20th United States Congress

The 20th 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, 1827, to March 4, 1829, during the third and fourth years of John Quincy Adams'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

December 3, 1828: U.S. presidential election, 1828: Challenger Andrew Jackson beat incumbent John Quincy Adams and was elected President of the United States

Major legislation

May 24, 1828: Tariff of Abominations, ch. 111,

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 with this Congress, facing re-election in 1832; Class 2 meant their term ended with this Congress, facing re-election in 1828; and Class 3 meant their term began in the last 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) 2. Henry M. Ridgely (J)

Georgia 2. Thomas W. Cobb (J), until November 7, 1828 Oliver H. Prince (J), from November 7, 1828 3. John Macpherson Berrien (J)

Illinois 2. Jesse B. Thomas (NR) 3. Elias K. Kane (J)

Indiana 1. James Noble (NR) 3. William Hendricks (NR)

Kentucky 2. Richard M. Johnson (J) 3. John Rowan (J)

Louisiana 2. Dominique J. Bouligny (NR) 3. Josiah S. Johnston (NR)

Maine 1. Albion K. Parris (J), until August 26, 1828 John Holmes (NR), from January 15, 1829 2. John Chandler (J)

Maryland 1. Samuel Smith (J) 3. Ezekiel F. Chambers (NR)

Massachusetts 1. Daniel Webster (NR), from June 8, 1827 2. Nathaniel Silsbee (NR)

Mississippi 1. Powhatan Ellis (J) 2. Thomas H. Williams (J)

Missouri 1. Thomas H. Benton (J) 3. David Barton (NR)

New Hampshire 2. Samuel Bell (NR) 3. Levi Woodbury (J)

New Jersey 1. Ephraim Bateman (NR), until January 12, 1829 Mahlon Dickerson (J), from January 30, 1829 2. Mahlon Dickerson (J), until January 30, 1829, vacant thereafter

New York 1. Martin Van Buren (J), until December 20, 1828 Charles E. Dudley (J), from January 15, 1829 3. Nathan Sanford (NR)

North Carolina 2. John Branch (J) 3. Nathaniel Macon (J), until November 14, 1828 James Iredell Jr. (J), from December 15, 1828

Ohio 1. Benjamin Ruggles (NR) 3. William Henry Harrison (NR), until May 20, 1828 Jacob Burnet (NR), from December 10, 1828

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) 2. Hugh Lawson White (J)

Vermont 1. Horatio Seymour (NR) 3. Dudley Chase (NR)

Virginia 1. John Tyler (J) 2. Littleton W. Tazewell (J)

House of Representatives

The names of representatives are preceded by their district numbers.

Alabama . Gabriel Moore (J) . John McKee (J) . George W. Owen (J)

Connecticut All representatives were elected statewide on a general ticket. . John Baldwin (NR) . Noyes Barber (NR) . Ralph I. Ingersoll (NR) . Orange Merwin (NR) . Elisha Phelps (NR) . David Plant (NR)

Delaware . Kensey Johns Jr. (NR), from October 2, 1827

Georgia Two representatives replacing those who had resigned were elected statewide on a general ticket. . Edward F. Tattnall (J), until sometime in 1827 George R. Gilmer (J), from October 1, 1827 . John Forsyth (J), until November 7, 1827 Richard Henry Wilde (J), from November 17, 1827 . Wiley Thompson (J) . Wilson Lumpkin (J) . Charles E. Haynes (J) . Tomlinson Fort (J) . John Floyd (J)

Illinois . Joseph Duncan (J)

Indiana . Thomas H. Blake (NR) . Jonathan Jennings (NR) . Oliver H. Smith (J)

Kentucky . Henry Daniel (J) . Thomas Metcalfe (NR), until June 1, 1828 John Chambers (NR), from December 1, 1828 . James Clark (NR) . Robert P. Letcher (NR) . Robert L. McHatton (J) . Joseph Lecompte (J) . Thomas P. Moore (J) . Richard A. Buckner (NR) . Charles A. Wickliffe (J) . Joel Yancey (J) . William S. Young (NR), until September 20, 1827 John Calhoon (NR), November 5, 1827 – November 7, 1827 Thomas Chilton (J), from December 22, 1827 . Chittenden Lyon (J)

Louisiana . Edward Livingston (J) . Henry H. Gurley (NR) . William L. Brent (NR)

Maine . William Burleigh (NR), until July 2, 1827 Rufus McIntire (J), from September 10, 1827 . John Anderson (J) . Joseph F. Wingate (NR) . Peleg Sprague (NR) . James W. Ripley (J) . Jeremiah O'Brien (NR) . Samuel Butman (NR)

Maryland The 5th district was a plural district with two representatives. . Clement Dorsey (NR) . John C. Weems (J) . George C. Washington (NR) . Michael C. Sprigg (J) . John Barney (NR) . Peter Little (NR) . Levin Gale (J) . John L. Kerr (NR) . Ephraim K. Wilson (NR)

Massachusetts . Daniel Webster (NR), until May 30, 1827 Benjamin Gorham (NR), from July 23, 1827 . Benjamin W. Crowninshield (NR) . John Varnum (NR) . Edward Everett (NR) . John Davis (NR) . John Locke (NR) . Samuel C. Allen (NR) . Isaac C. Bates (NR) . Henry W. Dwight (NR) . John Bailey (NR) . Joseph Richardson (NR) . James L. Hodges (NR) . John Reed Jr. (NR)

Mississippi . William Haile (J), until September 12, 1828 Thomas Hinds (J), from October 21, 1828

Missouri . Edward Bates (NR)

New Hampshire All representatives were elected statewide on a general ticket. . David Barker Jr. (NR) . Ichabod Bartlett (NR) . Titus Brown (NR) . Jonathan Harvey (J) . Joseph Healy (NR) . Thomas Whipple Jr. (NR)

New Jersey All representatives were elected statewide on a general ticket. . Lewis Condict (NR) . George Holcombe (J), until January 14, 1828 James F. Randolph (NR), from December 1, 1828 . Isaac Pierson (NR) . Samuel Swan (NR) . Hedge Thompson (NR), until July 23, 1828 Thomas Sinnickson (NR), from December 1, 1828 . Ebenezer Tucker (NR)

New York There were three plural districts: the 20th & 26th had two representatives each, and the 3rd had three representatives. . Silas Wood (NR) . John J. Wood (J) . Churchill C. Cambreleng (J) . Jeromus Johnson (J) . Gulian C. Verplanck (J) . Aaron Ward (NR) . Thomas J. Oakley (J), until May 9, 1828 Thomas Taber II (J), from November 5, 1828 . John Hallock Jr. (J) . George O. Belden (J) . James Strong (NR) . John D. Dickinson (NR) . Stephen Van Rensselaer (NR) . Selah R. Hobbie (J) . John I. De Graff (J) . Samuel Chase (NR) . Henry R. Storrs (NR) . Michael Hoffman (J) . Henry Markell (NR) . John W. Taylor (NR) . Henry C. Martindale (NR) . Richard Keese (J) . Rudolph Bunner (J) . Silas Wright Jr. (J), until February 16, 1829, vacant thereafter . John C. Clark (J) . John G. Stower (J) . Jonas Earll Jr. (J) . Nathaniel Garrow (J) . David Woodcock (NR) . Dudley Marvin (NR) . John Maynard (NR) . Daniel D. Barnard (NR) . John Magee (J) . David E. Evans (J), until May 2, 1827 Phineas L. Tracy (NR), from November 5, 1827 . Daniel G. Garnsey (J)

North Carolina . Lemuel Sawyer (J) . Willis Alston (J) . Thomas H. Hall (J) . John Heritage Bryan (NR) . Gabriel Holmes (J) . Daniel Turner (J) . John Culpepper (NR) . Daniel L. Barringer (J) . Augustine H. Shepperd (J) . John Long (NR) . Henry W. Connor (J) . Samuel P. Carson (J) . Lewis Williams (NR)

Ohio . James Findlay (J) . John Woods (NR) . William McLean (NR) . Joseph Vance (NR) . William Russell (J) . William Creighton Jr. (NR), until sometime in 1828 Francis S. Muhlenberg (NR), from December 19, 1828 . Samuel F. Vinton (NR) . William Wilson (NR), until June 6, 1827 William Stanbery (J), from October 9, 1827 . Philemon Beecher (NR) . John Davenport (NR) . John C. Wright (NR) . John Sloane (NR) . Elisha Whittlesey (NR) . Mordecai Bartley (NR)

Pennsylvania There were six plural districts: the 7th, 8th, 11th & 16th had two representatives each, and the 4th & 9th had three representatives each. . Joel B. Sutherland (J) . John Sergeant (NR) . Daniel H. Miller (J) . Samuel Anderson (NR) . James Buchanan (J) . Charles Miner (NR) . John B. Sterigere (J) . Innis Green (J) . William Addams (J) . Joseph Fry Jr. (J) . Samuel D. Ingham (J) . George Wolf (J) . George Kremer (J) . Samuel McKean (J) . Espy Van Horne (J) . Adam King (J) . William Ramsey (J) . James Wilson (NR) . John Mitchell (J) . Chauncey Forward (J) . Andrew Stewart (NR) . Joseph Lawrence (NR) . Robert Orr Jr. (J) . James S. Stevenson (J) . Richard Coulter (J) . Stephen Barlow (J)

Rhode Island Both representatives were elected statewide on a general ticket. . Tristam Burges (NR) . Dutee J. Pearce (NR)

South Carolina . William Drayton (J) . James Hamilton Jr. (J) . Thomas R. Mitchell (J) . William D. Martin (J) . George McDuffie (J) . Warren R. Davis (J) . William T. Nuckolls (J) . John Carter (J) . Starling Tucker (J)

Tennessee . John Blair (J) . Pryor Lea (J) . James C. Mitchell (J) . Jacob C. Isacks (J) . Robert Desha (J) . James K. Polk (J) . John Bell (J) . John H. Marable (J) . Davy Crockett (J)

Vermont . Jonathan Hunt (NR) . Rollin C. Mallary (NR) . George E. Wales (NR) . Benjamin Swift (NR) . Daniel A. A. Buck (NR)

Virginia . Thomas Newton Jr. (NR) . James Trezvant (J) . William S. Archer (J) . Mark Alexander (J) . John Randolph (J) . Thomas Davenport (J) . Nathaniel H. Claiborne (J) . Burwell Bassett (J) . Andrew Stevenson (J) . William C. Rives (J) . Philip P. Barbour (J) . John Roane (J) . John Taliaferro (NR) . Charles F. Mercer (NR) . John S. Barbour (J) . William Armstrong (NR) . Robert Allen (J) . Isaac Leffler (NR) . William McCoy (J) . John Floyd (J) . Lewis Maxwell (NR) . Alexander Smyth (J)

Non-voting members . Henry W. Conway, until November 9, 1827 Ambrose H. Sevier, from February 13, 1828 . Joseph M. White . Austin E. Wing (NR)

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

Senate Replacements: 6 National Republican (NR): no net change Jacksonian (J): no net change Deaths: 0 Resignations: 7 Interim appointments: 0 Total seats with changes: 8

| Massachusetts(1) | Vacant | style="font-size:80%" | Seat remained vacant because legislature had failed to elect.Winner was elected June 8, 1827. | | Daniel Webster (NR) | Installed December 17, 1827 |- | Ohio(3) | | William Henry Harrison (NR) | style="font-size:80%" | Resigned May 20, 1828, to become U.S. Minister Plenipotentiary to Gran Colombia.A special election was held December 10, 1828. | | Jacob Burnet (NR) | Installed December 10, 1828 |- | Maine(1) | | Albion K. Parris (J) | style="font-size:80%" | Resigned August 26, 1828, after being appointed to the Maine Supreme Judicial Court.A special election was held January 15, 1829. | | John Holmes (NR) | Installed January 15, 1829 |- | Georgia(2) | | Thomas W. Cobb (J)