The 21st 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 Washington, D.C., from March 4, 1829, to March 4, 1831, during the first two years of Andrew Jackson's presidency. The apportionment of seats in the House of Representatives was based on the 1820 United States census. Both chambers had a Jacksonian majority.
Major events
March 4, 1829: Andrew Jackson became 7th President of the United States May 10–14, 1830: Senators John McKinley, Powhatan Ellis, and Robert H. Adams, and Representatives Clement Comer Clay, Mark Alexander, William S. Archer, Dixon H. Lewis, and Thomas Hinds met with the French chargé d'affaires. The Americans asserted that France should pay reparations for damages in incurred during the Quasi-War of 1798-1800, and the meeting became very contentious. At one point, Representative Hinds threatened the chargé with a pistol. Eventually, only intervention by Senator John Forsyth prevented a major diplomatic incident.Shortly after this, Virginia governor John Floyd formally asked France's economic attaché to leave Virginia. Conflict with France over this issue would dominate American politics in 1835; the main instigator then was President Andrew Jackson.Robert Vincent Remini (1984) Andrew Jackson and the Course of American Democracy, 1833-1845Robert C. Thomas, “Andrew Jackson versus France”, Tennessee Historical Quarterly, 35 (1976), 51–64. May 28 – Passage of the Indian Removal Act. September 27 – Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek with Choctaw nation. (First removal treaty signed after the Removal Act.)
Major legislation
May 28, 1830: Indian Removal Act, ch. 148,
Not enacted
May 27, 1830: Maysville Road Bill vetoed
Treaties September 27, 1830: The Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek, the first removal treaty after the passage of the Indian Removal Act, is signed with the Choctaw. February 24, 1831: Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek proclaimed.
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
House of Representatives
Leadership
Senate President: John C. Calhoun (J) President pro tempore: Samuel Smith (J)
House of Representatives Speaker: Andrew Stevenson (J)
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 in the last Congress, facing re-election in 1832; Class 2 meant their term began with this Congress, facing re-election in 1834; and Class 3 meant their term ended with this Congress, facing re-election in 1830.
Alabama 2. William R. King (J) 3. John McKinley (J)
Connecticut 1. Samuel A. Foot (NR) 3. Calvin Willey (NR)
Delaware 1. Louis McLane (J), until April 16, 1829 Arnold Naudain (NR), from January 7, 1830 2. John M. Clayton (NR)
Georgia 2. George M. Troup (J) 3. John Macpherson Berrien (J), until March 9, 1829 John Forsyth (J), from November 9, 1829
Illinois 2. John McLean (J), until October 14, 1830 David J. Baker (J), November 12, 1830 – December 11, 1830 John M. Robinson (J), from December 11, 1830 3. Elias Kane (J)
Indiana 1. James Noble (NR), until February 26, 1831, vacant for remainder of term 3. William Hendricks (NR)
Kentucky 2. George M. Bibb (J) 3. John Rowan (J)
Louisiana 2. Edward Livingston (J) 3. Josiah S. Johnston (NR)
Maine 1. John Holmes (NR) 2. Peleg Sprague (NR)
Maryland 1. Samuel Smith (J) 3. Ezekiel F. Chambers (NR)
Massachusetts 1. Daniel Webster (NR) 2. Nathaniel Silsbee (NR)
Mississippi 1. Powhatan Ellis (J) 2. Thomas Buck Reed (J), until November 26, 1829 Robert H. Adams (J), January 6, 1830 – July 2, 1830 George Poindexter (J), from October 15, 1830
Missouri 1. Thomas H. Benton (J) 3. David Barton (NR)
New Hampshire 2. Samuel Bell (NR) 3. Levi Woodbury (J)
New Jersey 1. Mahlon Dickerson (J) 2. Theodore Frelinghuysen (NR)
New York 1. Charles E. Dudley (J) 3. Nathan Sanford (NR)
North Carolina 2. John Branch (J), until March 9, 1829 Bedford Brown (J), from December 9, 1829 3. James Iredell Jr. (J)
Ohio 1. Benjamin Ruggles (NR) 3. Jacob Burnet (NR)
Pennsylvania 1. Isaac D. Barnard (J) 3. William Marks (NR)
Rhode Island 1. Asher Robbins (NR) 2. Nehemiah R. Knight (NR)
South Carolina 2. Robert Y. Hayne (J) 3. William Smith (J)
Tennessee 1. John H. Eaton (J), until March 9, 1829 Felix Grundy (J), from October 19, 1829 2. Hugh Lawson White (J)
Vermont 1. Horatio Seymour (NR) 3. Dudley Chase (NR)
Virginia 1. John Tyler (J) 2. Littleton Waller Tazewell (J)
House of Representatives
Representatives are listed by their districts.
Alabama . Clement Comer Clay (J) . R. E. B. Baylor (J) . Dixon H. Lewis (J)
Connecticut All representatives were elected statewide on a general ticket. . Noyes Barber (NR) . William W. Ellsworth (NR) . Jabez W. Huntington (NR) . Ralph I. Ingersoll (NR) . William L. Storrs (NR) . Ebenezer Young (NR)
Delaware . Kensey Johns Jr. (NR)
Georgia All representatives were elected statewide on a general ticket. . Thomas F. Foster (J) . Charles E. Haynes (J) . Henry G. Lamar (J), from December 7, 1829 . Wilson Lumpkin (J) . Wiley Thompson (J) . James M. Wayne (J) . Richard Henry Wilde (J)
Illinois . Joseph Duncan (J)
Indiana . Ratliff Boon (J) . Jonathan Jennings (NR) . John Test (NR)
Kentucky . Henry Daniel (J) . Nicholas D. Coleman (J) . James Clark (NR) . Robert P. Letcher (NR) . Richard Mentor Johnson (J) . Joseph Lecompte (J) . John Kincaid (J) . Nathan Gaither (J) . Charles A. Wickliffe (J) . Joel Yancey (J) . Thomas Chilton (J) . Chittenden Lyon (J)
Louisiana . Edward D. White Sr. (NR) . Henry H. Gurley (NR) . Walter Hampden Overton (J)
Maine . Rufus McIntire (J) . John Anderson (J) . Joseph F. Wingate (NR) . George Evans (NR), from July 20, 1829 . James W. Ripley (J), until March 12, 1830 Cornelius Holland (J), from December 6, 1830 . Leonard Jarvis (J) . Samuel Butman (NR)
Maryland The 5th district was a plural district with two representatives. . Clement Dorsey (NR) . Benedict Joseph Semmes (NR) . George C. Washington (NR) . Michael C. Sprigg (J) . Elias Brown (J) . Benjamin Chew Howard (J) . George Edward Mitchell (J), from December 7, 1829 . Richard Spencer (J) . Ephraim King Wilson (J)
Massachusetts . Benjamin Gorham (NR) . Benjamin Williams Crowninshield (NR) . John Varnum (NR) . Edward Everett (NR) . John Davis (NR) . Joseph G. Kendall (NR) . George Grennell Jr. (NR) . Isaac C. Bates (NR) . Henry W. Dwight (NR) . John Bailey (NR) . Joseph Richardson (NR) . James L. Hodges (NR) . John Reed Jr. (NR)
Mississippi . Thomas Hinds (J)
Missouri . Spencer Pettis (J)
New Hampshire All representatives were elected statewide on a general ticket. . John Brodhead (J) . Thomas Chandler (J) . Joseph Hammons (J) . Jonathan Harvey (J) . Henry Hubbard (J) . John W. Weeks (J)
New Jersey All representatives were elected statewide on a general ticket. . Lewis Condict (NR) . Richard M. Cooper (NR) . Thomas H. Hughes (NR) . Isaac Pierson (NR) . James F. Randolph (NR) . Samuel Swan (NR)
New York There were three plural districts: the 20th and 26th had two representatives each, the 3rd had three representatives. . James Lent (J) . Jacob Crocheron (J) . Churchill C. Cambreleng (J) . Gulian C. Verplanck (J) . Campbell P. White (J) . Henry B. Cowles (NR) . Abraham Bockee (J) . Hector Craig (J), until July 12, 1830 Samuel W. Eager (NR), from November 2, 1830 . Charles G. DeWitt (J) . James Strong (NR) . John D. Dickinson (NR) . Ambrose Spencer (NR) . Perkins King (J) . Peter I. Borst (J) . William G. Angel (J) . Henry R. Storrs (NR) . Michael Hoffman (J) . Benedict Arnold (NR) . John W. Taylor (NR) . Henry C. Martindale (NR) . Isaac Finch (NR) . Joseph Hawkins (NR) . George Fisher (NR), until February 5, 1830 Jonah Sanford (J), from November 3, 1830 . Robert Monell (J), until February 21, 1831, vacant thereafter . Thomas Beekman (NR) . Jonas Earll Jr. (J) . Gershom Powers (J) . Thomas Maxwell (J) . Jehiel H. Halsey (J) . Robert S. Rose (Anti-M) . Timothy Childs (Anti-M) . John Magee (J) . Phineas L. Tracy (Anti-M) . Ebenezer F. Norton (J)
North Carolina . William Biddle Shepard (NR) . Willis Alston (J) . Thomas H. Hall (J) . Jesse Speight (J) . Gabriel Holmes (J), until September 26, 1829 Edward B. Dudley (J), from November 10, 1829 . Robert Potter (J) . Edmund Deberry (NR) . Daniel Laurens Barringer (J) . Augustine Henry Shepperd (J) . Abraham Rencher (J) . Henry William Connor (J) . Samuel Price Carson (J) . Lewis Williams (NR)
Ohio . James Findlay (J) . James Shields (J) . Joseph H. Crane (NR) . Joseph Vance (NR) . William Russell (J) . William Creighton Jr. (NR) . Samuel F. Vinton (NR) . William Stanbery (J) . William W. Irvin (J) . William Kennon Sr. (J) . John M. Goodenow (J), until April 9, 1830 Humphrey H. Leavitt (J), from December 6, 1830 . John Thomson (J) . Elisha Whittlesey (NR) . Mordecai Bartley (NR)
Pennsylvania There were six plural districts, the 7th, 8th, 11th & 16th had two representatives each, the 4th & 9th had three representatives each. . Joel B. Sutherland (J) . Joseph Hemphill (J) . Daniel H. Miller (J) . James Buchanan (J) . Joshua Evans Jr. (J) . George Gray Leiper (J) . John B. Sterigere (J) . Innis Green (J) . Joseph Fry Jr. (J) . Henry A. P. Muhlenberg (J) . Samuel D. Ingham (J), until March 1829 Peter Ihrie Jr. (J), from October 13, 1829 . George Wolf (J), until March 1829 Samuel A. Smith (J), from October 13, 1829 . James Ford (J) . Alem Marr (J) . Philander Stephens (J) . Adam King (J) . Thomas Hartley Crawford (J) . William Ramsey (J) . John Scott (J) . Chauncey Forward (J) . Thomas Irwin (J) . William McCreery (J) . Harmar Denny (Anti-M), from December 15, 1829, after William Wilkins resigned before qualifying . John Gilmore (J) . Richard Coulter (J) . Thomas H. Sill (NR)
Rhode Island Both representatives were elected statewide on a general ticket. . Tristam Burges (NR) . Dutee J. Pearce (NR)
South Carolina . William Drayton (J) . Robert Woodward Barnwell (J) . John Campbell (J) . William D. Martin (J) . George McDuffie (J) . Warren R. Davis (J) . William T. Nuckolls (J) . James Blair (J) . Starling Tucker (J)
Tennessee . John Blair (J) . Pryor Lea (J) . James Israel Standifer (J) . Jacob C. Isacks (J) . Robert Desha (J) . James K. Polk (J) . John Bell (J) . Cave Johnson (J) . Davy Crockett (NR)
Vermont . Jonathan Hunt (NR) . Rollin C. Mallary (NR) . Horace Everett (NR) . Benjamin Swift (NR) . William Cahoon (Anti-M)
Virginia . Thomas Newton Jr. (NR), until March 9, 1830 George Loyall (J), from March 9, 1830 . James Trezvant (J) . William S. Archer (J) . Mark Alexander (J) . Thomas T. Bouldin (J) . Thomas Davenport (J) . Nathaniel Claiborne (J) . Richard Coke Jr. (J) . Andrew Stevenson (J) . William Cabell Rives (J), until April 17, 1829 William F. Gordon (J), from January 25, 1830 . Philip P. Barbour (J), until October 15, 1830 John M. Patton (J), from November 25, 1830 . John Roane (J) . John Taliaferro (NR) . Charles F. Mercer (NR) . John S. Barbour (J) . William Armstrong (NR) . Robert Allen (J) . Philip Doddridge (NR)