# 30th United States Congress

The 30th 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, 1847, to March 4, 1849, during the last two years of the administration of President James K. Polk. The apportionment of seats in the House of Representatives was based on the 1840 United States census. The Senate had a Democratic majority, and the House had a Whig majority. It was the only Congress in which Abraham Lincoln served.

## Major events

* July 1, 1847: United States issued its first postage stamps
* January 24, 1848: Gold found at Sutter's Mill, beginning the California Gold Rush
* January 31, 1848: Washington Monument established
* May 29, 1848: Wisconsin is granted statehood, becoming the 30th state
* February 23, 1848: Former President John Quincy Adams, now a Congressman representing Massachusetts, dies in the Speaker's office after suffering a stroke in the House Chambers.
* July 19, 1848: Seneca Falls Convention
* November 7, 1848: U.S. presidential election, 1848: Whig Zachary Taylor defeated Lewis Cass in the first US presidential election held in every state on the same day.
* 1846–1848: Mexican–American War

## Major legislation

* March 3, 1849: United States Department of the Interior established, sess. 2, ch. 108, 9 Stat. 395
* March 3, 1849: Gold Coinage Act, sess. 2, ch. 109, 9 Stat. 397

## Treaty

* February 2, 1848: Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo signed, ending the Mexican–American War and ceding to the United States virtually all of what is today the southwest United States.

## States admitted and territories established

* May 29, 1848: Wisconsin admitted as the 30th U.S. state, sess. 1, ch. 50, 9 Stat. 235
* August 14, 1848: Oregon Territory was formed from territory ceded by Great Britain, sess. 1, ch. 177, 9 Stat. 323
* March 3, 1849: Minnesota Territory formed from the Wisconsin Territory, sess. 2, ch. 121, 9 Stat. 403

## Party summary
### Senate

During this congress, two Senate seats were added for the new state of Wisconsin.
| | Party (shading shows control) | Party (shading shows control) | Party (shading shows control) | Party (shading shows control) | Total | Vacant |
| | Democratic (D) | Independent Democratic (ID) | Liberty (L) | Whig (W) | Total | Vacant |
| End of previous congress | 31 | 0 | 1 | 24 | 56 | 2 |
| Begin | 34 | 1 | 0 | 20 | 55 | 3 |
| End | 38 | 1 | 0 | 21 | 60 | 0 |
| Final voting share | 63.3% | 1.7% | 0.0% | 35.0% | | |
| Beginning of next congress | 33 | 0 | 0 | 25 | 58 | 2 |

### House of Representatives

During this congress, two House seats were added for the new state of Wisconsin.
| 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) | Total | |
| Affiliation | American | Democratic | Independent Democratic | Independent | Whig | Total | Vacant |
| End of previous Congress | 12 | 137 | 0 | 0 | 77 | 226 | 2 |
| Begin | 1 | 107 | 2 | 1 | 116 | 227 | 1 |
| April 27, 1847 | 1 | 106 | 2 | 1 | 116 | 226 | 2 |
| December 6, 1847 | 1 | 108 | 2 | 1 | 116 | 228 | 0 |
| January 16, 1848 | 1 | 108 | 2 | 1 | 115 | 227 | 1 |
| February 23, 1848 | 1 | 108 | 2 | 1 | 114 | 226 | 2 |
| March 6, 1848 | 1 | 109 | 2 | 1 | 114 | 227 | 1 |
| March 8, 1848 | 1 | 109 | 2 | 1 | 113 | 226 | 2 |
| April 3, 1848 | 1 | 108 | 2 | 1 | 114 | 226 | 2 |
| April 19, 1848 | 1 | 107 | 2 | 1 | 114 | 225 | 3 |
| May 29, 1848 | 1 | 107 | 2 | 1 | 114 | 225 | 5 |
| June 8, 1848 | 1 | 109 | 2 | 1 | 114 | 227 | 3 |
| June 12, 1848 | 1 | 110 | 2 | 1 | 114 | 228 | 2 |
| November 22, 1848 | 1 | 109 | 2 | 1 | 114 | 227 | 3 |
| December 4, 1848 | 1 | 109 | 2 | 1 | 116 | 229 | 1 |
| February 12, 1849 | 1 | 110 | 2 | 1 | 116 | 230 | 0 |
| Final voting share | .5% | 48% | 1% | .5% | 50.5% | | |
| Beginning of the next Congress | 1 | 113 | 0 | 0 | 107 | 221 | 1 |

## Leadership
### Senate

* President: George M. Dallas (D)
* President pro tempore: David R. Atchison (D)

### House of Representatives

* Speaker: Robert C. Winthrop (W)

## 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

### 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: 11
** Democrats (D): 4 seat net gain
** Whigs (W): no net change
* Deaths: 5
* Resignations: 6
* Interim appointments: 7
* Seats of newly admitted states: 4

### House of Representatives

* Replacements: 10
** Democrats (D): no net change
** Whigs (W): no net change
* Deaths: 7
* Resignations: 0
* Contested election: 1
* Seats of newly admitted states: 2
* Total seats with changes: 12

## Committees

Lists of committees and their party leaders.

### Senate

* Agriculture (Chairman: Daniel Sturgeon)
* Audit and Control the Contingent Expenses of the Senate (Chairman: Alpheus Felch then Isaac P. Walker)
* Claims (Chairman: Moses Norris Jr.)
* Commerce (Chairman: John Adams Dix)
* Distributing Public Revenue Among the States (Select)
* District of Columbia (Chairman: Herschel V. Johnson)
* Expedition of John C. Fremont (Select)
* Enrolled Bills (Chairman: Thomas J. Rusk)
* Finance (Chairman: Charles G. Atherton)
* Foreign Relations (Chairman: Ambrose H. Sevier then Edward A. Hannegan then Thomas Hart Benton)
* Indian Affairs (Chairman: David R. Atchison)
* Judiciary (Chairman: Andrew P. Butler)
* Library (Chairman: James A. Pearce)
* Manufactures (Chairman: Daniel S. Dickinson)
* Memorial of Certain Cherokee Claimants (Select)
* Military Affairs (Chairman: Lewis Cass then Thomas Hart Benton)
* Militia (Chairman: Thomas J. Rusk)
* Monuments to Deceased Senators (Select)
* Naval Affairs (Chairman: David Levy Yulee)
* Oregon Railroad (Select)
* Ordnance and War Ships (Select)
* Patents and the Patent Office (Chairman: James D. Westcott)
* Pensions (Chairman: Henry Johnson)
* Post Office and Post Roads (Chairman: John M. Niles)
* Printing (Chairman: Simon Cameron)
* Private Land Claims (Chairman: Solomon W. Downs)
* Public Buildings and Grounds (Chairman: Robert M.T. Hunter)
* Public Lands (Chairman: Sidney Breese then Alpheus Felch)
* Retired List for the Army and the Navy (Select)
* Retrenchment (Chairman: Hopkins L. Turney)
* Seventh Census (Select)
* Revolutionary Claims (Chairman: Jesse D. Bright)
* Rivers and Harbors Convention in Chicago (Select)
* Roads and Canals (Chairman: Edward A. Hannegan)
* Tariff Bill of 1828 (Special)
* Tariff Regulation (Select)
* Territories (Chairman: Stephen A. Douglas)
* Whole

### House of Representatives

* Accounts (Chairman: Daniel P. King)
* Agriculture (Chairman: Hugh White)
* Claims (Chairman: Joseph R. Ingersoll)
* Commerce (Chairman: Washington Hunt)
* District of Columbia (Chairman: John G. Chapman)
* Elections (Chairman: Richard W. Thompson)
* Engraving (Chairman: Lewis Charles Levin)
* Enrolled Bills (Chairman: James G. Hampton)
* Expenditures in the Navy Department (Chairman: Patrick W. Tompkins)
* Expenditures in the Post Office Department (Chairman: James Wilson)
* Expenditures in the State Department (Chairman: Daniel M. Barringer)
* Expenditures in the Treasury Department (Chairman: Joseph M. Root)
* Expenditures in the War Department (Chairman: John H. Crozier)
* Expenditures on Public Buildings (Chairman: Edward Carrington Cabell)
* Foreign Affairs (Chairman: John A. McClernand)
* Indian Affairs (Chairman: Daniel M. Barringer)
* Invalid Pensions (Chairman: Andrew S. Fulton)
* Judiciary (Chairman: Joseph R. Ingersoll)
* Manufactures (Chairman: Andrew Stewart)
* Mileage (Chairman: Hiram Belcher)
* Military Affairs (Chairman: John M. Botts)
* Militia (Chairman: John B. Thompson)
* Naval Affairs (Chairman: Thomas Butler King)
* Patents (Chairman: John W. Farrelly)
* Printing (Chairman: Harmon S. Conger)
* Private Land Claims (Chairman: John Gayle)
* Post Office and Post Roads (Chairman: William L. Goggin)
* Public Buildings and Grounds (Chairman: John W. Houston)
* Public Expenditures (Chairman: Thomas L. Clingman)
* Public Lands (Chairman: Jacob Collamer)
* Revisal and Unfinished Business (Chairman: Henry Nes)
* Revolutionary Claims (Chairman: Daniel P. King)
* Revolutionary Pensions (Chairman: William M. Cocke)
* Roads and Canals (Chairman: Robert C. Schenck)
* Rules (Select)
* Standards of Official Conduct
* Territories (Chairman: Caleb B. Smith)
* Ways and Means (Chairman: Samuel F. Vinton)
* Whole

### Joint committees

* Enrolled Bills
* The Library
* Printing

## Employees

* Librarian of Congress: John Silva Meehan

### Senate

* Chaplain: Henry Slicer (Methodist)
* Secretary: Asbury Dickins
* Sergeant at Arms: Robert Beale

### House of Representatives

* Chaplain: William T.S. Sprole (Presbyterian), until December 6, 1847
** Ralph Gurley (Presbyterian), elected December 6, 1847
* Clerk: Benjamin B. French, until December 8, 1847
** Thomas J. Campbell, elected December 8, 1847
* Doorkeeper: Robert E. Horner, elected December 8, 1847
* Postmaster: John M. Johnson
* Reading Clerks: [data missing]
* Sergeant at Arms: Newton Lane, until December 8, 1847
** Nathan Sergeant, elected December 8, 1847