The 1792 United States elections elected the members of the

3rd United States Congress The 3rd 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 at Congress Hall in Philadelphia, Penn ...

. Congress was broadly divided between a Pro-Administration faction supporting the policies of George Washington's administration and an Anti-Administration faction opposed to those policies. Due to this, the Federalist Party (generally overlapping with the Pro-Administration faction) and the

Democratic-Republican Party The Democratic-Republican Party, known at the time as the Republican Party and also referred to as the Jeffersonian Republican Party among other names, was an American political party founded by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison in the earl ...

(generally overlapping with the Anti-Administration faction) were starting to emerge as the distinct political parties of the

First Party System The First Party System is a model of American politics used in history and political science to periodize the political party system that existed in the United States between roughly 1792 and 1824. It featured two national parties competing for ...

. In this election, the Pro-Administration faction maintained control of the Senate, but lost its majority in the House. In the presidential election, incumbent President

George Washington George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of ...

was re-elected without any major opposition. Washington had considered retirement, but was convinced to seek re-election for the purpose of national unity. Though Washington went unchallenged, Governor George Clinton of New York sought to unseat

John Adams John Adams (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, attorney, diplomat, writer, and Founding Father who served as the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Before his presidency, he was a leader of t ...

as vice president. However, Adams received the second most electoral votes, and so was re-elected to office. Washington remained unaffiliated with any political faction or party throughout his presidency. In the House, 37 seats were added following the 1790 census. The Anti-Administration faction picked up several seats, narrowly taking the majority from the Pro-Administration faction. However,

Frederick Muhlenberg Frederick Augustus Conrad Muhlenberg (; January 1, 1750 – June 4, 1801) was an American minister and politician who was the first Speaker of the United States House of Representatives and the first Dean of the United States House of Represen ...

, who leaned closer to the Pro-Administration faction, was elected

Speaker of the House The speaker of a deliberative assembly, especially a legislative body, is its presiding officer, or the chair. The title was first used in 1377 in England. Usage The title was first recorded in 1377 to describe the role of Thomas de Hungerf ...

. In the Senate, the Anti-Administration faction picked up one seat, but the Pro-Administration faction maintained a small majority.

References

1792 elections in the United States

1792 Events January–March * January 9 – The Treaty of Jassy ends the Russian Empire's war with the Ottoman Empire over Crimea. * February 18 – Thomas Holcroft produces the comedy '' The Road to Ruin'' in London. * February ...

{{US-election-stub

See also

References