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The United States on July 16, 1848

Who held every office, how Congress and the Court were made up, and what happened within a week. Diff this day against today →

President
Polk
James Knox Polk D · since Mar 4, 1845
Senate
37 D · 21 W
59 senators · 30th Congress
House
117 W · 108 D
229 representatives
Supreme Court
8 D · 1 W
9 justices by appointing party
Union
30 states
12 amendments in force
Public debt
$47M
as of Jul 1, 1848
1848-07-16/executiveThe administration
President James Knox Polk D
since Mar 4, 1845
Vice President George Mifflin Dallas D
Postmaster General Cave Johnson D
since Mar 6, 1845
Secretary of War William L. Marcy D
since Mar 6, 1845
Secretary of the Treasury Robert J. Walker D
since Mar 8, 1845
Secretary of State James Buchanan D
since Mar 10, 1845
Secretary of the Navy John Y. Mason D
since Jan 1, 1846
Attorney General Isaac Toucey D
since Jun 21, 1848
1848-07-16/congress30th Congress
Senate · 37 D · 21 W · 1 FS
Dixon Hall Lewis (Democrat, AL)William Rufus de Vane King (Democrat, AL)Solon Borland (Democrat, AR)William King Sebastian (Democrat, AR)John Milton Niles (Democrat, CT)James Diament Westcott Jr. (Democrat, FL)David Levy Yulee (Democrat, FL)Herschel Vespasian Johnson (Democrat, GA)George Wallace Jones (Democrat, IA)Sidney Breese (Democrat, IL)Stephen Arnold Douglas (Democrat, IL)Edward Allen Hannegan (Democrat, IN)Jesse David Bright (Democrat, IN)Solomon Weathersbee Downs (Democrat, LA)James Ware Bradbury (Democrat, ME)Wyman Bradbury Seavy Moor (Democrat, ME)Thomas Fitzgerald (Democrat, MI)Alpheus Felch (Democrat, MI)David Rice Atchison (Democrat, MO)Thomas Hart Benton (Democrat, MO)Jefferson Davis (Democrat, MS)Henry Stuart Foote (Democrat, MS)Charles Gordon Atherton (Democrat, NH)Daniel Stevens Dickinson (Democrat, NY)John Adams Dix (Democrat, NY)William Allen (Democrat, OH)Simon Cameron (Democrat, PA)Daniel Sturgeon (Democrat, PA)Andrew Pickens Butler (Democrat, SC)John Caldwell Calhoun (Democrat, SC)Hopkins Lacy Turney (Democrat, TN)Thomas Jefferson Rusk (Democrat, TX)Samuel Houston (Democrat, TX)James Murray Mason (Democrat, VA)Robert Mercer Taliaferro Hunter (Democrat, VA)Henry Dodge (Democrat, WI)Isaac Pigeon Walker (Democrat, WI)John Parker Hale (Free Soil, NH)Roger Sherman Baldwin (Whig, CT)John Middleton Clayton (Whig, DE)Presley Spruance (Whig, DE)John Macpherson Berrien (Whig, GA)Joseph Rogers Underwood (Whig, KY)Thomas Metcalfe (Whig, KY)Henry Johnson (Whig, LA)Daniel Webster (Whig, MA)John Davis (Whig, MA)James Alfred Pearce (Whig, MD)Reverdy Johnson (Whig, MD)George Edmund Badger (Whig, NC)Willie Person Mangum (Whig, NC)William Lewis Dayton (Whig, NJ)Jacob Welsh Miller (Whig, NJ)Thomas Corwin (Whig, OH)Albert Collins Greene (Whig, RI)John Hopkins Clarke (Whig, RI)John Bell (Whig, TN)William Upham (Whig, VT)Samuel Shethar Phelps (Whig, VT)
House · 117 W · 108 D · 2 ID · 1 A · 1 I
Franklin Welsh Bowdon (Democrat, AL-7)Samuel Williams Inge (Democrat, AL-4)Sampson Willis Harris (Democrat, AL-3)Williamson Robert Winfield Cobb (Democrat, AL-6)George Smith Houston (Democrat, AL-5)Robert Ward Johnson (Democrat, AR-1)Hugh Anderson Haralson (Democrat, GA-4)Howell Cobb (Democrat, GA-6)Alfred Iverson Sr. (Democrat, GA-2)John Henry Lumpkin (Democrat, GA-5)Shepherd Leffler (Democrat, IA-2)William Thompson (Democrat, IA-1)Thomas Johnston Turner (Democrat, IL-6)Orlando Bell Ficklin (Democrat, IL-3)John Alexander McClernand (Democrat, IL-2)William Alexander Richardson (Democrat, IL-5)John Wentworth (Democrat, IL-4)Thomas Jefferson Henley (Democrat, IN-2)William Rockhill (Democrat, IN-10)William Watson Wick (Democrat, IN-5)John Larne Robinson (Democrat, IN-3)Charles William Cathcart (Democrat, IN-9)John Pettit (Democrat, IN-8)Beverly Leonidas Clarke (Democrat, KY-2)Richard French (Democrat, KY-9)Linn Boyd (Democrat, KY-1)Samuel Oldham Peyton (Democrat, KY-3)John Henry Harmanson (Democrat, LA-3)Emile La Sére (Democrat, LA-1)Isaac Edward Morse (Democrat, LA-4)Thomas Watkins Ligon (Democrat, MD-3)Robert Milligan McLane (Democrat, MD-4)Asa William Henry Clapp (Democrat, ME-2)Franklin Clark (Democrat, ME-4)David Hammons (Democrat, ME-1)James Sullivan Wiley (Democrat, ME-6)Hezekiah Williams (Democrat, ME-7)Ephraim Knight Smart (Democrat, ME-5)Edward Bradley (Democrat, MI-2)Robert McClelland (Democrat, MI-1)Kinsley Scott Bingham (Democrat, MI-3)John Jameson (Democrat, MO-2)James Butler Bowlin (Democrat, MO-1)Willard Preble Hall (Democrat, MO-4)James Stephen Green (Democrat, MO-3)John Smith Phelps (Democrat, MO-5)Winfield Scott Featherston (Democrat, MS-2)Jacob Thompson (Democrat, MS-1)Albert Gallatin Brown (Democrat, MS-4)James Iver McKay (Democrat, NC-7)John Reeves Jones Daniel (Democrat, NC-6)Abraham Watkins Venable (Democrat, NC-5)James Hutchins Johnson (Democrat, NH-4)Charles Hazen Peaslee (Democrat, NH-2)Joseph E. Edsall (Democrat, NJ-3)Ausburn Birdsall (Democrat, NY-22)William Collins (Democrat, NY-18)Sidney Lawrence (Democrat, NY-15)Frederick William Lord (Democrat, NY-1)Henry Cruse Murphy (Democrat, NY-2)Henry Nicoll (Democrat, NY-3)George Anson Starkweather (Democrat, NY-21)Timothy Jenkins (Democrat, NY-20)William Brown Maclay (Democrat, NY-4)John D. Cummins (Democrat, OH-16)James John Faran (Democrat, OH-1)George Fries (Democrat, OH-17)William Kennon Jr. (Democrat, OH-15)Samuel Lahm (Democrat, OH-18)William Sawyer (Democrat, OH-5)Rodolphus Dickinson (Democrat, OH-6)John Krepps Miller (Democrat, OH-11)Jonathan David Morris (Democrat, OH-7)Thomas Ritchey (Democrat, OH-13)Charles Brown (Democrat, PA-3)Charles Jared Ingersoll (Democrat, PA-4)Job Mann (Democrat, PA-19)William Strong (Democrat, PA-9)James Thompson (Democrat, PA-23)Richard Brodhead (Democrat, PA-10)David Wilmot (Democrat, PA-12)Benjamin Babock Thurston (Democrat, RI-2)James Augustus Black (Democrat, SC-1)Richard Franklin Simpson (Democrat, SC-2)Alexander Dromgoole Sims (Democrat, SC-4)Isaac Edward Holmes (Democrat, SC-6)Robert Barnwell Rhett (Democrat, SC-7)Armistead Burt (Democrat, SC-5)Joseph Addison Woodward (Democrat, SC-3)Lucien Bonaparte Chase (Democrat, TN-9)Hugh Lawson White Hill (Democrat, TN-4)Frederick Perry Stanton (Democrat, TN-10)George Washington Jones (Democrat, TN-5)James Houston Thomas (Democrat, TN-6)Andrew Johnson (Democrat, TN-1)Timothy Pilsbury (Democrat, TX-2)David Spangler Kaufman (Democrat, TX-1)Archibald Atkinson (Democrat, VA-1)Henry Bedinger (Democrat, VA-10)George Coke Dromgoole (Democrat, VA-2)Robert Augustine Thompson (Democrat, VA-14)James McDowell (Democrat, VA-11)Thomas Henry Bayly (Democrat, VA-7)Thomas Stanley Bocock (Democrat, VA-4)William Gay Brown (Democrat, VA-15)Richard Lee Turberville Beale (Democrat, VA-8)Lucius Benedict Peck (Democrat, VT-4)Mason Cook Darling (Democrat, WI-AL)Amos Tuck (Independent, NH-1)Robert Smith (Ind. Democrat, IL-1)George Petrie (Ind. Democrat, NY-17)Lewis Charles Levin (American, PA-1)John Gayle (Whig, AL-1)Henry Washington Hilliard (Whig, AL-2)Samuel Dickinson Hubbard (Whig, CT-2)John Arnold Rockwell (Whig, CT-3)Truman Smith (Whig, CT-4)James Dixon (Whig, CT-1)John Wallace Houston (Whig, DE-AL)Edward Carrington Cabell (Whig, FL-1)John William Jones (Whig, GA-3)Thomas Butler King (Whig, GA-1)Robert Augustus Toombs (Whig, GA-8)Alexander Hamilton Stephens (Whig, GA-7)Abraham Lincoln (Whig, IL-7)Elisha Embree (Whig, IN-1)Caleb Blood Smith (Whig, IN-4)Richard Wigginton Thompson (Whig, IN-7)George Grundy Dunn (Whig, IN-6)Aylette Buckner (Whig, KY-4)William Garnett Duncan (Whig, KY-7)John Pollard Gaines (Whig, KY-10)Charles Slaughter Morehead (Whig, KY-8)John Burton Thompson (Whig, KY-5)Green Adams (Whig, KY-6)Bannon Goforth Thibodeaux (Whig, LA-2)Amos Abbott (Whig, MA-3)John Quincy Adams (Whig, MA-8)Artemas Hale (Whig, MA-9)Charles Hudson (Whig, MA-5)John Gorham Palfrey (Whig, MA-4)George Ashmun (Whig, MA-6)Joseph Grinnell (Whig, MA-10)Daniel Putnam King (Whig, MA-2)Robert Charles Winthrop (Whig, MA-1)Julius Rockwell (Whig, MA-7)John Grant Chapman (Whig, MD-1)James Dixon Roman (Whig, MD-2)Alexander Evans (Whig, MD-5)John Woodland Crisfield (Whig, MD-6)Hiram Belcher (Whig, ME-3)Patrick Watson Tompkins (Whig, MS-3)Daniel Moreau Barringer (Whig, NC-3)Richard Spaight Donnell (Whig, NC-8)Augustine Henry Shepperd (Whig, NC-4)David Outlaw (Whig, NC-9)Thomas Lanier Clingman (Whig, NC-1)Nathaniel Boyden (Whig, NC-2)James Wilson (Whig, NH-3)Dudley Sanford Gregory (Whig, NJ-5)James Giles Hampton (Whig, NJ-1)John Van Dyke (Whig, NJ-4)William Augustus Newell (Whig, NJ-2)Esbon Blackmar (Whig, NY-27)Horace Greeley (Whig, NY-6)Nathan Kelsey Hall (Whig, NY-32)Elias Bellows Holmes (Whig, NY-28)Washington Hunt (Whig, NY-34)William Thomas Lawrence (Whig, NY-26)Dudley Marvin (Whig, NY-31)Joseph Mullin (Whig, NY-19)Eliakim Sherrill (Whig, NY-10)John I. Slingerland (Whig, NY-13)Daniel Bennett St. John (Whig, NY-9)Frederick Augustus Tallmadge (Whig, NY-5)Cornelius Warren (Whig, NY-8)Harmon Sweatland Conger (Whig, NY-25)William Duer (Whig, NY-23)Daniel Gott (Whig, NY-24)William Nelson (Whig, NY-7)Harvey Putnam (Whig, NY-33)Gideon Reynolds (Whig, NY-12)Robert Lawson Rose (Whig, NY-29)David Rumsey (Whig, NY-30)Peter Henry Silvester (Whig, NY-11)Hugh White (Whig, NY-16)Orlando Kellogg (Whig, NY-14)Richard Sprigg Canby (Whig, OH-4)Daniel Duncan (Whig, OH-10)Thomas Owen Edwards (Whig, OH-9)David Fisher (Whig, OH-2)John Crowell (Whig, OH-19)Nathan Evans (Whig, OH-14)Joseph Mosley Root (Whig, OH-21)Samuel Finley Vinton (Whig, OH-12)John Lampkin Taylor (Whig, OH-8)Joshua Reed Giddings (Whig, OH-20)Robert Cumming Schenck (Whig, OH-3)John Blanchard (Whig, PA-17)Jasper Ewing Brady (Whig, PA-16)John Dickey (Whig, PA-20)George Nicholas Eckert (Whig, PA-14)John Wilson Farrelly (Whig, PA-22)John Westbrook Hornbeck (Whig, PA-6)Joseph Reed Ingersoll (Whig, PA-2)Alexander Irvin (Whig, PA-24)Abraham Robinson McIlvaine (Whig, PA-7)James Pollock (Whig, PA-13)Andrew Stewart (Whig, PA-18)John Strohm (Whig, PA-8)Chester Pierce Butler (Whig, PA-11)John Freedley (Whig, PA-5)Moses Hampton (Whig, PA-21)Henry Nes (Whig, PA-15)Robert Bennie Cranston (Whig, RI-1)Washington Barrow (Whig, TN-8)William Michael Cocke (Whig, TN-2)John Hervey Crozier (Whig, TN-3)William T. Haskell (Whig, TN-11)Meredith Poindexter Gentry (Whig, TN-7)John Minor Botts (Whig, VA-6)Thomas Stanhope Flournoy (Whig, VA-3)Andrew Steele Fulton (Whig, VA-13)William Leftwich Goggin (Whig, VA-5)John Strother Pendleton (Whig, VA-9)William Ballard Preston (Whig, VA-12)William Henry (Whig, VT-1)George Perkins Marsh (Whig, VT-3)Jacob Collamer (Whig, VT-2)
1848-07-16/supreme-courtThe bench
John McLean D
Associate Justice · appointed by Andrew Jackson · since Mar 7, 1829
James Moore Wayne D
Associate Justice · appointed by Andrew Jackson · since Jan 9, 1835
Roger Brooke Taney D
Chief Justice · appointed by Andrew Jackson · since Mar 15, 1836
John Catron D
Associate Justice · appointed by Andrew Jackson · since Mar 8, 1837
John McKinley D
Associate Justice · appointed by Martin Van Buren · since Sep 25, 1837
Peter Vivian Daniel D
Associate Justice · appointed by Martin Van Buren · since Mar 3, 1841
Samuel Nelson W
Associate Justice · appointed by John Tyler · since Feb 13, 1845
Levi Woodbury D
Associate Justice · appointed by James K. Polk · since Jan 3, 1846
Robert Cooper Grier D
Associate Justice · appointed by James K. Polk · since Aug 4, 1846
1848-07-16/weekWithin a week · Jul 9, 1848 – Jul 23, 1848
Nothing recorded within a week of this date.

Each office is shown as it stood at the end of the day. Cabinet records come from Wikidata and have gaps for some historical offices.