14th United States Congress

The 14th 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 in the Old Brick Capitol in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1815, to March 4, 1817, during the seventh and eighth years of James Madison's presidency. The apportionment of seats in the House of Representatives was based on the 1810 United States census. Both chambers had a Democratic-Republican majority.

Major events

• November 1816: James Monroe defeated Rufus King in the U.S. presidential election.

Major legislation

• April 10, 1816: Establishment of the Second Bank of the United States
• April 27, 1816: Dallas tariff

Proposed, but not enacted

• March 3, 1817: Bonus Bill of 1817 (vetoed)

Treaties

• August 24, 1816: Treaty of St. Louis signed

States admitted and territories organized

• December 11, 1816: Indiana was admitted as the 19th state, 3 Stat. 399
• March 3, 1817: Alabama Territory was created from a portion of the Mississippi Territory

Party summary

The count below identifies party affiliations at the beginning of the first session of this congress. Changes resulting from subsequent replacements are shown below in the "Changes in membership" section.

Senate

During this congress, two Senate seats were added for the new state of Indiana.

House of Representatives

During this congress, one House seat was added for the new state of Indiana.

Leadership

Senate

• President: Vacant
• President pro tempore: John Gaillard (DR) of South Carolina, first elected December 4, 1815

House of Representatives

• Speaker: Henry Clay (DR) of Kentucky

Members

This list is arranged by chamber, then by state. Senators are listed by class 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 with this Congress, requiring re-election in 1820; Class 2 meant their term ended with this Congress, requiring re-election in 1816; and Class 3 meant their term began in the last Congress, requiring re-election in 1818.

House of Representatives

Changes in membership

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

Senate

House of Representatives

Committees

Lists of committees and their party leaders.

Senate

• Attorney General's Office (Select)
• Audit and Control the Contingent Expenses of the Senate (Chairman: Abner Lacock)
• Claims (Chairman: Jonathan Roberts)
• Commerce and Manufactures (Chairman: William Hunter)
• Compensation of Members of Congress (Select)
• District of Columbia (Chairman: Armistead Mason)
• Engrossed Bills (Chairman: Eligius Fromentin)
• Finance (Select)
• Indiana Admission to the Union (Select)
• Judiciary (Chairman: Dudley Chase)
• Military Affairs (Chairman: John Williams)
• Militia (Chairman: Joseph Varnum)
• Memorial of the Mississippi Territory (Chairman: N/A)
• National University (Chairman: N/A)
• Naval Affairs (Chairman: Charles Tait)
• Pensions (Chairman: Jeremiah Howell)
• Post Office and Post Roads (Chairman: James J. Wilson)
• Public Lands (Chairman: Jeremiah Morrow)
• Slave Trade (Select)
• Weights and Measures (Select)
• Whole

House of Representatives

• Accounts (Chairman: John McLean then Peter Little)
• Assent of Congress to an Act of the Virginia Legislature (Select)
• Attorney General's Office (Select)
• Banks of the District of Columbia (Select)
• Berkshire Association (Select)
• Bible Society of Philadelphia (Select)
• Bonus of the National Banks (Select)
• Bounty Lands Communication (Select)
• Claims (Chairman: Bartlett Yancey)
• Commerce and Manufactures (Chairman: Thomas Newton Jr.)
• District of Columbia (Chairman: Henry S. Tucker)
• Elections (Chairman: John W. Taylor)
• Expenditures in the Navy Department (Chairman: Stevenson Archer)
• Expenditures in the Post Office Department (Chairman: Newton Cannon)
• Expenditures in the State Department (Chairman: John B. Yates)
• Expenditures in the Treasury Department (Chairman: Samuel Smith)
• Expenditures in the War Department (Chairman: Erastus Root)
• Expenditures on Public Buildings (Chairman: Lewis Condict)
• Judiciary (Chairman: Hugh Nelson)
• Pensions and Revolutionary Claims (Chairman: John J. Chappell)
• Post Office and Post Roads (Chairman: Samuel D. Ingham)
• Private Land Claims (Chairman: Solomon P. Sharp)
• Public Expenditures (Chairman: William H. Murfree then Israel Pickens)
• Public Lands (Chairman: Thomas B. Robertson)
• Revisal and Unfinished Business (Chairman: Lewis Condict)
• Rules (Select)
• Standards of Official Conduct
• Ways and Means (Chairman: William Lowndes)
• Whole

Joint committees

• Enrolled Bills

Employees

Legislative branch agency directors

• Architect of the Capitol: Benjamin Latrobe, from April 6, 1815
• Librarian of Congress: George Watterston

Senate

• Chaplain: Jesse Lee (Methodist), until December 8, 1815
  • John Glendie (Presbyterian), elected December 8, 1815
  • Sereno Edwards Dwight, (Congregationalist) elected December 16, 1816
• Secretary: Charles Cutts
• Sergeant at Arms: Mountjoy Bayly

House of Representatives

• Chaplain: Obadiah B. Brown (Baptist), until December 7, 1815
  • Spencer H. Cone (Baptist), December 7, 1815 – December 2, 1816
  • Burgiss Allison (Baptist), elected December 2, 1816
• Clerk: Thomas Dougherty
• Doorkeeper: Thomas Claxton
• Reading Clerks: [data missing]
• Sergeant at Arms: Thomas Dunn

See also

• 1814 United States elections (elections leading to this Congress)
  • 1814–15 United States Senate elections
  • 1814–15 United States House of Representatives elections
• 1816 United States elections (elections during this Congress, leading to the next Congress)
  • 1816 United States presidential election
  • 1816–17 United States Senate elections
  • 1816–17 United States House of Representatives elections

Notes

References

• Martis, Kenneth C. (1989). The Historical Atlas of Political Parties in the United States Congress. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company.
• Martis, Kenneth C. (1982). The Historical Atlas of United States Congressional Districts. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company.

External links

• Statutes at Large, 1789–1875
• Senate Journal, First Forty-three Sessions of Congress
• House Journal, First Forty-three Sessions of Congress
• Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress
• U.S. House of Representatives: House History
• U.S. Senate: Statistics and Lists
• Congressional Directory for the 14th Congress, 2nd Session.