Thirty-Seventh Congress of the United States

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Date Span:

March 4, 1861 March 4, 1863

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Events

Date	Event
03/04/1861 to 03/28/1861	In Washington, DC, the United States Senate is sitting in Special Session
03/05/1861	The U.S. Senate, sitting in extraordinary session, confirms all of President Lincoln's cabinet choices
01/01/1862	Federal Income Tax takes effect in the United States
01/09/1862	U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee votes to expel Missouri Senators Waldo Johnson and Trusten Polk
01/10/1862	The United States Senate expels Missouri Senators Waldo Johnson and Trusten Polk for treason
01/13/1862	U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee finds the evidence insufficient to expel Indiana Senator Jesse Bright
01/15/1862	U.S. Senate confirms Edwin M. Stanton's nomination as Secretary of War on a vote of 36-2
01/17/1862	The U.S. Senate votes 26-14 to confirm Simon Cameron as the new ambassador to Russia
01/24/1862	The U.S. Senate votes 38-1 to confirm Noah Haynes Swayne of Ohio to the U.S. Supreme Court
02/05/1862	The U.S. Senate votes to expel Indiana Senator Jesse Bright as a Southern sympathizer
02/17/1862	In Washington, the House of Representatives votes 125-7 to establish a Department of Agriculture
02/26/1862	President Lincoln signs the Loan and Treasury Act, creating a national paper currency
03/06/1862	President Lincoln suggests to Congress ways gradually to end slavery in the United States
03/14/1862	Senator Lazarus Powell survives a U.S. Senate vote to expel him for "seducing citizens into rebellion and treason"
03/15/1862	Congress votes to join with Britain and France on a commission to preserve Atlantic fishing stocks
04/02/1862	The United States Senate passes President Lincoln's suggested resolution to help end slavery gradually
04/03/1862	On a party line vote, the U.S. Senate votes to abolish slavery in the District of Columbia
04/11/1862	In Washington D.C., the House passes the bill to abolish slavery in the District of Columbia
04/21/1862	The U.S. Congress completes a bill to establish a new mint in Denver, Colorado
04/22/1862	A congressional committee reports that Senator Benjamin Stark of Oregon is a southern sympathizer
04/30/1862	U.S. House censures former Secretary of War Simon Cameron for his lax fiscal dealings while in office
05/20/1862	President Lincoln signs the Homestead Act
05/22/1862	The U.S. Senate organizes the impeachment trial of U.S. District Judge West H. Humphreys
06/24/1862	The U.S. Senate trial of U.S. District Judge West H. Humphreys of Tennessee ends with his removal
07/17/1862	The second session of the 37th Congress ends in Washington, DC
07/17/1862	President Lincoln signs the Second Confiscation Act authorizing freedom for confiscated slaves
12/01/1862	The third session of the 37th Congress opens in Washington, DC
12/02/1862 to 12/21/1862	The third session of the 37th Congress is sitting in Washington, DC between December 1 and December 22, 1862
12/18/1862	Senatorial caucus meets to discuss Cabinet crisis
12/22/1862	The third session of the 37th Congress adjourns for a two-week holiday recess
12/23/1862 to 01/05/1863	The third session of the 37th Congress is in a two-week holiday recess until January 6, 1863
01/06/1863	The third session of the 37th Congress returns from a two-week holiday recess
01/07/1863 to 03/02/1863	The third session of the 37th Congress is sitting in Washington DC until early March 1863
03/03/1863	The 37th Congress comes to the end of its term in Washington DC
04/06/1865	In Bellefonte, Pennsylvania, recently retired Congressman James Tracy Hale dies of typhoid
06/13/1866	Moses Odell, influential New York Democrat and friend of Abraham Lincoln, dies of cancer in Brooklyn.