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1862–63 United States House of Representatives elections

House elections for the 38th U.S. Congress From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

1862–63 United States House of Representatives elections
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The 1862–63 United States House of Representatives elections were held between June 2, 1862, and November 3, 1863, to elect the 184 members and eight non-voting delegates of the House of Representatives. The Republican-Union coalition won a reduced majority against the backdrop of the American Civil War.[1]

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In the first real test of the Lincoln administration's popularity, the Democratic Party made large gains in these and concurrent elections held in 1862 and 1863.[2] Much of the campaign focussed on Lincoln's handling of the war and the Emancipation Proclamation. Lincoln issued the preliminary proclamation on September 22, weeks before critical races in Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, (October 14) and New York (November 3). Democrats denounced emancipation as tyrannical and a threat to white supremacy. Democratic election propaganda charged their opponents with bloodlust and religious fanaticism and made frequent appeals to anti-Black racism.[3] While Radical Republicans defended the measure, others felt compelled to distance themselves from the president's policy.[4] In Indiana and Ohio, the Union Party downplayed the slavery issue.[5] The issue was particularly troublesome for Unionists in the border states. Kentucky's Union Democratic Party disavowed the proclamation ahead of congressional elections held in August 1863.[6] In Maryland and Missouri, Unionists welcomed emancipation in principle but divided over questions over gradual versus immediate abolition and the enlistment of Black soldiers.[7]

Other issues impacted the election, including Lincoln's suspension of habeas corpus, conscription, and the progress of the war. Inconclusive Union victories at Antietam, Corinth, and Perryville contributed to a perception that the administration's military strategy was ineffective. Democrats charged the administration with subordinating the restoration of the Union to the radical social policy of the abolitionist movement.[8]

During this election, the Republican Party formed a coalition with War Democrats and border state unionists who supported the war effort. In most states, this coalition was known as the Union Party or as the Republican-Union Party.[9] In parts of New England and the Upper Midwest, pro-administration candidates still called themselves Republicans.[10] The Missouri Unionists were known as the Emancipation Party and split between Immediate and Gradual Emancipationists during this election.[11] The Republican-Union coalition became the basis for the National Union Party which contested the next election.[12]

While contemporary observers interpreted the elections as a "severe reproof" of the administration, the results of the elections were inconclusive.[13] Democrats flipped more than 30 seats compared to the last election, while Republican-Unionists suffered serious losses across the Lower North. The strong showing for Union candidates in the border states, however, salvaged the Republican-Unionist majority.[14] Among the defeated Republican-Unionists was the incumbent speaker of the House of Representatives Galusha A. Grow, who lost his Pennsylvania district to a Democratic challenger.[15] This was the last election in which a sitting speaker of the House was defeated for re-election until 1994, when George Nethercutt defeated Tom Foley in Washington's 5th congressional district.[16]

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Results

Federal

73 12 98
Democratic [h] Republican-Union
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Results by state

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Reapportionment

Reapportionment took place following the 1860 United States census. The 1862 apportionment act increased the size of the House to 241 seats from 233.[17] Fifty-eight seats were vacant due to secession.[1]

Three seats were transferred from Virginia to West Virginia following the latter's admission on June 20, 1863.[18] One seat was allocated to Nevada upon its admission on October 31, 1864, increasing the size of the House to 242 seats and the number of elected members to 184.[19]

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Special elections

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Special elections were held in 1862 and 1863 to fill 10 vacancies in the 37th Congress and four vacancies in the 38th Congress.

37th Congress

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38th Congress

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Alabama

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Alabama did not hold elections as a result of secession.

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Arkansas

Arkansas held no elections in 1862 or 1863 as a result of secession. Late elections were held from March 14–16, 1864, but the elected members were not seated by the House.

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California

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California elected its members on September 2, 1863, after the term began but before Congress convened. Voters chose three members on a statewide general ticket to represent the state's at-large congressional district.

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Connecticut

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Connecticut elected its members April 6, 1863, after the term began but before the Congress convened.

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Colorado Territory

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Delaware

Delaware elected its member on November 1, 1862.

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Dakota Territory

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Florida

Florida did not hold elections as a result of secession.

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Georgia

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Georgia did not hold elections as a result of secession.

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Idaho Territory

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Illinois

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Illinois elected its members on November 4, 1862.

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Indiana

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Indiana elected its members on October 14, 1862.

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Iowa

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Iowa elected its members on October 14, 1862.

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Kansas

Kansas elected its member on November 4, 1862.

Whereas the Union Party replaced the Republicans in most states during the war, the Kansas Republican Party remained active. In a factional schism, opponents of U.S. senator Jim Lane split from the Republican Party in 1862 to form the Union Party with the support of the state's Democrats. This party, which nominated Marcus J. Parrott for Congress, was not affiliated with the national Republican-Union coalition and broke apart during the 1864 presidential election.[25]

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Kentucky

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Kentucky elected its members on August 3, 1863, after the new term began but before Congress convened.

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Louisiana

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Louisiana held no elections in 1862 or 1863 as a result of secession. Late elections were held on September 5, 1864, but the elected members were not seated by the House.

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Maine

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Maine elected its members on September 8, 1862.

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Maryland

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Maryland elected its members on November 3, 1863, after the new term began but before Congress convened.

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Massachusetts

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Massachusetts elected its members on November 1, 1862.

Massachusetts Republicans resisted incorporation into the Union Party in 1861 and 1862. Conservative Republicans, former Whigs, and Democrats attended the state convention of the Constitutional Union Party which nominated candidates for the upcoming elections. The convention called itself the People's Party in order to attract votes from Democrats. Conservative former Whigs and Republicans in the party expressed strong support for the Lincoln administration during the spring and summer under the belief that the president firmly opposed emancipation. The Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation, issued less than two weeks before the state convention met, helped to divide and defeat the new party in its infancy.[28]

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Michigan

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Michigan elected its members on November 4, 1862.

A Democratic proposal for a bipartisan Union ticket was rejected by the Radical leadership of the Michigan Republican Party. The Democrats went ahead with plans for a Union state convention and called themselves Union Democrats or Fusionists during the campaign in hopes of attracting votes from disaffected Conservative Republicans. Some conservatives did support the Union ticket, which was disavowed by the Republican state committee.[29]

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Minnesota

Minnesota elected its members on November 4, 1862.

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Mississippi

Mississippi did not hold elections as a result of secession.

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Missouri

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Missouri elected its members on November 4, 1862.

Missouri Unionists contested this election as the Emancipation Party.[30] The party was divided ideologically between conservative Claybanks, who favored a plan of gradual emancipation, and radical Charcoals, who supported immediate emancipation.[31] In St. Louis, Gradual and Immediate Emancipationists ran opposing tickets.[32] Some sources list the Gradual Emancipation candidates as Republicans;[33] however, the Republican state committee deliberately deemphasized old party labels in its call for the state convention which gave rise to the Emancipation Party.[34] Francis Preston Blair Jr., the most prominent leader of the Antebellum Missouri Republican Party, was nominated on the Union Emancipation ticket in Missouri's 1st congressional district and contested the election as a Gradual Emancipationist.[35]

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Nebraska Territory

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Nevada Territory

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New Hampshire

New Hampshire elected its members on March 10, 1863.

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New Mexico Territory

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New Jersey

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New Jersey elected its members on November 4, 1862.

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New York

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New York elected its members on November 4, 1862.

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North Carolina

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North Carolina did not hold elections as a result of secession.

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Ohio

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Ohio elected its members on October 14, 1862.

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Oregon

Oregon elected its members on June 2, 1862.

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Pennsylvania

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Pennsylvania elected its members on October 14, 1862.

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Rhode Island

Rhode Island elected its members on April 1, 1863, after the term began but before the Congress convened.

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South Carolina

South Carolina did not hold elections as a result of secession.

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Tennessee

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Tennessee did not hold elections as a result of secession.

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Texas

Texas did not hold elections as a result of secession.

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Utah Territory

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Vermont

Vermont elected its members on September 1, 1863, after the term began but before the Congress convened.

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Virginia

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The Restored Government of Virginia held elections in three districts on May 28, 1863, after the term began but before Congress convened. The elected members were not seated by the House.

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Washington Territory

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West Virginia

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West Virginia elected its members on October 22, 1863, after the term began but before the Congress convened. The state and its congressional districts had formed part of Western Virginia before being admitted to the Union on June 20, 1863, with the consent of the Restored Government of Virginia. The West Virginian members were seated on December 7, 1863.

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Wisconsin

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Wisconsin elected its members on November 4, 1862.

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Non-voting delegates

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See also

Notes

  1. Regular elections only; excluding specials and states admitted after the start of Congress.
  2. Including late elections.
  3. An additional 58 seats were vacant as a result of secession.[1]
  4. As the Republican Party
  5. Includes all votes for Independents, Independent Democrats, Independent Unionists, Independent Union Democrats, Peace Democrats, and War Democrats
  6. 8 Union Democrats, 1 Conservative Unionist, 1 Independent Unionist, 1 Unconditional Union Democrat, and 1 War Democrat were elected.
  7. Not including rejected elections in Arkansas, Louisiana, and Virginia
  8. Including
    • Outgoing: 108 Republicans, 15 Unionists, 1 People's
    • Incoming: 99 Republican-Unionists
  9. Including
    • Outgoing: 9 Union Democrats, 4 Constitutional Unionists, 1 Southern Rights, 1 Union and Peace
    • Incoming: 8 Union Democrats, 1 Conservative Unionist, 1 Unconditional Union Democrat
  10. Includes 1 War Democrat
  11. Includes 1 Independent Unionist
  12. Constitutional Unionist
  13. 13 single-member districts and one at-large seat
  14. In 1845, Congress passed a law providing for a uniform date for choosing presidential electors (see: Statutes at Large, 28th Congress, 2nd Session, p. 721). Congressional elections were unaffected by this law, but the date was gradually adopted by the states for congressional elections as well.
  15. The incumbent Constitutional Unionist was re-elected as a Conservative Unionist.
  16. Constitutional Unionists
  17. 8 Union Democrats and 1 Unconditional Union Democrat
  18. Southern Rights
  19. Union and Peace
  20. Three seats were subsequently transferred to the new state of West Virginia.
  21. Dubin lists the Union candidates as Republicans; however, the Illinois Republican Party had reformed as the Union Party earlier in 1862.[23]
  22. The incumbent Union Democrat John J. Crittenden died prior to the election.
  23. The Republican incumbent Goldsmith Bailey died prior to the election.
  24. Dubin lists Rollins as a Democrat;[26] however, Rollins's biographer clarifies that Rollins was elected as a Conservative Unionist and joined the Democratic Party toward the end of his term.[37]
  25. Dubin lists the Union candidates as Republicans; however, the Pennsylvania People's Party, the state's Republican affiliate, had reformed as the Union Party earlier in 1862.[39]
  26. Dubin lists Armstrong as a Democrat;[15] however, Armstrong was nominated by the Union Party in the 18th district to oppose Hale, who ran as an independent candidate.[40] Contemporary sources identify Armstrong as a Unionist and Hale as an Independent Unionist.[41]
  27. "Judge Kinney is the newly elected Mormon Representative from Utah. [...] He ran last fall for Member of Congress in Nebraska Territory , on the Democratic ticket, and was beaten by Samuel G. Daley."[45]

References

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