1860–61 United States House of Representatives elections

The 1860–61 United States House of Representatives elections took place between August 6, 1860, and October 24, 1861, to elect 180 representatives and seven non-voting delegates to the 37th United States Congress. The Republican Party lost seats but gained a majority in the chamber following the withdrawal of the representatives from the Confederate States of America.

The Republicans were the largest party in the House following the 1858–59 United States House of Representatives elections. The Republican victory in the 1860 United States presidential election precipitated the secession of 11 slave states between December 1860 and June 1861. Secession interrupted elections for the 37th Congress, which had already taken place in 15 Union states and three states now part of the Confederacy. The absence of the Southern Democrats severely diminished the number of Democratic representatives, which fell to 43. Unionists in the border states and loyal parts of the Confederacy won 22 seats, while Kentucky's Henry C. Burnett was the only secessionist elected to the United States House of Representatives.

The Constitutional Union Party won four seats, including two from Rhode Island, where Democrats and conservative Republicans formed the governing coalition. A coalition of Republicans and Constitutional Unionists carried the single seat representing Delaware's at-large congressional district, while one independent Democrat was elected in New York.

Republicans lost seats in special elections held in the spring of 1861. The absence of the representatives from the Confederacy enabled the Republican majority to elect the speaker and other officers without the support of other parties. Galusha A. Grow was elected after shifts on the first ballot over fellow Republican Francis P. Blair, Jr.; the Democratic minority split their votes between 12 minor candidates.

Background Secession Sixty-five seats were vacant when the 37th Congress met on July 4, 1861, following the secession of the Confederacy. Three states which later seceded (Arkansas, Florida, and South Carolina) held elections in 1860, electing seven Democrats and two independents who subsequently declined to take their seats. Several unionist districts in Tennessee and Virginia elected representatives who were seated along with the rest of the incoming class. These were the only congressional elections held south of the border states before the beginning of Congress. Several districts under Union Army control held special elections after July 4, but only two Louisiana Unionists were seated.

Confederate states had sent 46 Democrats, eight Opposition members, six Whigs, five Independent Democrats, and one Know Nothing to the 36th Congress. The loss of these representatives significantly diminished the size of the House to the benefit of the Republicans, who gained a majority in the chamber for the first time in their history.

Loyal slave states sent 15 Unionists and five Democrats to the 37th Congress. Four parties elected one representative each from the border states: Republican Francis P. Blair Jr. from Missouri's 1st congressional district, Constitutional Unionist James S. Rollins from Missouri's 2nd congressional district, People's representative George P. Fisher from Delaware's at-large district, and Southern Rights representative Henry C. Burnett from Kentucky's 1st congressional district.

End of a Congressional era

In 1860, Lincoln's campaign brought the Republicans the Presidency. Likewise, the congressional elections also marked the transition from one major era of political parties to another. In just six years, over the course of the 35th, 36th–37th Congresses, a complete reversal of party fortunes swamped the Democrats.

Elections for Congress were held from August 1860 to June 1861. They were held before, during and after the pre-determined Presidential campaign. And they were held before, during and after the secessionist campaigns in various states as they were reported throughout the country. Political conditions varied hugely from time to time during the course of congressional selection, but they had been shifting to a considerable extent in the years running up to the crisis.

In the 1856 elections, the Democrats had taken the Presidency for the sixth time in the last 40 years, with James Buchanan's victory over John C. Fremont and Millard Fillmore. They held almost a two-thirds majority in both the US House and Senate. Democrats held onto the Senate during the midterm elections, but the four opposition parties then amounted to two-thirds of the House. The congressional elections in 1860 transformed Democratic fortunes: Republican and Unionist candidates won a two-thirds majority in both House and Senate.

After the secessionist withdrawal, resignation and expulsion, the Democrats would have less than 25% of the House for the 37th Congress, and that minority divided further between pro-war (Stephen Douglas), and anti-war (Clement Vallandigham) factions.

US Congressional Party Transformation, 1857–1863 Congress 35th1857–59 36th1859–61 37th1861–63 United States House of Representatives Seats (change) 237 (+3) 238 (+1) 183 (–55) Republicans 90 (38%) 116 (49%) 108 (59%) Unionists 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 31 (17%) Americans (+) 14 (6%) 39 (16%) 0 (0%) Democrats 133 (56%) 83 (35%) 44 (24%) United States Senate Seats (change) 66 (+4) 68 (+2) 50 (–18) Republicans 20 (30%) 26 (38%) 31 (62%) Unionists 0 (0%) 0 (0%) 3 (6%) Americans 5 (8%) 2 (3%) 0 (0%) Democrats 41 (62%) 38 (58%) 15 (30%)

Results Federal + ↓ 43 7 108 22 Democratic Republican Unionists

+ 1860–61 United States House of Representatives elections Parties Seats Popular vote 1860–61 1860–61 ± % Votes % Republican Party 111 108 3 60.00 1,836,570 47.52 Democratic Party 85 43 52 23.89 1,546,953 40.03 Unionists 0 22 22 12.22 181,109 4.69 Constitutional Union Party 0 4 4 2.22 103,892 2.69 Breckinridge Democrats 0 0 0.00 51,596 1.34 Southern Rights Party 0 1 1 0.56 42,176 1.09 War Democrats 0 0 0.00 35,449 0.92 Independents 0 0 0.00 28,001 0.72 Independent Democrats 7 1 6 0.56 18,944 0.49 People's Party 0 1 1 0.56 7,732 0.20 Opposition Party 15 0 15 0.00 5,172 0.13 Douglas Democrats 0 0 0.00 761 0.02 Anti-Lecompton Democrats 8 0 0.00 275 0.01 Confederate States of America 0 0 0.00 78 0.00 Others 11 0 11 0.00 4,181 0.16 Total 237 180 57 100.00 3,864,807 100.00

Results by state State Type Date Totalseats Democratic Republican Unionists Others Seats Change Seats Change Seats Change Seats Change Kansas At-large December 1, 1859 1 0 1 1 0 0 Oregon At-large June 4, 1860 1 1 0 0 0 Arkansas District August 6, 1860 2 2 0 0 0 Missouri District August 6, 1860 7 5 1 1 1 0 1 Vermont District September 4, 1860 3 0 3 0 0 Maine District September 10, 1860 6 0 6 0 0 Florida At-large October 1, 1860 1 1 0 0 0 South Carolina District October 8–9, 1860 6 6 0 0 0 Indiana District October 9, 1860 11 4 7 0 0 Iowa District October 9, 1860 2 0 2 0 0 Ohio District October 9, 1860 21 8 2 13 2 0 0 Pennsylvania District October 9, 1860 25 6 1 19 1 0 0 Delaware At-largeNovember 6, 1860(Election Day) 1 0 1 0 1 1 Illinois District 9 5 4 0 0 Massachusetts District 11 0 10 1 0 1 1 Michigan District 4 0 1 4 1 0 0 Minnesota At-large 2 0 2 0 0 New Jersey District 5 3 1 2 1 0 0 New York District 33 10 3 23 3 0 0 Wisconsin District 3 0 1 3 1 0 0 Late elections (after the March 4, 1861 beginning of the term) New Hampshire District March 12, 1861 3 0 3 0 0 Connecticut District April 1, 1861 4 2 2 2 2 0 0 Rhode Island District April 3, 1861 2 0 0 2 0 2 2 Virginia District May 23, 1861 13 0 12 0 4 4 0 1 Maryland District June 13, 1861 6 0 3 0 6 6 0 3 Kentucky District June 20, 1861 10 0 5 0 9 9 1 4 Late elections (after the July 4, 1861 beginning of the first session of the 37th Congress) Tennessee District August 1, 1861 10 0 3 0 3 3 0 7 California At-large September 4, 1861 3 0 3 1 0 0 Seceded states not holding full elections Alabama District None 7 0 7 0 0 0 Georgia District None 8 0 6 0 0 0 2 Louisiana District None 4 0 3 0 0 0 1 Mississippi District None 5 0 5 0 0 0 North Carolina District None 8 0 5 0 0 0 3 Texas District None 2 0 2 0 0 0 Total 180 44 51 108 8 22 22 6 18

Results by region Historians of the Civil War era subdivide the Northern United States into upper and lower regions. The Lower North (also called the Border North) is normally defined as the free states sharing a border with one or more slave states; in 1860, this included Kansas, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, New Jersey, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. The remaining free states—New England (Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont), Michigan, Minnesota, New York, and Wisconsin—constituted the Upper North. During the 1850s, the Upper North was solidly Republican, while the Lower North's population included large numbers of immigrants and the descendants of White Southerners favorable to the Democratic Party. The Southern United States was split between the Upper South, which included the border states (Delaware, Kentucky, Maryland, and Missouri) and the Middle South (Arkansas, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia), and the Lower South, comprising the states of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Texas. In 1861, the Lower South states were the first to secede, while the Middle South and the border states remained in limbo. California and Oregon, on the West Coast of the United States, were geographically isolated from the rest of the country.

Region Totalseats Upper North 71 11 56 0 3 1 0 0 Lower North 74 26 48 0 0 0 0 0 Border South 24 5 1 15 1 0 2 0 Middle South 33 0 0 7 0 0 0 26 Lower South 33 0 0 0 0 0 0 33 West Coast 4 1 3 0 0 0 0 0

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Maps

Special elections

There were special elections in 1860–61 during the 36th United States Congress and 37th United States Congress.

36th Congress

37th Congress

Alabama

1860–61 United States House of Representatives elections

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