51st United States Congress.html |
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| 51st United States Congress | |||
 United States Capitol (1906) |
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| Duration: March 4, 1889 – March 3, 1891 | |||
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| President of the Senate: | Levi P. Morton | ||
| President pro tempore: | John J. Ingalls | ||
| Speaker of the House: | Thomas B. Reed | ||
| Members: | 88 Senators 332 Representatives 9 Non-voting members |
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| Senate Majority: | Republican | ||
| House Majority: | Republican | ||
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| Sessions | |||
| 1st: December 2, 1889 – October 1, 1890 2nd: December 1, 1890 – March 3, 1891 Special: March 4, 1889 – April 2, 1889 |
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The Fifty-first 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, 1889 to March 3, 1891, during the first two years of the administration of U.S. President Benjamin Harrison.
The apportionment of seats in this House of Representatives was based on the Tenth Census of the United States in 1880. Both chambers had a Republican majority.
Major events
- March 4, 1889 Benjamin Harrison became President of the United States
Major legislation
- June 27, 1890 -— Dependent Pension Act
- July 2, 1890 -— Sherman Antitrust Act, ch. 647, 26 Stat. 209
- July 14, 1890 -— Sherman Silver Purchase Act, ch. 708, 26 Stat. 289
- August 30, 1890 -— Morrill Land-Grant Colleges Act (1890)
- October 1, 1890 -— McKinley Tariff, ch. 1244, 26 Stat. 567
- March 3, 1891 —- Forest Reserve Act of 1891
- March 3, 1891 —- Land Revision Act of 1891
- March 3, 1891 -- Immigration Act of 1891
States admitted and territories organized
- November 2, 1889 — North Dakota was admitted as a state.
- November 2, 1889 — South Dakota was admitted as a state.
- November 8, 1889 — Montana was admitted as a state.
- November 11, 1889 — Washington was admitted as a state.
- May 2, 1890 — Oklahoma Territory was organized.
- July 3, 1890 — Idaho was admitted as a state.
- July 10, 1890 — Wyoming was admitted as a state.
The Congress was dominated by the Republican Party. It was responsible for a number of pieces of landmark legislation, many of which asserted the authority of the federal government.
Emboldened by their success in the elections of 1888, the Republicans enacted virtually their entire platform during their first 303-day session, including a measure that provided American Civil War veterans with generous pensions and expanded the list of eligible recipients to include noncombatants and the children of veterans. Grover Cleveland had vetoed a similar bill in 1887. It was criticized as the "Billion Dollar Congress'" for its lavish spending and, for this reason it incited drastic reversals in public support that led to Cleveland's reelection in 1892.
Other important legislation passed into law by the Congress included the McKinley tariff, authored by Representative, and future President, William McKinley; the Sherman Antitrust Act, which prohibited business combinations that restricted trade; and the Sherman Silver Purchase Act, which required the U.S. government to mint silver. The last two were concessions to Western farmer interests in exchange for support of the tariff and would become central tenets of the Populist Party later in the decade. They were authored by Senator John Sherman.
The Fifty-first Congress was also responsible for passing the Land Revision Act of 1891, which created the national forests. Harrison authorized America's first forest reserve in Yellowstone, Wyoming, the same year.
Other bills were discussed but failed to pass, including two significant pieces of legislation focused on ensuring African Americans the right to vote. Henry Cabot Lodge sponsored a so-called Force Bill that would have established federal supervision of Congressional elections so as to prevent the disfranchisement of southern blacks. Henry W. Blair sponsored the Blair Education Bill, which advocated the use of federal aid for education in order to frustrate southern whites employing literacy tests to prevent blacks from registering to vote.
Party summary
North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Washington, Idaho, and Wyoming were newly admitted to the Union and first represented as states in this Congress.
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
- Democratic: 37
- Republican: 51 (majority)
TOTAL members: 88
House of Representatives
- Democratic: 152
- Republican: 179 (majority)
- Labor: 1
TOTAL members: 332
Leadership
Senate
- Vice President of the United States (President of the Senate):
- Levi P. Morton, of New York
- President pro tempore of the Senate:
- John J. Ingalls, Republican of Kansas, first elected in this Congress March 7, 1889.
- Charles F. Manderson, Republican of Nebraska, elected March 2, 1891.
House of Representatives
- Speaker of the House
- Thomas B. Reed, Republican of Maine, elected December 2, 1889.
Members
This list is arranged by chamber, then by state. Senators are listed in order of seniority, and Representatives are listed by district.
- See also: 51st United States Congress - political parties
- See also: 51st United States Congress - State Delegations
- See also: United States House elections, 1888
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 the last Congress, requiring reelection in 1892; Class 2 meant their term began in this Congress, requiring reelection in 1894; and Class 3 meant their term ended in this Congress, requiring reelection in 1890.
House of Representatives
The names of members of the House of Representatives elected statewide on the general ticket or otherwise at-large, are preceded by an "A/L," and the names of those elected from districts, whether plural or single member, are preceded by their district numbers.