oaths, ch. 1, 1 Stat. 23
• July 4 1789 - Hamilton Tariff, ch. 2, 1 Stat. 24
• September 24 1789 - Judiciary Act of 1789, ch. 20, 1 Stat. 73
• March 26 1790 - Naturalization Act of 1790, ch. 3, 1 Stat 103
• April 10, 1790 - Patent Act.
• May 26 1790 - Southwest Ordinance, ch. 14, 1 Stat. 123
• May 31 1790 - Copyright Act of 1790, ch. 15, 1 Stat. 124
• July 6 1790 - Residence Act, ch. 28, 1 Stat. 130
• February 25 1791 - First Bank of the United States, ch. 10, 1 Stat. 191

Party summary

Image:1st Senate composition 1 3.png

Image:1st Senate composition 2.png

Senate

Affiliation		Members
		until November 91790	after November 91790
	Federalist Party	20	19
	Anti-Federalist	6	7
Total		26

House of Representatives

Affiliation		Members
	No party affiliation	65
Total		65

Officers

Senate

• President of the Senate - John Adams
• President pro tempore - John Langdon (April 6 1789 – April 21 1789; August 7 1789 – August 9 1789)
• Secretary of the Senate - Samuel Allyne Otis
• Senate Sergeant at Arms - James Mathers
• Senate Chaplain -
  • 1 Samuel Provoost (April 25, 1789 – December 9, 1790)
  • 2 William White (December 9, 1790 – March 3, 1791)

House of Representatives

• Speaker of the House - Frederick Muhlenberg
• Clerk of the House - John Beckley
• House Doorkeeper - Gifford Dalley
• House Sergeant at Arms - Joseph Wheaton
• Chaplain of the House - William Lynn

Members of the First United States Congress

Senate

State	Senator	Affiliation	First elected
Connecticut	Oliver Ellsworth	Pro-Administration	1789
Connecticut	William Samuel Johnson	Pro-Administration	1789
Delaware	Richard Bassett	Anti-Administration	1789
Delaware	George Read	Pro-Administration	1789
Georgia	William Few	Anti-Administration	1789
Georgia	James Gunn	Anti-Administration	1789
Maryland	Charles Carroll	Pro-Administration	1789
Maryland	John Henry	Pro-Administration	1789
Massachusetts	Tristram Dalton	Pro-Administration	1789
Massachusetts	Caleb Strong	Pro-Administration	1789
New Hampshire	John Langdon	Pro-Administration	1789
New Hampshire	Paine Wingate	Anti-Administration	1789
New Jersey	Philemon Dickinson	Pro-Administration	1790
New Jersey	Jonathan Elmer	Pro-Administration	1789
New Jersey	William Paterson	Pro-Administration	1789-1790
New York	Rufus King	Pro-Administration	1789
New York	Philip John Schuyler	Pro-Administration	1789
North Carolina	Benjamin Hawkins	Pro-Administration	1789
North Carolina	Samuel Johnston	Pro-Administration	1789
Pennsylvania	William Maclay	Anti-Administration	1789
Pennsylvania	Robert Morris	Pro-Administration	1789
Rhode Island	Theodore Foster	Pro-Administration	1789
Rhode Island	Joseph Stanton, Jr.	Anti-Administration	1789
South Carolina	Pierce Butler	Pro-Administration	1789
South Carolina	Ralph Izard	Pro-Administration	1789
South Carolina	Richard Henry Lee	Anti-Administration	1789
Virginia	James Monroe	Anti-Administration	1789
Virginia	John Walker	Pro-Administration	1790

House of Representatives

Connecticut

• Benjamin Huntington, At-Large
• Roger Sherman, At-Large
• Jonathan Sturges, At-Large
• Jonathan Trumbull, Jr., At-Large
• Jeremiah Wadsworth, At-Large

Delaware

• John Vining, At-Large

Georgia

• Abraham Baldwin, At-Large
• James Jackson, At-Large
• George Mathews, At-Large

Maryland

• Daniel Carroll, At-Large
• Benjamin Contee, At-Large
• George Gale, At-Large
• Joshua Seney, At-Large
• William Smith, At-Large
• Michael J. Stone, At-Large

Massachusetts

• Fisher Ames, 1st District
• Benjamin Goodhue, 2nd District
• Elbridge Gerry, 3rd District
• Theodore Sedgwick, 4th District
• George Partridge, 5th District
• George Thatcher, 6th District (Maine District)
• George Leonard, 7th District
• Jonathan Grout, 8th District

New Hampshire

• Abiel Foster, At-Large
• Nicholas Gilman, At-Large
• Samuel Livermore, At-Large

New Jersey

• Elias Boudinot, At-Large
• Lambert Cadwalader, At-Large
• James Schureman, At-Large
• Thomas Sinnickson, At-Large

New York

• William Floyd, 1st District
• John Laurance, 2nd District
• Egbert Benson, 3rd District
• John Hathorn, 4th District
• Peter Silvester, 5th District
• Jeremiah Van Rensselaer, 6th District

North Carolina

• John Baptista Ashe, At-Large
• Timothy Bloodworth, At-Large
• John Sevier, At-Large
• John Steele, At-Large
• Hugh Williamson, At-Large

Pennsylvania

• George Clymer, At-Large
• Thomas Fitzsimons, At-Large
• Thomas Hartley, At-Large
• Daniel Hiester, At-Large
• Frederick A. C. Muhlenberg, At-Large
• John P. G. Muhlenberg, At-Large
• Thomas Scott, At-Large
• Henry Wynkoop, At-Large

Rhode Island

• Benjamin Bourne, At-Large

South Carolina

• Aedanus Burke, At-Large
• Daniel Huger, At-Large
• William Loughton Smith, At-Large
• Thomas Sumter, At-Large
• Thomas Tudor Tucker, At-Large

Virginia

• Theodorick Bland and then William B. Giles, At-Large
• John Brown, At-Large
• Isaac Coles, At-Large
• Samuel Griffin, At-Large
• Richard B. Lee, At-Large
• James Madison, At-Large
• Andrew Moore, At-Large
• John Page, At-Large
• Josiah Parker, At-Large
• Alexander White, At-Large

External links

• First Federal Congress Project at GWU
• "Thomas" Project at the Library of Congress
• U.S. Senate
• U.S. House of Representatives

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