43rd United States Congress
42nd 
 44th

March 4, 1873 – March 4, 1875
Members74 senators
292 representatives
10 non-voting delegates
Senate majorityRepublican
Senate PresidentHenry Wilson (R)
House majorityRepublican
House SpeakerJames G. Blaine (R)
Sessions
Special: March 4, 1873 – March 26, 1873
1st: December 1, 1873 – June 23, 1874
2nd: December 7, 1874 – March 4, 1875

The 43rd 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, 1873, to March 4, 1875, during the fifth and sixth years of Ulysses S. Grant's presidency.

The apportionment of seats in the House of Representatives was based on the 1870 United States census.

Both chambers had a Republican majority. This is the last time Republicans held a 2/3 majority in the Senate.

Major events

Major legislation

Treaties

  • March 18, 1874: Hawaii signed a treaty with the United States granting exclusive trading rights.

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

Senators of the 43rd United States Congress
Party
(shading shows control)
Total Vacant
Democratic
(D)
Anti-
Monopoly

(AM)
Liberal
Republican

(LR)
Republican
(R)
End of previous congress 17 0 1 54 72 2
Begin 19 0 3 50 72 2
End 20 2 51 731
Final voting share 27.4% 0.0% 2.7% 69.9%
Beginning of next congress 28 1 0 43 72 2

House of Representatives

Before this Congress, the 1870 United States Census and resulting reapportionment changed the size of the House to 292 members.

Party
(shading shows control)
Total Vacant
Democratic
(D)
Independent
Democratic

(ID)
Independent
(I)
Independent
Republican

(IR)
Liberal
Republican

(LR)
Republican
(R)
End of previous congress 97 0 0 1 4 140 242 1
Begin 87 1 0 0 4 198 290 2
End 91 1 193
Final voting share 31.4% 0.3% 0.0% 0.3% 1.4% 66.6%
Beginning of next congress 177 1 4 3 0 101 286 5

Leadership

President of the Senate
Henry Wilson

Senate

House of Representatives

Members

This list is arranged by chamber, then by state. Senators are listed by class and Members of the House 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 ended with this Congress, facing re-election in 1874; class 2 meant their term began in the last Congress, facing re-election in 1876; and class 3 meant their term began in this Congress, facing re-election in 1878.

House of Representatives

The names of members of the House of Representatives are preceded by their district numbers.

Changes in membership

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

Senate

  • Replacements: 5
  • Deaths: 3
  • Resignations: 3
  • Interim appointments: 1
  • Vacancy: 1
  • Total seats with changes: 7
Senate changes
State
(class)
Vacated by Reason for change Successor Date of successor's
formal installation[lower-alpha 1]
Massachusetts (2) Vacant Henry Wilson resigned in previous congress after becoming Vice President of the United States.
Successor elected March 17, 1873.
George S. Boutwell (R) March 17, 1873
Mississippi (1) Adelbert Ames (R) Resigned March 17, 1873, after being elected Governor of Mississippi.
Successor elected February 3, 1874.
Henry R. Pease (R) February 3, 1874
Kansas (2) Alexander Caldwell (R) Resigned March 24, 1873.
Successor appointed November 24, 1873.
Robert Crozier (R) November 24, 1873
California (1) Eugene Casserly (D) Resigned November 29, 1873.
Successor elected December 23, 1873.
John S. Hager (D) December 23, 1873
Kansas (2) Robert Crozier (R) Interim appointee retired when successor elected February 2, 1874. James M. Harvey (R) February 2, 1874
Massachusetts (1) Charles Sumner (LR) Died March 11, 1874.
Successor elected April 17, 1874.
William B. Washburn (R) April 17, 1874
Connecticut (1) William A. Buckingham (R) Died February 5, 1875.
Successor appointed February 5, 1875, having already been elected to the next tern.
William W. Eaton (D) February 5, 1875

House of Representatives

House changes
District Vacated by Reason for change Successor Date of successor's
formal installation[lower-alpha 1]
Louisiana 4th Vacant Rep-elect Samuel Peters died before taking seat George L. Smith (R) November 24, 1873
Georgia 8th Vacant Rep-elect Ambrose R. Wright died before taking seat Alexander H. Stephens (D) December 1, 1873
New York 6th James Brooks (D) Died April 30, 1873 Samuel S. Cox (D) November 4, 1873
Massachusetts 3rd William Whiting (R) Died June 29, 1873 Henry L. Pierce (R) December 1, 1873
Oregon At-large Joseph G. Wilson (R) Died July 2, 1873 James Nesmith (D) December 1, 1873
Michigan 5th Wilder D. Foster (R) Died September 20, 1873 William B. Williams (R) December 1, 1873
Virginia 5th Alexander Davis (D) Lost contested election March 5, 1874 Christopher Thomas (R) March 5, 1874
Georgia 1st Morgan Rawls (D) Lost contested election March 24, 1874 Andrew Sloan (R) March 24, 1874
New York 9th David B. Mellish (R) Died May 23, 1874 Richard Schell (D) December 7, 1874
Arkansas 3rd William W. Wilshire (R) Lost contested election June 16, 1874 Thomas M. Gunter (D) June 16, 1874
Ohio 12th Hugh J. Jewett (D) Resigned June 23, 1874, after becoming President of the Erie Railroad William E. Finck (D) December 7, 1874
New York 3rd Stewart L. Woodford (R) Resigned July 1, 1874 Simeon B. Chittenden (IR) November 3, 1874
South Carolina 3rd Robert B. Elliott (R) Resigned November 1, 1874 Lewis C. Carpenter (R) November 3, 1874
Illinois 1st John B. Rice (R) Died December 17, 1874 Bernard G. Caulfield (D) February 1, 1875
Massachusetts 10th Alvah Crocker (R) Died December 26, 1874 Charles A. Stevens (R) January 27, 1875
Pennsylvania 23rd Ebenezer McJunkin (R) Resigned January 1, 1875 John M. Thompson (R) January 5, 1875
Florida At-large William J. Purman (R) Resigned January 25, 1875 Vacant Not filled this term
Maine 4th Samuel F. Hersey (R) Died February 3, 1875 Vacant Not filled this term
Louisiana 1st J. Hale Sypher (R) Lost contested election March 3, 1875 Effingham Lawrence (D) March 3, 1875
Louisiana At-Large Vacant Contested election originally won by Pinckney Pinchback George A.Sheridan (R) March 3, 1875

Committees

Lists of committees and their party leaders for members of the House and Senate committees can be found through the Official Congressional Directory at the bottom of this article. The directory after the pages of terms of service lists committees of the Senate, House (Standing with Subcommittees, Select and Special) and Joint and, after that, House/Senate committee assignments. On the committees section of the House and Senate in the Official Congressional Directory, the committee's members on the first row on the left side shows the chairman of the committee and on the right side shows the ranking member of the committee.

Senate

House of Representatives

Joint committees

Caucuses

Employees

Legislative branch agency directors

Senate

House of Representatives

See also

Notes

  1. 1 2 When seated or oath administered, not necessarily when service began.

References

    • Martis, Kenneth C. (1989). The Historical Atlas of Political Parties in the United States Congress. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company.
    • Martis, Kenneth C. (1982). The Historical Atlas of United States Congressional Districts. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company.
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