27th United States Congress

The 27th 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., between March 4, 1841, and March 4, 1843, during the one-month presidency of William Henry Harrison and the first two years of the presidency of his successor, John Tyler. The apportionment of seats in the House of Representatives was based on the 1830 United States census. Both chambers had a Whig majority, making the 27th Congress the only Whig-controlled Congress of the Second Party System.

Major events

March 4, 1841: William Henry Harrison was inaugurated as President of the United States April 4, 1841: President Harrison died and Vice President John Tyler became President August 16, 1841: President Tyler's veto of a bill to re-establish the Second Bank of the United States led Whig Party members to riot outside the White House in the most violent demonstration on White House grounds in U.S. history. May 19, 1842: Dorr Rebellion December 17, 1842: Samuel W. Trotti of South Carolina, became the first Italian American to serve in Congress.

Major legislation

April 19, 1841: Bankruptcy Act of 1841, ch. 9, September 4, 1841: Preemption Act of 1841, ch. 16, August 4, 1842: Armed Occupation Act, August 30, 1842: Tariff of 1842 ("Black Tariff"), ch. 270,

Treaties August 9, 1842: Webster-Ashburton Treaty signed, establishing the United States–Canada border east of the Rocky Mountains.

Party summary Senate

House of Representatives

Leadership

Senate President: John Tyler (W), until April 4, 1841, thereafter vacant Presidents pro tempore: William R. King (D), elected March 4, 1841 Samuel L. Southard (W), elected March 11, 1841 Willie P. Mangum (W), elected May 31, 1842

House of Representatives Speaker: John D. White (W)

Members This list is arranged by chamber, then by state. Senators are listed in order of seniority, 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, requiring re-election in 1844; Class 2 meant their term began with this Congress, requiring re-election in 1846; and Class 3 meant their term ended with this Congress, requiring re-election in 1842.

Alabama 2. William R. King (D) 3. Clement C. Clay (D), until November 15, 1841 Arthur P. Bagby (D), from November 24, 1841

Arkansas 2. William Fulton (D) 3. Ambrose Sevier (D)

Connecticut 1. Jabez W. Huntington (W) 3. Perry Smith (D)

Delaware 1. Richard H. Bayard (W) 2. Thomas Clayton (W)

Georgia 2. John Macpherson Berrien (W) 3. Alfred Cuthbert (D)

Illinois 2. Samuel McRoberts (D) 3. Richard M. Young (D)

Indiana 1. Albert S. White (W) 3. Oliver H. Smith (W)

Kentucky 2. James T. Morehead (W) 3. Henry Clay (W), until March 31, 1842 John J. Crittenden (W), from March 31, 1842

Louisiana 2. Alexander Barrow (W) 3. Alexander Mouton (D), until March 1, 1842 Charles M. Conrad (W), from April 14, 1842

Maine 1. Reuel Williams (D), until February 15, 1843 2. George Evans (W)

Maryland 1. William D. Merrick (W) 3. John L. Kerr (W)

Massachusetts 1. Rufus Choate (W) 2. Isaac C. Bates (W)

Michigan 1. Augustus S. Porter (W) 2. William Woodbridge (W)

Mississippi 1. John Henderson (W) 2. Robert J. Walker (D)

Missouri 1. Thomas H. Benton (D) 3. Lewis F. Linn (D)

New Hampshire 2. Levi Woodbury (D) 3. Franklin Pierce (D), until February 28, 1842 Leonard Wilcox (D), from March 1, 1842

New Jersey 1. Samuel L. Southard (W), until June 26, 1842 William L. Dayton (W), from July 2, 1842 2. Jacob W. Miller (W)

New York 1. Nathaniel P. Tallmadge (W) 3. Silas Wright Jr. (D)

North Carolina 2. Willie P. Mangum (W) 3. William A. Graham (W)

Ohio 1. Benjamin Tappan (D) 3. William Allen (D)

Pennsylvania 1. Daniel Sturgeon (D) 3. James Buchanan (D)

Rhode Island 1. Nathan Dixon (W), until January 29, 1842 William Sprague III (W), from February 18, 1842 2. James F. Simmons (W)

South Carolina 2. John C. Calhoun (D) 3. William C. Preston (W), until November 29, 1842 George McDuffie (D), from December 23, 1842

Tennessee 1. Alfred O. P. Nicholson (D), until February 7, 1842 2. vacant

Vermont 1. Samuel S. Phelps (W) 3. Samuel Prentiss (W), until April 11, 1842 Samuel C. Crafts (W), from April 23, 1842

Virginia 1. William C. Rives (W) 2. William S. Archer (W)

House of Representatives

Alabama All representatives were elected statewide on a general ticket. . Reuben Chapman (D) . George S. Houston (D) . Dixon H. Lewis (D) . William W. Payne (D) . Benjamin Shields (D)

Arkansas . Edward Cross (D)

Connecticut . Joseph Trumbull (W) . William W. Boardman (W) . Thomas W. Williams (W) . Thomas B. Osborne (W) . Truman Smith (W) . John H. Brockway (W)

Delaware . George B. Rodney (W)

Georgia All representatives were elected statewide on a general ticket. . Julius C. Alford (W), until October 1, 1841 Edward J. Black (D), from January 3, 1842 . William C. Dawson (W), until November 13, 1841 Walter T. Colquitt (D), from January 3, 1842 . Thomas F. Foster (W) . Roger L. Gamble (W) . Richard W. Habersham (W), until December 2, 1842 George W. Crawford (W), from January 7, 1843 . Thomas Butler King (W) . James Meriwether (W) . Eugenius Nisbet (W), until October 12, 1841 Mark A. Cooper (D), from January 3, 1842 . Lott Warren (W)

Illinois . John Reynolds (D) . Zadok Casey (Ind. D) . John T. Stuart (W)

Indiana . George H. Proffit (W) . Richard W. Thompson (W) . Joseph L. White (W) . James H. Cravens (W) . Andrew Kennedy (D) . David Wallace (W) . Henry S. Lane (W)

Kentucky . Linn Boyd (D) . Philip Triplett (W) . Joseph R. Underwood (W) . Bryan Owsley (W) . John B. Thompson (W) . Willis Green (W) . John Pope (W) . James Sprigg (W) . John White (W) . Thomas F. Marshall (W) . Landaff W. Andrews (W) . Garrett Davis (W) . William O. Butler (D)

Louisiana . Edward D. White (W) . John B. Dawson (D) . John Moore (W)

Maine . Nathan Clifford (D) . William P. Fessenden (W) . Benjamin Randall (W) . David Bronson (W), from May 31, 1841 . Nathaniel Littlefield (D) . Alfred Marshall (D) . Joshua A. Lowell (D) . Elisha Allen (W)

Maryland The 4th district was a plural district with two representatives. . Isaac Jones (W) . James A. Pearce (W) . James W. Williams (D), until December 2, 1842 Charles S. Sewall (D), from January 2, 1843 . John P. Kennedy (W) . Alexander Randall (W) . William Cost Johnson (W) . John Mason (D) . Augustus R. Sollers (W)

Massachusetts . Robert C. Winthrop (W), until May 25, 1842 Nathan Appleton (W), from June 9, 1842, until September 28, 1842 Robert C. Winthrop (W), from November 29, 1842 . Leverett Saltonstall I (W) . Caleb Cushing (W) . William Parmenter (D) . Levi Lincoln Jr. (W), until March 16, 1841 Charles Hudson (W), from May 3, 1841 . Osmyn Baker (W) . George N. Briggs (W) . William B. Calhoun (W) . William S. Hastings (W), until June 17, 1842 . Nathaniel B. Borden (W) . Barker Burnell (W) . John Quincy Adams (W)

Michigan . Jacob M. Howard (W)

Mississippi All representatives were elected statewide on a general ticket. . William M. Gwin (D) . Jacob Thompson (D)

Missouri All representatives were elected statewide on a general ticket. . John C. Edwards (D) . John Miller (D)

New Hampshire All representatives were elected statewide on a general ticket. . Charles G. Atherton (D) . Edmund Burke (D) . Ira A. Eastman (D) . John R. Reding (D) . Tristram Shaw (D)

New Jersey All representatives were elected statewide on a general ticket. . John B. Aycrigg (W) . William Halstead (W) . John P. B. Maxwell (W) . Joseph F. Randolph (W) . Charles C. Stratton (W) . Thomas J. Yorke (W)

New York There were four plural districts, the 8th, 17th, 22nd & 23rd had two representatives each, the 3rd had four representatives. . Charles A. Floyd (D) . Joseph Egbert (D) . Charles G. Ferris (D) . John McKeon (D) . James I. Roosevelt (D) . Fernando Wood (D) . Aaron Ward (D) . Richard D. Davis (D) . James G. Clinton (D) . John Van Buren (D) . Jacob Houck Jr. (D) . Robert McClellan (D) . Hiram P. Hunt (W) . Daniel D. Barnard (W) . Archibald L. Linn (W) . Bernard Blair (W) . Thomas A. Tomlinson (W) . Henry Bell Van Rensselaer (W) . John Sanford (D) . Andrew W. Doig (D) . David P. Brewster (D) . John G. Floyd (D) . Thomas C. Chittenden (W) . Samuel S. Bowne (D) . Samuel Gordon (D) . John C. Clark (W) . Samuel Partridge (D) . Lewis Riggs (D) . Victory Birdseye (W) . A. Lawrence Foster (W) . Christopher Morgan (W) . John Maynard (W) . Francis Granger (W), until March 5, 1841 John Greig (W), from May 21, 1841, until September 25, 1841 Francis Granger (W), from November 27, 1841 . William M. Oliver (D) . Timothy Childs (W) . Seth M. Gates (W) . John Young (W) . Staley N. Clarke (W) . Millard Fillmore (W) . Alfred Babcock (W)

North Carolina . Kenneth Rayner (W) . John R. J. Daniel (D) . Edward Stanly (W) . William Washington (W) . James I. McKay (D) . Archibald H. Arrington (D) . Edmund Deberry (W) . Romulus M. Saunders (D) . Augustine H. Shepperd (W) . Abraham Rencher (W) . Greene Caldwell (D) . James Graham (W) . Lewis Williams (W), until February 23, 1842 Anderson Mitchell (W), from April 27, 1842

Ohio . Nathanael G. Pendleton (W) . John B. Weller (D) . Patrick Goode (W) . Jeremiah Morrow (W) . William Doan (D) . Calvary Morris (W) . William Russell (W) . Joseph Ridgway (W) . William Medill (D) . Samson Mason (W) . Benjamin S. Cowen (W) . Joshua Mathiot (W) . James Mathews (D) . George Sweeny (D) . Sherlock Andrews (W) . Joshua R. Giddings (W), until March 22, 1842, and from December 5, 1842 . John Hastings (D) . Ezra Dean (D) . Samuel Stokely (W)

Pennsylvania There were two plural districts, the 2nd had two representatives, the 4th had three representatives. . Charles Brown (D) . George W. Toland (W) . John Sergeant (W), until September 15, 1841 Joseph R. Ingersoll (W), from October 12, 1841 . Charles J. Ingersoll (D) . Jeremiah Brown (W) . John Edwards (W) . Francis James (W) . Joseph Fornance (D) . Robert Ramsey (W) . John Westbrook (D) . Peter Newhard (D) . George M. Keim (D) . William Simonton (W) . James Gerry (D) . James Cooper (W) . Amos Gustine (D) . James Irvin (W) . Benjamin A. Bidlack (D) . John Snyder (D) . Davis Dimock Jr. (D), until January 13, 1842 Almon H. Read (D), from March 18, 1842 . Charles Ogle (W), until May 10, 1841 Henry Black (W), from June 28, 1841, until November 28, 1841 James M. Russell (W), from December 21, 1841 . Albert G. Marchand (D) . Enos Hook (D), until April 18, 1841 Henry W. Beeson (D), from May 31, 1841 . Joseph Lawrence (W), until April 17, 1842 Thomas M. T. McKennan (W), from May 30, 1842 . William W. Irwin (W) . William Jack (D) . Thomas Henry (W) . Arnold Plumer (D)

Rhode Island Both representatives were elected statewide on a general ticket. . Robert B. Cranston (W) . Joseph L. Tillinghast (W)

South Carolina . Isaac E. Holmes (D) . Robert Rhett (D) . John Campbell (D) . Sampson H. Butler (D), until September 27, 1842 Samuel W. Trotti (D), from December 17, 1842 . Francis W. Pickens (D) . William Butler (W) . James Rogers (D) . Thomas D. Sumter (D) . Patrick C. Caldwell (D)

Tennessee . Thomas D. Arnold (W) . Abraham McClellan (D) . Joseph L. Williams (W) . Thomas Campbell (W) . Hopkins L. Turney (D) . William B. Campbell (W)