Election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has opera ...

s to the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

were held in

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

on October 14, 1794, for the Fourth Congress.

Background

Thirteen Representatives, 8

Anti-Administration The Anti-Administration Party was an informal political faction in the United States led by James Madison and Thomas Jefferson that opposed policies of then Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton in the first term of US President George W ...

(

Democratic-Republican 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 early ...

) and 5 Pro-Administration (

Federalist The term ''federalist'' describes several political beliefs around the world. It may also refer to the concept of parties, whose members or supporters called themselves ''Federalists''. History Europe federation In Europe, proponents of de ...

), had been elected in the previous election on an at-large basis, the last time that Pennsylvania elected all of its representatives at-large. Ten incumbents (6 Anti-Administration and 4 Pro-Administration) ran for re-election.

Congressional districts

For the 1794 elections, Pennsylvania divided itself into 12 districts, one of which (the ) was a

plural district The plural (sometimes list of glossing abbreviations, abbreviated pl., pl, or ), in many languages, is one of the values of the grammatical number, grammatical category of number. The plural of a noun typically denotes a quantity greater than the ...

, with 2 Representatives. These districts remained in use until redistricting after the Census of 1800. *The consisted of the City of

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

*The consisted of

Philadelphia County Philadelphia County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is the most populous county in Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, Philadelphia County had a population of 1,603,797. The county is the second smallest county in Pennsyl ...

*The consisted of

Chester Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...

and

Delaware Counties The U.S. state of Delaware is divided into three counties, the fewest of any state in the United States: New Castle, Kent and Sussex. The origin of the county boundaries goes back to their former court districts. The powers of the counties' legi ...

*The (2 seats) consisted of Montgomery,

Bucks Bucks may refer to: Places * Buckinghamshire, England, abbreviated Bucks * Bucks, Alabama, United States, an unincorporated community * Bucks, Illinois, United States, an unincorporated community * Bucks, Michigan, an unincorporated community ...

and Northampton Counties *The consisted of Berks and

Luzerne County Luzerne County is a county in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and is water. It is Northeastern Pennsylvania's second-largest county by total area. As of ...

*The consisted of

Northumberland Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey. It is bordered by land on ...

and Dauphin Counties *The consisted of Lancaster County *The consisted of York County *The consisted of Mifflin and

Cumberland County Cumberland County may refer to: Australia * Cumberland County, New South Wales * the former name of Cumberland Land District, Tasmania, Australia Canada *Cumberland County, Nova Scotia United Kingdom *Cumberland, historic county *Cumberlan ...

*The consisted of

Bedford Bedford is a market town in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 Census, the population of the Bedford built-up area (including Biddenham and Kempston) was 106,940, making it the second-largest settlement in Bedfordshire, behind Luton, whilst ...

Huntingdon Huntingdon is a market town in the Huntingdonshire district in Cambridgeshire, England. The town was given its town charter by King John in 1205. It was the county town of the historic county of Huntingdonshire. Oliver Cromwell was born there ...

and Franklin Counties *The consisted of Westmoreland and Fayette Counties *The consisted of Allegheny and Washington Counties The counties that made up the 5th district did not border each other. That district was therefore made up of two separate pieces rather than being a single contiguous entity Note: Many of these counties covered much larger areas in 1794 than they do today, having since been divided into numerous counties

Election returns

Ten incumbents (6 Democratic-Republicans and 4 Federalists) ran for re-election. The incumbents James Armstrong (F), from the 9th district, William Montgomery (DR) from the 11th district, and

John Smilie John Smilie (1741December 30, 1812) was an Irish-American politician from Newtownards, County Down, Ireland. He served in both houses of the state legislature and represented Pennsylvania in the U.S. House from 1793 until 1795 and from 1799 to 18 ...

(DR) from the 12th district did not run for re-election.District assignments based on residence information given i
the 1792 returns
/ref> Smilie would later return to the House in

1798 Events January–June * January – Eli Whitney contracts with the U.S. federal government for 10,000 muskets, which he produces with interchangeable parts. * January 4 – Constantine Hangerli enters Bucharest, as Prince of Wa ...

, where he would remain until his death in 1812. Of the ten who ran for re-election, 6 (4 Democratic-Republicans and 2 Federalists) were re-elected. A total of 9 Democratic-Republicans and 4 Federalists were elected, a net gain of one seat for the Democratic-Republicans over the previous election. Election results are unavailable from the 5th, 7th, 8th, and 11th districts, and are incomplete for the 9th. In the , John Richards (DR) disputed the official returns (shown above) which showed himself in 3rd place and James Morris (DR) in 2nd. The

Governor of Pennsylvania A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

only issued certification for

Samuel Sitgreaves Samuel Sitgreaves (March 16, 1764April 4, 1827) was a United States representative from Pennsylvania. Early life and education Sitgreaves was born in Philadelphia in the Province of Pennsylvania. He pursued classical studies, studied law, was ...

(F). On July 10, 1795, before the House could act on the dispute, Morris died. The House voted Richards the legitimate winner of 2nd place, with the revised vote totals being 1,791 for Richards and 1,688 for Morris

Special elections

Daniel Hiester Daniel Hiester (June 25, 1747 – March 7, 1804) was an American political and military leader from the Revolutionary War period to the early 19th Century. Born in Berks County in the Province of Pennsylvania, he was a member of the Hiester ...

(DR), re-elected to the 5th district, resigned on July 1, 1796. A special election was held on October 11, 1796 (the same day as the 1796 general elections) to fill the resulting vacancy. Hiester would later be elected to in 1800 {, class=wikitable , +1796 Special election , - ! District ! colspan="3" ,

! colspan="3" ,

, - , ,

Joseph Hiester Joseph Hiester (November 18, 1752June 10, 1832) was an American politician, who served as the fifth governor of Pennsylvania from 1820 to 1823. He was a member of the Hiester family political dynasty, and was a member of the Democratic-Republic ...

, 1,553 , 43.2% , ,

George Ege George Ege (March 9, 1748December 14, 1829) was a United States Congressman, elected to the House of Representatives from Pennsylvania. Biography He was born in Germantown in the Province of Pennsylvania, near Philadelphia, to Anna Catherine ( ...

, , 2,039 , {{Party shading/Federalist , 56.8% Joseph Hiester was a cousin of Daniel.

References

*Electoral data and information on districts are fro
the Wilkes University Elections Statistics Project

1794 Events January–March * January 1 – The Stibo Group is founded by Niels Lund as a printing company in Aarhus (Denmark). * January 13 – The U.S. Congress enacts a law providing for, effective May 1, 1795, a United States ...

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

Background

Congressional districts

Election returns

Special elections

See also

References