The House and Senate in the 1790s: Petitioning, Lobbying, and Institutional Development

Amid the turbulent swirl of foreign intrigue, external and internal threats to the young nation's existence, and the domestic partisan wrangling of the 1790s, the United States Congress solidified its role as the national legislature. The ten essays in The House and Senate in the 1790s demonstrate the mechanisms by which this bicameral legislature developed its institutional identity. The first essay sets the scene for the institutional development of Congress by examining its constitutional origins and the efforts of the Founders to empower the new national legislature. The five following essays focus on two related mechanisms-petitioning and lobbying-by which citizens and private interests communicated with national lawmakers.

Although scholars tend to see lobbying as a later nineteenth-century development, the papers presented here clearly demonstrate the existence of lobbyists and lobbying in the 1790s. The final four papers examine other aspects of the institutional development of the House and the Senate, including the evolution of political parties and congressional leadership.

The essays in this collection, the third volume in the series Perspectives on the History of Congress, 1789-1801, originated in a series of conferences held by the United States Capitol Historical Society from 1994 to 2001.

1115394324
The House and Senate in the 1790s: Petitioning, Lobbying, and Institutional Development

Amid the turbulent swirl of foreign intrigue, external and internal threats to the young nation's existence, and the domestic partisan wrangling of the 1790s, the United States Congress solidified its role as the national legislature. The ten essays in The House and Senate in the 1790s demonstrate the mechanisms by which this bicameral legislature developed its institutional identity. The first essay sets the scene for the institutional development of Congress by examining its constitutional origins and the efforts of the Founders to empower the new national legislature. The five following essays focus on two related mechanisms-petitioning and lobbying-by which citizens and private interests communicated with national lawmakers.

Although scholars tend to see lobbying as a later nineteenth-century development, the papers presented here clearly demonstrate the existence of lobbyists and lobbying in the 1790s. The final four papers examine other aspects of the institutional development of the House and the Senate, including the evolution of political parties and congressional leadership.

The essays in this collection, the third volume in the series Perspectives on the History of Congress, 1789-1801, originated in a series of conferences held by the United States Capitol Historical Society from 1994 to 2001.

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The House and Senate in the 1790s: Petitioning, Lobbying, and Institutional Development

The House and Senate in the 1790s: Petitioning, Lobbying, and Institutional Development

The House and Senate in the 1790s: Petitioning, Lobbying, and Institutional Development

The House and Senate in the 1790s: Petitioning, Lobbying, and Institutional Development

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Overview

Amid the turbulent swirl of foreign intrigue, external and internal threats to the young nation's existence, and the domestic partisan wrangling of the 1790s, the United States Congress solidified its role as the national legislature. The ten essays in The House and Senate in the 1790s demonstrate the mechanisms by which this bicameral legislature developed its institutional identity. The first essay sets the scene for the institutional development of Congress by examining its constitutional origins and the efforts of the Founders to empower the new national legislature. The five following essays focus on two related mechanisms-petitioning and lobbying-by which citizens and private interests communicated with national lawmakers.

Although scholars tend to see lobbying as a later nineteenth-century development, the papers presented here clearly demonstrate the existence of lobbyists and lobbying in the 1790s. The final four papers examine other aspects of the institutional development of the House and the Senate, including the evolution of political parties and congressional leadership.

The essays in this collection, the third volume in the series Perspectives on the History of Congress, 1789-1801, originated in a series of conferences held by the United States Capitol Historical Society from 1994 to 2001.


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780821414194
Publisher: Ohio University Press
Publication date: 04/15/2002
Series: Perspective History Of Congres
Edition description: 1
Pages: 328
Product dimensions: 6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Kenneth R. Bowling is coeditor of The Documentary History of the First Federal Congress, 1789–1791, and the author of The Creation of Washington, D.C.: The Idea and Location of the American Capital.

Donald R. Kennon is the former chief historian and vice president of the United States Capitol Historical Society. He is editor of the Ohio University Press series Perspectives on the History of Congress, 1789–1801.

Table of Contents

Prefacevii
From Impotence to Omnipotence: The Debate over Structuring Congress under the New Federal Constitution of 17871
Petitioners and Their Grievances: A View from the First Federal Congress29
Private Access and Public Power: Gentility and Lobbying in the Early Congress57
Rites of Passage: Postal Petitioning as a Tool of Governance in the Age of Federalism100
The "Practicable Sphere" of a Republic: Western Ways of Connecting to Congress139
Contesting the Character of the Political Economy in the Early Republic: Rights and Remedies in Chisholm v. Georgia178
The Electoral Dynamics of Ratification: Federalist and Antifederalist Strength and Cohesion, 1787-1803233
The Special Relationship: The Senate and the States, 1789-1801267
The United States Senate in Philadelphia: An Institutional History of the 1790s292
The Institutional Development of the House of Representatives, 1791-1801321
Contributors337
Index341
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