The 23rd 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, 1833, to March 4, 1835, during the fifth and sixth years of Andrew Jackson's presidency. The apportionment of seats in the House of Representatives was based on the 1830 United States census. The Senate had an Anti-Jacksonian or National Republican majority, and the House had a Jacksonian or Democratic majority.
Major events
March 28, 1834: Senate censured President Andrew Jackson for defunding the Second Bank of the United States June 2, 1834: A special election for the House speakership takes 10 ballots. January 30, 1835: Richard Lawrence unsuccessfully tried to assassinate President Jackson in the United States Capitol; this was the first assassination attempt against a President of the United States.
Major legislation
June 28, 1834: Coinage Act of 1834, Sess. 1, ch. 95, June 30, 1834: An Act to Regulate Trade and Intercourse With the Indian Tribes, Sess. 1, ch. 161,
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 For the beginning of this congress, the size of the House was increased from 213 seats to 240 seats, following the 1830 United States census.
Leadership
Senate
President: Martin Van Buren (J) President pro tempore: Hugh Lawson White (J), until December 15, 1833 George Poindexter (NR), June 28, 1834 – November 30, 1834 John Tyler (NR), from March 3, 1835
House of Representatives Speaker: Andrew Stevenson (J), until June 2, 1834 John Bell (J), after June 2, 1834, elected on the 10th ballot
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, requiring reelection in 1838; Class 2 meant their term ended with this Congress, requiring reelection in 1834; and Class 3 meant their term began in the last Congress, requiring reelection in 1836.
Alabama 2. William R. King (J) 3. Gabriel Moore (NR)
Connecticut 1. Nathan Smith (NR) 3. Gideon Tomlinson (NR)
Delaware 1. Arnold Naudain (NR) 2. John M. Clayton (NR)
Georgia 2. George Troup (J), until November 8, 1833 John P. King (J), from November 21, 1833 3. John Forsyth (J), until July 27, 1834 Alfred Cuthbert (J), from January 12, 1835
Illinois 2. John M. Robinson (J) 3. Elias K. Kane (J)
Indiana 1. John Tipton (J) 3. William Hendricks (NR)
Kentucky 2. George M. Bibb (J) 3. Henry Clay (NR)
Louisiana 2. George A. Waggaman (NR) 3. Josiah S. Johnston (NR), until May 19, 1833 Alexander Porter (NR), from December 19, 1833
Maine 1. Ether Shepley (J) 2. Peleg Sprague (NR), until January 1, 1835 John Ruggles (J), from January 20, 1835
Maryland 1. Joseph Kent (NR) 3. Ezekiel F. Chambers (NR), until December 20, 1834 Robert H. Goldsborough (NR), from January 13, 1835
Massachusetts 1. Daniel Webster (NR) 2. Nathaniel Silsbee (NR)
Mississippi 1. John Black (NR), from November 22, 1833 2. George Poindexter (NR)
Missouri 1. Thomas H. Benton (J) 3. Alexander Buckner (J), until June 5, 1833 Lewis F. Linn (J), from October 25, 1833
New Hampshire 2. Samuel Bell (NR) 3. Isaac Hill (J)
New Jersey 1. Samuel L. Southard (NR) 2. Theodore Frelinghuysen (NR)
New York 1. Nathaniel P. Tallmadge (J) 3. Silas Wright Jr. (J)
North Carolina 2. Bedford Brown (J) 3. Willie P. Mangum (NR)
Ohio 1. Thomas Morris (J) 3. Thomas Ewing (NR)
Pennsylvania 1. Samuel McKean (J), from December 7, 1833 3. William Wilkins (J), until June 30, 1834 James Buchanan (J), from December 6, 1834
Rhode Island 1. Asher Robbins (NR) 2. Nehemiah R. Knight (NR)
South Carolina 2. John C. Calhoun (N) 3. William C. Preston (N), from November 26, 1833
Tennessee 1. Felix Grundy (J) 2. Hugh Lawson White (J)
Vermont 1. Benjamin Swift (NR) 3. Samuel Prentiss (NR)
Virginia 1. John Tyler (NR) 2. William Rives (J), until February 22, 1834 Benjamin W. Leigh (NR), from February 26, 1834
House of Representatives
Alabama . Clement C. Clay (J) . John McKinley (J) . Samuel W. Mardis (J) . Dixon H. Lewis (N) . John Murphy (J)
Connecticut All representatives were elected statewide on a general ticket. . Noyes Barber (NR) . William W. Ellsworth (NR), until July 8, 1834 Joseph Trumbull (NR), from December 1, 1834 . Jabez W. Huntington (NR), until August 16, 1834 Phineas Miner (NR), from December 1, 1834 . Samuel A. Foote (NR), until May 9, 1834 Ebenezer Jackson Jr. (NR), from December 1, 1834 . Samuel Tweedy (NR) . Ebenezer Young (NR)
Delaware . John J. Milligan (NR)
Georgia All representatives were elected statewide on a general ticket. . Augustin S. Clayton (J) . John E. Coffee (J) . Thomas F. Foster (J) . Roger L. Gamble (J) . George R. Gilmer (J) . Seaborn Jones (J) . William Schley (J) . James M. Wayne (J), until January 13, 1835, vacant thereafter . Richard Henry Wilde (J)
Illinois . Charles Slade (J), until July 26, 1834 John Reynolds (J), from December 1, 1834 . Zadok Casey (J) . Joseph Duncan (J), until September 21, 1834 William L. May (J), from December 1, 1834
Indiana . Ratliff Boon (J) . John Ewing (NR) . John Carr (J) . Amos Lane (J) . Johnathan McCarty (J) . George L. Kinnard (J) . Edward A. Hannegan (J)
Kentucky . Chittenden Lyon (J) . Albert G. Hawes (J) . Christopher Tompkins (NR) . Martin Beaty (NR) . Robert P. Letcher (NR), from August 6, 1834 . Thomas Chilton (NR) . Benjamin Hardin (NR) . Patrick H. Pope (J) . James Love (NR) . Chilton Allan (NR) . Amos Davis (NR) . Thomas A. Marshall (NR) . Richard M. Johnson (J)
Louisiana . Edward D. White (NR), until November 15, 1834 Henry Johnson (NR), from December 1, 1834 . Philemon Thomas (J) . Henry A. Bullard (NR), until January 4, 1834 Rice Garland (NR), from April 28, 1834
Maine . Rufus McIntire (J) . Francis O. J. Smith (J) . Edward Kavanagh (J) . George Evans (NR) . Moses Mason Jr. (J) . Leonard Jarvis (J) . Joseph Hall (J) . Gorham Parks (J)
Maryland . Littleton P. Dennis (NR), until April 14, 1834 John N. Steele (NR), from June 9, 1834 . Richard B. Carmichael (J) . James Turner (J) . James P. Heath (J) . Isaac McKim (J) . William Cost Johnson (NR) . Francis Thomas (J) . John T. Stoddert (J)
Massachusetts . Benjamin Gorham (NR) . Rufus Choate (NR), until June 30, 1834 Stephen C. Phillips (NR), from December 1, 1834 . Gayton P. Osgood (J) . Edward Everett (NR) . John Davis (NR), until January 14, 1834 Levi Lincoln Jr. (NR), from March 5, 1834 . George Grennell Jr. (NR) . George N. Briggs (NR) . Isaac C. Bates (NR) . William Jackson (AM) . William Baylies (NR) . John Reed Jr. (NR) . John Quincy Adams (AM)
Mississippi All representatives were elected statewide on a general ticket. . Harry Cage (J) . Franklin E. Plummer (J)
Missouri All representatives were elected statewide on a general ticket. . William H. Ashley (J) . John Bull (NR)
New Hampshire All representatives were elected statewide on a general ticket. . Benning M. Bean (J) . Robert Burns (J) . Joseph M. Harper (J) . Henry Hubbard (J) . Franklin Pierce (J)
New Jersey All representatives were elected statewide on a general ticket. . Philemon Dickerson (J) . Samuel Fowler (J) . Thomas Lee (J) . James Parker (J) . Ferdinand S. Schenck (J) . William N. Shinn (J)
New York There were five plural districts, the 8th, 17th, 22nd & 23rd had two representatives each, the 3rd had four representatives. . Abel Huntington (J) . Isaac B. Van Houten (J) . Churchill C. Cambreleng (J) . Cornelius V. Lawrence (J), until May 14, 1834 John J. Morgan (J), from December 1, 1834 . Dudley Selden (J), until July 1, 1834 Charles G. Ferris (J), from December 1, 1834 . Campbell P. White (J) . Aaron Ward (J) . Abraham Bockee (J) . John W. Brown (J) . Charles Bodle (J) . John Adams (J) . Aaron Vanderpoel (J) . Job Pierson (J) . Gerrit Y. Lansing (J) . John Cramer (J) . Henry C. Martindale (AM) . Reuben Whallon (J) . Ransom H. Gillet (J) . Charles McVean (J) . Abijah Mann Jr. (J) . Samuel Beardsley (J) . Joel Turrill (J) . Daniel Wardwell (J) . Sherman Page (J) . Noadiah Johnson (J) . Henry Mitchell (J) . Nicoll Halsey (J) . Samuel G. Hathaway (J) . William K. Fuller (J) . William Taylor (J) . Rowland Day (J) . Samuel Clark (J) . John Dickson (AM) . Edward Howell (J) . Frederick Whittlesey (AM) . George W. Lay (AM) . Philo C. Fuller (AM) . Abner Hazeltine (AM) . Millard Fillmore (AM) . Gideon Hard (AM)
North Carolina . William B. Shepard (NR) . Jesse A. Bynum (J) . Thomas H. Hall (J) . Jesse Speight (J) . James I. McKay (J) . Micajah T. Hawkins (J) . Edmund Deberry (NR) . Daniel L. Barringer (NR) . Augustine H. Shepperd (NR) . Abraham Rencher (NR) . Henry W. Connor (J) . James Graham (NR) . Lewis Williams (NR)
Ohio . Robert T. Lytle (J), until March 10, 1834, and from December 27, 1834 . Taylor Webster (J) . Joseph H. Crane (NR) . Thomas Corwin (NR) . Thomas L. Hamer (J) . Samuel F. Vinton (NR) . William Allen (J) . Jeremiah McLene (J) . John Chaney (J) . Joseph Vance (NR) . James M. Bell (NR) . Robert Mitchell (J) . David Spangler (NR) . William Patterson (J) . Jonathan Sloane (AM) . Elisha Whittlesey (AM) . John Thomson (J) . Benjamin Jones (J) . Humphrey H. Leavitt (J), until July 10, 1834 Daniel Kilgore (J), from December 1, 1834
Pennsylvania There were two plural districts, the 2nd had two representatives, the 4th had three representatives. . Joel B. Sutherland (J) . Horace Binney (NR) . James Harper (NR) . John G. Watmough (NR) . Edward Darlington (AM) . William Hiester (AM) . David Potts Jr. (AM) . Joel K. Mann (J) . Robert Ramsey (J) . David D. Wagener (J) . Henry King (J) . Henry A. P. Muhlenberg (J) . William Clark (AM) . Charles A. Barnitz (AM) . George Chambers (AM) . Jesse Miller (J) . Joseph Henderson (J) . Andrew Beaumont (J) . Joseph B. Anthony (J) . John Laporte (J) . George Burd (NR) . Richard Coulter (J) . Andrew Stewart (AM) . Thomas M. T. McKennan (AM) . Harmar Denny (AM) . Samuel S. Harrison (J) . John Banks (AM) . John Galbraith (J)
Rhode Island Both representatives were elected statewide on a general ticket. . Tristam Burges (NR) . Dutee J. Pearce (AM)
South Carolina . Henry L. Pinckney (N) . William J. Grayson (N) . Thomas D. Singleton (N), until November 25, 1833 Robert B. Campbell (N), from February 27, 1834 . John Myers Felder (N) . George McDuffie (N), until ????, 1834 Francis W. Pickens (N), from December 8, 1834 . Warren R. Davis (N), until January 29, 1835, vacant thereafter . William K. Clowney (N) . James Blair (J), until April 1, 1834 Richard I. Manning (J), from December 8, 1834 . John K. Griffin (N)
Tennessee . John Blair (J) . Samuel Bunch (J) . Luke Lea (J) . James I. Standifer (J) . John B. Forester (J) . Balie Peyton (J) . John Bell (J) . David W. Dickinson (J) . James K. Polk (J) . William M. Inge (J) . Cave Johnson (J) . David Crockett (NR) . William C. Dunlap (J)
Vermont . Hiland Hall (NR) . William Slade (AM) . Horace Everett (NR) . Heman Allen (NR) . Benjamin F. Deming (AM), until July 11, 1834