Serving in the Congress, 1790 to 1800

Congressmen reviewed bills in the committee rooms.

NPS photo

Put yourself in the shoes of a member of Congress, meeting in Congress Hall in Philadelphia from 1790 to 1800. What was a day in session like? What occupied the men when they were not in session?

Daily Life in Congress

From 1790-1800, members of the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate debated bills, took votes, and met in committee in Congress Hall, the building at 6th and Chestnut Streets. They tested out the US Constitution, responding to domestic crises and shifting international alliances. The House met downstairs, while the Senators convened in a chamber on the second floor.

Before 11AM

The daily sessions of both the Senate and House of Representatives generally started at 11AM. This gave the Congressmen time in the morning for other activities:

• Committees commonly used this time to gather since nearly every bill considered in either house went to a committee to be reviewed and drafted.
• If a congressman had no committee responsibilities, this time was often spent making visits – perhaps to the new Governor of Pennsylvania, to other Congressmen to discuss pending legislation, or to see one of Philadelphia’s leading citizens.
• Congressmen may have spent the time writing letters – to state officials, friends, family – or reading one of the three newspapers each Congressman received daily.

From 11AM to 3PM

Although the specific duties and procedures of the House of Representatives and Senate differed, debate and voting occurred in both houses of Congress.

• The Senators, as they passed the side rooms on the second floor, often observed the committees concluding their business and their members heading for their respective chambers.
• Once quorums were reached, the chaplains for each house opened the day with a prayer.
• Business commenced with the reading of the previous day’s minutes.
• Next, new bills or petitions were presented. After a first reading, each bill was sent to a committee.
• Bills that passed through committee were read for a second time and debated.
• Often, the House and Senate assumed a Committee of the Whole to allow for informal debates.
• Then, bills which reached a third reading were voted upon. If the vote in the House was close, the Representatives in favor would rise and those opposed would remain seated. In the Senate, a simple hand or voice vote would suffice.
• As each house completed consideration of a bill, they communicated their action to the other through their secretary. If differences occurred between the bills, a conference committee met to gain resolution. If passed by Congress, the bill then went to the President for his consideration.
• If confidential material arrived from the President, the House cleared its gallery as did the Senate (once they made their proceedings public after 1795).
• The House and Senate generally adjourned for the day around 3PM.

After 3PM

As the sessions progressed and the amount of worked faced by the Congressmen increased, the daily meetings often went late. Even Saturday meetings were common. Senator William Maclay noted in his journal that during the last few days of a session the houses, at times, adjourned at 3PM only to “meet at 6 O’Clock in the Evening by Candlelight.”

Following adjournment, the Congressmen had time to engage in a variety of activities.

• The formal reception or “levee” of the President was held each Tuesday. Members of Congress, the Cabinet Secretaries, foreign and state officials, plus assorted others formed a “numerous, respectable and agreeable” company. Though attendance was not required, the high turnout by the Congressmen made it appear otherwise. These weekly gatherings were an ideal place to communicate with other members of the government or with people having business with it.
• Personal concerns also occupied this time. Senator Aaron Burr wrote many letters home to his young daughter Theodosia in New York, advising her in matters of education, health, and social graces. Other activities included shopping, settling accounts, and drafting speeches.
• More leisurely distractions included horse riding or long walks about town or in the surrounding country.
• In the evening the Congressmen often dined together at local taverns or in the homes of Philadelphia friends.
• From time to time, the members of Congress were invited to private presidential dinners where they had the opportunity to rub elbows with others involved with the government.
• Following dinner at 6PM, committees met.

Closing out their day, the Congressmen attended what Abigail Adams described in February 1792 as a “continued scene of parties upon parties. Balls and entertainment equal to any European city”. Initially, these gatherings - private affairs with specific guest lists - crossed ideological boundaries. However, by the second half of the 1790s these private parties were divided very distinctly along party lines.

Although some Congressmen brought their families to Philadelphia, the large majority accepted temporary bachelorhood at boarding houses and hotels. Such long separations caused some Congressmen to view their political career as a personal sacrifice for the public good.

Life While on Break from Congress

When not in session, the members of Congress were free to pursue their lives from the comfort of home. Many maintained second careers as lawyers, merchants or landowners. During those years when Congressmen could leave early in March, they traveled before the spring rains bogged down the roads with mud.

The reelected members could look to an extended period at home to cultivate family life, reacquaint themselves with their constituents, and pursue other career choices before returning to Congress.

When did Congress Meet?

As set out in the Constitution, Congress is elected every second year and must meet at least once per year, on the first Monday in December or another day designated by law. Most of the first six Congresses had two sessions. The first session typically finished in March while the second session ran later, into May or June. The exceptions, the First and Fifth Congresses, added an extra session to address pressing matters of state.

The Congressmen only rarely endured the capital’s notorious hot and humid summers.

• In 1795, the Senate went into special session from June 8 to 26, when they ratified the controversial Jay Treaty.
• In 1797, Congress added a special session from May 15 to July 10 to deliberate on the crisis with France.

For Further Reading

Bowling, Kenneth R. and Veit, Helen E., Editors. Documentary History of the First Federal Congress, 1789-1791, Vol. IX. (Baltimore: 1988).

Journal of William Maclay, United States Senator from Pennsylvania, 1789-1791.

Swanstrom, Roy. The United States Senate, 1787-1801. (Washington: 1985).

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  Testing a Constitution: A Tour of Congress Hall

  Explore the home to the U.S. Congress from 1790 to 1800, when Philadelphia served as the temporary capital of the United States.

  Duration:

  7 minutes, 12 seconds