1858–59 United States House of Representatives elections

Common card · No. 441524

States held the 1858–59 United States House of Representatives elections between June 7, 1858, and December 1, 1859, during President James Buchanan's term. Each state set a date for its elections to the House. Voters in 34 states, including the new state of Oregon and the pending new state of Kansas, elected 238 Representatives before the first session of the 36th United States Congress convened on December 5, 1859. Winning a plurality for the first time, the Republicans benefited from multiple political factors. These included sectional strife in the Democratic Party, Northern voter anger with the Supreme Court's March 1857 Dred Scott decision, political exposure of Democrats to chaotic violence in Kansas amid repeated attempts to impose slavery against the express will of a majority of its settlers, and a plunge in President Buchanan's popularity due to his perceived fecklessness. In Pennsylvania, his home state, Republicans made particularly large gains. The pivotal Dred Scott decision...

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