Federalist Party - Party Strength in Congress

Party Strength in Congress

Many Congressmen were very hard to classify in the first few years, but after 1796 there was less uncertainty.

Election year
House 1788 1790 1792 1794 1796 1798 1800 1802 1804 1806 1808 1810 1812 1814 1816 1818 1820
Federalist 37 39 51 47 57 60 38 39 25 24 50 36 68 64 39 26 32
Democratic-Republican 28 30 54 59 49 46 65 103 116 118 92 107 114 119 146 160 155
% Democratic-Republican 43% 43% 51% 56% 46% 43% 63% 73% 82% 83% 65% 75% 63% 65% 79% 86% 83%
Senate 1788 1790 1792 1794 1796 1798 1800 1802 1804 1806 1808 1810 1812 1814 1816 1818 1820
Federalist 18 16 16 21 22 22 15 9 7 6 7 6 8 12 12 9 7
Democratic-Republican 8 13 14 11 10 10 17 25 27 28 27 30 28 26 30 37 44
% Democratic-Republican 31% 45% 47% 34% 31% 31% 53% 74% 71% 82% 79% 83% 78% 68% 71% 80% 92%

Source: Kenneth C. Martis, The Historical Atlas of Political Parties in the United States Congress, 1789–1989 (1989); the numbers are estimates by historians.

The affiliation of many Congressmen in the earliest years is an assignment by later historians. The parties were slowly coalescing groups; at first there were many independents. Cunningham noted that only about a quarter of the House of Representatives, up until 1794, voted with Madison as much as two-thirds of the time, and another quarter against him two-thirds of the time, leaving almost half as fairly independent.

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