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The United States on March 11, 1853

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

President
Pierce
Franklin Pierce D · since Mar 4, 1853
Senate
24 D · 9 W
41 senators · 33rd Congress
House
—
0 representatives
Supreme Court
6 D · 2 W
8 justices by appointing party
Union
31 states
12 amendments in force
Public debt
$66M
as of Jul 1, 1852
1853-03-11/executiveThe administration
President Franklin Pierce D
since Mar 4, 1853
Vice President William Rufus de Vane King D
Secretary of the Navy James C. Dobbin D
since Jan 1, 1853
Attorney General Caleb Cushing W
since Mar 7, 1853
Postmaster General James Campbell D
since Mar 7, 1853
Secretary of War Jefferson Davis D
since Mar 7, 1853
Secretary of State William L. Marcy D
since Mar 7, 1853
Secretary of the Treasury James Guthrie D
since Mar 7, 1853
Secretary of the Interior Robert McClelland D
since Mar 8, 1853
1853-03-11/congress33rd Congress
Senate · 24 D · 9 W · 7 IRD · 1 FS
Solon Borland (Democrat, AR)William McKendree Gwin (Democrat, CA)John B. Weller (Democrat, CA)Isaac Toucey (Democrat, CT)James Asheton Bayard Jr. (Democrat, DE)Stephen Russell Mallory (Democrat, FL)Augustus Caesar Dodge (Democrat, IA)James Shields (Democrat, IL)Jesse David Bright (Democrat, IN)Charles William Cathcart (Democrat, IN)Pierre Soulé (Democrat, LA)Hannibal Hamlin (Democrat, ME)Lewis Cass (Democrat, MI)David Rice Atchison (Democrat, MO)Stephen Adams (Democrat, MS)Moses Norris Jr. (Democrat, NH)Robert Field Stockton (Democrat, NJ)Richard Brodhead (Democrat, PA)Charles Tillinghast James (Democrat, RI)Andrew Pickens Butler (Democrat, SC)Thomas Jefferson Rusk (Democrat, TX)James Murray Mason (Democrat, VA)Isaac Pigeon Walker (Democrat, WI)Henry Dodge (Democrat, WI)Charles Sumner (Ind. Republican-Democrat, MA)Thomas George Pratt (Ind. Republican-Democrat, MD)Henry Sheffie Geyer (Ind. Republican-Democrat, MO)Hamilton Fish (Ind. Republican-Democrat, NY)Salmon Portland Chase (Free Soil, OH)Benjamin Franklin Wade (Ind. Republican-Democrat, OH)James Chamberlain Jones (Ind. Republican-Democrat, TN)Solomon Foot (Ind. Republican-Democrat, VT)Truman Smith (Whig, CT)Jackson Morton (Whig, FL)William Crosby Dawson (Whig, GA)Archibald Dixon (Whig, KY)James Alfred Pearce (Whig, MD)George Edmund Badger (Whig, NC)William Henry Seward (Whig, NY)James Cooper (Whig, PA)William Upham (Whig, VT)
House ·
1853-03-11/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
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
Robert Cooper Grier D
Associate Justice · appointed by James K. Polk · since Aug 4, 1846
Benjamin Robbins Curtis W
Associate Justice · appointed by Millard Fillmore · since Dec 20, 1851
1853-03-11/weekWithin a week · Mar 4, 1853 – Mar 18, 1853
Franklin Pierce takes office · Mar 4, 1853
Ruling Ex parte William Many
Mar 7, 1853 · 55 U.S. 24
Ruling The General Mutual Insurance Company v. Ebenezer B. Sherwood
Mar 7, 1853 · 55 U.S. 351
Ruling Elisha Bloomer v. McQuewan
Mar 7, 1853 · 55 U.S. 539
Ruling Veazie v. Wyman B. S. Moor
Mar 7, 1853 · 55 U.S. 568
Ruling Walker v. Robbins
Mar 7, 1853 · 55 U.S. 584
Ruling Goesele v. Bimeler
Mar 7, 1853 · 55 U.S. 589
Ruling Deacon v. Oliver
Mar 7, 1853 · 55 U.S. 610

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.