1856 - US political persons, parties, policies

• Political parties

  
  Genealogy of US political parties per the analysis here

  Be careful when making inferences about a historical political party which shares the same name as a contemporary party. Such comparisons can be highly deceptive, as a cautionary tale here instructs. A rather conventional analysis of the historical evolution of American political parties is available here. (It makes at least one major error, in discussing the election of 1860: Douglas, not Buchanan, faced Breckenridge. And there was also a fourth ticket, the Constitutional Union Party.) A shorter essay, covering the same ground, is here. But an interesting alternative analysis, which emphasizes ethnic over traditional ideological themes, is offered by Michael Lind of the New America Foundation think tank (partially led by Jimmy Carter speechwriter James Fallows) here. In parts, it echoes 1864 remarks by Georgia's Civil War governor, Whig-turned Democrat-turned Republican-turned Democrat Joseph E. Brown. US ethnic geography 2000 A useful map dealing with the ethnic geography of the United States today (2000) is here. One large part of that ethnic geography echoes Old World polar alignment: Norwegians and Finns in the extreme north, Spanish and Africans in the extreme south, with Germans, Irish, English and "Americans" (richly Scots-Irish) wedged in the middle. Mr. Fillmore's partisans throughout the nation would probably regret the presence of many of the voters in today's northeast and southwest, and "Fire-Eaters," more likely to support him than Mr. Buchanan, would surely regret the presence of many of the voters in today's southeast. But Mr. Fremont's partisans would feel vindicated by the modern status quo.

• The States in 1856

  
  - data source

• 34th US Congress (1855-1857)

  34th U.S. Congress (1855-1857) Senators et alia

  Senate
  Majority Party: Democrat (39 seats)
  Minority Party: Opposition (22 seats)
  Other Parties: American (1 seat)
  Total Seats: 62

  House of Representatives
  Total Membership: 234 Representatives, 7 Delegates
  Party Divisions: 100 Oppositions, 83 Democrats, 51 Americans
  Speaker of the House: Nathaniel P. Banks (D-Massachusetts)
  Democratic Caucus Chairman: George W. Jones (D-Tennessee)

  Congressional documents Bills and Resolutions House Bills and Resolutions Senate Bills and Resolutions Senate Joint Resolutions Statutes at Large Volume 11: 34th-35th, 1855-1859 United States Congressional Serial Set issues Journal of the House of Representatives issues Journal of the Senate issues Senate Executive Journal issues Congressional Globe (debates) issues