44th United States Congress
The 44th 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, 1875, to March 4, 1877, during the seventh and eighth years of Ulysses S. Grant's presidency. The apportionment of seats in the House of Representatives was based on the 1870 United States census. For the first time since the American Civil War, the House had a Democratic majority. The Senate maintained a Republican majority.
Major events
- November 22, 1875: Vice President Henry Wilson died from a stroke
- June 25, 1876: Custer's Last Stand at the Battle of Little Bighorn
- July 4, 1876: United States Centennial
- November 7, 1876: United States general elections, 1876, including the disputed Presidential election of 1876, later settled with the Compromise of 1877 which ended Reconstruction.
Major legislation
- January 29, 1877: Electoral Commission Act, ch. 37,
- March 3, 1877: Desert Land Act, ch. 107,
State admitted
- August 1, 1876: Colorado admitted as the 38th state
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.During this Congress, two Senate seats and one House seat were added for the new state, Colorado.
Leadership
Senate
- President: Henry Wilson, until November 22, 1875; vacant thereafter.
- President pro tempore: Thomas W. Ferry, from March 9, 1875
- Republican Conference Chairman: Henry B. Anthony
- Democratic Caucus Chairman: John W. Stevenson
House of Representatives
- Speaker: Michael C. Kerr, until August 19, 1876
- * Samuel J. Randall, elected December 4, 1876
- Democratic Caucus Chairman: Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus Lamar II
- Republican Conference Chairman: George W. McCrary
Members
This list is arranged by chamber, then by state. Senators are listed by class, 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 this Congress, facing re-election in 1880; Class 2 meant their term ended in this Congress, facing re-election in 1876; and Class 3 meant their term began in the last Congress, facing re-election in 1878.Georgia">List of United States senators from Georgia">Georgia
Maryland">List of United States senators from Maryland">Maryland
New Hampshire">List of United States senators from New Hampshire">New Hampshire
South Carolina">List of United States senators from South Carolina">South Carolina
House of Representatives
The names of representatives are preceded by their district numbers.Georgia">List of United States representatives from Georgia">Georgia
Maryland">List of United States representatives from Maryland">Maryland
New Hampshire">List of United States representatives from New Hampshire">New Hampshire
South Carolina">List of United States representatives from South Carolina">South Carolina
Changes in membership
The count below reflects changes from the beginning of the first session of this Congress.Senate
- Replacements: 4
- * Democratic: 1 seat net gain
- * Republican: 1 seat net loss
- Deaths: 3
- Resignations: 1
- Vacancy: 1
- Interim appointments: 3
- Seats of newly admitted states: 2
- '''Total seats with changes: 7'''
House of Representatives
- Replacements: 14
- * Democratic: no net change
- * Republican: no net change
- Deaths: 9
- Resignations: 6
- Contested election: 5
- Seats of newly admitted states: 1
- '''Total seats with changes: 21'''
Committees
Senate
- Agriculture
- Appropriations
- Audit and Control the Contingent Expenses of the Senate
- Civil Service and Retrenchment
- Claims
- Commerce
- Counting the Electoral Vote
- Distributing Public Revenue Among the States
- District of Columbia
- Education and Labor
- Engrossed Bills
- Enrolled Bills
- Examine the Several Branches in the Civil Service
- Finance
- Foreign Relations
- Indian Affairs
- Judiciary
- Manufactures
- Military Affairs
- Mines and Mining
- Mississippi River Levee System
- Mississippi Election Frauds, 1876
- Naval Affairs
- Ordnance and War Ships
- Patents
- Pensions
- Post Office and Post Roads
- Private Land Claims
- Privileges and Elections
- Public Buildings and Grounds
- Public Lands
- Railroads
- Revision of the Laws
- Revolutionary Claims
- Rules
- Tariff Regulation
- Territories
- Transportation Routes to the Seaboard
- Whole
House of Representatives
- Accounts
- Agriculture
- Appropriations
- Banking and Currency
- Claims
- Coinage, Weights and Measures
- Commerce
- District of Columbia
- Education and Labor
- Elections
- Enrolled Bills
- Expenditures in the Interior Department
- Expenditures in the Justice 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
- Indian Affairs
- Invalid Pensions
- Judiciary
- Manufactures
- Mileage
- Military Affairs
- Militia
- Mines and Mining
- Mississippi Levees
- Naval Affairs
- Pacific Railroads
- Patents
- Post Office and Post Roads
- Private Land Claims
- Public Buildings and Grounds
- Public Expenditures
- Public Lands
- Railways and Canals
- Reform in the Civil Service
- Revision of Laws
- Revolutionary Pensions and War of 1812
- Rules
- Standards of Official Conduct
- Territories
- War Claims
- Ways and Means
- Whole
Joint committees
- Conditions of Indian Tribes
- Enrolled Bills
- Frame a Form of Government for the District of Columbia
- Investigate Chinese Immigration
- The Library
- Printing
Caucuses
Employees
Legislative branch agency">List of federal agencies in the United States">Legislative branch agency directors
- Architect of the Capitol: Edward Clark
- Librarian of Congress: Ainsworth Rand Spofford
- Public Printer of the United States: Almon M. Clapp, from 1876
Senate
- Chaplain: Byron Sunderland
- Librarian: George F. Dawson
- Secretary: George C. Gorham
- Sergeant at Arms: John R. French
House of Representatives
- Chaplain: John George Butler, until December 6, 1875
- * I. L. Townsend, from December 6, 1875
- Clerk: Edward McPherson, until December 6, 1875
- * George M. Adams, elected December 6, 1875
- Clerk at the Speaker’s Table: William H. Scudder
- Doorkeeper: Lafayette H. Fitzhugh
- Postmaster: James M. Steuart
- Reading Clerks: Thomas S. Pettit and Neill S. Brown Jr.
- Sergeant at Arms: Nehemiah G. Ordway, until December 6, 1875
- * John G. Thompson, elected December 6, 1875