1854–55 United States House of Representatives elections

States held the 1854–55 United States House of Representatives elections between August 4, 1854, and November 6, 1855, to elect the 234 members and five non-voting delegates of the United States House of Representatives. The Democratic Party remained the largest party but lost almost half its seats, while Know Nothings and the Anti-Nebraska movement made large gains. The Whig Party largely failed to capitalize on the weakness of its major rival, signaling the collapse of the Second Party System.

Controversy surrounding the Kansas-Nebraska Act and nativist opposition to Catholic immigration dominated the 1854 United States elections. Popular outrage against the Nebraska law produced new political parties in Indiana, Ohio, Michigan, and Wisconsin that included most former Whigs, Free Soilers, and Anti-Nebraska Democrats. As many as one in four Northern Democrats abandoned their party, while Democrats suffered a net loss of 70 seats in the free states. Northern Whigs hoped to benefit from Democratic misfortunes, but were weighed down by their own internal divisions and the rise of the Know Nothing movement in the Northeastern United States. Know Nothings swept Massachusetts and made gains in New York and Pennsylvania, where Whig candidates in some districts formed alliances with local lodges. In Iowa, Illinois, and Vermont, Whigs felt compelled to appeal to Free Soilers to shore up their sagging margins. The willingness of Northern Whigs to cooperate with Free Soilers and abolitionists, combined with the magnitude of Whig losses in the Northeast, led Southern Whigs to defect en masse to the Know Nothings in elections held in 1855.

No party controlled a majority in the lower chamber when the 34th United States Congress met in December 1855, leading to a protracted struggle to organize the House. Different groupings of Whigs, Know Nothings, and Anti–Nebraska men controlled between 105 and 117 seats in the House of Representatives, short of the 118 votes needed to elect a speaker. After two months of deadlock, the rule requiring a majority to elect the speaker was suspended; Massachusetts representative Nathaniel P. Banks was elected by a coalition of free state members on the 133rd ballot. The coalition supporting Banks became the base for the Republican Party, which emerged as the main opposition to the Democrats during the 1856 United States elections.

Results Analysis The elections took place over the span of 15 months, against the backdrop of a political realignment. Party arrangements had changed considerably by the time the House met in December 1855. Contemporaries and later historians advanced differing estimates of the state of parties at the beginning of the 34th Congress. The Tribune Almanac for 1856 counts 79 "National Administration" Democrats, 37 proslavery Whigs and Know Nothings, 117 Anti-Nebraska men, and one vacancy at the start of the new term. The representatives counted as part of the Anti-Nebraska group were elected under a variety of labels, including as Know Nothings, Whigs, and Republicans. Kenneth C. Martis finds 83 Democrats, 51 Know Nothings, and 100 Opposition members in his 1989 study of political parties in the United States Congress. Martis's "Opposition Party" is not a true historical political party, but an invented congressional caucus including representatives elected by several groups. Michael J. Dubin lists the representatives' parties at the time of their election, finding 82 Democrats, 52 Know Nothings, 54 Whigs, one Independent Whig, and 45 members elected by various antislavery parties.

Author (Year) Others Greeley (1856) 79 37 117 1 McPherson (1988) 80 50 105 0 Martis (1989) 83 51 100 0 Dubin (1998) 82 52 100 0

Results by state

+ ↓ 82 1 1 9 13 22 52 54 Democratic IW FS P Rep. Anti-Neb. Know Nothing Whig

State Type Date Totalseats Democratic Whig Know Nothing Anti-Nebraska Seats Change Seats Change Seats Change Seats Change Arkansas Districts August 4, 1854 2 2 0 0 0 Iowa Districts August 7, 1854 2 1 1 0 0 Missouri Districts 7 1 2 6 2 0 0 Vermont Districts September 5, 1854 3 0 3 0 0 California At-large September 6, 1854 2 2 0 0 0 Maine Districts September 11, 1854 6 1 2 0 3 0 5 5 Florida At-large October 2, 1854 1 1 0 0 0 South Carolina Districts October 9–10, 1854 6 6 0 0 0 Indiana Districts October 10, 1854 11 2 8 0 1 0 9 9 Ohio Districts 21 0 12 0 7 0 21 19 Pennsylvania Districts 25 7 10 16 8 1 1 1 1 Illinois Districts November 7, 1854(Election Day) 9 4 1 1 3 0 4 4 Michigan Districts 4 1 3 0 0 3 3 New Jersey Districts 5 1 3 4 3 0 0 New York Districts 33 5 16 24 14 4 4 0 1 Wisconsin Districts 3 1 2 0 0 2 2 Massachusetts Districts November 12, 1854 11 0 1 0 9 11 11 0 1 Delaware At-large November 14, 1854 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 Late elections (after the March 4, 1855 beginning of the term) New Hampshire Districts March 13, 1855 3 0 3 0 3 3 0 Connecticut Districts April 2, 1855 4 0 4 0 4 4 0 Rhode Island Districts April 4, 1855 2 0 2 0 2 2 0 Virginia Districts May 24, 1855 13 12 1 0 1 1 0 North Carolina Districts August 2, 1855 8 5 0 3 3 3 0 Tennessee Districts 10 5 0 5 5 5 0 Alabama Districts August 6, 1855 7 5 1 0 1 2 2 0 Kentucky Districts 10 4 1 0 5 6 6 0 Texas Districts 2 1 1 0 1 1 0 Georgia Districts October 1, 1855 8 6 0 2 2 2 0 Louisiana Districts November 5, 1855 4 3 0 1 1 1 0 Mississippi Districts November 5–6, 1855 5 4 1 0 1 1 0 Maryland Districts November 6, 1855 6 2 2 0 2 4 4 0 Total 234 82 75 55 16 52 52 45 41

Maps

Special elections

33rd Congress

34th Congress

Alabama

Alabama held elections on August 6, 1855.

Arkansas

Arkansas held elections on August 4, 1854.

California

California held elections on September 6, 1854.

Connecticut

Connecticut held elections on April 2, 1855.

Delaware

Delaware held elections on November 14, 1854.

Florida

Florida held elections on October 2, 1854.

Georgia

Georgia held elections on October 1, 1855.

Illinois

Illinois held elections on November 7, 1854.

Indiana

Indiana held elections on October 10, 1854.

Iowa

Iowa held elections on August 7, 1854.

Kentucky

Kentucky held elections on August 6, 1855.

1854–55 United States House of Representatives elections

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