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| The '''United States Congress''' is the legislative body of the [[United States of America]]. It comprised the Continental Congresses (1776-1789) under the [[Articles of Confederation]] and the U.S. Congress (1789 to present). following the close of the Revolutionary War. | | {{subpages}} |
| | {{Image|US Capitol Building at night Jan 2006.jpg|right|350px|The U.S. Capitol, [[Washington, D.C.]].}} |
| | The '''United States Congress''' is the national legislature of the [[United States of America]]. As established in Article I of the [[U.S. Constitution]], it is a [[bicameral legislature|bicameral]] institution comprised of a [[U.S. Senate|Senate]] with two members for each state and a [[U.S. House of Representatives|House of Representatives]] with seats allocated to each state based on its population. |
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| ==First and Second Continental Congress==
| | The Congress is headquartered in the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. |
| see [[Articles of Confederation]]
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| In September 1774, delegates from twelve of the [[Thirteen Colonies|American colonies]] gathered in [[Philadelphia]], [[Pennsylvania]] in response to British punishment of Massachusetts. This "First Continental Congress" talked but did not legislate. It issues "The Declaration of Rights and Grievances," and encouraged the boycott of British goods to add economic punch to their philosophical arguments for more home rule.
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| The First Continental Congress called the '''Second Continental Congress''', which met in Philadelphia from May 1775. It [[Declaration of Independence|declared independence on July 4, 1776]] and supervised the war effort and diplomacy. The Third Continental Congress (1776-1781) prosecuted the war and made an alliance with France. It drafted the [[Articles of Confederation]] in 1777; although not officially adopted until 1781, the Articles were used as the nation's constitution. Each state legislature selected a delegation, and it cast one vote. Nine votes were needed to pass a bill, and all 13 states had to ratify any amendments.
| | ==Origins and development== |
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| ==The Confederation Congress==
| | The precedent for a national legislature in the United States dates back to the end of the colonial period when, on September 5, 1774, 55 delegates from twelve of the thirteen colonies convened in Carpenter's Hall in Philadelphia to develop a coordinated response to Britain's closure of the Port of Boston after the [[Boston Tea Party]]. This [[First Continental Congress]] issued a "Declaration of Rights and Grievances" and called for a systematic boycott of British goods to add economic punch to their philosophical arguments for more home rule. |
| see [[Articles of Confederation]]
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| The Confederation Congress (1781-1789) operated with the same rules as before. It convinced the states to cede it their claims to western lands. Its most notable legislation was the [[Northwest Ordinance]] of 1787, which created the Northwest Territory. This Congress authorized the Constitutional Convention that met in Philadelphia in 1787 to draft a new Constitution. Congress set out the rules for ratification; every state ratified and the new [[Constitution of the United States of America]] took effect in 1789, with [[George Washington]] the first president. | | The First Continental Congress also made plans to convene a [[Second Continental Congress]], which gathered in May 1775. War had broken out and the Congress took control of the army, waged war, and negotiated treaties. It issued the [[U.S. Declaration of Independence]] on July 4, 1776, creating a new nation, the "United States of America." The Third Continental Congress (1776-1781) drafted the [[Articles of Confederation]] in 1777; they were ratified in 1781. |
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| ==The United States Congress==
| | The Confederation Congress created by the Articles followed the same rules. Each state sent a delegation, which had one vote. Decisions required 9 votes (out of 13), and amendments had to be unanimous. |
| | Unable to levy taxes, it asked the states for money, printed paper money, and borrowed heavily. In the 1780s it convinced the states to give it their western lands, then started selling the lands to settlers. Its most notable legislation was the [[Northwest Ordinance]] of 1787, which created the Northwest Territory of the United States. |
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| The United States Congress was created by Article 1 of the [[United States Constitution]]. The Congress is bicameral (two houses), unlike its unicameral (one house) predecessor. Members vote as individuals rather than as states. The new [[House of Representatives]] represented the people, giving states seats proportional to their total population (counting 3/5 of the slaves and all the whites.) State equality was the rule for the [[Senate]], where each state has two senators.
| | ==Institutional structure and powers== |
| | Article I of the [[United States Constitution]] contains ten sections devoted to the Congress's institutional design and the scope of its powers. |
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| In addition to the new structure provided in the Constitution, the Congress was provided with far more power than ever before. This shift from state-centric power to national power was the result of the experience gained from watching the Confederation Congress operate. For example, in many cases, legislation that would have benefited the entire country was rejected by the negative vote of one or a few states. For another example, amendment of the Articles of Confederation had to be unanimous - in the Constitution, amendment is affected by three fourths of the states.
| | The Congress has two houses ("bicameral"), compared to the one-house ("unicameral") Continental Congress. Members vote as individuals rather than as states, except in rare cases involving [[U.S. Electoral College|presidential elections]]. The new [[House of Representatives]] gave states seats in proportion to their population (counting all the whites of all ages, and 3/5 of the slaves.) Each state has two [[United States Senate|senators]]. |
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| The powers of the Congress are tempered by the creation of two other branches of the government - the executive, embodied in the President and Vice President, to carry out the laws passed by Congress; and the judiciary, in the form of the [[Supreme Court]] and other inferior courts, to interpret the laws passed by Congress. This separation of power was designed to ensure that no one branch accumulated too much power, and a system of checks and balances was created to provide remedies to abuses of power. | | The U.S. Congress has significant power, tempered by the checks and balances provided by the executive and judiciary branches. |
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| ==Bibliography== | | ==References== |
| * Congressional Quarterly. ''Guide to Congress,'' 5th ed. (2000).
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| * Baker, Ross K. ''House and Senate'', 3rd ed. New York: W. W. Norton. (2000).
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| * Michael Barone and Richard E. Cohen. ''The Almanac of American Politics, 2006'' (2005), elaborate detail on every district and member; 1920 pages; new edition every 2 years since 1976
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| * Davidson, Roger H., and Walter J. Oleszek. (1998). ''Congress and Its Members'', 6th ed. Washington DC: Congressional Quarterly.
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| * Dennis Hastert, Tom Daschle, and David Silverberg. ''Congress for Dummies'' (2002)
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| * Lee, Frances and Bruce Oppenheimer. ''Sizing Up the Senate: The Unequal Consequences of Equal Representation.'' University of Chicago Press. (1999).
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| * Rimmerman, Craig A. "Teaching Legislative Politics and Policy Making." ''Political Science Teacher'', 3 (Winter 1990): 16–18.
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| * Ritchie, Donald A. "What Makes a Successful Congressional Investigation." ''OAH Magazine of History'', 11 (Spring 1997): 6–8.
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| * David R. Tarr and Ann O'Connor. ''Congress A to Z'' (CQ Congressional Quarterly) (4th ed 2003) 605pp
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| ===History===
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| ====Membership====
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| *''American National Biography'' (1999), contains biographies of all politicians no longer alive.
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| * ''Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1774-2005.'' 2005. biographical entries for every person who ever served; [http://bioguide.congress.gov Biographical Directory online].
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| * Barone, Michael, and Grant Ujifusa, ''The Almanac of American Politics 1976: The Senators, the Representatives and the Governors: Their Records and Election Results, Their States and Districts'' (1975). revised every two years
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| ====Scholarly secondary sources====
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| * Alexander, De Alva Stanwood. ''History and Procedure of the House of Representatives.'' (1916) [http://books.google.com/books?id=MGoSAAAAIAAJ&dq=Alexander,+De+Alva+Stanwood.+%27%27History+and+Procedure+of+the online edition]
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| * Carroll, Holbert N. ''The House of Representatives and Foreign Affairs'' 1958 [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=28100337 online edition]
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| * Davidson, Roger H., Susan Webb Hammond, Raymond W. Smock, eds; ''Masters of the House: Congressional Leadership over Two Centuries'' Westview Press, 1998 [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=58332031 online edition]
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| * Galloway, George B. ''History of the House of Representatives'' 1962 [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=3071891 online edition]
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| * Herrick, Rebekah. "Gender effects on job satisfaction in the House of Representatives." ''Women and Politics'', (2001). 23 (4), 85–98.
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| * Hunt, Richard. (1998). "Using the Records of Congress in the Classroom," ''OAH Magazine of History'', 12 (Summer): 34–37.
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| * MacNeil, Neil. ''Forge of Democracy: The House of Representatives'' (1963) popular history by a well-informed journalist [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=11599068 online edition]
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| * Remini, Robert V. ''The House: The History of the House of Representatives'' (2006) the standard scholarly history
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| * Ritchie, Donald A. (1997). "What Makes a Successful Congressional Investigation." ''OAH Magazine of History'', 11 (Spring): 6–8.
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| * Zelizer, Julian E. ''On Capitol Hill: The Struggle to Reform Congress and its Consequences, 1948-2000'' (2004)
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| * Zelizer, Julian E. ed. ''The American Congress: The Building of Democracy'' (2004), essays by leading scholars
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| ==External Links==
| | <references/> |
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| * [http://www.usconstitution.net/intol.html The Declaration of Rights and Grievances]
| | [[Category:Suggestion Bot Tag]] |
| * [http://www.usconstitution.net/declar.html The Declaration of Independence]
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| * [http://www.usconstitution.net/articles.html The Articles of Confederation]
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| * [http://www.usconstitution.net/const.html The United States Constitution]
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| * [http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/collections/continental/ Documents from the Continental Congress and the Constitutional Convention]
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| [[Category:CZ Live]]
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| [[Category:Law Workgroup]]
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| [[Category:Politics Workgroup]]
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| [[Category:History Workgroup]] | |
The United States Congress is the national legislature of the United States of America. As established in Article I of the U.S. Constitution, it is a bicameral institution comprised of a Senate with two members for each state and a House of Representatives with seats allocated to each state based on its population.
The Congress is headquartered in the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C.
Origins and development
The precedent for a national legislature in the United States dates back to the end of the colonial period when, on September 5, 1774, 55 delegates from twelve of the thirteen colonies convened in Carpenter's Hall in Philadelphia to develop a coordinated response to Britain's closure of the Port of Boston after the Boston Tea Party. This First Continental Congress issued a "Declaration of Rights and Grievances" and called for a systematic boycott of British goods to add economic punch to their philosophical arguments for more home rule.
The First Continental Congress also made plans to convene a Second Continental Congress, which gathered in May 1775. War had broken out and the Congress took control of the army, waged war, and negotiated treaties. It issued the U.S. Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, creating a new nation, the "United States of America." The Third Continental Congress (1776-1781) drafted the Articles of Confederation in 1777; they were ratified in 1781.
The Confederation Congress created by the Articles followed the same rules. Each state sent a delegation, which had one vote. Decisions required 9 votes (out of 13), and amendments had to be unanimous.
Unable to levy taxes, it asked the states for money, printed paper money, and borrowed heavily. In the 1780s it convinced the states to give it their western lands, then started selling the lands to settlers. Its most notable legislation was the Northwest Ordinance of 1787, which created the Northwest Territory of the United States.
Institutional structure and powers
Article I of the United States Constitution contains ten sections devoted to the Congress's institutional design and the scope of its powers.
The Congress has two houses ("bicameral"), compared to the one-house ("unicameral") Continental Congress. Members vote as individuals rather than as states, except in rare cases involving presidential elections. The new House of Representatives gave states seats in proportion to their population (counting all the whites of all ages, and 3/5 of the slaves.) Each state has two senators.
The U.S. Congress has significant power, tempered by the checks and balances provided by the executive and judiciary branches.
References
