← a year earlier · day before · day after · a year later →

The United States on February 28, 1861

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
36 D · 26 R
64 senators · 36th Congress
House
114 R · 87 D
242 representatives
Supreme Court
7 D · 1 W
8 justices by appointing party
Union
34 states
12 amendments in force
Public debt
$65M
as of Jul 1, 1860
1861-02-28/executiveThe administration
President James Buchanan D
since Mar 4, 1857
Vice President John Cabell Breckinridge D
Secretary of the Navy Isaac Toucey D
since Mar 7, 1857
Secretary of State Jeremiah S. Black D
since Dec 17, 1860
Attorney General Edwin M. Stanton D
since Dec 20, 1860
Secretary of the Treasury John Adams Dix R
since Jan 15, 1861
1861-02-28/congress36th Congress
Senate · 36 D · 26 R · 1 A · 1 U
Benjamin Fitzpatrick (Democrat, AL)Clement Claiborne Clay Jr. (Democrat, AL)Robert Ward Johnson (Democrat, AR)William King Sebastian (Democrat, AR)William McKendree Gwin (Democrat, CA)Milton Slocum Latham (Democrat, CA)James Asheton Bayard Jr. (Democrat, DE)Willard Saulsbury Sr. (Democrat, DE)David Levy Yulee (Democrat, FL)Alfred Iverson Sr. (Democrat, GA)Robert Augustus Toombs (Democrat, GA)Stephen Arnold Douglas (Democrat, IL)Graham Newell Fitch (Democrat, IN)Jesse David Bright (Democrat, IN)Lazarus Whitehead Powell (Democrat, KY)John Slidell (Democrat, LA)Judah Philip Benjamin (Democrat, LA)James Alfred Pearce (Democrat, MD)Henry Mower Rice (Democrat, MN)James Stephen Green (Democrat, MO)Trusten Polk (Democrat, MO)Jefferson Davis (Democrat, MS)Albert Gallatin Brown (Democrat, MS)Thomas Lanier Clingman (Democrat, NC)Thomas Bragg (Democrat, NC)John Renshaw Thomson (Democrat, NJ)George Ellis Pugh (Democrat, OH)Joseph Lane (Democrat, OR)William Bigler (Democrat, PA)James Henry Hammond (Democrat, SC)Andrew Johnson (Democrat, TN)Alfred Osborn Pope Nicholson (Democrat, TN)John Hemphill (Democrat, TX)Louis Trezevant Wigfall (Democrat, TX)James Murray Mason (Democrat, VA)Robert Mercer Taliaferro Hunter (Democrat, VA)John Jordan Crittenden (American, KY)Anthony Kennedy (Unionist, MD)Lafayette Sabine Foster (Republican, CT)James Dixon (Republican, CT)James Harlan (Republican, IA)James Wilson Grimes (Republican, IA)Lyman Trumbull (Republican, IL)Charles Sumner (Republican, MA)Henry Wilson (Republican, MA)Hannibal Hamlin (Republican, ME)William Pitt Fessenden (Republican, ME)Zachariah Chandler (Republican, MI)Kinsley Scott Bingham (Republican, MI)Morton Smith Wilkinson (Republican, MN)Daniel Clark (Republican, NH)John Parker Hale (Republican, NH)John Conover Ten Eyck (Republican, NJ)William Henry Seward (Republican, NY)Preston King (Republican, NY)Benjamin Franklin Wade (Republican, OH)Edward Dickinson Baker (Republican, OR)Simon Cameron (Republican, PA)James Fowler Simmons (Republican, RI)Henry Bowen Anthony (Republican, RI)Jacob Collamer (Republican, VT)Solomon Foot (Republican, VT)Charles Durkee (Republican, WI)James Rood Doolittle (Republican, WI)
House · 114 R · 87 D · 19 IRD · 7 ALD · 7 ID · 5 A · 2 O · 1 W
David Clopton (Democrat, AL-3)Williamson Robert Winfield Cobb (Democrat, AL-6)Jabez Lamar Monroe Curry (Democrat, AL-7)Sydenham Moore (Democrat, AL-4)James Adams Stallworth (Democrat, AL-1)George Smith Houston (Democrat, AL-5)James Lawrence Pugh (Democrat, AL-2)Thomas Carmichael Hindman (Democrat, AR-1)Albert Rust (Democrat, AR-2)John Chilton Burch (Democrat, CA-AL)William Gustavus Whiteley (Democrat, DE-AL)George Sydney Hawkins (Democrat, FL-1)Martin Jenkins Crawford (Democrat, GA-2)Lucius Jeremiah Gartrell (Democrat, GA-4)James Jackson (Democrat, GA-6)John James Jones (Democrat, GA-8)Peter Early Love (Democrat, GA-1)John William Henderson Underwood (Democrat, GA-5)Isaac Newton Morris (Democrat, IL-5)Philip Bond Fouke (Democrat, IL-8)John Alexander McClernand (Democrat, IL-6)James Carroll Robinson (Democrat, IL-7)John Alexander Logan (Democrat, IL-9)William Hayden English (Democrat, IN-2)William Ellis Niblack (Democrat, IN-1)William Steele Holman (Democrat, IN-4)Samuel Oldham Peyton (Democrat, KY-2)William Emmett Simms (Democrat, KY-8)Henry Cornelius Burnett (Democrat, KY-1)John White Stevenson (Democrat, KY-10)John Young Brown (Democrat, KY-5)Thomas Green Davidson (Democrat, LA-3)John Morgan Landrum (Democrat, LA-4)Miles Taylor (Democrat, LA-2)George Wurtz Hughes (Democrat, MD-6)Jacob Michael Kunkel (Democrat, MD-5)James Augustus Stewart (Democrat, MD-1)George Byran Cooper (Democrat, MI-1)John Richard Barret (Democrat, MO-1)James Craig (Democrat, MO-4)John Bullock Clark (Democrat, MO-3)John Smith Phelps (Democrat, MO-6)John William Noell (Democrat, MO-7)William Barksdale (Democrat, MS-3)Reuben Davis (Democrat, MS-2)John Jones McRae (Democrat, MS-5)Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus Lamar (Democrat, MS-1)Otho Robards Singleton (Democrat, MS-4)Lawrence O’Bryan Branch (Democrat, NC-4)Francis Burton Craige (Democrat, NC-7)Thomas Ruffin (Democrat, NC-2)Warren Winslow (Democrat, NC-3)John Cochrane (Democrat, NY-6)William Brown Maclay (Democrat, NY-5)Daniel Edgar Sickles (Democrat, NY-3)William Howard (Democrat, OH-6)Charles Drake Martin (Democrat, OH-11)William Allen (Democrat, OH-4)Clement Laird Vallandigham (Democrat, OH-3)George Hunt Pendleton (Democrat, OH-1)Samuel Sullivan Cox (Democrat, OH-12)Lansing Stout (Democrat, OR-1)William Harrison Dimmick (Democrat, PA-13)Thomas Birch Florence (Democrat, PA-1)Jacob Kerlin McKenty (Democrat, PA-8)William Montgomery (Democrat, PA-20)John Durant Ashmore (Democrat, SC-5)Milledge Luke Bonham (Democrat, SC-4)William Waters Boyce (Democrat, SC-6)Laurence Massillon Keitt (Democrat, SC-3)John McQueen (Democrat, SC-1)William Porcher Miles (Democrat, SC-2)William Tecumsah Avery (Democrat, TN-10)James Houston Thomas (Democrat, TN-6)John Vines Wright (Democrat, TN-7)John Henninger Reagan (Democrat, TX-1)William Henry Hooper (Democrat, UT-AL)Thomas Stanley Bocock (Democrat, VA-5)Sherrard Clemens (Democrat, VA-10)Henry Alonzo Edmundson (Democrat, VA-12)Muscoe Russell Hunter Garnett (Democrat, VA-1)William Osborne Goode (Democrat, VA-4)Albert Gallatin Jenkins (Democrat, VA-11)John Singleton Millson (Democrat, VA-2)William Smith (Democrat, VA-7)Isaac Ingalls Stevens (Democrat, WA-AL)Charles Hathaway Larrabee (Democrat, WI-3)Joshua Hill (Ind. Republican-Democrat, GA-7)Thomas Hardeman Jr. (Ind. Republican-Democrat, GA-3)John Givan Davis (Anti-Lecompton Democrat, IN-7)Green Adams (Ind. Republican-Democrat, KY-6)William Clayton Anderson (Ind. Republican-Democrat, KY-4)Francis Marion Bristow (Ind. Republican-Democrat, KY-3)Laban Theodore Moore (Ind. Republican-Democrat, KY-9)Robert Mallory (Ind. Republican-Democrat, KY-7)John Edward Bouligny (American, LA-1)James Morrison Harris (American, MD-3)Henry Winter Davis (American, MD-4)Edwin Hanson Webster (American, MD-2)Thomas Lilbourne Anderson (Ind. Democrat, MO-2)Samuel Hughes Woodson (American, MO-5)John Adams Gilmer (Ind. Republican-Democrat, NC-5)William Nathan Harrell Smith (Ind. Republican-Democrat, NC-1)James Madison Leach (Ind. Republican-Democrat, NC-6)Zebulon Baird Vance (Ind. Republican-Democrat, NC-8)Experience Estabrook (?, NE-AL)Garnett Bowditch Adrain (Anti-Lecompton Democrat, NJ-3)Jetur Rose Riggs (Anti-Lecompton Democrat, NJ-4)Miguel Antonio Otero (?, NM-AL)Thomas Jefferson Barr (Ind. Democrat, NY-4)Horace Francis Clark (Anti-Lecompton Democrat, NY-8)John Bussing Haskin (Anti-Lecompton Democrat, NY-9)John Hazard Reynolds (Anti-Lecompton Democrat, NY-14)John Hickman (Anti-Lecompton Democrat, PA-6)Reese Bowen Brabson (Ind. Republican-Democrat, TN-3)Emerson Etheridge (Ind. Republican-Democrat, TN-9)Robert Hopkins Hatton (Ind. Republican-Democrat, TN-5)James Minor Quarles (Ind. Republican-Democrat, TN-8)Thomas Amos Rogers Nelson (Ind. Republican-Democrat, TN-1)William Brickly Stokes (Ind. Republican-Democrat, TN-4)Horace Maynard (Ind. Republican-Democrat, TN-2)Andrew Jackson Hamilton (Ind. Democrat, TX-2)Alexander Robinson Boteler (Ind. Republican-Democrat, VA-8)Shelton Farrar Leake (Ind. Democrat, VA-6)Elbert Sevier Martin (Ind. Democrat, VA-13)Daniel Coleman De Jarnette (Ind. Democrat, VA-3)John Thomas Harris (Ind. Democrat, VA-9)John Dick (Whig, PA-AL)John Woodruff (Republican, CT-2)Alfred Avery Burnham (Republican, CT-3)Dwight Loomis (Republican, CT-1)Orris Sanford Ferry (Republican, CT-4)Samuel Ryan Curtis (Republican, IA-1)William Vandever (Republican, IA-2)William Kellogg (Republican, IL-4)Owen Lovejoy (Republican, IL-3)Elihu Benjamin Washburne (Republican, IL-1)John Franklin Farnsworth (Republican, IL-2)Charles Case (Republican, IN-10)David Kilgore (Republican, IN-5)John Upfold Pettit (Republican, IN-11)James Wilson (Republican, IN-8)William McKee Dunn (Republican, IN-3)Albert Gallatin Porter (Republican, IN-6)Schuyler Colfax (Republican, IN-9)Marcus Junius Parrott (Republican, KS-AL)Martin Franklin Conway (Republican, KS-1)Anson Burlingame (Republican, MA-5)Eli Thayer (Republican, MA-9)Charles Francis Adams (Republican, MA-3)Charles Delano (Republican, MA-10)Charles Russell Train (Republican, MA-8)John Bassett Alley (Republican, MA-6)Alexander Hamilton Rice (Republican, MA-4)Thomas Dawes Eliot (Republican, MA-1)Daniel Wheelwright Gooch (Republican, MA-7)James Buffinton (Republican, MA-2)Henry Laurens Dawes (Republican, MA-11)Stephen Coburn (Republican, ME-5)Stephen Clark Foster (Republican, ME-6)Ezra Bartlett French (Republican, ME-3)Freeman Harlow Morse (Republican, ME-4)John Jasiel Perry (Republican, ME-2)Daniel Eton Somes (Republican, ME-1)De Witt Clinton Leach (Republican, MI-4)Francis William Kellogg (Republican, MI-3)Henry Waldron (Republican, MI-2)Cyrus Aldrich (Republican, MN-AL)Mason Weare Tappan (Republican, NH-2)Thomas McKey Edwards (Republican, NH-3)Gilman Marston (Republican, NH-1)William Pennington (Republican, NJ-5)John Thompson Nixon (Republican, NJ-1)John Leake Newbold Stratton (Republican, NJ-2)Charles Lewis Beale (Republican, NY-12)George Briggs (Republican, NY-7)Silas Mainville Burroughs (Republican, NY-31)Martin Butterfield (Republican, NY-25)Luther Cullen Carter (Republican, NY-1)Clark Betton Cochrane (Republican, NY-18)James Harper Graham (Republican, NY-19)Charles Brooks Hoard (Republican, NY-23)William Irvine (Republican, NY-28)William Scheuneman Kenyon (Republican, NY-11)Moses Lindley Lee (Republican, NY-22)George William Palmer (Republican, NY-16)Emory Bemsley Pottle (Republican, NY-26)Francis Elias Spinner (Republican, NY-17)Alfred Wells (Republican, NY-27)Alfred Ely (Republican, NY-29)James Bedell McKean (Republican, NY-15)Abram Baldwin Olin (Republican, NY-13)Charles Baldwin Sedgwick (Republican, NY-24)Elbridge Gerry Spaulding (Republican, NY-32)Augustus Frank (Republican, NY-30)James Humphrey (Republican, NY-2)Reuben Eaton Fenton (Republican, NY-33)Rodolphus Holland Duell (Republican, NY-21)Roscoe Conkling (Republican, NY-20)Charles Henry Van Wyck (Republican, NY-10)John Carey (Republican, OH-9)William Helmick (Republican, OH-15)Cyrus Spink (Republican, OH-14)Benjamin Stanton (Republican, OH-8)Thomas Clarke Theaker (Republican, OH-17)Cydnor Bailey Tompkins (Republican, OH-16)Edward Wade (Republican, OH-19)Thomas Corwin (Republican, OH-7)Sidney Edgerton (Republican, OH-18)John Addison Gurley (Republican, OH-2)John Hutchins (Republican, OH-20)Carey Allen Trimble (Republican, OH-10)James Mitchell Ashley (Republican, OH-5)John Armor Bingham (Republican, OH-21)John Sherman (Republican, OH-13)Chapin Hall (Republican, PA-24)Benjamin Franklin Junkin (Republican, PA-16)Henry Clay Longnecker (Republican, PA-7)William Millward (Republican, PA-4)William Stewart (Republican, PA-23)John Wood (Republican, PA-5)Elijah Babbitt (Republican, PA-25)Samuel Steel Blair (Republican, PA-18)James Hepburn Campbell (Republican, PA-11)Robert McKnight (Republican, PA-22)Edward McPherson (Republican, PA-17)Edward Joy Morris (Republican, PA-2)George Whitfield Scranton (Republican, PA-12)John Paul Verree (Republican, PA-3)James Tracy Hale (Republican, PA-15)James Kennedy Moorhead (Republican, PA-21)Thaddeus Stevens (Republican, PA-9)John Covode (Republican, PA-19)John Weinland Killinger (Republican, PA-10)Galusha Aaron Grow (Republican, PA-14)William Daniel Brayton (Republican, RI-2)Christopher Robinson (Republican, RI-1)Homer Elihu Royce (Republican, VT-3)Eliakim Persons Walton (Republican, VT-1)Justin Smith Morrill (Republican, VT-2)John Fox Potter (Republican, WI-1)Cadwallader Colden Washburn (Republican, WI-2)
1861-02-28/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
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
John Archibald Campbell D
Associate Justice · appointed by Franklin Pierce · since Mar 22, 1853
Nathan Clifford D
Associate Justice · appointed by James Buchanan · since Jan 12, 1858
1861-02-28/weekWithin a week · Feb 21, 1861 – Mar 7, 1861
Abraham Lincoln takes office · Mar 4, 1861
Ruling The Union Steamship Company of Philadelphia and Owners of the Steamship Pennsylvania v. The New York and Virginia Steamship Company
Feb 25, 1861 · 65 U.S. 307
Ruling Perin v. Freeman G. Carey
Feb 25, 1861 · 65 U.S. 465
Law Morrill Tariff
Mar 2, 1861 · Ch. 68, Sess. 2, 36th Cong.
Ruling Day v. Washburn
Mar 5, 1861 · 65 U.S. 352
Ruling Lessee of Robert W. Smith and Carey W. Butt v. McCann
Mar 5, 1861 · 65 U.S. 398
Ruling Phelps v. Edgerton
Mar 5, 1861 · 131 U.S. lxxi

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.