History of Congress

¶ … United States Congress

Over the past 200 years or so, the relationship between the House of Representatives and the Senate has changed quite a bit, but not always for the better. The relationship between Congress as a whole and the Presidency has also changed during this time period, but the same is also true of it.

There are several reasons why this has happened, and they will be addressed in this paper. Also addressed here will be the extent to which these relationships have changed over the course of time. Both of these issues are very important, not just in understanding the history of our great country, but in making some kind of prediction for where it might be going in the not so far-distant future.

Some believe that the whole country is having problems and is on the verge of collapse. Major corporations have been found guilty of terrible crimes, the stock market has lost a lot of ground, the news is full of all of the terrible things that Americans do to each other on a daily basis. So what is it about America that makes people stick around?

Our government, for one thing. It is far from perfect but it runs more efficiently than the governments of many other countries that have democracies. It's also important to remember that we do have a democracy here. People can vote for the things and people that they like and don't like, instead of just being told by someone else what they will like. There are many countries where this is not the case. We are very fortunate to live where we do, and this is one of the reasons why we support our government through all of the changes it undergoes. Those changes are sometimes good and sometimes bad but in the end they all help the country to continue on its course.

The changing relationships will be focused on, but they will not be the only thing discussed in the following pages. Knowledge of the history of the United States Congress is very important in forming a clear understanding of the changes that have taken place and the factors that helped to shape them. The history will come first, so that the changes will be less difficult to understand. Once some of the workings of Congress are made clear, one begins to see the reasons that specific changes need to be made, and how those changes can be brought about.

The history of Congress is very long and detailed, and there is not room in this paper to make a thorough analysis of everything that has happened in that history during the last 200 years. Since space does not allow for a complete analysis of Congress, every effort will be made to explain things in as much detail as possible, giving the reader the main ideas of important happenings without boring the reader with great detail about trivial matters that did not hold much significance in either internal or external Congressional relationships.

By talking about the main happenings of Congress over the last 200 years, there will be some discussion of important bills passed and important Presidents, but mostly the history of Congress will deal with how they functioned and what kind of conflicts they faced during their first 200 years. There were many things that they had to deal with, especially early on, and it's important to know that some of the problems our modern day Congress has were with them from the very start of things. The same is true of concerns that plague the President with respect to Congress. Many of those conflicts and problems have been around from the first day of the first session as well.

After finishing this paper, the reader should have full knowledge of the main events and significant happenings in Congress, as they relate to conflict, over the last 200 years; the relationships between the House of Representatives and the Senate as well as between the whole of Congress and the President; and the kinds of and reasons for changes that have taken place over the history of the United States Congress. To make the paper easier to read, it will be broken down into seven different sections, with the first section being the introduction.

The second section will deal with the first 100 years of Congress, and the third section will deal with the second 100 years. No real effort will be made to keep everything in chronological order, since dates are not the concern here. The general ideas of conflict and how they carry through the first 200 years are the main focus.

The fourth section will discuss the current internal relationship between the House of Representatives and the Senate, and the fifth section will detail the relationship that currently exists between Congress and the President. The sixth section will show how and why these relationships have changed over the last 200 years, and the seventh and final section will have some brief concluding remarks and a short summary of the paper's information.

While some sections will obviously need more room than others, effort will be made to balance them out so that each section has enough space for a fair and honest discussion of the issues and conflicts that were apparent during that time in history.

Congress in the First 100 Years:

The concept of a governing body has always been with the United States, but the Congress that has remained with us until present day actually began with 11 states ratifying the Constitution on March 3, 1789. On that day, however, the people elected to Congress didn't just walk in, sit down, and start doing the kinds of things that they do today. They had so many more important things to do, such as inaugurating the President and Vice President, establishing a court system, and getting all of the other branches of government that the Constitution created underway.

Many of those things couldn't be done right away, either, because offices had to be organized, rules had to be followed; some had to be created. It was not an easy matter for the first Congress. The biggest problem they had at first was attendance. Either many people got delayed in their travels or no one took it very seriously, because their were many absences during that first session.

The first time the Congress met, many of the people elected to it didn't even show up. The House of Representatives had only 13 of the 59 men that were supposed to be there, and the Senate had only eight people from five different states. They adjourned early, because there were not enough of them to do anything worthwhile. Later on more of the people that were supposed to be there showed up, but the Congressional session clearly wasn't going to start on time, and quite a few people were somewhat unclear just what exactly they had to do to make the country run.

Even though they got off to a rather shaky start, the Congress did eventually get itself on its feet. It took a while, but things were organized, rules were made, protocols were studied, and general agreement was reached about what to do about various issues and problems. Both the House of Representatives and the Senate began to follow the directives that were set out in the Constitution.

They elected speakers, clerks, and other people of importance within each governing body, and they worked well with each other in the beginning. Their goals were basically the same, and there was so much to do to the fledgling nation that they didn't have time to bicker much or argue about small disagreements that will likely pop up anytime a large number of people gather together. There was some dissent among the ranks, as is expected, but for the most par the House and Senate got along relatively well with each other, as each took their jobs very seriously and didn't spend their days devising new ways to undermine the other branch or the other political party.

When the first inauguration, that of George Washington, took place, the House and the Senate both stood on ceremony. They were very formal with each other and they made sure that they performed everything the way rules and directives asked for, because it was all new to all of them and they didn't want to make mistakes. The Senate sent someone to the House chamber to formally announce that they were ready for the counting of the votes.

The House then sent someone back to the Senate a little while later to say that they too were ready and would be coming to the Senate chamber. There was no showing up uninvited back then. Everything was done very formally and professionally, which is something our modern day Congress doesn't always seem to do well at.

After the inauguration, the next thing on the list for both the House and the Senate was the making of bills and laws to collect taxes. The Continental Congress; which was the predecessor to the House and Senate and used before the Constitution was ratified; had no power to collect money or require that people pay taxes. But the tax laws were clearly written into the Constitution, which had only been rejected by two of the states that were expected to join up later.

Until then, 11 states needed some form of taxation so that they could help support their government. Now that the Congress had this power, they had to decide the best way to collect enough taxes to run the country without doing financial damage to the hardworking people they were supposed to serve and protect.

The job of Congress was made somewhat more difficult by a deep distrust emanating from the common people. In dealing with the colonies before the Constitution, many people had come to fear and distrust executive power. The reason for most of this was that many of the colonies had different ideas about government and so nothing was the same between one colony and the next.

Even in a colony itself people in power often changed the rules without much advanced notice, making it especially difficult for the everyday, hardworking people to get ahead or even know what the rules were. People feared that this would be the case with the new government. The rules would change all of the time and they wouldn't be the same from place to place, which would make it difficult on the common people who were just trying to make a living and support their families.

Vice-President John Adams, who was also President of the Senate, was not just a figure-head like many who would come after him. Instead, he was a very vocal man and frequently got into debates with other senators and lectured them, giving his opinions on various matters and not backing down if he felt his beliefs were correct.

Even though he didn't have a vote unless the Senate reached a tie, he was not afraid to share what he thought. While not an official vote, it could sometimes sway the thinking of the more indecisive members of the Senate, which might be just enough to get something passed or a new bill enacted that wouldn't have happened had it not been for Adams.

He also got the Senate and the House into a heated debate over what title the President of the United States should have. He didn't seem to think that "President" said enough, and felt that something more important should be used. The senate was the first group to get involved in this, and the House soon followed. The House thought "President" was fine, which started a fight between the House and the Senate.

It seemed that during their first few months, all the House and Senate worried about were trivial matters such as the titles of elected officials, and didn't really get a lot of important government business done. They even began making up names for each other, like the "Highness of the Lower Chamber," or the "Highness of the Senate." It seems that occupied much of their time.

As the months went on, however, Congress did begin to accomplish more of what they were actually created for. As people began to settle into and understand their roles a little bit better, it became easier for them to stop some of the bickering and get down to the business of making laws and approving or rejecting things that the President suggested to them. One of the top priorities was still structure and organization, but other issues began coming to light as well. Heated discussions and huge disagreements between the House and Senate were not uncommon, both over procedural and other issues. They fought much more often than they got along, even amongst their own branches, but they largely presented a united front when addressing the President with decisions.

During the first 100 years of Congress, many bills were passed and a lot of legislation was created, but those things don't seem to be nearly as important as the internal struggles that were going on between the two bodies. Largely, they fought all of the time, but still managed to accomplish a lot. They could have accomplished a lot more, however, if they would have been more willing to work together and less willing to argue about which group was right and which was wrong. Both had some very valid points made on many different pieces of legislation. Some of what caused them to fight so much wasn't the actual legislation but the fact that the person promoting it was from a different political party. If the legislation passed, the other party would "win."

As the history of the nation and of Congress continued battles were fought not only between the House and the Senate but also in each separate branch because there were often opposing parties trying to take control of a particular branch. Not only did a specific party affiliation affect how the people in one branch of Congress interacted with each other, but it affected how the branches interacted with each other and how the Congress as a whole interacted with the President.

Having a House and Senate controlled by Democrats and having a Republican for President, for example, could be a huge problem for the country. Traditionally, the more liberal Democrats and the conservative Republicans have not gotten along. This failure to get past the party affiliation and deal with the issues at hand can create difficulties because the President could veto the Congress if he didn't like a bill they wanted passed. Congress could also reject a bill that would have been good for the country simply because it came from a President that belonged to the "other" party. This was only one of many things that contributed to making Congress' first 100 years difficult for them, the Presidents, and the fledgling United States of America.

Congress in the Second 100 years:

The next 100 years brought about little change in the way the House and Senate disagreed with each other. Not only were the people elected to both branches arguing with each other, but they were often wealthy men who were sometimes only playing at government. This was obviously not good for the nation, who relied on the government to make rules, give them direction, and let them know what was going on in the country. Many in the Congress were lazy and unconcerned with life outside of politics. Many others were good people who were trying to do the best that they could to help the American public. Often these groups clashed, but sometimes the people trying to be helpful actually made some headway and helped those most in need.

There were some significant events in Congress' second 100 years, however. The Gold Standard Act was passed, which set gold as the base for currency in America. An open door policy for trade was established with China. The Hawaiian Islands became part of America. A naval base was established at Pearl Harbor; later to be bombed by the Japanese. These and many other things happened during the second 100 years of Congress, but are probably less significant than the disputes and arguments going on between Congress and the President over other countries and their problems.

In addition to this, President McKinley was dealing with Spain and its control over Cuba. The Congress tried to help McKinley with that, but he largely ignored them and did what he wanted to about Spain anyway. He didn't take recommendations from Congress very well, which caused Congress to begin resenting him. They were unwilling to pass any legislation he was interested in or do anything else that he wanted done because he would not take there advice.

In addition to their troubles with various Presidents, including McKinley, Congress was not getting along well amongst itself. The House and Senate were fighting even more bitterly than before about legislation that they couldn't seem to agree on. Not only were they fighting with each other, but they were also fighting amongst themselves. Each branch had a mixture of Republican and Democratic people, and they were making it plain that they didn't like each other.

There were several times throughout the course of history where the discipline and restraint usually showed by members of Congress almost broke down as people squabbled about petty differences instead of doing what they should for the good of each other and the nation they served. Each time, they managed to hold it together and work through their differences, but many members of Congress were not fond of each other and it undoubtedly affected their judgment.

One of the main problems that Congress faced was President Theodore Roosevelt. When Roosevelt won the election he began to try to make changes to help the economic and social problems the country had acquired. Because he didn't get along well with the conservative Republicans in the Congress, however, the Congressional session ended that year with none of Roosevelt's programs any farther along than they were when he first took office. Essentially, Congress wasted a whole year of work because they were bickering -- "not so much about whether the proposed plans were good, but about whether they liked and trusted Roosevelt. Much time was wasted.

When Roosevelt left, Taft took his place. The Republicans looked forward to Taft as someone they could count on to help them move some of Roosevelt's ideas along, but Taft seemed mostly uninterested in the Presidency and the Republicans soon became infuriated with his slow ways, lack of energy, and seeming disinterest in doing things for the good of many people in the nation.

Once again, the fighting between Congress and the President began. Being a conservative man, and having no desire for the conservatives in Congress to turn against him, he catered to them, aggravating the more liberal and progressive Republicans and thwarting their efforts without having to work very hard at it.

Throughout it all, Congress failed to bring much satisfaction to the American people who followed the bickering and feuding closely through the media. When Congress made some of the records of their committee meetings public the people of the nation were made even more aware of the internal problems that Congress had, and that didn't bring them any extra favor from the average citizens.

The Congress of the second 100 years did accomplish more than the Congress of the first 100 years, but the bickering amongst the two branches and between them and the President also intensified. It became a daily battle between what different parties wanted, what the House wanted, what the Senate wanted, and what the President wanted. With everyone opposing almost everyone else, it is surprising that they accomplished as much as they did during their second 100 years.

The Current Relationship Between the House and the Senate:

Democrats are strong in both the House and the Senate, and they have been for some time now. The Presidents have been largely Republican in recent years, and later it will be shown how this affects the country and the making of laws. For now, we will concern ourselves with the House and the Senate. One theory as to why Democrats remain so strong in Congress is that most voters like the Democratic approach to issues that are largely decided by Congress. Even if some of the voters are Republicans, they prefer to have Democrats decide Congressional issues.

There are other theories, of course. Another theory is that people prefer divided government so that one party doesn't have too much control over the country while another party that may have good ideas and plans for the people gets kicked aside because they don't have any control in either branch of the Congress.

Because of these two theories, and several others that are available, Congress is usually a fairly good mix of both Democratic and Republican people. The problem comes in when one branch is controlled by Democrats and the other by Republicans. The two parties have a history of bickering and conflict, as was noted in the earlier discussions about the first 100 years and the second 100 years of Congress.

Not all Republicans and Democrats hate each other, of course, and even some of the ones that do can look past their differences and find some common ground onto which they can stand while they look at some proposed legislation and attempt to determine whether it's good for America or not. Unfortunately, not enough of the senators and representatives can do this to prevent the fighting and feuding that Congress has become so very famous for over the last 200 years.

When the two parties get together to examine pending legislation things rarely go smoothly for either branch. For example, the House may pass a bill that they think is wonderful for the American people but because the Senate is controlled by a different party they may kill it. They don't always kill legislation that comes from the other party's point-of-view, but it is fairly common. They don't always look at the good of the nation, it seems. Rather, they look at whether the passage of the bill would mean that the other party "won."

Winning and losing should not have anything to do with it, but it sometimes does. When this happens the only people who "lose" are the common people that the bill might have helped.

On the other hand, if the bill was had for much of America, then we all "won" when the bill didn't get passed.

While it is certain that there are many subtleties to government that someone not directly involved could not possibly begin to understand, it also seems certain that some of the issues that don't make it through Congress are due to bickering and fighting amongst different parties in a particular branch of government or disagreement amongst the House and Senate instead of the more legitimate reasons of not being good for the American public, costing too much money for too little, etc.

The common people aren't fooled by some of the dances that Congress does to keep a bill from passing. In the late 1960's, support for Congress was at a relatively high level, but by the end of the 1980's there was a great deal of "Congress bashing" going on among the American public. This was largely due to the fighting that Congress had going on between the House and the Senate.

The American people found it ridiculous that government leaders could behave like children, lobbying for things that they knew were just silly and reading out of phone books when they had the floor to try to eat up time in hopes that whatever someone else was trying to get passed would expire before it could happen. These were the kinds of childish games that both the House and the Senate were playing, and it wasn't making them any points with the American people.

Some explanation of why Congress is so conflicted may be helpful. Simply put, Congress was designed to be that way. By having two groups, the House and the Senate, conflict is invited. To have a proper democracy, one has to have conflict. One thing cannot properly exist without the other one. Because the House and the Senate are allowed to do certain things on their own, without approval of the other, there is a fragmentation of power going on that causes them to argue with each other. It's not getting any better, either. In fact, it's getting worse.

The actual members of Congress have more individual power now than they did in the past, and this is part of the reason why the conflict has become so great in recent years. Special interest groups are also causing some of the conflict as everyone fights and lobbies for something different. Senators and representatives have become advocates for all kinds of different groups, interests, and ideals.

There is also the added conflict in that many people in the House of Representatives are interested in being senators, but almost no one in the Senate is interested in being a representative. Because the senators know that the representatives will likely begin vying for their jobs, they are much less likely to help them out. They want the representatives to look like they are a bunch of no-goods that can't get anything worthwhile done. The more they look that way, the less likely they will get elected when they run against a particular senator. This is one of the main areas of conflict between the two branches, and one that not many people outside of government even realize.

By doing this they have not only made the Congressional conflict bigger but they have also made it more difficult to resolve. The more people added to the mix and the more things that they are lobbying for, the harder it becomes for more than just a couple of people to agree on anything, and so the conflict continues.

Because more and more special interest groups keep appearing on the scene and senators and representatives are constantly looking for something they can throw their support behind, the conflict will only escalate further. It's not surprising that the occasional videotape on the nightly news shows someone in either the House or the Senate coming to blows with someone else or hitting them with something because they disagree with their views. It seems a rather childish way to settle their differences, but it still continues.

The Current Relationship Between Congress and the President:

Congress and the President have almost always had a conflicting relationship. This usually works to hurt the popularity of Congress much more than the popularity of the President. The conflict between Congress and the President also has an impact on how much legislation gets passed, for obvious reasons. Especially if the President is of a different party than the ones currently controlling Congress, there will be a difficult time getting any bills or legislation passed unless the other party completely agrees with them.

The word "gridlock" begins to come into play when talking about the conflict between the President and Congress. Often, bills make it through Congress only to be vetoed by the President. Thirty-six bills in four years was ex-President Bush's record. Congress only got three bills passed that he didn't manage to veto. Most of the things he presented to Congress for a test vote didn't go over where well, either, with 67% of them being rejected during his last year of office, and almost half of them each of the three years before that. Odds like that get discouraging. It's clear that Bush and the Congress were actively working against each other. Who's to say how much it may have hurt the American people?

That's not a very good record of the President and Congress working together to get things done, and it begins to undermine the faith of the American people in a system of government that will stand the test of time and protect the best interests of the country. Unfortunately, the President and Congress have the same problem as the House and Senate do. There is more than one person that is allowed to make laws.

This makes it democratic. Otherwise we would have a dictatorship. However, with that democracy comes the conflict and problems that the President and Congress face. There will always be arguments even if the President is in the same political party as both sides of Congress. Even if the issue isn't about political parties it won't matter, it might be about almost anything else.