# 40th United States Congress

The 40th 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, 1867, to March 4, 1869, during the third and fourth years of Andrew Johnson's presidency. The apportionment of seats in the House of Representatives was based on the 1860 United States census. Both chambers had a Republican majority. In the Senate, the Republicans had the largest majority a party has ever held.
This Congress was held during the Reconstruction era after the Civil War and U.S. President Abraham Lincoln's assassination. Arkansas, Florida, Alabama, North Carolina, Louisiana, and South Carolina were readmitted to representation in both the Senate and the House. Georgia was readmitted with representation in the House only. The Republican majority passed an amendment that became the 15th Amendment for voting rights.

## Major events

* March 30, 1867: Alaska Purchase
* February 24, 1868: Impeachment of Andrew Johnson
* May 16, 1868: President Johnson acquitted
* May 26, 1868: President Johnson acquitted again
* November 3, 1868: 1868 presidential election: Ulysses S. Grant (R) defeated Horatio Seymour (D)
* December 25, 1868: President Johnson granted unconditional pardons to all Civil War rebels
* January 20, 1869: Elizabeth Cady Stanton was the first woman to testify before Congress

## Major legislation

* Three Military Reconstruction Acts, continued:
** March 23, 1867, ch. 6, 15 Stat. 2
** July 19, 1867, ch. 30, 15 Stat. 14
** March 11, 1868, ch. 25, 15 Stat. 41
* July 27, 1868: Expatriation Act of 1868, ch. 249, 15 Stat. 223

## Constitutional amendments

* July 10, 1868: Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution declared ratified
* February 26, 1869: Approved an amendment to the Constitution prohibiting the federal and state governments from denying a citizen the right to vote based on that citizen's "race, color, or previous condition of servitude", and submitted it to the state legislatures for ratification
** Amendment was later ratified on February 3, 1870, becoming the Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution

## Treaty

* April 29, 1868: Treaty of Fort Laramie (1868), 15 Stat. 635, signed
* February 16, 1869: Treaty of Fort Laramie (1868) ratified

## Territories organized

* July 25, 1868: Wyoming Territory organized, Sess. 2, ch. 135, 15 Stat. 178

## Party summary

The count below identifies party affiliations at the beginning of the first session of this Congress, and includes members from vacancies and newly admitted states, when they were first seated. Changes resulting from subsequent replacements are shown below in the "Changes in membership" section.
During this Congress, Arkansas, Florida, Alabama, North Carolina, Louisiana, and South Carolina were readmitted to representation in both the Senate and the House. Georgia was readmitted with representation in the House only.

### Senate

| | Party (shading shows control) | Party (shading shows control) | Party (shading shows control) | Total | Vacant |
| | Democratic (D) | Republican (R) | Other | Total | Vacant |
| End of previous congress | 8 | 41 | 5 | 54 | 20 |
| Begin | 8 | 45 | 0 | 53 | 21 |
| End | 9 | 57 | 0 | 66 | 8 |
| Final voting share | 13.6% | 86.4% | 0.0% | | |
| Beginning of next congress | 9 | 57 | 0 | 66 | 8 |

### House of Representatives

| | Party (shading shows control) | Party (shading shows control) | Party (shading shows control) | Party (shading shows control) | Party (shading shows control) | Party (shading shows control) | Total | Vacant |
| | Democratic (D) | Republican (R) | Independent Republican (IR) | Conservative Republican (CR) | Conservative (C) | Other | Total | Vacant |
| End of previous congress | 41 | 134 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 17 | 193 | 49 |
| Begin | 45 | 143 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 191 | 52 |
| End | 46 | 172 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 223 | 20 |
| Final voting share | 20.6% | 77.1% | 0.9% | 0.4% | 0.9% | 0.0% | | |
| Beginning of next congress | 65 | 150 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 215 | 28 |

## Leadership
### Senate

* President: Vacant
* President pro tempore: Benjamin Wade (R)
* Republican Conference Chairman: Henry B. Anthony
* Democratic Campaign Committee Chairman: James Rood Doolittle

### House of Representatives

* Speaker: Schuyler Colfax (R), until March 3, 1869
** Theodore M. Pomeroy (R), elected March 3, 1869. Served for 1 day.

## 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 ended with this Congress, requiring re-election in 1868 or 1869; Class 2 meant their term began in the last Congress, requiring re-election in 1870 or 1871; and Class 3 meant their term began in this Congress, requiring re-election in 1872 or 1873.

### 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: 3
** Democratic: 0 seat net loss
** Republican: 0 seat net gain
* Deaths: 1
* Resignations: 2
* Interim appointments: 1
* Seats from newly re-admitted states: 12
* Total seats with changes: 16

### House of Representatives

* Replacements: 10
** Democratic: 2 seat net loss
** Republican: 0 seat net gain
** Independent Republican: 1 seat net gain
** Conservative: 0 seat net gain
* Deaths: 8
* Resignations: 3
* Contested election: 3
* Seats from re-admitted states: 32
* Total seats with changes: 44

## Committees

Lists of committees and their party leaders for members of the House and Senate committees can be found through the Official Congressional Directory at the bottom of this article. The directory after the pages of terms of service lists committees of the Senate, House (Standing with Subcommittees, Select and Special) and Joint and, after that, House/Senate committee assignments. On the committees section of the House and Senate in the Official Congressional Directory, the committee's members on the first row on the left side shows the chairman of the committee and on the right side shows the ranking member of the committee.

### Senate

* Agriculture (Chairman: Simon Cameron; Ranking Member: Thomas W. Tipton)
* Appropriations (Chairman: Lot M. Morrill; Ranking Member: Cornelius Cole)
* Audit and Control the Contingent Expenses of the Senate (Chairman: Aaron H. Cragin; Ranking Member: Charles R. Buckalew)
* Claims (Chairman: Timothy O. Howe; Ranking Member: Justin S. Morrill)
* Commerce (Chairman: Zachariah Chandler; Ranking Member: Henry W. Corbett)
* Distributing Public Revenue Among the States (Select)
* District of Columbia (Chairman: James Harlan; Ranking Member: James W. Patterson)
* Education
* Engrossed Bills (Chairman: Joseph S. Fowler; Ranking Member: Daniel S. Norton)
* Finance (Chairman: John Sherman; Ranking Member: Alexander G. Cattell)
* Foreign Relations (Chairman: Charles Sumner; Ranking Member: Oliver P. Morton)
* Impeachment of President Andrew Johnson (Select)
* Impeachment Trial Investigation (Select)
* Indian Affairs (Chairman: John B. Henderson; Ranking Member: John M. Thayer)
* Judiciary (Chairman: Lyman Trumbull; Ranking Member: Roscoe Conkling)
* Manufactures (Chairman: William Sprague IV; Ranking Member: Cornelius Cole)
* Military Affairs and the Militia (Chairman: Henry Wilson; Ranking Member: Oliver P. Morton)
* Mines and Mining (Chairman: John Conness; Ranking Member: Richard Yates)
* Naval Affairs (Chairman: James W. Grimes; Ranking Member: Frederick T. Frelinghuysen)
* Ninth Census (Select)
* Ordnance and War Ships (Select) (Chairman: Jacob M. Howard; Ranking Member: Charles D. Drake)
* Pacific Railroad (Chairman: Jacob M. Howard; Ranking Member: William M. Stewart)
* Patents and the Patent Office (Chairman: Waitman T. Willey; Ranking Member: Orris S. Ferry)
* Pensions (Chairman: Peter G. Van Winkle; Ranking Member: Thomas W. Tipton)
* Post Office and Post Roads (Chairman: Alexander Ramsey; Ranking Member: James Harlan)
* Private Land Claims (Chairman: Godlove Stein Orth; Ranking Member: Daniel S. Norton)
* Public Buildings and Grounds (Chairman: William P. Fessenden; Ranking Member: Orris S. Ferry)
* Public Lands (Chairman: Samuel C. Pomeroy; Ranking Member: George H. Williams)
* Representative Reform (Select)
* Retrenchment (Chairman: George F. Edmunds; Ranking Member: James W. Patterson)
* Revision of the Laws (Chairman: Roscoe Conkling; Ranking Member: N/A)
* Revolutionary Claims (Chairman: James W. Nye; Ranking Member: David T. Patterson)
* Rules
* Tariff Regulation (Select)
* Territories (Chairman: Richard Yates; Ranking Member: Alexander Ramsey)
* Treasury Printing Bureau (Select)
* Whole

### House of Representatives

* Accounts (Chairman: John M. Broomall; Ranking Member: William C. Fields)
* Agriculture (Chairman: Rowland E. Trowbridge; Ranking Member: John T. Wilson)
* Appropriations (Chairman: Thaddeus Stevens; Ranking Member: Benjamin F. Butler)
* Banking and Currency (Chairman: Theodore M. Pomeroy; Ranking Member: Norman B. Judd)
* Claims (Chairman: John A. Bingham; Ranking Member: Amasa Cobb)
* Coinage, Weights and Measures (Chairman: William D. Kelley; Ranking Member: John Hill)
* Commerce (Chairman: Elihu B. Washburne; Ranking Member: James M. Humphrey)
* District of Columbia (Chairman: Ebon C. Ingersoll; Ranking Member: Fernando Wood)
* Education and Labor (Chairman: Jehu Baker; Ranking Member: Thomas Cornell)
* Elections (Chairman: Henry L. Dawes; Ranking Member: Burton C. Cook)
* Expenditures in the Interior Department (Chairman: Chester D. Hubbard; Ranking Member: Ginery Twichell)
* Expenditures in the Navy Department (Chairman: Charles Upson; Ranking Member: Francis Thomas)
* Expenditures in the Post Office Department (Chairman: William A. Pile; Ranking Member: John H. Ketcham)
* Expenditures in the State Department (Chairman: Samuel M. Arnell; Ranking Member: Reader W. Clarke)
* Expenditures in the Treasury Department (Chairman: James M. Marvin; Ranking Member: Bethuel M. Kitchen)
* Expenditures in the War Department (Chairman: William Williams; Ranking Member: Charles E. Phelps)
* Expenditures on Public Buildings (Chairman: Cadwallader C. Washburn; Ranking Member: Stevenson Archer)
* Freedmen's Affairs (Chairman: Thomas D. Eliot; Ranking Member: Daniel J. Morrell)
* Foreign Affairs (Chairman: Nathaniel P. Banks; Ranking Member: Austin Blair)
* Indian Affairs (Chairman: William Windom; Ranking Member: Glenni W. Scofield)
* Invalid Pensions (Chairman: Sidney Perham; Ranking Member: George F. Miller)
* Judiciary (Chairman: James F. Wilson; Ranking Member: William Lawrence)
* Manufactures (Chairman: Daniel J. Morrell; Ranking Member: William Moore)
* Mileage (Chairman: George W. Anderson; Ranking Member: Green B. Raum)
* Military Affairs (Chairman: James A. Garfield; Ranking Member: Green B. Raum)
* Militia (Chairman: Halbert E. Paine; Ranking Member: Austin Blair)
* Mines and Mining (Chairman: William Higby; Ranking Member: Morton C. Hunter)
* Naval Affairs (Chairman: Frederick A. Pike; Ranking Member: Thomas W. Ferry)
* Pacific Railroads (Chairman: Hiram Price; Ranking Member: Oakes Ames)
* Patents (Chairman: Thomas A. Jenckes; Ranking Member: Henry P.H. Bromwell)
* Post Office and Post Roads (Chairman: John F. Farnsworth; Ranking Member: John Lynch)
* Private Land Claims (Chairman: Godlove Stein Orth; Ranking Member: Alexander H. Bailey)
* Public Buildings and Grounds (Chairman: John Covode; Ranking Member: William Moore)
* Public Expenditures (Chairman: Calvin T. Hulburd; Ranking Member: John Coburn)
* Public Lands (Chairman: George W. Julian; Ranking Member: George W. Anderson)
* Revisal and Unfinished Business (Chairman: Luke P. Poland; Ranking Member: William Windom)
* Revolutionary Claims (Chairman: Hamilton Ward; Ranking Member: Daniel Polsley)
* Revolutionary Pensions and the War of 1812 (Chairman: Benjamin F. Loan; Ranking Member: Lewis Selye)
* Roads and Canals (Chairman: Burton C. Cook; Ranking Member: Grenville M. Dodge)
* Rules (Select) (Chairman: Schuyler Colfax; Ranking Member: James G. Blaine)
* Standards of Official Conduct
* Territories (Chairman: James M. Ashley; Ranking Member: James Mullins)
* Ways and Means (Chairman: Robert C. Schenck; Ranking Member: John A. Logan)
* Whole

### Joint committees

* Conditions of Indian Tribes (Special)
* Enrolled Bills (Chairman: Rep. Stephen F. Wilson; Vice Chairman: Rep. William S. Holman)
* The Library (Chairman: John D. Baldwin; Vice Chairman: Rep. Rufus P. Spalding)
* Printing (Chairman: Rep. Addison H. Laflin; Vice Chairman: Rep. Henry L. Cake)
* Ordnance (Select) (Chairman: Rep. John A. Logan; Vice Chairman: Rep. Robert C. Schenck)
* Reorganize the Civil Service in the Departments
* Retrenchment (Chairman: Rep. Charles H. Van Wyck; Vice Chairman: Rep. Thomas A. Jenckes)
* Revise and Equalize the Pay of the Employees of Each House
* To Examine the Accounts for Repairs and Furnishing of the Executive Mansion (Chairman: Rep. Rufus P. Spalding; Vice Chairman: Rep. Adam J. Glossbrenner)

## Caucuses

* Democratic (House)
* Democratic (Senate)

## Employees
### Legislative branch agency directors

* Architect of the Capitol: Edward Clark, appointed August 30, 1865
* Librarian of Congress: Ainsworth Rand Spofford

### Senate

* Chaplain of the Senate: Edgar H. Gray (Baptist)
* Secretary of the Senate: John W. Forney, until June 4, 1868
** George C. Gorham, elected June 4, 1868
* Sergeant at Arms of the Senate: George T. Brown

### House of Representatives

* Chaplain of the House: Charles B. Boynton (Congregationalist)
* Clerk of the House: Edward McPherson
* Doorkeeper of the House: Charles E. Lippincott
* Messenger to the Speaker: William D. Todd
* Postmaster of the House: William S. King
* Reading Clerks: Edward W. Barber (D) and William K. Mehaffey (R)
* Sergeant at Arms of the House: Nehemiah G. Ordway