39th United States Congress
The 39th 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, 1865, to March 4, 1867, during Abraham Lincoln's final month as president, and the first two years of the administration of his successor, Andrew Johnson.
The apportionment of seats in this House of Representatives was based on the 1860 United States census. Both chambers had a Republican majority.
Major events
- March 4, 1865: Second inauguration of President Abraham Lincoln.
- April 9, 1865: Surrender of Confederate forces at Appomattox Court House, effectively ending the American Civil War
- April 15, 1865: Assassination of President Abraham Lincoln, Vice President Andrew Johnson became President of the United States
- December 11, 1865: Creation of the House Appropriations Committee and the House Banking and Commerce Committee, reducing the tasks of the House Ways and Means Committee
- January, 1866: The second and current United States Capitol dome completed after 11 years of work.
- July 24, 1866: Tennessee became the first U.S. state to be readmitted to the Union following the American Civil War.
- November 5, 1866: United States House of Representatives elections, 1866
- January 8, 1867: African American men are granted the right to vote in the District of Columbia
Major legislation
- April 9, 1866: Civil Rights Act of 1866, Sess. 1, ch. 31,
- July 16, 1866: Freedmen's Bureau Bill, Sess. 1, ch. 200,
- July 23, 1866: Judicial Circuits Act, Sess. 1, ch. 210,, reduced the number of United States circuit courts to nine and the number of Supreme Court justices to seven
- July 23, 1866: District of Columbia Public Schools Act, Sess. 1, ch. 217,
- July 25, 1866: An Act to revive the grade of General in the United States Army, Sess. 1, ch. 232,, ; Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant became the first to have this rank.
- July 28, 1866: Metric Act of 1866, Sess. 1, ch. 301,, legalized the use of the metric system for weights and measures in the United States.
- July 28, 1866: Washington City Colored Schools Lots Donation Act, Sess. 1, ch. 308,
- March 2, 1867: Reconstruction Act, ch. 153, established five military districts, each headed by a general, in ten states of the former Confederate South, and stipulates conditions for re-admission of these States into the Union.
- March 2, 1867: Tenure of Office Act, ch. 154, required the president to obtain the Senate's advice and consent to suspend or dismiss certain federal public officials. Violation of this act will lead to the impeachment of Andrew Johnson by the next Congress in 1868.
Constitutional amendments
- December 18, 1865: Thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution declared ratified
- June 13, 1866: Approved an amendment to the Constitution addressing citizenship rights and equal protection of the laws, and submitted it to the state legislatures for ratification
- * Amendment was later ratified on July 9, 1868, becoming the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution
States admitted
- July 24, 1866: Tennessee readmitted to representation.
- March 1, 1867: Nebraska admitted as the 37th state, sess. 2, ch. 36,
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
During this Congress, two seats were added for the new state of Nebraska.House of Representatives
During this Congress, one seat was added for the new state of Nebraska.Leadership
Senate
- President: Andrew Johnson, until April 15, 1865; vacant thereafter.
- President pro tempore: Lafayette S. Foster, until March 2, 1867
- * Benjamin F. Wade, elected March 2, 1867
- Republican Conference Chairman: Henry B. Anthony
House of Representatives
Members
This list is arranged by chamber, then by state. Senators are listed in order of seniority, and representatives are listed by district.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 1868; Class 2 meant their term began in this Congress, requiring reelection in 1870; and Class 3 meant their term ended in this Congress, requiring reelection in 1866.Illinois">List of United States senators from Illinois">Illinois
Massachusetts">List of United States senators from Massachusetts">Massachusetts
New Jersey">List of United States senators from New Jersey">New Jersey
Tennessee">List of United States senators from Tennessee">Tennessee
House of Representatives
The names of representatives are preceded by their district numbers.Illinois">List of United States representatives from Illinois">Illinois
Massachusetts">List of United States representatives from Massachusetts">Massachusetts
New Jersey">List of United States representatives from New Jersey">New Jersey
Tennessee">List of United States representatives from Tennessee">Tennessee
Non-voting members
[Image:39 us house membership.png|thumb|300px|]
Changes in membership
The count below reflects changes from the beginning of the first session of this Congress.Senate
- Replacements: 8
- * Democratic: 2-seat net loss
- * Republican: 2-seat net gain
- * Unionist: no net change
- * Unconditional Union: no net change
- Deaths: 4
- Resignations: 2
- Vacancy: 1
- Seats of newly admitted states: 2
- Seats of re-admitted states: 2
- '''Total seats with changes: 12'''
House of Representatives
- Replacements: 9
- * Democratic: 1-seat net gain
- * Republican: 2-seat net gain
- * Unconditional Unionist: 1 seat net loss
- * Unionist: 0 net change
- Deaths: 4
- Resignations: 4
- Contested election: 3
- Seats from newly admitted states: 1
- Seats from re-admitted states: 8
- '''Total seats with changes: 21'''
Committees
Senate
- Agriculture
- Audit and Control the Contingent Expenses of the Senate
- Claims
- Coins, Weights and Measures
- Commerce
- Compensation
- Distributing Public Revenue Among the States
- District of Columbia
- Engrossed Bills
- Finance
- Foreign Relations
- Indian Affairs
- Interior Department Clerical Force
- Judiciary
- Manufactures
- Military Affairs and the Militia
- Mines and Mining
- Mississippi River Levees Reconstruction
- National Banks
- National Telegraph Company
- Naval Affairs
- Ordnance and War Ships
- Pacific Railroad
- Patents and the Patent Office
- Pensions
- Post Office and Post Roads
- Private Land Claims
- Public Buildings and Grounds
- Public Lands
- Retrenchment
- Revolutionary Claims
- Tariff Regulation
- Territories
- Whole
House of Representatives
- Accounts
- Agriculture
- Appropriations
- Banking and Currency
- Claims
- Coinage, Weights and Measures
- Commerce
- District of Columbia
- Elections
- Expenditures in the Interior Department
- Expenditures in the Navy Department
- Expenditures in the Post Office Department
- Expenditures in the State Department
- Expenditures in the Treasury Department
- Expenditures in the War Department
- Expenditures on Public Buildings
- Foreign Affairs
- Freedmen's Affairs
- Indian Affairs
- Invalid Pensions
- Judiciary
- Manufactures
- Mileage
- Military Affairs
- Militia
- Mines and Mining
- Naval Affairs
- Pacific Railroads
- Patents
- Post Office and Post Roads
- Public Buildings and Grounds
- Public Expenditures
- Public Lands
- Revisal and Unfinished Business
- Revolutionary Claims
- Revolutionary Pensions
- Roads and Canals
- Rules
- Standards of Official Conduct
- Territories
- Ways and Means
- Whole
Joint committees
- Conditions of Indian Tribes
- Conduct of the War
- Enrolled Bills
- The Library
- Printing
- Retrenchment
- To Inquire into the Condition of the States which Formed the So-Called Confederate States
Caucuses
Employees
Legislative branch agency">List of federal agencies in the United States#United States Congress">Legislative branch agency directors
- Architect of the Capitol: Thomas U. Walter, resigned May 26, 1865
- * Edward Clark, appointed August 30, 1865
- Librarian of Congress: Ainsworth Rand Spofford
Senate
- Chaplain: Thomas Bowman, until March 9, 1865
- * Edgar H. Gray, from March 9, 1865
- Secretary: John W. Forney
- Sergeant at Arms: George T. Brown
House of Representatives
- Chaplain: William Henry Channing, until December 4, 1865
- * Charles B. Boynton, from December 4, 1865
- Clerk: Edward McPherson
- Doorkeeper: Ira Goodnow
- Messenger to the Speaker: William D. Todd
- Postmaster: Josiah Given
- Reading Clerks: Edward W. Barber
- Sergeant at Arms: Nehemiah G. Ordway
Transcripts of debates and proceedings
The Congressional Globe contains the official transcripts and proceedings of the Thirty-Ninth Congress, although newspapers often provided their own transcripts that sometimes differed from the official ones. Following are external links to the pertinent volumes of the Globe, which are downloadable and/or searchable via Google Books and HathiTrust:| Session | Part | Start date | End date | Pages | Hathi | |
| First | One | December 4, 1865 | February 21, 1866 | 1 to 960 | ||
| First | Two | February 21, 1866 | April 12, 1866 | 961 to 1920 | ||
| First | Three | April 12, 1866 | May 29, 1866 | 1921 to 2880 | ||
| First | Four | May 29, 1866 | July 16, 1866 | 2881 to 3840 | ||
| First | Five | July 16, 1866 | July 28, 1866 | 3841 to 4310, plus Appendix | ||
| Second | One | December 3, 1866 | January 25, 1867 | 1 to 752 | ||
| Second | Two | January 25, 1867 | February 18, 1867 | 753 to 1504 | ||
| Second | Three | February 18, 1867 | March 2, 1867 | 1505 to 2005, plus Appendix |
The congressional debates pertaining to the Fourteenth Amendment can be found at “”.