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1788–89 United States House of Representatives elections

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The 1788–89 United States House of Representatives elections were the first U.S. House of Representatives elections following the adoption of the Constitution of the United States. Each state set its own date for its congressional elections, ranging from November 24, 1788, to March 5, 1789, before or after the first session of the 1st United States Congress convened on March 4, 1789. They coincided with the election of George Washington as the first president of the United States.

1788–89 United States House of Representatives elections
November 24, 1788 – March 5, 1789[a] 1790 & 1791 →
All 59 seats in the United States House of Representatives[a]
30 seats needed for a majority
  Majority party Minority party
 
Leader Frederick Muhlenberg James Madison
Party Pro-Administration Anti-Administration
Leader's seat Pennsylvania at-large Virginia 5th
Seats won 37[1][b] 28[1][b]
Results:[b]
     Pro-Administration gain      Anti-Administration gain
     Undistricted territory
Speaker before election

None (This was the first U.S. House of Representatives election)

 Elected Speaker

Frederick Muhlenberg
Pro-Administration

With the new form of government needing to be operational prior to the completion of the first national census, Article I, Section 1, Clause 3 of the U.S. Constitution set a temporary apportionment of seats. Among the original 13 states, 11 of them ratified the Constitution and elected 59 total representatives. North Carolina and Rhode Island did not ratify the Constitution until after the 1st Congress began, and consequently did not elect their representatives until 1790.

Actual political parties did not yet exist, but new members of Congress were informally categorized as either "pro-Administration" (i.e., pro-Washington and pro-Hamilton) or "anti-Administration".

The first session of the first House of Representatives came to order in Federal Hall, New York City on March 4, 1789, with only thirteen members present. The requisite quorum (thirty members out of fifty-nine) was not present until April 1, 1789. The first order of business was the election of a Speaker of the House. On the first ballot, Frederick Muhlenberg was elected Speaker by a majority of votes. The business of the first session was largely devoted to legislative procedure rather than policy.

Election summaries

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Article I, Section 1, Clause 3 of the U.S. Constitution set a temporary congressional apportionment until the first national census was completed in 1790.

In the 18th and much of the 19th century, each state set its own date for elections. In many years, elections were even held after the legal start of the Congress, although typically before the start of the first session. In the elections for the 1st Congress, five states held elections in 1788, electing a total of 29 Representatives, and six held elections in 1789, electing a total of 30 Representatives. Two states, North Carolina and Rhode Island, did not ratify the Constitution until November 21, 1789 and May 29, 1790 respectively, well after the Congress had met for the first time, and, consequently, elected representatives late, in 1790, leaving North Carolina unrepresented in the 1st session and Rhode Island in the 1st and 2nd sessions of a total of 3 sessions.

State Type Date ↑ Total
seats 		Anti-
Administration 		Pro-
Administration
General elections
South Carolina Districts November 24–25, 1788 5 3 2
Pennsylvania At-large November 26, 1788 8 2 6
New Hampshire At-large December 15, 1788[c] 3 1 2
Massachusetts Districts December 18, 1788[d] 8 2 6
Connecticut At-large December 22, 1788 5 0 5
Delaware At-large January 7, 1789 1 0 1
Maryland At-large / Districts[e] January 7–11, 1789 6 4 2
Virginia Districts February 2, 1789 10 7 3
Georgia At-large / Districts[f] February 9, 1789 3 3 0
New Jersey At-large February 11, 1789 4 0 4
New York Districts March 3–5, 1789 6 3 3
Late elections
North Carolina Districts February 1790 5 3 2
Rhode Island At-large August 31, 1790 1 0 1
Total[b] 65 28
43.1% 		37
56.9%
House seats
Pro-Admin
 
 56.92%
Anti-Admin
 
 43.08%

House composition

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Beginning of the 1st Congress

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  A A A A A A A A A
A A A A A A A A A A
A A A A A A P P P P
Majority → P
P P P P P P P P P P
P P P P P P P P P P
  P P P P P P P P P
     

End of the 1st Congress (1791)

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Six seats were filled late because North Carolina and Rhode Island ratified the Constitution late. One pro-Administration representative resigned and the seat remained open at the end of the Congress.

A A
A A A A A A A A A A
A A A A A A A A A A
A A A A A A V P P P
Majority → P
P P P P P P P P P P
P P P P P P P P P P
P P P P P P P P P P
P P
Key:
A = Anti-Administration
P = Pro-Administration
V = Vacant

Special election

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This was the first special election to the United States House of Representatives.

See also: Special elections to the United States House of Representatives
District Incumbent This race
Member Party First elected Results Candidates
New Hampshire at-large Benjamin West Pro-Administration 1788/89 Member-elect (see below) chose not to serve.
New member elected June 22, 1789.
Pro-Administration hold.

Connecticut

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Main article: 1788 United States House of Representatives election in Connecticut
See also: List of United States representatives from Connecticut
District Result Candidates
Connecticut at-large
5 seats on a general ticket 		Pro-Administration win.
Pro-Administration win.
Pro-Administration win.
Pro-Administration win.
Pro-Administration win.

Delaware

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Main article: 1789 United States House of Representatives election in Delaware
See also: List of United States representatives from Delaware

Delaware had a single representative. The election was held January 7, 1789.[3] Under the law at the time, each voter cast two votes for representative, at least one of whom had to be from a different county.[3]

District Result Candidates
Delaware at-large Pro-Administration win.

Georgia

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Main article: 1789 United States House of Representatives elections in Georgia
See also: List of United States representatives from Georgia

Georgia had a mixed at-large/district system for the 1st Congress. Representatives were elected at-large, but for three district-based seats.

District Result Candidates
Georgia 1
"Lower district" 		Anti-Administration win.
Others
Georgia 2
"Middle district" 		Anti-Administration win.
Others
Georgia 3
"Upper district" 		Anti-Administration win.
Others

Maryland

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Main article: 1789 United States House of Representatives elections in Maryland
See also: List of United States representatives from Maryland

Maryland had a mixed district/at-large system similar to Georgia's. Under Maryland law, "candidates were elected at-large but had to be residents of a specific district with the statewide vote determining winners from each district."[4]

District Result Candidates
Maryland 1 Anti-Administration win.
Maryland 2 Anti-Administration win.
Maryland 3 Anti-Administration win.
Maryland 4 Anti-Administration win.
Maryland 5 Pro-Administration win.
Maryland 6 Pro-Administration win.

Massachusetts

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Main article: 1788–1789 United States House of Representatives elections in Massachusetts
See also: List of United States representatives from Massachusetts
Massachusetts House Elections, December 18, 1788 – May 11, 1789
Party Candidate Votes %
Pro-Administration 6 elected 6,232 54.4
Anti-Administration 2 elected 5,228 45.6

Massachusetts required a majority vote, necessitating additional votes if no one won a majority. This was necessary in 4 of the districts.

In the fourth district,

The first election in the district was in part a reflection of the rivalry between Hampshire and Berkshire counties. Berkshire was the less populous county, but four of the six candidates who received the most votes - Theodore Sedgwick, William Whiting, Thompson J. Skinner, and William Williams - were residents of the county. The two Hampshire candidates were Samuel Lyman and John Worthington. The first election did not reflect the fact that the two counties were centers of agrarian discontent and of support for Shays's Rebellion. Nor did it reflect the fact that in the state Convention the Hampshire delegates voted 32 to 19 and the Berkshire delegates voted 16 to 6 against ratification of the Constitution. Only Whiting was regarded as a Shaysite and an Anti-Federalist, while the other five men were Federalists - and two of these - Worthington and Williams - had been virtual if not actual Loyalists during the Revolution. The issue of amendments to the Constitution was not raised during the first election in the district, but it became so important in the ensuing elections that Theodore Sedgwick, who opposed amendments, publicly promised to support them before the fifth election, which he won.

— The Documentary History of the First Federal Elections: 1788-1790. Vol. I. p. 603.

In the fifth district,

The only problem was whether Partridge could retain his post of sheriff of Plymouth County and accept a seat in Congress, as he had done in 1779-1782 and 1783-1785. He received a certificate from Governor Hancock on 10 January notifying him of his election. Partridge wrote three letters to the Governor. In the first, which he apparently did not send, he refused the appointment. He accepted in the two following letters but explained that he would not take the seat if he had to give up his post as sheriff (12, 20 January, 23 February). The issue of whether or not a state officeholder could retain a state post and still serve in Congress had been and would be raised in other states. On 12 February Governor Hancock asked his Council for advice about Partridge and about George Leonard, judge of probate in Bristol County, who had been elected to Congress from the Bristol-Dukes-Nantucket District. The Council replied in writing the same day that it was 'inexpedient' for a man to hold the office of judge of probate and a seat in Congress, but that it did not find anything in the state constitution which prevented a sheriff from also being a member of Congress. The Council advised, however, that it would be inexpedient to introduce the practice of sheriffs being absent for long periods although Partridge 'may at present be indulged' and take a seat in Congress 'consistently with the safety of that county' (Council Proceedings, Thursday 12 February, M-Ar). The next day Governor Hancock sent the Council's written reply to the legislature and asked for its advice (13 February, Miscellaneous Legislative Documents, House Files, M-Ar). The two houses appointed a joint committee which wrote a report that was approved and sent to the Governor on Monday, 16 February. The legislature declared that if George Leonard continued to hold the office of judge of probate and also took a seat on Congress, any future legislature would address the Governor authorizing him and the Council to appoint another person judge of probate in Bristol County. But the legislature refused to give advice about George Partridge. It pointed out that sheriffs served during the pleasure of the governor, and (with the advice of his Council) were removable by him at any time. Sheriffs were not removable in any other way except through impeachment by the House and a trial before and conviction by the Senate. Therefore the House and Senate declared that intervention by the legislature was 'neither necessary or proper; and from the conduct and advice of your Council, they see no reason to doubt the wisdom of that constitutional provision' (House and Senate Proceedings, 13, 14, 16 February).

— The Documentary History of the First Federal Elections: 1788-1790. Vol. I. pp. 575–76.

In the eighth district,

It was evident before the elections were completed in Worcester District that a candidate who did not support amendments to the Constitution had no chance of winning. The three leading candidates in the three Worcester District elections were Jonathan Grout, Timothy Paine, and Artemas Ward. Grout, a local leader during the Revolution, had voted against ratification of the Constitution and in 1788 was a member of the legislature. Paine, a prominent officeholder in the county for two decades before the Revolution, had been appointed to the Royal Council in 1774. Unlike most 'mandamus councillors,' he did not become a Loyalist. By 1788 he had regained much of his influence in the town of Worcester. Ward had been appointed commanding general of Massachusetts troops after Lexington and Concord, he remained in charge until George Washington was appointed commander-in-chief of the Continental Army in July 1775. The popular Ward resigned his commission in April 1776 and returned to state politics. The past records of these three men did not become a public issue until shortly before the third and final election.
...
AS in the two previous election, the two Worcester newspapers, with one exception, printed nothing until their last issues before the election on 2 March. The exception consisted of two items (one of which supported Timothy Paine) in the Massachusetts Spy on 19 February. Then on 26 February the Massachusetts Spy published five articles. Two of them supported Jonathan Grout, one supported Artemas Ward, one backed Timothy Paine, and the fifth did not mention any names. On the same day the American Herald published four items. One supported Grout, one opposed Paine because he had been a mandamus councillor, and the other two items urged that he be elected. The issue of Paine's appointment as a mandamus councillor by the British government in 1774 had been brought up for the first time by the Boston Independent Chronicle, 12 February, and not by the Worcester newspapers. Despite the ambivalence of the newspapers, there was a considerable increase of interest, for the vote almost doubled over the first election on 18 December 1788: from 1,886 to 3,484. Grout was elected Representative by a decisive majority. Artemas Ward, who ran a poor third in each of the three elections, finally defeated Grout in the election to the second Congress in 1791. Paine was elected to the state House of Representatives in 1789.

— The Documentary History of the First Federal Elections: 1788-1790. Vol. I. pp. 601, 676.
District Result Candidates[i]
Massachusetts 1 Pro-Administration win.
Massachusetts 2 Pro-Administration win.
First ballot (December 18, 1788)
Second ballot (January 29, 1789)
Massachusetts 3 Anti-Administration win.
First ballot (December 18, 1788)
Second ballot (January 29, 1789)
Massachusetts 4 Pro-Administration win.
First ballot (December 18, 1788)
Second ballot (January 29, 1789)
Third ballot (March 2, 1789)
Fourth ballot (March 30, 1789)
  • ▌Theodore Sedgwick (Pro-Admin.) 1,649 votes (47.0%)
  • ▌Samuel Lyman (Pro-Admin.) 1,382 votes (39.3%)
  • ▌William Whiting (Unknown) 468 votes (11.7%)
  • Scattering: 64 votes
Fifth ballot (May 11, 1789)
Massachusetts 5 Pro-Administration win.
Massachusetts 6 Pro-Administration win.
Massachusetts 7 Pro-Administration win.
Massachusetts 8 Anti-Administration win.
First ballot (December 18, 1788)
Second ballot (January 29, 1789)
Third ballot (March 2, 1789)

New Hampshire

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Main article: 1788–1789 United States House of Representatives election in New Hampshire
See also: List of United States representatives from New Hampshire

New Hampshire law required a winning candidate to receive votes from a majority of voters (16.7% of votes). No candidate won such a majority on the first ballot, so a second ballot was held February 2, 1789.

District Result Candidates
New Hampshire at-large
3 seats on a general ticket 		Pro-Administration win.
West winner chose not to serve before the start of the Congress.
A special election was held June 22, 1789; see above.
First ballot (December 15, 1788)
Second ballot (February 2, 1789)
Anti-Administration win.
Pro-Administration win.

New Jersey

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Main article: 1789 United States House of Representatives election in New Jersey
See also: List of United States representatives from New Jersey
District Result Candidates[i]
New Jersey at-large
4 seats on a general ticket 		Pro-Administration win.
Pro-Administration win.
Pro-Administration win.
Pro-Administration win.

The election of all four representatives was contested, but the records that explained the precise grounds on which the election was contested have been lost due to the burning of Washington in the War of 1812. It is known to have related to questions of regularity and procedure. All four representatives' elections were ruled valid.[5]

New York

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Main article: 1789 United States House of Representatives elections in New York
See also: List of United States representatives from New York

New York held elections to the 1st Congress on March 3 and 4, 1789. At the time, districts were unnumbered. They are retroactively numbered in this section.

District Result Candidates
New York 1 Anti-Administration win.
New York 2 Pro-Administration win.
New York 3 Pro-Administration win.
New York 4 Anti-Administration win.
New York 5 Pro-Administration win.
New York 6 Anti-Administration win.

North Carolina

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See also: List of United States representatives from North Carolina

North Carolina ratified the Constitution late and thus elected representatives to the 1st Congress in 1790.

Pennsylvania

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Main article: 1788 United States House of Representatives election in Pennsylvania
See also: List of United States representatives from Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania held elections to the 1st Congress on November 26, 1788. For this first election (and again in 1792 election for the 3rd Congress), Pennsylvania chose to elect all of its representatives on a single statewide general ticket, an attempt by the pro-Administration-majority legislature to prevent anti-Administration candidates from winning seats.

District Result Candidates[7]
Pennsylvania at-large
8 seats on a general ticket 		Pro-Administration win.
Pro-Administration win.
Pro-Administration win.
Pro-Administration win.
Pro-Administration win.
Pro-Administration win.
Anti-Administration win.
Anti-Administration win.

Rhode Island

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Main article: August 1790 United States House of Representatives election in Rhode Island
See also: List of United States representatives from Rhode Island

Rhode Island ratified the Constitution late and thus elected representatives to the 1st Congress in 1790.

South Carolina

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Main article: 1788 United States House of Representatives elections in South Carolina
See also: List of United States representatives from South Carolina
District Result Candidates[i]
South Carolina 1
"Charleston Division" 		Pro-Administration win.
South Carolina 2
"Beaufort Division" 		Anti-Administration win.
South Carolina 3
"Georgetown Division" 		Pro-Administration win.
South Carolina 4
"Camden Division" 		Anti-Administration win.
South Carolina 5
"Ninety-Six Division" 		Anti-Administration win.

In the 1st district, William L. Smith (Pro-Administration)'s election was contested by David Ramsay (Pro-Administration) who claimed that Smith had not been a citizen for the required 7 years at the time of his election, the House Committee on Elections ruled in Smith's favor [5]

Virginia

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Main article: 1789 United States House of Representatives elections in Virginia
See also: List of United States representatives from Virginia
District Result Candidates[8]
Virginia 1 Pro-Administration win.
Virginia 2 Anti-Administration win.
Virginia 3 Anti-Administration win.
Virginia 4 Pro-Administration win.
Virginia 5 Anti-Administration win.
Virginia 6 Anti-Administration win.
Virginia 7 Anti-Administration win.
Virginia 8 Anti-Administration win.
Virginia 9 Anti-Administration win.
Others
  • ▌Thomas Rivers (Unknown) 1.5%
  • ▌Sterling Edmunds (Unknown)
  • ▌Thomas Stith (Unknown)
  • ▌Charles B. Jones (Unknown)
  • ▌Creed Taylor (Unknown)
  • ▌William Ronald (Unknown)
  • ▌William Macon (Unknown)
Virginia 10 Pro-Administration win.

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ a b Not including the six seats were added by North Carolina and Rhode Island after the start of this Congress.
  2. ^ a b c d Includes late elections: North Carolina and Rhode Island ratified the United States Constitution after the 1st Congress had started to meet, and did not hold their elections for U.S. representatives until February and August 1790, respectively.
  3. ^ New Hampshire had a majority vote requirement for election. No representatives were elected in the general election and three were returned at a subsequent trial held February 2, 1789.
  4. ^ Massachusetts had a majority vote requirement for election. Four representatives were elected in the general election and four in subsequent trials, a total of 5 trials had to be held between January 29, 1789 and May 11, 1789.
  5. ^ Maryland had six representatives elected by the whole state electorate, who had to choose one candidate from each district.
  6. ^ Georgia had three representatives elected by the whole state electorate, who had to choose one candidate from each district.
  7. ^ a b c d Party affiliation not available
  8. ^ a b c d Source does not give numbers of votes.
  9. ^ a b c Only candidates with at least 1% of the vote listed.

References

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  1. ^ a b "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. ^ "Our Campaigns - NH At-Large - Special Race - Jun 22, 1789". www.ourcampaigns.com. Retrieved November 6, 2019.
  3. ^ a b c "A New Nation Votes: American Election Returns 1787-1825 - Delaware 1789 U.S. House of Representatives". Tufts Digital Library, Tufts University. Archived from the original on January 29, 2015. Retrieved June 3, 2018.
  4. ^ "A New Nation Votes: American Election Returns 1787-1825 - Maryland 1789 U.S. House of Representatives". Tufts Digital Library, Tufts University. Archived from the original on March 5, 2016. Retrieved January 17, 2015.
  5. ^ a b "First Congress March 4, 1789, to March 3, 1791 [membership roster]" (PDF). artandhistory.house.gov. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 5, 2014. Retrieved January 17, 2015.
  6. ^ DenBoer, Gordon, ed. (1986). The Documentary History of the First Federal Elections, 1788-1790. Vol. III. University of Wisconsin Press. p. 512. ISBN 9780299106508.
  7. ^ "1st Congress 1789-1791 At Large Election" (PDF). Wilkes University Elections Statistics Project. January 16, 2007. Retrieved January 17, 2015.
  8. ^ "Virginia Elections Database » Virginia Election Results and Statistics". Virginia Elections Database. Retrieved 2024-09-06.

Bibliography

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