# 33rd United States Congress

The 33rd 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, 1853, to March 4, 1855, during the first two years of Franklin Pierce's presidency. During this session, the Kansas–Nebraska Act was passed, an act that soon led to the creation of the Republican Party. The apportionment of seats in the House of Representatives was based on the 1850 United States census. Both chambers had a Democratic majority.

## Major events

* March 4, 1853: Franklin Pierce became 14th President of the United States
* April 18, 1853: Vice President William R. King died
* July 8, 1853: Commodore Matthew C. Perry arrived in Edo Bay with a request for a trade treaty
* December 30, 1853: Gadsden Purchase: The United States bought land from Mexico to facilitate railroad building in the Southwest
* March 20, 1854: Republican Party founded

## Major legislation

* May 30, 1854: Kansas–Nebraska Act, ch. 59, 10 Stat. 277
* March 3, 1855: The U.S. Congress appropriates $30,000 to create the U.S. Camel Corps

## Treaties

* January 26, 1854: Point No Point Treaty signed
* March 31, 1854: Convention of Kanagawa signed with the Japanese government, opening the ports of Shimoda and Hakodate to American trade

## Territories organized

* May 30, 1854 – Kansas Territory was organized.
* May 30, 1854 – Nebraska Territory was organized.

## Party summary
### Senate

| | Party (shading shows control) | Party (shading shows control) | Party (shading shows control) | Party (shading shows control) | Party (shading shows control) | Total | Vacant |
| | Know Nothing (A) | Democratic (D) | Free Soil (F) | Whig (W) | Other (O) | Total | Vacant |
| End of previous congress | 0 | 35 | 3 | 23 | 0 | 61 | 1 |
| Begin | 1 | 35 | 2 | 19 | 0 | 57 | 5 |
| End | 1 | 37 | 5 | 17 | 0 | 60 | 2 |
| Final voting share | 1.7% | 61.7% | 8.3% | 28.3% | 0.0% | | |
| Beginning of next congress | 2 | 35 | 2 | 9 | 7 | 55 | 7 |

### House of Representatives

For the beginning of this congress, the size of the House was increased from 233 seats to 234 seats, following the 1850 United States census (See 9 Stat. 433).
| Affiliation | Party (Shading indicates majority caucus) | Party (Shading indicates majority caucus) | Party (Shading indicates majority caucus) | Party (Shading indicates majority caucus) | Party (Shading indicates majority caucus) | Party (Shading indicates majority caucus) | Total | |
| Affiliation | Democratic (D) | Independent Democratic (ID) | Free Soil (FS) | Whig (W) | Independent Party (United States) (I) | Other | Total | Vacant |
| End of previous Congress | 125 | 3 | 4 | 86 | 0 | 14 | 232 | 1 |
| Begin | 157 | 1 | 4 | 71 | 1 | 0 | 234 | 0 |
| End | 155 | 1 | 3 | 74 | 1 | 0 | 234 | 0 |
| Final voting share | 66.7% | 0.4% | 0.9% | 31.6% | 0.4% | 0.1% | | |
| Beginning of next Congress | 79 | (Opposition coalition) 154 | (Opposition coalition) 154 | (Opposition coalition) 154 | (Opposition coalition) 154 | (Opposition coalition) 154 | 233 | 1 |

## Leadership
### Senate

* President: William R. King (D), until April 18, 1853; vacant thereafter.
* President pro tempore: David R. Atchison (D), until December 4, 1854
** Lewis Cass (D), December 4, 1854
** Jesse D. Bright (D), from December 5, 1854

### House of Representatives

* Speaker: Linn Boyd (D)
* Democratic Caucus Chairman: Edson B. Olds

## 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 the last Congress, requiring re-election in 1856; Class 2 meant their term began with this Congress, requiring re-election in 1858; and Class 3 meant their term ended with this Congress, requiring re-election in 1854. The United States consisted of 31 states during this Congress.
    Skip to House of Representatives, below

### House of Representatives

The names of members of the House of Representatives are preceded by their district numbers.

## Changes in membership

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

### Senate

* Replacements: 7
** Democrats (D): 2 seat net gain
** Whigs (W): 2 seat net loss
** Free Soilers (FS): 3 seat net gain
* Deaths: 2
* Resignations: 4
* Interim appointments: 1
* Total seats with changes: 13

### House of Representatives

* Replacements: 7
** Democrats (D): 2 seat net loss
** Whigs (W): 3 seat net gain
** Free Soilers (FS): 1 seat net loss
* Deaths: 4
* Resignations: 4
* Total seats with changes: 8

## Committees

List of committees and their party leaders.

### Senate

* Agriculture (Chairman: Philip Allen)
* American Association for the Promotion of Science (Select)
* Atmospheric Telegraph Between Washington and Baltimore (Select)
* Audit and Control the Contingent Expenses of the Senate (Chairman: Josiah J. Evans)
* Claims (Chairman: Richard Brodhead)
* Commerce (Chairman: Hannibal Hamlin)
* Distributing Public Revenue Among the States (Select)
* District of Columbia (Chairman: Moses Norris Jr.)
* Engrossed Bills (Chairman: Benjamin Fitzpatrick)
* Finance (Chairman: Robert M.T. Hunter)
* Foreign Relations (Chairman: James M. Mason)
* French Spoilations (Select)
* Indian Affairs (Chairman: William K. Sebastian)
* Judiciary (Chairman: Andrew P. Butler)
* Library (Chairman: James A. Pearce)
* Loss of Original Papers of Mark and Richard Bean (Select)
* Manufactures (Chairman: Hannibal Hamlin)
* Mexican Claims Commission (Select)
* Military Affairs (Chairman: James Shields)
* Militia (Chairman: Sam Houston)
* Naval Affairs (Chairman: William M. Gwin)
* Ordnance and War Ships (Select)
* Pacific Railroad (Select) (Chairman: William M. Gwin)
* Patents and the Patent Office (Chairman: Charles T. James)
* Pensions (Chairman: George Wallace Jones)
* Post Office and Post Roads (Chairman: Thomas J. Rusk)
* Printing (Chairman: Benjamin Fitzpatrick)
* Private Claims Commission (Select)
* Private Land Claims (Chairman: John Pettit)
* Protection of Life and Health in Passenger Ships (Select)
* Public Buildings and Grounds (Chairman: James A. Bayard Jr.)
* Public Lands (Chairman: Augustus Dodge)
* Retrenchment (Chairman: Stephen Adams)
* Revolutionary Claims (Chairman: Isaac P. Walker)
* Roads and Canals (Chairman: John Slidell)
* Sickness on Emigrant Ships (Select)
* Tariff Regulation (Select)
* Territories (Chairman: Stephen A. Douglas)
* Whole

### House of Representatives

* Accounts (Chairman: Carlton B. Curtis)
* Agriculture (Chairman: John L. Dawson)
* Claims (Chairman: Alfred P. Edgerton)
* Commerce (Chairman: Frederick P. Stanton)
* District of Columbia (Chairman: William T. Hamilton)
* Elections (Chairman: Richard H. Stanton)
* Engraving (Chairman: George R. Riddle)
* Expenditures in the Navy Department (Chairman: Fayette McMullen)
* Expenditures in the Post Office Department (Chairman: Samuel Lilly)
* Expenditures in the State Department (Chairman: Daniel Wells Jr.)
* Expenditures in the Treasury Department (Chairman: David Stuart)
* Expenditures in the War Department (Chairman: George W. Kittredge)
* Expenditures on Public Buildings (Chairman: Henry A. Edmundson)
* Foreign Affairs (Chairman: Thomas H. Bayly)
* Indian Affairs (Chairman: James L. Orr)
* Invalid Pensions (Chairman: Thomas A. Hendricks)
* Judiciary (Chairman: Frederick P. Stanton)
* Manufactures (Chairman: John McNair)
* Mileage (Chairman: Andrew J. Harlan)
* Military Affairs (Chairman: William H. Bissell)
* Militia (Chairman: Elijah W. Chastain)
* Naval Affairs (Chairman: Thomas S. Bocock)
* Patents (Chairman: Benjamin B. Thurston)
* Post Office and Post Roads (Chairman: Edson B. Olds)
* Private Land Claims (Chairman: Junius Hillyer)
* Public Buildings and Grounds (Chairman: Francis B. Craige)
* Public Expenditures (Chairman: William H. Kurtz)
* Public Lands (Chairman: David T. Disney)
* Revisal and Unfinished Business (Chairman: Williamson R. W. Cobb)
* Revolutionary Claims (Chairman: Rufus W. Peckham)
* Revolutionary Pensions (Chairman: William M. Churchwell)
* Roads and Canals (Chairman: Cyrus L. Dunham)
* Rules (Select)
* Standards of Official Conduct
* Territories (Chairman: William A. Richardson)
* Ways and Means (Chairman: George S. Houston)
* Whole

### Joint committees

* Amending the Constitution on Presidential and Vice Presidential Elections
* Enrolled Bills (Chairman: Sen. George Wallace Jones)
* The Library (Chairman: Joseph R. Chandler)
* Printing (Chairman: William Murray)
* San Francisco Disaster

## Caucuses

* Democratic (House)
* Democratic (Senate)

## Employees
### Legislative branch agency directors

* Architect of the Capitol: Thomas U. Walter
* Librarian of Congress: John Silva Meehan

### Senate

* Chaplain: Clement M. Butler (Episcopalian), until December 7, 1853
** Henry Slicer (Methodist), elected December 7, 1853
* Secretary: Asbury Dickins
* Sergeant at Arms: Robert Beale, until March 17, 1853
** Dunning R. McNair, elected March 17, 1853

### House of Representatives

* Chaplain: William H. Milburn (Methodist)
* Clerk: John W. Forney
* Doorkeeper: Zadock W. McKnew
* Postmaster: John M. Johnson
* Reading Clerks: [data missing]
* Sergeant at Arms: Adam J. Glossbrenner