2nd United States Congress - Definition and Overview

Dates of Sessions

1791-1793

• The first session of this Congress took place in Philadelphia from October 24, 1791 to May 9, 1792.
• The second session took place in Philadelphia from November 5, 1792 to March 2, 1793.

Major Political Events

• Congress passes the Coinage Act establishing the U.S. Mint and regulating coins, April 2, 1792
• Congress passes the Postal Service Act, establishing the Post Office Department, February 20, 1792
• First Presidential veto, by George Washington on April 5, 1792, of the Apportionment Act, fixing the number of Representatives based on the United States Census of 1790.

Officers

Senate

• President of the Senate - John Adams
• President pro tempore -
  1. Richard Henry Lee (18 April 1792-8 October 1792)
  2. John Langdon (5 November 1792-4 December 1792, 1 March 1793-3 March 1793)
• Secretary of the Senate - Samuel Allyne Otis
• Senate Sergeant at Arms - James Mathers
• Senate Chaplain - William White

House of Representatives

• Speaker of the House - Jonathan Trumbull, Jr.
• Clerk of the House - John Beckley
• House Doorkeeper - Gifford Dalley
• House Sergeant at Arms - Joseph Wheaton
• Chaplain of the House - Samuel Blair

Members of the Second United States Congress

Senate

Connecticut

• Oliver Ellsworth (Pro-Administration)
• William S. Johnson (Pro-Administration) and then Roger Sherman (Pro-Administration)

Delaware

• Richard Bassett (Anti-Administration)
• George Read (Pro-Administration)

Georgia

• William Few (Anti-Administration)
• James Gunn (Anti-Administration)

Kentucky

• John Brown (Anti-Administration)
• John Edwards (Anti-Administration)

Maryland

• Charles Carroll of Carrollton (Pro-Administration) and then Richard Potts (Pro-Administration)
• John Henry (Pro-Administration)

Massachusetts

• George Cabot (Pro-Administration)
• Caleb Strong (Pro-Administration)

New Hampshire

• John Langdon (Pro-Administration)
• Paine Wingate (Pro-Administration)

New Jersey

• Philemon Dickinson (Pro-Administration)
• John Rutherfurd (Pro-Administration)

New York

• Aaron Burr (Anti-Administration)
• Rufus King (Pro-Administration)

North Carolina

• Benjamin Hawkins (Pro-Administration)
• Samuel Johnston (Pro-Administration)

Pennsylvania

• Robert Morris (Pro-Administration)
• Vacancy

Rhode Island

• Theodore Foster (Pro-Administration)
• Joseph Stanton, Jr. (Anti-Administration)

South Carolina

• Pierce Butler (Anti-Administration)
• Ralph Izard (Pro-Administration)

Vermont

• Stephen R. Bradley (Anti-Administration)
• Moses Robinson (Anti-Administration)

Virginia

• Richard Henry Lee (Anti-Administration) and then John Taylor of Caroline (Anti-Administration)
• James Monroe (Anti-Administration)

House of Representatives

Connecticut

• James Hillhouse, At-Large
• Amasa Learned, At-Large
• Jonathan Sturges, At-Large
• Jonathan Trumbull, Jr., At-Large
• Jeremiah Wadsworth, At-Large

Delaware

• John Vining, At-Large

Georgia

• Abraham Baldwin, At-Large
• Anthony Wayne and then John Milledge, At-Large
• Francis Willis, At-Large

Kentucky

• Alexander D. Orr, At-Large
• Christopher Greenup, At-Large

Maryland

• Philip Key, At-Large
• William Vans Murray, At-Large
• William Pinkney and then John F. Mercer, At-Large
• Joshua Seney and then William Hindman, At-Large
• Upton Sheredine, At-Large
• Samuel Sterett, At-Large

Massachusetts

• Fisher Ames, 1st District
• Benjamin Goodhue, 2nd District
• Elbridge Gerry, 3rd District
• Theodore Sedgwick, 4th District
• Shearjashub Bourne, 5th District
• George Leonard, 6th District
• Artemas Ward, 7th District
• George Thatcher, 8th District

New Hampshire

• Nicholas Gilman, At-Large
• Samuel Livermore, At-Large
• Jeremiah Smith, At-Large

New Jersey

• Elias Boudinot, At-Large
• Abraham Clark, At-Large
• Jonathan Dayton, At-Large
• Aaron Kitchell, At-Large

New York

• Thomas Tredwell, 1st District
• John Laurance, 2nd District
• Egbert Benson, 3rd District
• Cornelius C. Schoonmaker, 4th District
• Peter Silvester, 5th District
• James Gordon, 6th District

North Carolina

• John Baptista Ashe, At-Large
• William B. Grove, At-Large
• Nathaniel Macon, At-Large
• John Steele, At-Large
• Hugh Williamson, At-Large

Pennsylvania

• William Findley, At-Large
• Thomas Fitzsimons, At-Large
• Andrew Gregg, At-Large
• Thomas Hartley, At-Large
• Daniel Hiester, At-Large
• Israel Jacobs, At-Large
• John W. Kittera, At-Large
• Frederick A. C. Muhlenberg, At-Large

Rhode Island

• Benjamin Bourne, At-Large

South Carolina

• Robert Barnwell, At-Large
• Daniel Huger, At-Large
• William L. Smith, At-Large
• Thomas Sumter, At-Large
• Thomas T. Tucker, At-Large

Vermont

• Israel Smith, 1st District
• Nathaniel Niles, 2nd District

Virginia

• Alexander White, 1st District
• 2nd District Vacant
• Andrew Moore, 3rd District
• Richard B. Lee, 4th District
• James Madison, 5th District
• Abraham B. Venable, 6th District
• Samuel Griffin, 7th District
• Josiah Parker, 8th District
• William B. Giles, 9th District
• John Page, 10th District

External links

• Acts of 2nd Congress (http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=llsl&fileName=001/llsl001.db&recNum=23)