The First United States Congress, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives, met from March 4, 1789, to March 4, 1791. This was during the first two years of George Washington's presidency. Congress met first at Federal Hall in New York City and later at Congress Hall in Philadelphia. With the initial meeting of the First Congress, the United States federal government officially began operations under the new (and current) frame of government established by the 1787 Constitution. The apportionment of seats in the House of Representatives was based on the provisions of of the Constitution. Both chambers had a Pro-Administration majority. Twelve articles of amendment to the Constitution were passed by this Congress and sent to the states for ratification. The ten ratified as additions to the Constitution on December 15, 1791 are collectively known as the Bill of Rights (Amendments one through ten).
Held March 4, 1789, through September 29, 1789, at Federal Hall in New York City
Held January 4, 1790, through August 12, 1790, at Federal Hall in New York City
Held December 6, 1790, through March 3, 1791, at Congress Hall in Philadelphia
There were no political parties in this Congress. Members are informally grouped into factions of similar interest, based on an analysis of their voting record.
Details on changes are shown below in the "Changes in membership" section.
During this congress, two Senate seats were added for North Carolina and Rhode Island when each ratified the Constitution.
During this congress, five House seats were added for North Carolina and one House seat was added for Rhode Island when they ratified the Constitution.
Grand-Bassam shootings
On 13 March 2016, three gunmen opened fire at a beach on Grand-Bassam, Ivory Coast. They attacked the Étoile du Sud hotel which was occupied at the time. Eighteen people were killed. Thirty-three people were injured.
The attackers were described as Africans. They were dressed in casual clothes. They had grenade belts and Kalashnikov rifles. People were evacuated from the beach to nearby hotels. The hotels were placed on lockdown.
Republicanism in the United States
Republicanism in the United States is a set of ideas that guides the government and politics. These ideas have shaped the government, and the way people in the United States think about politics, since the American Revolution.
The American Revolution, the Declaration of Independence (1776), the Constitution (1787), and even the Gettysburg Address (1863) were based on ideas from American republicanism.
"Republicanism" comes from the word "republic." However, they are not the same thing. A republic is a type of government (one where the people can choose their leaders). Republicanism is an ideology set of beliefs that people in a republic have about what is most important to them.
Republicanism in the United States grew out of some very old ideas. It includes ideas from ancient Greece, ancient Rome, the Renaissance, and England.
Some of the most important ideas of republicanism are that:
Republicanism is different than other forms of democracy. In a "pure" democracy, the majority rules. If a majority of the people voted to take rights away from a certain group, that is what would happen. Alexis de Tocqueville, a famous French political thinker, called this the "tyranny of the majority." He meant that a pure democracy could still turn into an unfair, unequal, corrupt society if the majority of the people decided to take away others' rights.
However, republicanism says that people have "unalienable" rights that cannot be voted away. Republican governments are different than "pure" democracies, because they include protections to make sure people's rights are not taken away. In a true republican government, one group - even if it is a majority - cannot take another group's unalienable rights away.
American republicanism was created and first practiced by the Founding Fathers in the 18th century. For them, "republicanism represented more than a particular form of government. It was a way of life, a core ideology, an uncompromising commitment to liberty, and a total rejection of aristocracy." Republicanism shaped what the Founders thought and did during the American Revolution, and after.
The leaders of colonial America in the 1760s and 1770s read history carefully. Their goal was to compare governments and how well different types of governments worked. They were especially interested in the history of liberty in England. They modeled American republicanism partly after the English "Country Party." This was a political party which opposed the Court Party, which held power in England.
The Country Party was based on ancient Greek and Roman republicanism. The Party criticized the corruption in the "Court" Party, which focused mostly on the King's court in London. It did not focus on the needs of regular people in England, or on areas outside of the capital city.
By reading history, The Founders came up with a set of political ideas that they called "republicanism." By 1775, these ideas were common in colonial America. One historian writes: "Republicanism was the distinctive political [way of thinking] of the entire Revolutionary generation."
Another historian explains that believers of American republicanism saw government as a threat. He writes that colonists felt constantly "threatened by corruption." Government, to them, was "the [biggest] source of corruption and operat[ed] through such means as patronage, faction, standing armies ( [instead of] the ideal of the militia); [and] established churches" which people would have to belong to.
By the 1770s, most Americans were dedicated to republican values and to their property rights. This helped cause the American Revolution. More and more, Americans saw Britain as corrupt; hostile; and a threat to republicanism, freedom, and property rights. Many people thought that the greatest threat to liberty was corruption not just in London, but at home too. They thought corruption went along with inherited aristocracy, which they hated.
During the Revolution, many Christians connected republicanism with their religion. When the Revolution started, there was a major change in thinking that "convinced Americans ... that God was raising up America for some special purpose," according to one historian. This made the Revolutionists believe that they had a moral and religious duty to get rid of the corruption in the monarchy.
Another historian, Gordon Wood, writes that republicanism led to American Exceptionalism: "Our beliefs in liberty, equality, constitutionalism, and the well-being of ordinary people came out of the Revolutionary era. So too did our idea that we Americans are a special people with a special destiny to lead the world toward liberty and democracy."
In his "Discourse of 1759," Revolutionist Jonathan Mayhew argued that people should only obey their governments if they "actually perform the duty of rulers by exercising a reasonable and [fair] authority for the good of human society." Many American colonists were convinced that British rulers were not using their power "for the good of human society." This made them want to form a new government which would be based on republicanism. They thought a republican government would protect not threaten freedom and democracy.
The "Founding Fathers" were strong supporters of republican values, especially Samuel Adams, Patrick Henry, George Washington, Thomas Paine, Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and Alexander Hamilton.
For example, Thomas Jefferson once wrote that a government that had the most possible participation by "its citizens in mass" (all the people together) was the safest kind. He said a republic is: