The 38th 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, 1863, to March 4, 1865, during the last two years of President Abraham Lincoln's first term in office. The apportionment of seats in the House of Representatives was based on the 1860 United States census. The Republican–Union coalition controlled both the Senate and the House of Representatives.
Major events
American Civil War, which had started in 1861, continued through this Congress and ended later in 1865 January 8, 1863: Ground broken in Sacramento, California, on the construction of the First transcontinental railroad in the United States November 19, 1863: Gettysburg Address November 8, 1864: President Abraham Lincoln is reelected, defeating George McClellan.
Major legislation
April 22, 1864: Coinage Act of 1864, Sess. 1, ch. 66, June 25, 1864: Washington County Public Schools Act ("An Act to provide for the Public Instruction of Youth in the County of Washington, District of Columbia, and for other Purposes"), Sess. 1, ch. 156, June 30, 1864: Yosemite Valley Grant Act, Sess. 1, March 3, 1865: Freedmen's Bureau, Sess. 2, ch. 90,
Major bills not enacted Wade–Davis Bill passed both houses July 2, 1864, but pocket vetoed
Constitutional amendments January 31, 1865: Approved an amendment to the United States Constitution abolishing slavery in the United States and involuntary servitude, except as punishment for a crime, and submitted it to the state legislatures for ratification Amendment was later ratified on December 6, 1865, becoming the Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution
Treaties ratified February 9, 1865: Chippewa Indians,
States admitted and territories organized
States June 19, 1863: West Virginia admitted (formed from a portion of Virginia), (see also ) October 31, 1864: Nevada admitted, (see also )
Territories May 26, 1864: Montana Territory organized, Sess. 1, ch. 95,
States in rebellion
The Confederacy fielded armies and sustained the rebellion into a second Congress, but the Union did not accept secession and secessionists were not eligible for Congress. Elections held in Missouri and Kentucky seated all members to the House and Senate for the 38th Congress. Elections held among Unionists in Virginia, Tennessee and Louisiana were marred by disruption resulting in turnouts that were so low compared with 1860, that Congress did not reseat the candidates with a majority of the votes cast. In rebellion 1862–64 according to the Emancipation Proclamation were Arkansas, Texas, Louisiana (parts), Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia (parts). Tennessee was not held to be in rebellion as of the end of 1862.Emancipation Proclamation text found at Emancipation Proclamation, "Featured Texts" online at the National Archives and Records Administration. Viewed April 14, 2014.
Party summary The count below identifies party affiliations at the beginning of the first session of this Congress, and includes members from vacancies and newly admitted states, when they were first seated. Changes resulting from subsequent replacements are shown below in the "Changes in membership" section.
Senate During this Congress, two seats were added for each of the new states of Nevada and West Virginia, thereby adding four new seats.
Thirty-six Republican–Unionists, nine Democrats, and five border state Unionists served in the Senate following the 1862–63 United States Senate elections. Changes in party membership and the admission of senators from new states during the 38th Congress found 39 Republican–Unionists and 12 Democrats at the end of the term.
House of Representatives Before this Congress, the 1860 United States census and resulting reapportionment changed the size of the House to 241 members. During this Congress, one seat was added for the new state of Nevada, and three seats were reapportioned from Virginia to the new state of West Virginia.
Ninety–eight Republican–Unionists, 74 Democrats, eight Union Democrats, one Conservative Unionist, one Unconditional Union Democrat, and one Independent Republican–Unionist were elected in 1862 and 1863. Two Union Democrats and the Unconditional Union Democrat joined the Republican–Union coalition at the start of Congress. The Conservative Unionist became a Democrat later during the term.
Leadership Senate leadership
President: Hannibal Hamlin (RU) President pro tempore: Solomon Foot (RU), until April 13, 1864 Daniel Clark (RU), elected April 26, 1864
Majority (Republican–Union) leadership Chair of the Senate Republican Conference: Henry B. Anthony
House of Representatives Speaker: Schuyler Colfax (RU)
Majority (Republican–Union) leadership Chair of the House Republican Conference: Justin S. Morrill Chairman, Committee on Ways and Means: Thaddeus Stevens (RU)
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 in this Congress, requiring reelection in 1868; Class 2 meant their term ended in this Congress, requiring reelection in 1864; and Class 3 meant their term began in the last Congress, requiring reelection in 1866.
Alabama 2. Vacant 3. Vacant
Arkansas 2. Vacant 3. Vacant
California 1. John Conness (RU) 3. James A. McDougall (D)
Connecticut 1. James Dixon (RU) 3. Lafayette S. Foster (RU)
Delaware 1. James A. Bayard Jr. (D), until January 29, 1864 George Read Riddle (D), from February 2, 1864 2. Willard Saulsbury Sr. (D)
Florida 1. Vacant 3. Vacant
Georgia 2. Vacant 3. Vacant
Illinois 2. William A. Richardson (D) 3. Lyman Trumbull (RU)
Indiana 1. Thomas A. Hendricks (D) 3. Henry S. Lane (RU)
Iowa 2. James W. Grimes (RU) 3. James Harlan (RU)
Kansas 2. Jim Lane (RU) 3. Samuel C. Pomeroy (RU)
Kentucky 2. Lazarus W. Powell (D) 3. Garrett Davis (U)
Louisiana 2. Vacant 3. Vacant
Maine 1. Lot M. Morrill (RU) 2. William P. Fessenden (RU), until July 1, 1864 Nathan A. Farwell (RU), from October 27, 1864
Maryland 1. Reverdy Johnson (U) 3. Thomas H. Hicks (U), until February 14, 1865
Massachusetts 1. Charles Sumner (RU) 2. Henry Wilson (RU)
Michigan 1. Zachariah Chandler (RU) 2. Jacob M. Howard (RU)
Minnesota 1. Alexander Ramsey (RU) 2. Morton S. Wilkinson (RU)
Mississippi 1. Vacant 2. Vacant
Missouri 1. John B. Henderson (RU) 3. Robert Wilson (RU), until November 13, 1863 B. Gratz Brown (RU), from November 13, 1863
Nevada 1. William M. Stewart (RU), from February 1, 1865 (newly admitted state) 3. James W. Nye (RU), from February 1, 1865 (newly admitted state)
New Hampshire 2. John P. Hale (RU) 3. Daniel Clark (RU)
New Jersey 1. William Wright (D) 2. John C. Ten Eyck (RU)
New York 1. Edwin D. Morgan (RU) 3. Ira Harris (RU)
North Carolina 2. Vacant 3. Vacant
Ohio 1. Benjamin Wade (RU) 3. John Sherman (RU)
Oregon 2. Benjamin F. Harding (D) 3. James W. Nesmith (D)
Pennsylvania 1. Charles R. Buckalew (D) 3. Edgar Cowan (RU)
Rhode Island 1. William Sprague IV (RU) 2. Henry B. Anthony (RU)
South Carolina 2. Vacant 3. Vacant
Tennessee 1. Vacant 2. Vacant
Texas 1. Vacant 2. Vacant
Vermont 1. Solomon Foot (RU) 3. Jacob Collamer (RU)
Virginia 1. Lemuel J. Bowden (U), died January 2, 1864, vacant thereafter 2. John S. Carlile (U)
West Virginia 1. Peter G. Van Winkle (RU), from August 4, 1863 (newly admitted state) 2. Waitman T. Willey (RU), from August 4, 1863 (newly admitted state)
Wisconsin 1. James R. Doolittle (RU) 3. Timothy O. Howe (RU)
House of Representatives
Alabama . Vacant . Vacant . Vacant . Vacant . Vacant . Vacant
Arkansas . Vacant . Vacant . Vacant
California All representatives were elected statewide on a general ticket. . Cornelius Cole (RU) . William Higby (RU) . Thomas B. Shannon (RU)
Connecticut . Henry C. Deming (RU) . James E. English (D) . Augustus Brandegee (RU) . John H. Hubbard (RU)
Delaware . William Temple (D), until May 28, 1863 Nathaniel B. Smithers (RU), from December 7, 1863
Florida . Vacant
Georgia . Vacant . Vacant . Vacant . Vacant . Vacant . Vacant . Vacant
Illinois . Isaac N. Arnold (RU) . John F. Farnsworth (RU) . Elihu B. Washburne (RU) . Charles M. Harris (D) . Owen Lovejoy (RU), until March 25, 1864 Ebon C. Ingersoll (RU), from May 20, 1864 . Jesse O. Norton (RU) . John R. Eden (D) . John T. Stuart (D) . Lewis Winans Ross (D) . Anthony L. Knapp (D) . James C. Robinson (D) . William R. Morrison (D) . William J. Allen (D) . James C. Allen (D)
Indiana . John Law (D) . James A. Cravens (D) . Henry W. Harrington (D) . William S. Holman (D) . George W. Julian (RU) . Ebenezer Dumont (RU) . Daniel W. Voorhees (D) . Godlove S. Orth (RU) . Schuyler Colfax (RU) . Joseph K. Edgerton (D) . James F. McDowell (D)
Iowa . James F. Wilson (RU) . Hiram Price (RU) . William B. Allison (RU) . Josiah B. Grinnell (RU) . John A. Kasson (RU) . Asahel W. Hubbard (RU)
Kansas . A. Carter Wilder (RU)
Kentucky . Lucien Anderson (UD) . George H. Yeaman (UD) . Henry Grider (UD) . Aaron Harding (UD) . Robert Mallory (UD) . Green C. Smith (UUD) . Brutus J. Clay (UD) . William H. Randall (UD) . William H. Wadsworth (UD)
Louisiana . Vacant . Vacant . Vacant . Vacant . Vacant
Maine . Lorenzo D.M. Sweat (D) . Sidney Perham (RU) . James G. Blaine (RU) . John H. Rice (RU) . Frederick A. Pike (RU)
Maryland . John A. J. Creswell (RU) . Edwin H. Webster (RU) . Henry Winter Davis (RU) . Francis Thomas (RU) . Benjamin G. Harris (D)
Massachusetts . Thomas D. Eliot (RU) . Oakes Ames (RU) . Alexander H. Rice (RU) . Samuel Hooper (RU) . John B. Alley (RU) . Daniel W. Gooch (RU) . George S. Boutwell (RU) . John D. Baldwin (RU) . William B. Washburn (RU) . Henry L. Dawes (RU)
Michigan . Fernando C. Beaman (RU) . Charles Upson (RU) . John W. Longyear (RU) . Francis W. Kellogg (RU) . Augustus C. Baldwin (D) . John F. Driggs (RU)
Minnesota . William Windom (RU) . Ignatius L. Donnelly (RU)
Mississippi . Vacant . Vacant . Vacant . Vacant . Vacant
Missouri . Francis P. Blair Jr. (RU), until June 10, 1864 Samuel Knox (RU), from June 10, 1864 . Henry T. Blow (RU) . John W. Noell (RU), until March 14, 1863 John G. Scott (D), from December 7, 1863 . Sempronius H. Boyd (RU) . Joseph W. McClurg (RU) . Austin A. King (D) . Benjamin F. Loan (RU) . William A. Hall (D) . James S. Rollins (C)
Nevada . Henry G. Worthington (RU), from October 31, 1864 (newly admitted state)
New Hampshire . Daniel Marcy (D) . Edward H. Rollins (RU) . James W. Patterson (RU)
New Jersey . John F. Starr (RU) . George Middleton (D) . William G. Steele (D) . Andrew J. Rogers (D) . Nehemiah Perry (D)
New York . Henry G. Stebbins (D), until October 24, 1864 Dwight Townsend (D), from December 5, 1864 . Martin Kalbfleisch (D) . Moses F. Odell (D) . Benjamin Wood (D) . Fernando Wood (D) . Elijah Ward (D) . John W. Chanler (D) . James Brooks (D) . Anson Herrick (D) . William Radford (D) . Charles H. Winfield (D) . Homer A. Nelson (D) . John B. Steele (D) . Erastus Corning (D), until October 5, 1863 John V. L. Pruyn (D), from December 7, 1863 . John Augustus Griswold (D) . Orlando Kellogg (RU) . Calvin T. Hulburd (RU) . James M. Marvin (RU)