51st United States Congress


The 51st United States Congress, referred to by some critics as the Billion Dollar 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, 1889, to March 4, 1891, during the first two years of Benjamin Harrison's presidency.
The apportionment of seats in this House of Representatives was based on the 1880 United States census.
The Republicans maintained their majority in the Senate, and won the majority in the House. With Benjamin Harrison being sworn in as president on March 4, 1889, this gave the Republicans an overall federal government trifecta for the first time since the 43rd Congress in 1873–1875.

Major events

It was responsible for a number of pieces of landmark legislation, many of which asserted the authority of the federal government.
Emboldened by their success in the elections of 1888, the Republicans enacted virtually their entire platform during their first 303-day session, including a measure that provided American Civil War veterans with generous pensions and expanded the list of eligible recipients to include noncombatants and the children of veterans. Grover Cleveland had vetoed a similar bill in 1887. It was criticized as the "Billion Dollar Congress'" for its lavish spending and, for this reason it incited drastic reversals in public support that led to Cleveland's reelection in 1892.
Other important legislation passed into law by the Congress included the McKinley tariff, authored by Representative, and future President, William McKinley; the Sherman Antitrust Act, which prohibited business combinations that restricted trade; and the Sherman Silver Purchase Act, which required the U.S. government to mint silver. The last two were concessions to Western farmer interests in exchange for support of the tariff and would become central tenets of the Populist Party later in the decade. They were authored by Senator John Sherman.
The Fifty-first Congress was also responsible for passing the Land Revision Act of 1891, which created the national forests. Harrison authorized America's first forest reserve in Yellowstone, Wyoming, the same year.
Other bills were discussed but failed to pass, including two significant pieces of legislation focused on ensuring African Americans the right to vote. Henry Cabot Lodge sponsored a so-called Lodge Bill that would have established federal supervision of Congressional elections so as to prevent the disfranchisement of southern blacks. Henry W. Blair sponsored the Education Bill">United States House Committee on Education">Education Bill, which advocated the use of federal aid for education in order to frustrate southern whites employing literacy tests to prevent blacks from registering to vote.
The count below identifies party affiliations at the beginning of this Congress. Changes resulting from subsequent replacements are shown below in the "Changes in membership" section.
Six new states were admitted during this Congress, and their senators and representatives were elected throughout the Congress.

Senate

House of Representatives

Leadership

Senate

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 the last Congress, requiring reelection in 1892; Class 2 meant their term began in this Congress, requiring reelection in 1894; and Class 3 meant their term ended in this Congress, requiring reelection in 1890.

[List of [United States senators from Alabama|Alabama]]

Arkansas">List of United States senators from Arkansas">Arkansas

California">List of United States senators from California">California

Colorado">List of United States senators from Colorado">Colorado

Connecticut">List of United States senators from Connecticut">Connecticut

Delaware">List of United States senators from Delaware">Delaware

Florida">List of United States senators from Florida">Florida

Georgia">List of United States senators from Georgia">Georgia

Idaho">List of United States senators from Idaho">Idaho

Illinois">List of United States senators from Illinois">Illinois

Indiana">List of United States senators from Indiana">Indiana

Iowa">List of United States senators from Iowa">Iowa

Kansas">List of United States senators from Kansas">Kansas

Kentucky">List of United States senators from Kentucky">Kentucky

Louisiana">List of United States senators from Louisiana">Louisiana

Maine">List of United States senators from Maine">Maine

Maryland">List of United States senators from Maryland">Maryland

Massachusetts">List of United States senators from Massachusetts">Massachusetts

Michigan">List of United States senators from Michigan">Michigan

Minnesota">List of United States senators from Minnesota">Minnesota

Mississippi">List of United States senators from Mississippi">Mississippi

Missouri">List of United States senators from Missouri">Missouri

Montana">List of United States senators from Montana">Montana

Nebraska">List of United States senators from Nebraska">Nebraska

Nevada">List of United States senators from Nevada">Nevada

New Hampshire">List of United States senators from New Hampshire">New Hampshire

New Jersey">List of United States senators from New Jersey">New Jersey

New York">List of United States senators from New York">New York

North Carolina">List of United States senators from North Carolina">North Carolina

North Dakota">List of United States senators from North Dakota">North Dakota

Ohio">List of United States senators from Ohio">Ohio

Oregon">List of United States senators from Oregon">Oregon

Pennsylvania">List of United States senators from Pennsylvania">Pennsylvania

Rhode Island">List of United States senators from Rhode Island">Rhode Island

South Carolina">List of United States senators from South Carolina">South Carolina

South Dakota">List of United States senators from South Dakota">South Dakota

Tennessee">List of United States senators from Tennessee">Tennessee

Texas">List of United States senators from Texas">Texas

Vermont">List of United States senators from Vermont">Vermont

Virginia">List of United States senators from Virginia">Virginia

Washington">List of United States senators from Washington">Washington

West Virginia">List of United States senators from West Virginia">West Virginia

Wisconsin">List of United States senators from Wisconsin">Wisconsin

Wyoming">List of United States senators from Wyoming">Wyoming

House of Representatives

The names of representatives are preceded by their district numbers.

Alabama">List of United States representatives from Alabama">Alabama

Arkansas">List of United States representatives from Arkansas">Arkansas

California">List of United States representatives from California">California

Colorado">List of United States representatives from Colorado">Colorado

Connecticut">List of United States representatives from Connecticut">Connecticut

Delaware">List of United States representatives from Delaware">Delaware

Florida">List of United States representatives from Florida">Florida

Georgia">List of United States representatives from Georgia">Georgia

Idaho">List of United States representatives from Idaho">Idaho

Illinois">List of United States representatives from Illinois">Illinois

Indiana">List of United States representatives from Indiana">Indiana

Iowa">List of United States representatives from Iowa">Iowa

Kansas">List of United States representatives from Kansas">Kansas

Kentucky">List of United States representatives from Kentucky">Kentucky

Louisiana">List of United States representatives from Louisiana">Louisiana

Maine">List of United States representatives from Maine">Maine

Maryland">List of United States representatives from Maryland">Maryland

Massachusetts">List of United States representatives from Massachusetts">Massachusetts

Michigan">List of United States representatives from Michigan">Michigan

Minnesota">List of United States representatives from Minnesota">Minnesota

Mississippi">List of United States representatives from Mississippi">Mississippi

Missouri">List of United States representatives from Missouri">Missouri

Montana">List of United States representatives from Montana">Montana

Nebraska">List of United States representatives from Nebraska">Nebraska

Nevada">List of United States representatives from Nevada">Nevada

New Hampshire">List of United States representatives from New Hampshire">New Hampshire

New Jersey">List of United States representatives from New Jersey">New Jersey

New York">List of United States representatives from New York">New York

North Carolina">List of United States representatives from North Carolina">North Carolina

North Dakota">List of United States representatives from North Dakota">North Dakota

Ohio">List of United States representatives from Ohio">Ohio

Oregon">List of United States representatives from Oregon">Oregon

Pennsylvania">List of United States representatives from Pennsylvania">Pennsylvania

Rhode Island">List of United States representatives from Rhode Island">Rhode Island

South Carolina">List of United States representatives from South Carolina">South Carolina

South Dakota">List of United States representatives from South Dakota">South Dakota

Both representatives were elected statewide on a general ticket.

Tennessee">List of United States representatives from Tennessee">Tennessee

Texas">List of United States representatives from Texas">Texas

Vermont">List of United States representatives from Vermont">Vermont

Virginia">List of United States representatives from Virginia">Virginia

Washington">List of United States representatives from Washington">Washington

West Virginia">List of United States representatives from West Virginia">West Virginia

Wisconsin">List of United States representatives from Wisconsin">Wisconsin

Wyoming">List of United States representatives from Wyoming">Wyoming

Non-voting members

Changes in membership

The count below reflects changes from the beginning of the first session of this Congress.

Senate

  • Replacements: 3
  • * Democratic: no net change
  • * Republican: no net change
  • * Liberal Republican: 1-seat net loss
  • Deaths: 3
  • Resignations: 2
  • Interim appointments: 1
  • Seats of newly admitted states: 12
  • '''Total seats with changes: 17'''

    House of Representatives

  • Replacements: 16
  • * Democratic: 2-seat net gain
  • * Republican: 2-seat net loss
  • Deaths: 11
  • Resignations: 6
  • Contested election:8
  • Seats of newly admitted states: 7
  • '''Total seats with changes: 33'''

    Committees

Senate

Legislative branch agency">List of federal agencies in the United States#United States Congress">Legislative branch agency directors