The 39th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C., from March 4, 1865, to March 4, 1867, during Abraham Lincoln's final month as president, and the first two years of the administration of his successor, Andrew Johnson. The apportionment of seats in this House of Representatives was based on the 1860 United States census. Both chambers had a Republican majority.

Major events

Major legislation

Constitutional amendments

States admitted

Party summary

The count below identifies party affiliations at the beginning of the first session of this Congress, and includes members from vacancies and newly admitted states, when they were first seated. Changes resulting from subsequent replacements are shown below in the "Changes in membership" section.

Senate

During this Congress, two seats were added for the new state of Nebraska.

House of Representatives

During this Congress, one seat was added for the new state of Nebraska.

Leadership

Senate

House of Representatives

Members

This list is arranged by chamber, then by state. Senators are listed in order of seniority, and representatives are listed by district.

[Senators' party membership by state at the opening of the 39th Congress in March 1865. Green stripes represent Unionists and gray stripes represent Unconditional Unionists. The senators from Nebraska and Tennessee were not seated until later in the Congress.

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Senate

Senators were elected by the state legislatures every two years, with one-third beginning new six-year terms with each Congress. Preceding the names in the list below are Senate class numbers, which indicate the cycle of their election. In this Congress, Class 1 meant their term began in the last Congress, requiring reelection in 1868; Class 2 meant their term began in this Congress, requiring reelection in 1870; and Class 3 meant their term ended in this Congress, requiring reelection in 1866.

Alabama

Arkansas

California

Connecticut

Delaware

Florida

Georgia

Illinois

Indiana

Iowa

Kansas

Kentucky

Louisiana

Maine

Maryland

Massachusetts

Michigan

Minnesota

Mississippi

Missouri

Nebraska

Nevada

New Hampshire

New Jersey

New York

North Carolina

Ohio

Oregon

Pennsylvania

Rhode Island

South Carolina

Tennessee

Texas

Vermont

Virginia

West Virginia

Wisconsin

House of Representatives

The names of members of the House of Representatives are preceded by their district numbers.

Alabama

Arkansas

California

(3 Republicans)

Connecticut

(4 Republicans)

Delaware

(1 Democrat)

Florida

Georgia

Illinois

(11–3 Republican)

Indiana

(8–3 Republican)

Iowa

(6 Republicans)

Kansas

(1 Republican)

Kentucky

(4–5 Democratic)

Louisiana

Maine

(5 Republicans)

Maryland

(3–2 Unconditional Unionist)

Massachusetts

(10 Republicans)

Michigan

(6 Republicans)

Minnesota

(2 Republicans)

Mississippi

Missouri

(8–1 Republican)

Nebraska

(1 Republican)

Nevada

(1 Republican)

New Hampshire

(3 Republicans)

New Jersey

(3–2 Democratic)

New York

(20–11 Republican)

North Carolina

Ohio

(17–2 Republican)

Oregon

(1 Republican)

Pennsylvania

(15–9 Republican)

Rhode Island

(2 Republicans)

South Carolina

Tennessee

(4 Unconditional Unionists; 4 Unionists)

Texas

Vermont

(3 Republicans)

Virginia

West Virginia

(3 Unconditional Unionists)

Wisconsin

(5–1 Republican)

Non-voting members

(6–3 Republican) [[Image:39 us house membership.png|thumb|300px| Schuyler Colfax, photo portrait seated, c1855-1865.jpg]]

Changes in membership

The count below reflects changes from the beginning of the first session of this Congress.

Senate

House of Representatives

Committees

Senate

House of Representatives

Joint committees

Caucuses

Employees

Legislative branch agency directors

Senate

House of Representatives

Transcripts of debates and proceedings

The Congressional Globe contains the official transcripts and proceedings of the Thirty-Ninth Congress, although newspapers often provided their own transcripts that sometimes differed from the official ones. Following are external links to the pertinent volumes of the Globe, which are downloadable and/or searchable via Google Books and HathiTrust: The congressional debates pertaining to the Fourteenth Amendment can be found at “Congressional Debates of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution”.