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1790–91 United States House of Representatives elections

← 1788 & 1789 April 27, 1790 – October 11, 1791 1792 & 1793 →
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All 67 seats in the United States House of Representatives 34 seats needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party   Leader Jonathan Trumbull Jr. James Madison Party Pro-Administration Anti-Administration Leader's seat Connecticut at-large Virginia 5th Last election 37 seats 28 seats Seats won 39 30 Seat change 2 2
Results:      Pro-Administration hold      Pro-Administration gain      Anti-Administration hold      Anti-Administration gain      Chesapeake gain      Undistricted territory
Speaker before election Frederick Muhlenberg Pro-Administration Elected Speaker Jonathan Trumbull Jr. Pro-Administration

The 1790–91 United States House of Representatives elections were held on various dates in various states between April 27, 1790, and October 11, 1791. Each state set its own date for its elections to the House of Representatives before or after the first session of the 2nd United States Congress convened on October 24, 1791. This was the first midterm election cycle, which took place in the middle of President George Washington's first term. The size of the House increased to 67 seats after the new state of Vermont elected its first representatives.

While formal political parties still did not exist, coalitions of pro-Washington (Pro-Admin.) representatives and anti-Administration representatives each gained two seats as a result of the addition of new states to the union.

Speaker Frederick Muhlenberg was succeeded by Jonathan Trumbull Jr., who became the 2nd Speaker of the House.

Retirements

Either five or six incumbents did not seek re-election.

Anti-Administration

1. Maryland 4: William Smith retired.
2. Virginia 6: Isaac Coles retired.

Aedanus Burke, a U.S. representative from South Carolina's 2nd congressional district, either retired or lost re-election but it is not known.

Pro-Administration

1. Pennsylvania at-large: George Clymer retired.
2. Pennsylvania at-large: Henry Wynkoop retired.
3. Pennsylvania at-large: Thomas Scott retired.

Election summaries

In this period, each state fixed its own date for congressional general elections, as early as April 27, 1790 (in New York) and as late as October 11, 1791 (in Pennsylvania). 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). The first session of this Congress was convened in Philadelphia on October 24, 1791.

Kentucky and Vermont became states during the 2nd Congress, adding two seats each. The legislation admitted Vermont was passed at the end of the 1st Congress taking effect on March 4, 1791, the first day of the 2nd Congress, so that Vermont was represented from the start of the Congress, while Kentucky was unrepresented until the 2nd session.

State	Type	Date	Total seats	Pro- Administration		Anti- Administration
				Seats	Change	Seats	Change
New York	Districts	April 27–29, 1790	6	4	1	2	1
New Hampshire	At-large	August 30, 1790	3	3	1	0	1
Virginia	Districts	September 1, 1790	10	2	1	8	1
Connecticut	At-large	September 20, 1790	5	5		0
Maryland	Mixed	October 4, 1790	6	3	1	3	1
Massachusetts	Districts	October 4, 1790	8	7	1	1	1
South Carolina	Districts	October 12, 1790	5	3	1	2	1
Rhode Island	At-large	October 19, 1790	1	1		0
Delaware	At-large	November 8, 1790	1	1		0
Georgia	District	January 3, 1791	3	0		3
New Jersey	At-large	January 26, 1791	4	4		0
North Carolina	Districts	January 28, 1791	5	2		3
Late elections (after the March 4, 1791, beginning of the term)
Vermont	Districts	July 13, 1791	2	0		2	2
Pennsylvania	Districts	October 11, 1791	8	4	2	4	2
Kentucky	Districts	June 1, 1792	2	0		2	2
Total			67	39 56.5%	3	30 43.5%	1

Change in composition

End of the last Congress

Beginning of the next Congress

Special elections

There were special elections in 1790 and 1791 during the 1st United States Congress and 2nd United States Congress. New states and newly ratified states are not included as special elections.

Elections are sorted by date then district.

1st Congress

2nd Congress

Connecticut

Connecticut elected all five of its representatives at-large on a general ticket on September 20, 1790.

There were two subsequent special elections. The first was held to fill the vacancy left by Pierpont Edwards (Pro-Admin.) declining to serve and was won by Jeremiah Wadsworth (Pro-Admin.). The second was held September 19, 1791, to fill the vacancy left by Roger Sherman (Pro-Admin.)'s election to the Senate and was won by Amasa Learned (Pro-Admin.).

Delaware

Georgia

Georgia switched to a conventional district system for the Second Congress. At the time, the districts were not numbered, but are retroactively renumbered as the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd respectively here.

Kentucky

Kentucky was admitted during the 2nd Congress and elected its first representatives in 1792.

Maryland

Under Maryland law for the election for the 1st and 2nd Congresses "candidates were elected at-large but had to be residents of a specific district with the statewide vote determining winners from each district."

In Maryland, two local factions briefly emerged, the Chesapeake and Potomac (or Potowmack) "parties". The Potomac faction, consisting of individuals from the small counties of southern Maryland and the Eastern Shore, aimed to maintain their status by curbing the increasing influence of the city of Baltimore and the more populous counties. To do so, they supported the development of the federal city and a canal on the Potomac River to secure their economic future. Conversely, the Chesapeake faction advocated for Baltimore's growth. Their strategy involved improving the Susquehanna River to channel the lucrative wheat trade from western Maryland and Pennsylvania through Baltimore. They also believed that political representation should reflect population growth patterns rather than be defined by the counties. They feared that a canal on the Potomac River would undermine Baltimore's prosperity by diverting trade to competitors like Georgetown, the proposed federal city, and Alexandria.

Temporarily setting aside differences at the national level, the "Chesapeake Ticket" was formed to punish incumbents who had supported the Potomac location for the proposed federal city. A "Potomac Ticket" was organized and led by Governor Smallwood. Turnout in Baltimore was around 99%, and almost every ballot was cast for the Chesapeake Ticket. Statewide, the ticket won an overwhelming majority, securing all six seats. This victory threatened the county-based rural oligarchy, prompting the House of Delegates to transition from a mixed system to a district-based system on December 19, 1790. Under this new system, all of Baltimore's votes would go to just one representative, Hartford County was grouped with Kent and Cecil Counties, and Anne Arundel County was grouped with Prince George's County and Annapolis. With the base of the Chesapeake "party" split between three districts, the Chesapeake faction would disappear. The political pattern created by this division would, however, "linger on indefinitely."

Massachusetts

Massachusetts law required a majority for election. This condition was met in four of the eight districts, the remaining four required between 2 and 9 ballots for election.

New Hampshire

New Jersey

New York

New York's districts were not numbered at the time, therefore the numbering here is retroactive.

North Carolina

North Carolina ratified the Constitution November 21, 1789, and elected its representatives after admission.

1st Congress

2nd Congress

Due to the cession of North Carolina's trans-Appalachian territory to form the Southwest Territory, the territory of the old 5th district was lost. North Carolina retained the same number of Representatives, and so it redistricted for the Second Congress.

Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania had elected its Representatives at-large in the 1st Congress, but switched to using districts in the 2nd Congress. Five incumbents ran for re-election, four of whom won, while three others retired leaving three open seats. Two districts had no incumbents residing in them, while one (the 8th district) had a single representative who declined to run for re-election and one (the 2nd district) had three incumbents, only one of whom ran for re-election.

Rhode Island

1st Congress

Rhode Island ratified the Constitution May 29, 1790. It elected its representatives after admission.

2nd Congress

Rhode Island held elections for the 2nd Congress on October 18, 1790, about six weeks after elections for the 1st Congress due to the state's late ratification of the Constitution.

South Carolina

Vermont

Vermont was admitted at the end of the First Congress, with the admission taking effect at the start of the Second Congress. Vermont was entitled to elect two representatives. Vermont law at the time required a majority to win an office. In the 1st district, no candidate won a majority, necessitating a run-off.

Virginia

See also

• 1790 United States elections
  • List of United States House of Representatives elections (1789–1822)
  • 1790–91 United States Senate elections
• 1st United States Congress
• 2nd United States Congress

Notes

1. Excluding states that joined during the Second Congress and a very late run-off election in Massachusetts's 6th congressional district.
2. 2 more seats were added by the admission of new states after the start of this Congress
3. ^ Includes the late election from Kentucky who was admitted to the union after the 2nd Congress had started to meet, and did not hold their elections for U.S. representatives until June 1791
4. Including three Chesapeake members who were Pro-Administration
5. Including three Chesapeake members who were Anti-Administration
6. Maryland had six representatives elected by the whole state electorate, who had to choose one candidate from each district.
7. add Massachusetts required a majority for electionitional trials were required in 4 districts, held between November 26, 1790, and April 2, 1792.
8. A majority was required for election, which was not met in one of the districts necessitating a second election on September 6, 1791
9. ^ Only candidates with at least 1% of the vote listed
10. Source does not give first name
11. ^ Source does not give numbers of votes or has incomplete data
12. Changed from Pro-Administration to Anti-Administration between the 1st and 2nd Congresses
13. and Had been Pro-Administration previous electionwould switch back to Pro-Administration in the next election

References

1. ^ "Party Divisions of the House of Representatives, 1789 to Present | US House of Representatives: History, Art & Archives". history.house.gov. Retrieved 2024-06-30.
2. Jenkins, Jeffrey A. (2013). Fighting for the Speakership: The House and the Rise of Party Government. Princeton, N. J.: Princeton University. pp. 26–27.
3. 1 Stat. 191
4. "Connecticut 1790 U.S. House of Representatives". Tufts Digital Collations and Archives. A New Nation Votes: American Election Returns 1787–1825. Tufts University. Archived from the original on August 20, 2020. Retrieved March 22, 2018., citing The Connecticut Gazette (New London, CT). October 22, 1790.
5. Ridgway, Whitman H. (2018). Community Leadership in Maryland, 1790-1840: A Comparative Analysis of Power in Society. University of North Carolina Press. ISBN 9781469648040.
6. ^ Renzulli, L. Marx (1973). Maryland: the Federalist Years. Fairleigh Dickinson University Press. pp. 149–155. ISBN 9780838679036.
7. "Second Congress (membership roster)" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on March 6, 2013. Retrieved March 8, 2013.
8. Wilkes University Elections Statistics Project
9. Lampi, Philip. "Pennsylvania 1791 U.S. House of Representatives, District 2". A New Nation Votes. American Antiquarian Society. Retrieved May 22, 2024.

Bibliography

• "A New Nation Votes: American Election Returns 1787-1825". Tufts Digital Library, Tufts University. Archived from the original on January 29, 2015. Retrieved January 17, 2015.
• Dubin, Michael J. (March 1, 1998). 1788 United States Congressional Elections-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.
• Mapping Early American Elections project team (2019). "Mapping Early American Elections". Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media, George Mason University. Retrieved 2024-09-06.

External links

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

• 1790 United States House of Representatives elections
• 1791 United States House of Representatives elections