Origins
The United States Congress emerged from the Constitutional Convention of 1787 as the solution to one of the new nation’s most contentious debates: how to balance representation between large and small states. Under the Articles of Confederation, the unicameral Congress had proven ineffective, lacking power to tax, regulate commerce, or enforce its decisions. The delegates in Philadelphia recognized that a stronger legislature was essential, but disagreed fundamentally about its structure.
The Great Compromise, brokered largely by Roger Sherman of Connecticut, created a bicameral legislature satisfying both factions. The House of Representatives would apportion seats by population, favoring larger states, while the Senate would grant each state equal representation with two senators regardless of size. This arrangement, combined with different terms (two years for representatives, six for senators) and selection methods (direct election for the House, state legislature appointment for the Senate until 1913), created distinct institutional characters within the same branch.
The First Congress convened in New York City on March 4, 1789, establishing precedents that persist today. It created the executive departments, established the federal judiciary through the Judiciary Act, and proposed the Bill of Rights. The move to the new capital of Washington, D.C. in 1800, and the completion of the Capitol building, gave Congress its permanent home and enduring symbol.
Structure & Function
Congress exercises all legislative powers granted by the Constitution, operating through an elaborate system of committees, procedures, and customs developed over two centuries. The House of Representatives, with 435 members since 1913, originates all revenue bills and holds the sole power of impeachment. The Senate, with 100 members, provides “advice and consent” on treaties and presidential appointments, and tries impeachment cases. Both chambers must pass identical legislation for it to reach the President.
The committee system dominates congressional work. Standing committees hold hearings, mark up legislation, and exercise oversight over executive agencies within their jurisdictions. Powerful committees like House Ways and Means, Senate Finance, and the Appropriations committees in both chambers control taxation and spending. Leadership structures—the Speaker of the House, Senate Majority Leader, and party whips—coordinate legislative strategy and manage floor proceedings.
Congressional procedures reflect centuries of accumulated precedent. The House operates under strict rules limiting debate, while the Senate’s traditions allow unlimited debate (the filibuster) and individual senator holds on nominations. Reconciliation procedures, created in 1974, allow budget-related legislation to pass the Senate with a simple majority. The annual appropriations process, authorization cycles, and oversight hearings structure congressional activity throughout each two-year term.
Historical Significance
Congress has shaped American history through its constitutional powers over war, commerce, taxation, and the structure of government itself. The decision to declare war—exercised formally eleven times—has committed the nation to conflicts from 1812 to World War II. Congressional commerce power enabled the Interstate Commerce Act, antitrust legislation, civil rights laws, and the regulatory state. The power of the purse has funded everything from the Louisiana Purchase to the Interstate Highway System.
Major legislative achievements mark American political development: the Reconstruction amendments abolishing slavery and guaranteeing equal protection; the Progressive Era reforms of income tax, direct election of senators, and women’s suffrage; the New Deal programs creating Social Security and labor protections; the Great Society legislation establishing Medicare and landmark civil rights laws. Each era’s defining legislation emerged from congressional deliberation, compromise, and conflict.
Congress has also failed or delayed action on critical issues, from the compromises preserving slavery to resistance to civil rights, from immigration restriction to climate policy. The institution’s design—favoring deliberation over speed, protecting minority interests, and reflecting geographic rather than demographic representation—generates both stability and frustration. Whether Congress leads or lags public opinion depends on the issue, the era, and one’s perspective on democracy’s proper pace.
Key Developments
- 1789: First Congress convenes in New York City; establishes executive departments and federal courts
- 1800: Congress moves to the new Capitol in Washington, D.C.
- 1820: Missouri Compromise attempts to balance slave and free states
- 1854: Kansas-Nebraska Act reignites slavery conflict
- 1865-1870: Reconstruction Congress passes 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments
- 1913: 17th Amendment establishes direct election of senators
- 1917: Congress declares war on Germany; cloture rule adopted in Senate
- 1935: Social Security Act creates retirement and unemployment insurance
- 1946: Legislative Reorganization Act modernizes committee system
- 1964-1965: Civil Rights Act and Voting Rights Act pass after filibusters
- 1974: Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act creates budget process
- 1995: Republican Revolution brings first GOP House majority in 40 years
- 2010: Affordable Care Act passes without Republican votes
- 2021: January 6 Capitol attack interrupts electoral vote certification