1816–17 United States House of Representatives elections

← 1814 & 1815 April 30, 1816 – August 14, 1817[a] 1818 & 1819 →
All 184 seats in theUnited States House of Representatives 93 seats needed for a majority
Majority party Minority party   Leader Henry Clay Timothy Pitkin Party Democratic-Republican Federalist Leader's seat Kentucky 2nd Connecticut at-large Last election 119 seats 64 seats Seats won 144[b] 40[b] Seat change 25 24
Speaker before election Henry Clay Democratic-Republican Elected Speaker Henry Clay Democratic-Republican

The1816–17 United States House of Representatives elections were held on various dates in various states between April 30, 1816, and August 14, 1817. Each state set its own date for its elections to theHouse of Representatives before the first session of the15th United States Congress convened on December 1, 1817. The size of the House increased to 184 after Indiana and Mississippi achieved statehood.

TheDemocratic-Republican Party entered the election with a large majority, yet made sizable gains, helping trigger the virtually nonpartisanEra of Good Feelings under new PresidentJames Monroe, elected in 1816.

Two major events combined to help eliminate the decliningFederalist Party from meaningful contention. First, theWar of 1812 had concluded in 1815 with a feeling of national pride and relief, with the small American military fighting the much more powerfulBritish forces to a draw punctuated by GeneralAndrew Jackson's dramatic victory at theBattle of New Orleans. Federalists had opposed the risky but ultimately successful war, with someNew England Federalists advocating radical measures at theHartford Convention. Second, the1815 eruption of Mount Tambora in present-day Indonesia, itself the most powerful in recorded history and followingother major eruptions, temporarily disrupted global climate. The effectsseverely damaged the agricultural economy of New England, where Federalist support was strongest, causing privation, popular discontent, and mass emigration westward.

Mississippi was admitted as a state in 1817 during the 15th Congress, adding one seat.^[1]

State	Type	Date	Total seats	Democratic- Republican		Federalist
				Seats	Change	Seats	Change
New York	Districts	April 30 – May 2, 1816	27	22	1	5	1
Louisiana	At-large	July 1–3, 1816	1	1		0
Kentucky	Districts	August 5, 1816	10	10		0
New Hampshire	At-large	August 26, 1816	6	6	6	0	6
Rhode Island	At-large	August 27, 1816	2	0		2
Vermont	At-large	September 3, 1816	6	6	6	0	6
Connecticut	At-large	September 16, 1816	7	0		7
Maryland	Districts	October 6, 1816	9	5	1	4	1
Delaware	At-large	October 7, 1816	2	1	1	1	1
Georgia	At-large		6	6		0
Ohio	Districts	October 8, 1816	6	5	1	1	1
Pennsylvania	Districts		23	19	1	4	1
South Carolina	Districts	October 14–15, 1816	9	9	1	0	1
Massachusetts	Districts	November 4, 1816[c]	20	9	7	11	7
New Jersey	At-large	November 4–5, 1816	6	6		0
Late elections (after the March 4, 1817 beginning of the term)
Virginia	Districts	April 1817	23	20	1	3	1
Indiana	At-large	August 4, 1817	1	1		0
Mississippi	At-large	August 4–5, 1817	1	1	1	0
Tennessee	Districts	August 7–8, 1817	6	6		0
North Carolina	Districts	August 14, 1817	13	11		2
Total			184	144[b] 78.3%	25	40[b] 21.7%	24

There were special elections in 1816 and 1817 to the14th United States Congress and15th United States Congress.

Special elections are sorted by date then district.

Connecticut elected its members September 16, 1816.

Delaware elected its members October 7, 1816.

Georgia elected its members October 7, 1816.

SeeNon-voting delegates, below.

Indiana elected its member August 4, 1817, havingjust elected him just the year before to the new seat.

Kentucky elected its members August 5, 1816.

Louisiana elected its members July 1–3, 1816.

Maryland elected its members October 6, 1816.

Massachusetts's electoral law required a majority for election. In five districts this was not met on the first election, requiring additional trials to be held.

Massachusetts elected its members November 4, 1816.

District numbers differed between source used and elsewhere on Wikipedia; district numbers used elsewhere on Wikipedia used here.

Mississippi was admitted as a state on December 10, 1817^[15] from the western half of the formerMississippi Territory (the eastern half becameAlabama Territory) It elected its first representative to Congress August 4–5, 1817.

SeeNon-voting delegates, below.

New Hampshire elected its members August 26, 1816.

In 1816, theDemocratic-Republican candidates ran unopposed.

New Jersey elected its members November 4–5, 1816.

New York elected its members April 23 to 25, 1816.

North Carolina elected its members August 14, 1817.

Ohio elected its members October 8, 1816.

Pennsylvania elected its members October 8, 1816.

Rhode Island elected its members August 27, 1816.

South Carolina elected its members October 14–15, 1816.

Tennessee elected its members August 7–8, 1817.

Vermont elected its members September 3, 1816, replacing its six Federalists with six Democratic-Republicans.

Virginia elected its members in April 1817.

There were three territories with the right to senddelegates during at least part of the 15th Congress.

Illinois Territory also only existed during the 1st Session, as it was admitted to the Union as the State of Illinois on December 3, 1818.

Mississippi Territory only existed during the first few months of the 15th Congress, but did not elect a delegate, since it was admitted to the Union as a state a few days into the 1st Session of the 15th Congress.

There were two elections held for the delegate fromMissouri Territory. The first was contested byRufus Easton on the grounds of electoral fraud. This election was declared void, and a second election was held on August 4, 1817.^[2] It was won without controversy byJohn Scott, who took his seat on December 8, 1817.

• 14th United States Congress
• 15th United States Congress
• 1816 United States elections
  • List of United States House of Representatives elections (1789–1822)
  • 1816 United States presidential election
  • 1816–17 United States Senate elections

• "A New Nation Votes: American Election Returns 1787–1825". Tufts Digital Library, Tufts University. Archived fromthe original on January 29, 2015. RetrievedJanuary 17, 2015.
• Dubin, Michael J. (March 1, 1998).1788–1997 United States Congressional Elections: The Official Results of the Elections of the 1st Through 105th Congresses. McFarland and Company.ISBN 978-0786402830.
• Martis, Kenneth C. (January 1, 1989).The Historical Atlas of Political Parties in the United States Congress, 1789–1989. Macmillan Publishing Company.ISBN 978-0029201701.
• "Party Divisions of the House of Representatives* 1789–Present". Office of the Historian, United States House of Representatives. RetrievedJanuary 21, 2015.
• Mapping Early American Elections project team (2019)."Mapping Early American Elections". Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media, George Mason University. RetrievedSeptember 6, 2024.

• Office of the Historian (Office of Art & Archives, Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives)

• 1816 United States House of Representatives elections
• 1817 United States House of Representatives elections
• Era of Good Feelings

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