1860–61 United States House of Representatives elections
The number of House seats initially increased to 239 when California was apportioned an extra one, but these elections were affected by the outbreak of the American Civil War and resulted in over 56 vacancies.Though Republicans lost seats, the party won a House majority anyway as seven slave states reacted to Lincoln's election by seceding before the Presidential inauguration.These seceding states formed the Confederacy in February 1861 while withdrawing many Representatives and Senators from Congress, almost all Democrats.As both sides in the impending American Civil War initially mobilized troops, another four slave states seceded by May 1861 in response to Lincoln's policy of using Federal force to defend Federal property and to coerce the seven initially seceding states.Unionist regions of three seceding states returned ten Representatives: five from western Virginia, three from eastern Tennessee, and two from southern Louisiana.In the wake of the declared secession of South Carolina from the Union on December 20, 1860, many Southern House members, mostly Democrats, refused to take their seats.Since the states not holding elections had many strong Democratic districts – in the previous 36th Congress their Representatives included a total of 46 Democrats, 14 Oppositionists, five independents, and one member of the American Party – when Congress was called into session on July 4, 1861 (five months earlier than usual at the time) the size of the Democratic House caucus had been drastically reduced, resulting in a huge Republican majority.Likewise, the congressional elections also marked the transition from one major era of political parties to another.[9] In the 1856 elections, the Democrats had taken the Presidency for the sixth time in the last 40 years, with James Buchanan's victory over John C. Fremont and Millard Fillmore.Democrats held onto the Senate during the midterm elections, but the four opposition parties then amounted to two-thirds of the House.The congressional elections in 1860 transformed Democratic fortunes: Republican and Unionist candidates won a two-thirds majority in both House and Senate.[10] After the secessionist withdrawal, resignation and expulsion, the Democrats would have less than 25% of the House for the 37th Congress, and that minority divided further between pro-war (Stephen Douglas), and anti-war (Clement Vallandingham) factions.Each congressional district has a link, named by its state abbreviation and its assigned number or noted At-large election.Pennsylvania notes the home county of the elected representative, sometimes holding the largest population for respective districts.The region is important nationally in manufacturing and intellectually as the center of literature, Transcendentalism and the abolition movement.This region had the closest commercial and social ties to the South due to its sea-going commerce and trans-shipping cotton to local textile plants and for export.When California entered the Union, it broke the free soil - slave state tie in the Senate.Alabama — Arkansas — Florida — Georgia — Louisiana — Mississippi — North Carolina — South Carolina — Texas Forty-three seats represented large numbers of citizens in nine states resisting the Lincoln administration of the United States government during the Civil War.On July 30, 1861, the House Elections Committee seated the Shiel for the rest of the term ending March 3, 1863.The leading secessionist candidate in each district received his certificate of election to the Confederate Congress.
Pro-union Free states: dark blue. Pro-Union Slave' states: light blue; (West Virginia abolished slavery with statehood.)
Secessionist Convention Slave states: red
The numbers in Congress are reduced by the 'vacant' seats
1858 & 18591862 & 1863United States House of RepresentativesWilliam PenningtonSamuel CoxRepublicanDemocraticNew Jersey 5thOhio 12thSouthern RightsIndependentSpeakerGalusha Grow37th United States CongressapportionedAmerican Civil WarAbraham LincolnPresidencyslave statessecedingConfederacyDemocratsnativistAmerican PartyUnionistElection DayList of special elections to the United States House of Representatives36th United States CongressMissouri 1Francis P. Blair Jr.electedJohn R. BarretAlbert ToddPennsylvania 8John SchwartzAnti-LecomptonJacob K. McKentyMaine 5Israel Washburn Jr.Governor of MaineStephen CoburnJoseph D. BrownAbner CoburnSamuel BlakeNew York 31Silas M. BurroughsEdwin R. ReynoldsOhio 7Thomas CorwinU.S. Minister to MexicoRichard A. HarrisonAaron HarlanOhio 13John ShermanSamuel T. WorcesterMassachusetts 3Charles F. Adams Sr.Ambassador to Great BritainBenjamin ThomasPennsylvania 12George W. ScrantonHendrick B. WrightPennsylvania 2Edward Joy MorrisU.S. Minister to the Ottoman EmpireCharles J. BiddleCharles O'NeillIowa 1Samuel Curtis2nd Iowa InfantryJames F. WilsonJairus Edward NealVirginia 11John S. CarlileJacob B. BlairMassachusetts 5William AppletonSamuel HooperIllinois 6John A. McClernand1859 (special)Anthony L. KnappsecessionSouth CarolinaArkansasMissouriCaliforniaFloridaConfederate States of AmericaCongress of the Confederate States36th CongressOppositionistsColumbiaUncle Sam1856 electionspro-waranti-war37th CongressIndependent DemocraticConstitutional UnionTranscendentalismMason–Dixon lineList of United States representatives from AlabamaAlabama 1James StallworthAlabama 2James L. PughAlabama 3David CloptonAlabama 4Sydenham MooreAlabama 5George S. HoustonAlabama 6Williamson CobbAlabama 7Jabez L. M. CurryList of United States representatives from ArkansasArkansas 1Thomas C. HindmanArkansas 2Albert RustEdward W. GanttCharles B. MitchelList of United States representatives from California1860 United States Senate election in California