# 21st United States Congress

The 21st 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, 1829, to March 4, 1831, during the first two years of Andrew Jackson's presidency. The apportionment of seats in the House of Representatives was based on the 1820 United States census. Both chambers had a Jacksonian majority.

## Major events

* March 4, 1829: Andrew Jackson became 7th President of the United States
* May 10–14, 1830: Confrontational meetings between the French Chargé d'affaires in Washington DC and a group of leaders consisting of Mark Alexander, William S. Archer, Robert H. Adams, Thomas Hinds, Dixon H. Lewis, Clement Comer Clay, Powhatan Ellis and John McKinley grew incredibly contentious and hostile. Arguments began when the aforementioned representatives and senators charged that France owed the United States reparations from damages incurred during the Quasi-War. At one point Thomas Hinds threatened the French Chargé d'affaires with a pistol. Eventually, only intervention by John Forsyth prevented a major diplomatic incident. Shortly after this the governor of Virginia John Floyd formally asked France's economic attaché to leave Virginia. This foreshadowed conflict with France over the same issue that would dominate American politics in 1835, at that point the main instigator on the American side would be President Andrew Jackson.
* May 28 – US congress passes the Indian Removal Act.
* September 27 – Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek with Choctaw nation. (First removal treaty signed after the Removal Act.)

## Major legislation

* May 28, 1830: Indian Removal Act, ch. 148, 4 Stat. 411

### Not enacted

* May 27, 1830: Maysville Road Bill vetoed

## Treaties

* September 27, 1830: The Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek, the first removal treaty after the passage of the Indian Removal Act, is signed with the Choctaw.
* February 24, 1831: Treaty of Dancing Rabbit Creek proclaimed.

## Party summary

The count below identifies party affiliations at the beginning of the first session of this congress. Changes resulting from subsequent replacements are shown below in the "Changes in membership" section.

### Senate

| | Party (shading shows control) | Party (shading shows control) | Party (shading shows control) | Total | Vacant |
| | National Republican (NR) | Jacksonian (J) | Other | Total | Vacant |
| End of previous congress | 21 | 27 | 0 | 48 | 0 |
| Begin | 22 | 26 | 0 | 48 | 0 |
| End | 22 | 25 | 0 | 47 | 1 |
| Final voting share | 46.8% | 53.2% | 0.0% | | |
| Beginning of next congress | 21 | 24 | 2 | 47 | 1 |

### House of Representatives

| | Party (shading shows control) | Party (shading shows control) | Party (shading shows control) | Party (shading shows control) | Total | Vacant |
| | National Republican (NR) | Anti- Masonic (AM) | Jacksonian (J) | Other (0) | Total | Vacant |
| End of previous congress | 101 | 0 | 111 | 0 | 212 | 1 |
| Begin | 72 | 4 | 133 | 0 | 209 | 4 |
| End | 72 | 5 | 135 | 0 | 212 | 1 |
| Final voting share | 34.0% | 2.4% | 63.7% | 0.0% | | |
| Beginning of next congress | 64 | 16 | 128 | 4 | 212 | 1 |

## Leadership
### Senate

* President: John C. Calhoun (J)
* President pro tempore: Samuel Smith (J)

### House of Representatives

* Speaker: Andrew Stevenson (J)

## Members

This list is arranged by chamber, then by state. Senators are listed by class, and representatives are listed by district.
    Skip to House of Representatives, below

### 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, facing re-election in 1832; Class 2 meant their term began with this Congress, facing re-election in 1834; and Class 3 meant their term ended with this Congress, facing re-election in 1830.

### House of Representatives

Members are listed by their districts.

## Changes in membership

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

### Senate

* Replacements: 4
** Jacksonians (J): no net change
** National Republicans (NR): no net change
* Deaths: 4
* Resignations: 4
* Interim appointments: 1
* Total seats with changes: 7

### House of Representatives

* Replacements: 5
** Jacksonians (J): 1 seat net loss
** National Republicans (NR): 1 seat net gain
* Deaths: 2
* Resignations: 10
* Contested election: 2
Total seats with changes: 15

## Committees

Lists of committees and their party leaders.

### Senate

* Accounts of James Monroe (Select)
* Agriculture (Chairman: William Marks)
* Amending the Constitution on the Election of the President and Vice President (Select)
* Audit and Control the Contingent Expenses of the Senate (Chairman: Elias Kane then James Iredell Jr.)
* Claims (Chairman: Benjamin Ruggles)
* Commerce (Chairman: Levi Woodbury)
* Distributing Public Revenue Among the States (Select)
* District of Columbia (Chairman: Ezekiel F. Chambers)
* Dueling (Select)
* Engrossed Bills (Chairman: William Marks)
* Finance (Chairman: Samuel Smith)
* Foreign Relations (Chairman: Littleton Tazewell)
* French Spoilations (Select)
* Impeachment of James H. Peck (Select)
* Indian Affairs (Chairman: Hugh Lawson White)
* Judiciary (Chairman: John Rowan)
* Manufactures (Chairman: Mahlon Dickerson)
* Memorial of the Manufacturers Iron (Select)
* Mileage of Members of Congress (Select)
* Military Affairs (Chairman: Thomas Hart Benton)
* Militia (Chairman: Isaac D. Barnard)
* Naval Affairs (Chairman: Robert Y. Hayne)
* Nomination of Amos Kendall (Select)
* Pensions (Chairman: John Holmes)
* Post Office Department (Select)
* Post Office and Post Roads (Chairman: George M. Bibb)
* Private Land Claims (Chairman: Jacob Burnet)
* Public Lands (Chairman: David Barton)
* Roads and Canals (Select) (Chairman: William Hendricks)
* Tariff Regulation (Select)
* Whole

### House of Representatives

* Accounts (Chairman: Jehiel H. Halsey)
* Agriculture (Chairman: Ambrose Spencer)
* American Colonization Society (Select)
* Claims (Chairman: Elisha Whittlesey)
* Commerce (Chairman: Churchill C. Cambreleng)
* District of Columbia (Chairman: Gershom Powers)
* Elections (Chairman: Willis Alston)
* Establishing an Assay Office in the Gold Region (Select)
* Expenditures in the Navy Department (Chairman: Augustine H. Shepperd)
* Expenditures in the Post Office Department (Chairman: Joel Yancey)
* Expenditures in the State Department (Chairman: Jonas Earll)
* Expenditures in the Treasury Department (Chairman: George G. Leiper)
* Expenditures in the War Department (Chairman: Lewis Maxwell)
* Expenditures on Public Buildings (Chairman: Michael C. Sprigg)
* Foreign Affairs (Chairman: William S. Archer)
* Indian Affairs (Chairman: John Bell)
* Judiciary (Chairman: James Buchanan)
* Manufactures (Chairman: Rollin C. Mallary)
* Military Affairs (Chairman: William Drayton)
* Military Pensions (Chairman: Isaac C. Bates)
* Naval Affairs (Chairman: Michael Hoffman)
* Post Office and Post Roads (Chairman: Richard M. Johnson)
* Private Land Claims (Chairman: John B. Sterigere)
* Public Expenditures (Chairman: Thomas H. Hall)
* Public Lands (Chairman: Jacob C. Isacks then Charles A. Wickliffe)
* Revisal and Unfinished Business (Chairman: Dutee J. Pearce)
* Revolutionary Claims (Chairman: Tristam Burges)
* Revolutionary Pensions (Chairman: N/A)
* Rules (Select)
* Standards of Official Conduct
* Territories (Chairman: James Clark)
* Ways and Means (Chairman: George McDuffie)
* Whole

### Joint committees

* Enrolled Bills
* The Library

## Employees
### Legislative branch agency directors

* Architect of the Capitol: Charles Bulfinch, until June 25, 1829 (office abolished)
* Librarian of Congress: John Silva Meehan

### Senate

* Chaplain: William Ryland (Methodist), until December 14, 1829
** Henry V. Johns (Episcopalian), elected December 14, 1829
* Secretary: Walter Lowrie
* Sergeant at Arms: Mountjoy Bayly

### House of Representatives

* Chaplain: Reuben Post (Presbyterian), until December 13, 1830
** Ralph R. Gurley (Presbyterian), elected December 13, 1830
* Clerk: Matthew St. Clair Clarke
* Doorkeeper: Benjamin Birch
* Reading Clerks: [data missing]
* Sergeant at Arms: John O. Dunn