rdfs:comment
| - Members of the House of Representatives were directly elected on November 1, 1788, with each state being assigned a number of seats according to its population. Congressmen were to serve four years, and thus Congresses were classified to begin and end alongside the entrance of a new class of Congressmen. Since parties had not yet formed, members of Congress were categorized by being pro or anti administration, as everyone assumed that Washington would win the presidency. Pro-administration took the majority in both chambers, with the House split 35-30 and the Senate 17-9.
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abstract
| - Members of the House of Representatives were directly elected on November 1, 1788, with each state being assigned a number of seats according to its population. Congressmen were to serve four years, and thus Congresses were classified to begin and end alongside the entrance of a new class of Congressmen. Senators were selected in a special session by the state legislatures of each state, meeting before their official inauguration on January 1, 1789. The legislatures were directly elected on November 1, 1788. Each state received two Senate seats. Senators were to serve staggered eight year terms, so in order to stagger the seats, for one time every second seat was only given a four year term so that it would expire in 1792 and be reelected, while the first seats would remain and see out a full eight year term. Every state choose both Senators from the majority faction of the legislature, except for New Hampshire, an anti-administration legislature that chose pro-administration Josiah Bartlett to fill the second seat. Since parties had not yet formed, members of Congress were categorized by being pro or anti administration, as everyone assumed that Washington would win the presidency. Pro-administration took the majority in both chambers, with the House split 35-30 and the Senate 17-9.
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