| 5th United States Congress | |
|---|---|
4th ← → 6th | |
 Congress Hall (2007) | |
March 4, 1797 – March 3, 1799 | |
| Members | 32 senators 106 representatives |
| Senate majority | Federalist |
| Senate President | Thomas Jefferson (DR) |
| House majority | Federalist |
| House Speaker | Jonathan Dayton (F) |
| Sessions | |
| Special[a]: March 4, 1797 – March 4, 1797 1st: May 15, 1797 – July 10, 1797 2nd: November 13, 1797 – July 16, 1798 Special[b]: July 17, 1798 – July 19, 1798 3rd: December 3, 1798 – March 3, 1799 | |
The5th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of theUnited States Senate and theUnited States House of Representatives. It met atCongress Hall inPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania, from March 4, 1797, to March 4, 1799, during the first two years ofJohn Adams'presidency. In the context of theQuasi-War with France, theAlien and Sedition Acts were passed by Congress. The Acts were overwhelmingly supported by the Federalists and mostly opposed by the Democratic-Republicans. Some Democratic-Republicans, such asTimothy Bloodworth, said they would support formally going to war against France but they opposed the Alien and Sedition Acts which Bloodworth and others believed were unconstitutional.[1]
The apportionment of seats in this House of Representatives was based on the1790 United States census. Both chambers had aFederalist majority.
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Details on changes are shown below in the "Changes in membership" section.
| Party (shading shows control) | Total | Vacant | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic- Republican (DR) | Federalist (F) | |||
| End ofprevious congress | 11 | 21 | 32 | 0 |
| Begin | 9 | 22 | 31 | 1 |
| End | ||||
| Final voting share | 29.0% | 71.0% | ||
| Beginning ofnext congress | 9 | 22 | 31 | 1 |
| Party (shading shows control) | Total | Vacant | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic- Republican (DR) | Federalist (F) | |||
| End ofprevious congress | 59 | 47 | 106 | 0 |
| Begin | 49 | 56 | 105 | 1 |
| End | 50 | 106 | 0 | |
| Final voting share | 47.2% | 52.8% | ||
| Beginning ofnext congress | 46 | 60 | 106 | 0 |
This list is arranged by chamber, then by state. Senators are listed in order of seniority, and representatives are listed by district.
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 areSenate class numbers, which indicate the cycle of their election. In this Congress, Class 1 meant their term began in this Congress, requiring reelection in 1802; Class 2 meant their term ended with this Congress, requiring reelection in 1798; and Class 3 meant their term began in the last Congress, requiring reelection in 1800.
|
|  2 Democratic-Republicans 1 Democratic-Republican and 1 Federalist 2 Federalists | 
|
The count below reflects changes from the beginning of this Congress
There were 9 resignations, 2 deaths, 1 expulsion, 1 late selection, and 2 elections to replace appointees. Neither party had a net gain of seats.
| State (class) | Vacated by | Reason for change | Successor | Date of successor's formal installation[c] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tennessee (1) | Vacant | Tennessee failed to elect a Senator on time | William Cocke (DR) | Appointed May 15, 1797 |
| Tennessee (2) | William Blount (DR) | Expelled July 8, 1797 | Joseph Anderson (DR) | Elected September 26, 1797 |
| Tennessee (1) | William Cocke (DR) | Interim appointment until September 26, 1797 | Andrew Jackson (DR) | Elected September 26, 1797 |
| Rhode Island (2) | William Bradford (F) | Resigned sometime in October, 1797 | Ray Greene (F) | Elected November 13, 1797 |
| Vermont (1) | Isaac Tichenor (F) | Resigned October 17, 1797 | Nathaniel Chipman (F) | Elected October 17, 1797 |
| Maryland (3) | John Henry (F) | Resigned December 10, 1797 | James Lloyd (F) | Elected December 11, 1797 |
| New York (1) | Philip John Schuyler (F) | Resigned January 3, 1798 | John Sloss Hobart (F) | Elected January 11, 1798 |
| Delaware (2) | John Vining (F) | Resigned January 19, 1798 | Joshua Clayton (F) | Elected January 19, 1798 |
| Tennessee (1) | Andrew Jackson (DR) | Resigned sometime in April, 1798 | Daniel Smith (DR) | Appointed October 6, 1798 |
| New York (1) | John Sloss Hobart (F) | Resigned April 16, 1798 | William North (F) | Appointed May 5, 1798 |
| Delaware (2) | Joshua Clayton (F) | Died August 11, 1798 | William H. Wells (F) | Elected January 17, 1799 |
| New York (1) | William North (F) | Interim appointment until August 17, 1798 | James Watson (F) | Elected August 17, 1798 |
| New Jersey (1) | John Rutherfurd (F) | Resigned November 26, 1798 | Franklin Davenport (F) | Appointed December 5, 1798 |
| South Carolina (2) | John Hunter (DR) | Resigned November 26, 1798 | Charles Pinckney (DR) | Elected December 6, 1798 |
| Virginia (2) | Henry Tazewell (DR) | Died January 24, 1799 | Vacant | Not filled in this Congress |
There were 9 resignations and 3 deaths. TheFederalists had a 1-seat net loss and theDemocratic-Republicans had a 1-seat net gain.
| District | Vacated by | Reason for change | Successor | Date of successor's formal installation[c] |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vermont 2 | Vacant | Daniel Buck (F) had been re-elected, but declined to serve. Successorelected May 23, 1797.[4] | Lewis R. Morris (F) | May 24, 1797 |
| Rhode Island at-large | Elisha Potter (F) | Resigned sometime in 1797. Successorelected August 29, 1797.[4] | Thomas Tillinghast (F) | Seated November 13, 1797 |
| South Carolina 1 | William L. Smith (F) | Resigned July 10, 1797. Successorelected September 4–5, 1797.[4] | Thomas Pinckney (F) | Seated November 23, 1797 |
| Massachusetts 11 | Theophilus Bradbury (F) | Resigned July 24, 1797. Successorelected August 4, 1797.[4] | Bailey Bartlett (F) | Seated November 27, 1797 |
| New Hampshire at-large | Jeremiah Smith (F) | Resigned July 26, 1797. Successorelected August 28, 1797.[4] | Peleg Sprague (F) | Seated December 15, 1797 |
| Connecticut at-large | James Davenport (F) | Died August 3, 1797. Successorelected September 18, 1797.[4] | William Edmond (F) | Seated November 13, 1797 |
| Tennessee at-large | Andrew Jackson (DR) | Resigned sometime in September 1797 to become U.S. Senator. Successorelected September 26, 1797.[5] | William C.C. Claiborne (DR) | Seated November 23, 1797 |
| Pennsylvania 5 | George Ege (F) | Resigned sometime in October 1797. Successorelected October 10, 1797.[4] | Joseph Hiester (DR) | Seated December 1, 1797 |
| Pennsylvania 4 | Samuel Sitgreaves (F) | Resigned sometime in 1798. Successorelected October 9, 1798.[4] | Robert Brown (DR) | Seated December 4, 1798 |
| North Carolina 10 | Nathan Bryan (DR) | Died June 4, 1798. Successorelected August 2, 1798.[4] | Richard Dobbs Spaight (DR) | Seated December 10, 1798 |
| Pennsylvania 1 | John Swanwick (DR) | Died July 31, 1798. Successorelected October 9, 1798.[4] | Robert Waln (F) | Seated December 3, 1798 |
| Connecticut at-large | Joshua Coit (F) | Died September 5, 1798. Successorelected October 22, 1798.[4] | Jonathan Brace (F) | Seated December 3, 1798 |
| Virginia 9 | William Giles (DR) | Resigned October 2, 1798. Successorelected November 1, 1798.[4] | Joseph Eggleston (DR) | Seated December 3, 1798 |
Lists of committees and their party leaders.
