31st United States Congress

31st United States Congress
Congress	31st
Caption	The United States Capitol c. 1850
Started	March 4, 1849
Ended	March 4, 1851
President	Millard Fillmore (from July 9, 1850)
President pro tem	David Rice Atchison
Speaker	Howell Cobb
Senators	62
Reps	233
H-majority	Democratic
S-majority	Democratic
Sessionnumber1	1st
Sessionstart1	December 3, 1849
Sessionend1	September 30, 1850
Sessionnumber2	2nd
Sessionstart2	December 2, 1850
Sessionend2	March 4, 1851

Contents

Major legislation
Party summary
Leadership
Members
Major events
See also

31st United States Congress convened from March 4, 1849, to March 4, 1851, during the final months of Zachary Taylor's presidency and most of Millard Fillmore's. This Congress was dominated by the intense national debate over the expansion of slavery into territories acquired from the Mexican–American War. Its most significant achievement was the passage of the Compromise of 1850, a series of five bills intended to avert a sectional crisis, brokered by Henry Clay and steered through the Senate by Stephen A. Douglas.

Major legislation

The principal legislative output was the five statutes collectively known as the Compromise of 1850, signed by President Millard Fillmore in September 1850. These included the admission of California as a free state under the California Statehood Act, the establishment of the Utah Territory and New Mexico Territory under the principle of popular sovereignty via the Utah Territorial Act and New Mexico Territorial Act, the enactment of a stricter Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, and the abolition of the slave trade in the District of Columbia. Other notable acts included the Donation Land Claim Act of 1850, which spurred settlement in the Oregon Territory.

Party summary

In the Senate, the Democratic Party held a narrow majority, while the Whig Party formed the principal opposition; a small bloc of Free Soil members held the balance of power on key votes. The House of Representatives was deeply fragmented, with Democrats holding a plurality but not a majority, leading to protracted battles over the election of the Speaker. The final organization required 63 ballots and a coalition between Democrats and Southern Whigs to elect Howell Cobb.

Leadership

Senate leadership included President Millard Fillmore (following the death of Zachary Taylor) and President pro tempore David Rice Atchison. Key figures in the chamber were Whig leader Henry Clay, who authored the initial compromise package, and Democrat Stephen A. Douglas, who shepherded its individual components to passage. In the House, Howell Cobb of Georgia served as Speaker. Other prominent House leaders included Robert C. Winthrop, the former Speaker, and fiery debaters like Thaddeus Stevens of Pennsylvania and Alexander H. Stephens of Georgia.

Members

The Senate roster included notable figures such as Thomas Hart Benton of Missouri, John C. Calhoun of South Carolina (until his death in 1850), Daniel Webster of Massachusetts, and William H. Seward of New York. The House membership was equally distinguished, featuring future president Abraham Lincoln, who represented the Illinois 7th district, as well as Horace Mann of Massachusetts, Joshua R. Giddings of Ohio, and David Wilmot of Pennsylvania, author of the controversial Wilmot Proviso. The Congress also saw the service of Jefferson Davis, then a Senator from Mississippi.

Major events

The period was marked by profound political and national turmoil. President Zachary Taylor died on July 9, 1850, leading to the succession of Millard Fillmore. The epic congressional debates over the Compromise of 1850 featured legendary speeches, including Daniel Webster's "Seventh of March" address and John C. Calhoun's final written diatribe against Northern aggression, read by James Murray Mason. The Nashville Convention of 1850, a gathering of Southern delegates, demonstrated rising secessionist sentiment. Additionally, the admission of California disrupted the balance of power in the Senate between free and slave states.