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The United States on March 4, 1857

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

President
Buchanan
James Buchanan D · since Mar 4, 1857
Senate
24 D · 10 R
39 senators · 35th Congress
House
—
0 representatives
Supreme Court
7 D · 2 W
9 justices by appointing party
Union
31 states
12 amendments in force
Public debt
$32M
as of Jul 1, 1856
1857-03-04/executiveThe administration
President James Buchanan D
since Mar 4, 1857
Vice President John Cabell Breckinridge D
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
1857-03-04/congress35th Congress
Senate · 24 D · 10 R · 4 A · 1 IRD
Clement Claiborne Clay Jr. (Democrat, AL)Benjamin Fitzpatrick (Democrat, AL)William King Sebastian (Democrat, AR)Robert Ward Johnson (Democrat, AR)David Colbreth Broderick (Democrat, CA)David Levy Yulee (Democrat, FL)Robert Augustus Toombs (Democrat, GA)Alfred Iverson Sr. (Democrat, GA)George Wallace Jones (Democrat, IA)Stephen Arnold Douglas (Democrat, IL)Judah Philip Benjamin (Democrat, LA)John Slidell (Democrat, LA)James Alfred Pearce (Democrat, MD)Charles Edward Stuart (Democrat, MI)Albert Gallatin Brown (Democrat, MS)David Settle Reid (Democrat, NC)Asa Biggs (Democrat, NC)William Wright (Democrat, NJ)George Ellis Pugh (Democrat, OH)William Bigler (Democrat, PA)Philip Allen (Democrat, RI)Josiah James Evans (Democrat, SC)Andrew Pickens Butler (Democrat, SC)Robert Mercer Taliaferro Hunter (Democrat, VA)Joseph Parsons Comegys (Ind. Republican-Democrat, DE)John Burton Thompson (American, KY)John Jordan Crittenden (American, KY)John Bell (American, TN)Samuel Houston (American, TX)Lafayette Sabine Foster (Republican, CT)James Harlan (Republican, IA)Lyman Trumbull (Republican, IL)Henry Wilson (Republican, MA)William Pitt Fessenden (Republican, ME)James Bell (Republican, NH)John Parker Hale (Republican, NH)William Henry Seward (Republican, NY)Jacob Collamer (Republican, VT)Charles Durkee (Republican, WI)
House ·
1857-03-04/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
John Archibald Campbell D
Associate Justice · appointed by Franklin Pierce · since Mar 22, 1853
1857-03-04/weekWithin a week · Feb 25, 1857 – Mar 11, 1857
James Buchanan takes office · Mar 4, 1857
Ruling Oliver and Daniel R. Garrison v. The Memphis Insurance Company
Feb 27, 1857 · 60 U.S. 312
Ruling Walton v. Cotton
Feb 27, 1857 · 60 U.S. 355
Ruling Pratt v. Reed
Feb 27, 1857 · 60 U.S. 359
Ruling Tod v. Pratt
Feb 27, 1857 · 60 U.S. 362
Ruling United States v. The City Bank of Columbus
Feb 27, 1857 · 60 U.S. 385
Ruling Bulkley v. Christian Honold
Feb 27, 1857 · 60 U.S. 390
Ruling Lathrop L. Sturgis v. Christian Honold
Feb 27, 1857 · 60 U.S. 393
Ruling Roswell Beebe v. Russell
Mar 5, 1857 · 60 U.S. 283
Ruling Terence Farrelly v. Woodfolk
Mar 5, 1857 · 60 U.S. 288
Ruling Byers v. Surget
Mar 5, 1857 · 60 U.S. 303
Ruling Bryan v. Forsyth
Mar 5, 1857 · 60 U.S. 334
Ruling Ballance v. Adolph Papin
Mar 5, 1857 · 60 U.S. 342
Ruling United States v. Domingo and Vicente Peralta
Mar 5, 1857 · 60 U.S. 343
Ruling McCullough v. Gurnsey Y. Roots and Erastus P. Coe
Mar 5, 1857 · 60 U.S. 349
Ruling United States v. Sutherland
Mar 5, 1857 · 60 U.S. 363
Ruling Fellows v. Blacksmith
Mar 5, 1857 · 60 U.S. 366
Ruling Enoch C. Roberts v. Cooper
Mar 5, 1857 · 60 U.S. 373
Ruling McRea v. The Branch of the Bank of the State of Alabama at Mobile
Mar 5, 1857 · 60 U.S. 376
Ruling The Michigan Central Railroad Company v. The Michigan Southern Railroad Company
Mar 5, 1857 · 60 U.S. 378
Ruling Ballard v. Thomas
Mar 5, 1857 · 60 U.S. 382
Ruling Dred Scott v. Sandford
Mar 6, 1857 · 60 U.S. 393

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.