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The '''Reapportionment Act of 1929''' (ch. 28, {{USStat|46|21}}, {{usc|2|2a}}), also known as the '''Permanent Apportionment Act of 1929''', is a combined [[United States census|census]] and [[Apportionment (politics)|apportionment]] bill passed by the [[United States Congress]] on June 18, 1929, that establishes a permanent method for apportioning a constant 435 seats in the [[United States House of Representatives|U.S. House of Representatives]] according to each [[United States Census|census]].
The '''Reapportionment Act of 1929''' (ch. 28, {{USStat|46|21}}, {{usc|2|2a}}), also known as the '''Permanent Apportionment Act of 1929''', is a combined [[United States census|census]] and [[Apportionment (politics)|apportionment]] bill enacted on June 18, 1929, that establishes a permanent method for apportioning a constant 435 seats in the [[U.S. House of Representatives]] according to each [[United States Census|census]]. This reapportionment was preceded by the [[Apportionment Act of 1911]], which established the 435-seat size, and followed nearly a decade of debate and gridlock after the 1920 Census.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Napolio |first1=Nicholas G. |last2=Jenkins |first2=Jeffery A. |date=2023 |title=Conflict over Congressional Reapportionment: The Deadlock of the 1920s |journal=Journal of Policy History |language=en |volume=35 |issue=1 |pages=91–117 |doi=10.1017/S0898030622000355 |issn=0898-0306|doi-access=free }}</ref> The 1929 Act took effect after the 1932 election, meaning that the House was never reapportioned as a result of the [[1920 United States Census]], and representation in the lower chamber remained frozen for twenty years.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Okrent |first1=Daniel |title=Last Call; The Rise & fall of Prohibition |date=31 May 2011 |publisher=Simon & Schuster |location=New York, London, Toronto |isbn=978-0743277044 |page=4542 |edition=Kindle }}</ref>


Unlike earlier Apportionment Acts, the 1929 Act neither repealed nor restated the requirements of the previous apportionment acts that congressional districts be contiguous, compact, and equally populated. It was not clear whether these requirements were still in effect until in 1932 the [[Supreme Court of the United States]] ruled in ''Wood v. Broom''{{nbsp}}(1932)<ref>Wood v. Broom, {{Ussc|287|1|1932}}</ref> that the provisions of each apportionment act affected only the [[United States congressional apportionment|apportionment]] for which they were written. Thus the size and population requirements, last stated in the [[Apportionment Act of 1911]], expired with the enactment of the 1929 Act. The 1929 Act gave little direction concerning congressional redistricting. It merely established a system in which House seats would be reallocated to states which have shifts in population. The lack of recommendations concerning districts had several significant effects. The Reapportionment Act of 1929 allowed states to draw districts of varying size and shape. It also allowed states to abandon districts altogether and elect at least some representatives [[at-large]], which several states chose to do, including [[New York (state)|New York]], [[Illinois]], [[Washington (U.S. state)|Washington]], [[Hawaii]], and [[New Mexico]]. For example, in the [[88th Congress]] (in the early 1960s) 22 of the 435 representatives were elected at-large. This would continue until Congress passed the [[Uniform Congressional District Act]] which reinforced the single-member district requirement.
This reapportionment was preceded by the [[Apportionment Act of 1911]] and took effect after the 1932 election meaning that the House was never reapportioned as a result of the [[1920 United States Census]]. Representation in the lower chamber remained frozen for twenty years.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Okrent |first1=Daniel |title=Last Call; The Rise & fall of Prohibition |date=31 May 2011 |publisher=Simon & Schuster |location=New York, London, Toronto |isbn=978-0743277044 |page=4542 |edition=Kindle }}</ref>

However, like earlier Apportionment Acts, the 1929 Act neither repealed nor restated the requirements of the previous apportionment acts that congressional districts be contiguous, compact, and equally populated. It was not clear whether these requirements were still in effect until in 1932 the [[Supreme Court of the United States]] ruled in ''Wood v. Broom''{{nbsp}}(1932)<ref>Wood v. Broom, {{Ussc|287|1|1932}}</ref> that the provisions of each apportionment act affected only the [[United States congressional apportionment|apportionment]] for which they were written. Thus the size and population requirements, last stated in the [[Apportionment Act of 1911]], expired with the enactment of the 1929 Act. The 1929 Act gave little direction concerning congressional redistricting. It merely established a system in which House seats would be reallocated to states which have shifts in population. The lack of recommendations concerning districts had several significant effects. The Reapportionment Act of 1929 allowed states to draw districts of varying size and shape. It also allowed states to abandon districts altogether and elect at least some representatives at large, which several states chose to do, including [[New York (state)|New York]], [[Illinois]], [[Washington (U.S. state)|Washington]], [[Hawaii]], and [[New Mexico]]. For example, in the [[88th Congress]] (in the early 1960s) 22 of the 435 representatives were elected [[at-large]].


==Historical context==
==Historical context==
{{Main|United States congressional apportionment#Number of members}}
[[Article One of the United States Constitution|Article One]], Section 2, Clause 3 of the [[United States Constitution]] requires that seats in the United States House of Representatives be apportioned among the various states according to the population disclosed by the most recent decennial census, but only counting [[Three-Fifths Compromise|three-fifths]] of all other persons, including slaves. However, the [[Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|Fourteenth Amendment]] requires that all male citizens 21 years of age or older be fully represented or the state will have its apportionment reduced based on the amount of the male citizens 21 years of age or older disenfranchised, restricting the three-fifths clause to be applicable only to everyone other than male citizens 21 years of age or older (such as incarcerated individuals held to involuntary servitude). The first federal law governing the size of the House and the method of allotting representatives, the [[Apportionment Act of 1792]], was signed into law by [[George Washington]] in April 1792. It set the number of members of the House at 105 (effective March 4, 1793, with the [[3rd United States Congress|3rd Congress]]).<ref>{{cite book| title=Opinion on Apportionment Bill, 4 April 1792| url=https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/01-23-02-0324| publisher=Founders Online, National Archives| location=Washington, D.C.| date=February 1, 2018| orig-year=Original source: The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, vol. 23, 1 January–31 May 1792, ed. Charles T. Cullen. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1990, pp. 370–377.| accessdate=March 5, 2018}}</ref>
[[Article One of the United States Constitution|Article One]], Section 2, Clause 3 of the [[United States Constitution]] requires that seats in the United States House of Representatives be apportioned among the various states according to the population disclosed by the most recent decennial census, but only counting "free persons" and "[[Three-Fifths Compromise|three-fifths]] of all other persons", including slaves. The first federal law governing the size of the House and the method of allotting representatives, the [[Apportionment Act of 1792]], was signed into law by [[George Washington]] in April 1792. It set the number of members of the House at 105 (effective March 4, 1793, with the [[3rd United States Congress|3rd Congress]]).<ref>{{cite book| title=Opinion on Apportionment Bill, 4 April 1792| url=https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/01-23-02-0324| publisher=Founders Online, National Archives| location=Washington, D.C.| date=February 1, 2018| orig-year=Original source: The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, vol. 23, 1 January–31 May 1792, ed. Charles T. Cullen. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1990, pp. 370–377.| accessdate=March 5, 2018}}</ref> Following the [[American Civil War]] the [[Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|Fourteenth Amendment]] eliminated the three-fifths clause by stating that "Representatives shall be apportioned among the several states according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each state, excluding Indians not taxed."


With but one exception, the [[Apportionment Act of 1842]],<ref>[http://archive.fairvote.org/library/history/flores/apportn.htm The 1842 Apportionment Act]</ref> Congress enlarged the House of Representatives by various degrees following each subsequent census until 1913, by which time the membership had grown to 435.<ref>[http://www.thirty-thousand.org Thirty-Thousand.org]</ref><ref name=fair>"Fair Representation - Meeting the Ideal of One Man One Vote", [[Michel Balinski|Michel L. Balinski]] and H. Peyton Young</ref> From the 1790s through the early 19th century, the seats were apportioned among the states using [[D'Hondt method|Jefferson's method]]. In 1842, the House was reduced from 242 to 223 members by the incoming [[Whig Party (United States)|Whig Party]], which had ousted the Jacksonian Democrats.<ref name=fair/> The Act of 1842 also contained an amendment which required single-member district elections rather than at-large elections within a state, prompting backlash against an increase in Congressional power.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://archive.fairvote.org/library/history/flores/apportn.htm|title=The 1842 Apportionment Act|last=|first=|date=|archive-url=|archive-date=}}</ref>
With but one exception, the [[Apportionment Act of 1842]],<ref>[http://archive.fairvote.org/library/history/flores/apportn.htm The 1842 Apportionment Act]</ref> Congress enlarged the House of Representatives by various degrees following each subsequent census including 1913, by which time the adjusted membership had grown to 435.<ref name=fair>"Fair Representation Meeting the Ideal of One Man One Vote", [[Michel Balinski|Michel L. Balinski]] and H. Peyton Young</ref> From the 1790s through the early 19th century, the seats were apportioned among the states using [[D'Hondt method|Jefferson's method]]. In 1842, the House was reduced from 242 to 223 members by the incoming [[Whig Party (United States)|Whig Party]], which had ousted the Jacksonian Democrats.<ref name=fair/> The Act of 1842 also contained wording which required single-member district elections rather than at-large elections within a state, prompting backlash against an increase in Congressional power.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://archive.fairvote.org/library/history/flores/apportn.htm|title=The 1842 Apportionment Act|last=|first=|date=|archive-url=|archive-date=}}</ref>


{{quote|
<blockquote>
In 1842 the debate on apportionment in the House began in the customary way with a jockeying for the choice of a divisor using Jefferson's method. On one day alone, 59 different motions to fix a divisor were made in a House containing but 242 members. The values ranged from 30,000 to 140,000 with more than half between 50,159 and 62,172. But the Senate had tired of this approach and proposed instead an apportionment of 223 members using [[Webster's method]]. In the House John Quincy Adams urged acceptance of the method but argued vehemently for enlarging the number of members, as New England's portion was steadily dwindling.<ref>"Fair Representation - Meeting the Ideal of One Man One Vote", Michael L. Balinski and H. Peyton Young, pages 34, 35</ref>
In 1842 the debate on apportionment in the House began in the customary way with a jockeying for the choice of a divisor using Jefferson's method. On one day alone, 59 different motions to fix a divisor were made in a House containing but 242 members. The values ranged from 30,000 to 140,000 with more than half between 50,159 and 62,172. But the Senate had tired of this approach and proposed instead an apportionment of 223 members using [[Webster's method]]. In the House John Quincy Adams urged acceptance of the method but argued vehemently for enlarging the number of members, as New England's portion was steadily dwindling.<ref>Balinski, Michael L., and [[Peyton Young|Young, H. Peyton]], ''Fair Representation Meeting the Ideal of One Man One Vote'', pages 34, 35</ref>}}
</blockquote>


From 1842 through the 1860s, the House increased minimally at each census and as new states were admitted to the union. But the [[Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|Fourteenth Amendment]] dramatically increased the apportionment population of the Southern states because the black population counted fully instead of being reduced to three-fifths its numbers. As a result, a major increase in seats was needed to keep about the same number of seats in the northern states and the House was enlarged by 50 seats (21%) in respect of the 1870 census. The reapportionment of 1872 created a house size of 292. No particular apportionment method was used during the period 1850 to 1890, but from 1890 through 1910, the increasing membership of the House was calculated in such a way as to ensure that no state lost a seat due to shifts in apportionment population.<ref name=fair/> In 1881, a provision for equally populated contiguous and compact single member districts was added to the reapportionment law, and this was echoed in all decennial reapportionment acts through to 1911.<ref>"[https://www.census.gov/history/pdf/1880_Apportionment.pdf Reapportionment Law of 1880]", census.gov</ref>
From 1842 through the 1860s, the House increased minimally at each census and as new states were admitted to the union. But the [[Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|Fourteenth Amendment]] dramatically increased the apportionment population of the Southern states because the black population counted fully instead of being reduced to three-fifths its numbers. As a result, a major increase in seats was needed to keep about the same number of seats in the northern states and the House was enlarged by 50 seats (21%) in respect of the 1870 census. The reapportionment of 1872 created a house size of 292. No particular apportionment method was used during the period 1850 to 1890, but from 1890 through 1910, the increasing membership of the House was calculated in such a way as to ensure that no state lost a seat due to shifts in apportionment population.<ref name=fair/> In 1881, a provision for equally populated contiguous and compact single member districts was added to the reapportionment law, and this was echoed in all decennial reapportionment acts through to 1911.<ref>"[https://www.census.gov/history/pdf/1880_Apportionment.pdf Reapportionment Law of 1880]", census.gov</ref>


Then, in 1920, the Republicans removed the Democrats from power, taking the presidency and both houses of Congress. Due to increased immigration and a large rural-to-urban shift in population from 1910 to 1920, the new Republican Congress refused to reapportion the House of Representatives because such a reapportionment would have shifted political power away from the Republicans.<ref>"[https://www.census.gov/history/www/reference/apportionment/apportionment_legislation_1890_-_present.html Apportionment Legislation 1890 - Present]", census.gov</ref><ref>"Fair Representation - Meeting the Ideal of One Man One Vote", Michael L. Balinski and H. Peyton Young, page 46, 56, 57</ref> A reapportionment in 1921 in the traditional fashion would have increased the size of the House to 483 seats, but many members would have lost their seats due to the population shifts, and the House chamber did not have adequate seats for 483 members. By 1929, no reapportionment had been made since 1911, and there was vast representational inequity, measured by the average district size; by 1929 some states had districts twice as large as others due to population growth and demographic shift.<ref>{{Cite journal|title=Apportionment of Representatives in Congress|url=http://library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/document.php?id=cqresrre1927120600|journal=CQ Researcher by CQ Press|language=en|issn=1942-5635}}</ref>
In 1918, after [[Party divisions of United States Congresses|six years of Democratic control of Congress and the presidency]], the Republicans gained control of both houses of Congress, and two years later also won the presidency. Due to increased immigration and a large rural-to-urban shift in population from 1910 to 1920, the new Republican Congress refused to reapportion the House of Representatives because such a reapportionment would have shifted political power away from the Republicans.<ref>[https://www.census.gov/history/www/reference/apportionment/apportionment_legislation_1890_-_present.html Apportionment Legislation 1890 Present], census.gov</ref><ref>Balinski, Michael L., and [[Peyton Young|Young, H. Peyton]], ''Fair Representation Meeting the Ideal of One Man One Vote'', pp. 46, 56, 57</ref> A reapportionment in 1921 in the traditional fashion would have increased the size of the House to 483 seats, but many members would have lost their seats due to the population shifts, and the House chamber did not have adequate seats for 483 members. By 1929, no reapportionment had been made since 1911, and there was vast representational inequity, measured by the average district size; by 1929 some states had districts twice as large as others due to population growth and demographic shift.<ref>{{Cite report |first=Richard |last=Boeckel |title=Apportionment of Representatives in Congress|url=http://library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/document.php?id=cqresrre1927120600|publisher=CQ Press| year=1927 | page=975 |language=en|issn=1942-5635 |doi=10.4135/cqresrre1927120600 }}</ref>


As an example, the city of [[Detroit]] doubled in population between the 1910 and 1920 censuses. Since the House was not reapportioned, the city had just two congressmen representing 497,000 people each. The average congressional district in 1920 had only 212,000. By the end of the decade things had grown worse. One Detroit congressman represented 1.3 million people while some rural districts in [[Missouri]] had fewer than 180,000 people.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Okrent |first1=Daniel |title=Last Call; The Rise & fall of Prohibition |date=31 May 2011 |publisher=Simon & Schuster |location=New York, London, Toronto |isbn=978-0743277044 |page=4542 |edition=Kindle }}</ref>
As an example, the city of [[Detroit]] doubled in population between the 1910 and 1920 censuses. Since the House was not reapportioned, the city had just two congressmen representing 497,000 people each. The average congressional district in 1920 had only 212,000. By the end of the decade things had grown worse. One Detroit congressman represented 1.3 million people while some rural districts in [[Missouri]] had fewer than 180,000 people.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Okrent |first1=Daniel |title=Last Call; The Rise & fall of Prohibition |date=31 May 2011 |publisher=Simon & Schuster |location=New York, London, Toronto |isbn=978-0743277044 |page=4542 |edition=Kindle }}</ref>


== Impact ==
== Impact ==
{{Main|United States congressional apportionment#Number of members}}
The Reapportionment Act of 1929 capped the number of representatives at 435 (the size previously established by the Apportionment Act of 1911), where it has remained except for a temporary increase to 437 members upon the 1959 admission of Alaska and Hawaii into the Union.<ref name=USHouseO&D>{{cite web| title=Proportional Representation| url=http://history.house.gov/Institution/Origins-Development/Proportional-Representation/| publisher=Office of the Historian, United States House of Representatives| location=Washington, D.C.| accessdate=September 21, 2018}}</ref>
The Reapportionment Act of 1929 capped the number of representatives at 435 (the size previously established by the Apportionment Act of 1911), where it has remained except for a temporary increase to 437 members upon the 1959 admission of Alaska and Hawaii into the Union.<ref name=USHouseO&D>{{cite web| title=Proportional Representation| url=http://history.house.gov/Institution/Origins-Development/Proportional-Representation/| publisher=Office of the Historian, United States House of Representatives| location=Washington, D.C.| accessdate=September 21, 2018}}</ref>


As a result, the average size of a congressional district has tripled in size—from 210,328 inhabitants based on the 1910 Census, to 710,767 according to the 2010 Census. Additionally, due to the unchanging size of the House, combined with the requirement that districts not cross state lines, and the population distribution among states in the 2010 Census there is a wide size disparity among congressional districts: Montana has the largest average district size, with 994,416 people; and Rhode Island has the smallest, with 527,624 people.<ref>{{cite web| title=Congressional Apportionment: 2010 Census Briefs| last=Burnett| first=Kristin D.| url=https://www.census.gov/prod/cen2010/briefs/c2010br-08.pdf| date=November 2011| publisher=U.S. Department of Commerce Economics and Statistics Administration U.S. Census Bureau| accessdate=September 21, 2018}}</ref>
As a result, the average size of a congressional district has more than tripled in size—from 210,328 inhabitants based on the 1910 Census, to 761,169 according to the 2020 Census. Additionally, due to the unchanging size of the House, combined with the requirement that districts not cross state lines, and the population distribution among states in the 2020 Census there is a wide size disparity among congressional districts: [[Delaware]], the [[List of U.S. states and territories by population|45th-most populous state]], has the largest average district size, with 989,948 people; and [[Montana]], the 44th-most populous state, has the smallest, with 542,113 people.

Since 1941, seats in the House have been apportioned among the states according to the [[Huntington–Hill method|method of equal proportions]].<ref>{{cite web| title=Apportionment Legislation 1890{{snd}}Present| url=https://www.census.gov/history/www/reference/apportionment/apportionment_legislation_1890_-_present.html| publisher=U.S. Department of Commerce Economics and Statistics Administration U.S. Census Bureau| accessdate=September 21, 2018}}</ref> Implementation of this method has eliminated debates about the proper divisor for district size; any divisor that gives 435 members has the same apportionment. It created other problems however, because, given the fixed-size House, each state's congressional delegation changes as a result of population shifts, with various states either gaining or losing seats based on census results. Each state is then responsible for designing the shape of its districts.<ref name=USHouseO&D/>
Since 1941, seats in the House have been apportioned among the states according to the [[Huntington–Hill method|method of equal proportions]].<ref>{{cite web| title=Apportionment Legislation 1890{{snd}}Present| url=https://www.census.gov/history/www/reference/apportionment/apportionment_legislation_1890_-_present.html| publisher=U.S. Department of Commerce Economics and Statistics Administration U.S. Census Bureau| accessdate=September 21, 2018}}</ref> Implementation of this method has eliminated debates about the proper divisor for district size; any divisor that gives 435 members has the same apportionment. It created other problems however, because, given the fixed-size House, each state's congressional delegation changes as a result of population shifts, with various states either gaining or losing seats based on census results. Each state is then responsible for designing the shape of its districts.<ref name=USHouseO&D/>


===Redistricting===
===Redistricting===
The Act also did away with any mention of districts at all. This allowed political parties in control of a state legislature to [[Redistricting|draw district boundaries]] at will and to elect some or all representatives at large.{{Citation Needed|date=March 2020}}
The Act also did away with any mention of districts at all. This allowed political parties in control of a state legislature to [[Redistricting|draw district boundaries]] at will and to elect some or all representatives at large.{{nbsp}}(1932)<ref>Wood v. Broom, {{Ussc|287|1|1932}}</ref> This would be the case until Congress enacted the [[Uniform Congressional District Act]].{{Cn|date=July 2024}}


==See also==
==See also==
* [[Redistricting]]
* [[Redistricting]]
* [[Reform Act 1832]]
* [[Rotten and pocket boroughs]]
* [[Rotten and pocket boroughs]]
* [[United States congressional apportionment]]
* [[United States congressional apportionment]]
Line 98: Line 97:
* ''Wood v Broom'', {{ussc|source=f|287|1|1932}}.
* ''Wood v Broom'', {{ussc|source=f|287|1|1932}}.


{{Herbert Hoover}}
{{Redistricting (US)}}
{{Redistricting (US)}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Reapportionment Act Of 1929}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Reapportionment Act Of 1929}}
[[Category:1929 in law]]
[[Category:1929 in American law]]
[[Category:United States federal government administration legislation]]
[[Category:United States federal government administration legislation]]
[[Category:Redistricting in the United States]]
[[Category:Redistricting in the United States]]

Latest revision as of 15:15, 3 November 2024

Reapportionment Act of 1929
Great Seal of the United States
Long titleAn Act To provide for the fifteenth and subsequent decennial censuses and to provide for apportionment of Representatives in Congress.
Enacted bythe 71st United States Congress
EffectiveJune 18, 1929
Citations
Public lawPub. L. 71–13
Statutes at Large46 Stat. 21
Codification
Titles amendedTitle 2—The Congress
U.S.C. sections created2 U.S.C. § 2a
Legislative history

The Reapportionment Act of 1929 (ch. 28, 46 Stat. 21, 2 U.S.C. § 2a), also known as the Permanent Apportionment Act of 1929, is a combined census and apportionment bill enacted on June 18, 1929, that establishes a permanent method for apportioning a constant 435 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives according to each census. This reapportionment was preceded by the Apportionment Act of 1911, which established the 435-seat size, and followed nearly a decade of debate and gridlock after the 1920 Census.[1] The 1929 Act took effect after the 1932 election, meaning that the House was never reapportioned as a result of the 1920 United States Census, and representation in the lower chamber remained frozen for twenty years.[2]

Unlike earlier Apportionment Acts, the 1929 Act neither repealed nor restated the requirements of the previous apportionment acts that congressional districts be contiguous, compact, and equally populated. It was not clear whether these requirements were still in effect until in 1932 the Supreme Court of the United States ruled in Wood v. Broom (1932)[3] that the provisions of each apportionment act affected only the apportionment for which they were written. Thus the size and population requirements, last stated in the Apportionment Act of 1911, expired with the enactment of the 1929 Act. The 1929 Act gave little direction concerning congressional redistricting. It merely established a system in which House seats would be reallocated to states which have shifts in population. The lack of recommendations concerning districts had several significant effects. The Reapportionment Act of 1929 allowed states to draw districts of varying size and shape. It also allowed states to abandon districts altogether and elect at least some representatives at-large, which several states chose to do, including New York, Illinois, Washington, Hawaii, and New Mexico. For example, in the 88th Congress (in the early 1960s) 22 of the 435 representatives were elected at-large. This would continue until Congress passed the Uniform Congressional District Act which reinforced the single-member district requirement.

Historical context

[edit]

Article One, Section 2, Clause 3 of the United States Constitution requires that seats in the United States House of Representatives be apportioned among the various states according to the population disclosed by the most recent decennial census, but only counting "free persons" and "three-fifths of all other persons", including slaves. The first federal law governing the size of the House and the method of allotting representatives, the Apportionment Act of 1792, was signed into law by George Washington in April 1792. It set the number of members of the House at 105 (effective March 4, 1793, with the 3rd Congress).[4] Following the American Civil War the Fourteenth Amendment eliminated the three-fifths clause by stating that "Representatives shall be apportioned among the several states according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each state, excluding Indians not taxed."

With but one exception, the Apportionment Act of 1842,[5] Congress enlarged the House of Representatives by various degrees following each subsequent census including 1913, by which time the adjusted membership had grown to 435.[6] From the 1790s through the early 19th century, the seats were apportioned among the states using Jefferson's method. In 1842, the House was reduced from 242 to 223 members by the incoming Whig Party, which had ousted the Jacksonian Democrats.[6] The Act of 1842 also contained wording which required single-member district elections rather than at-large elections within a state, prompting backlash against an increase in Congressional power.[7]

In 1842 the debate on apportionment in the House began in the customary way with a jockeying for the choice of a divisor using Jefferson's method. On one day alone, 59 different motions to fix a divisor were made in a House containing but 242 members. The values ranged from 30,000 to 140,000 with more than half between 50,159 and 62,172. But the Senate had tired of this approach and proposed instead an apportionment of 223 members using Webster's method. In the House John Quincy Adams urged acceptance of the method but argued vehemently for enlarging the number of members, as New England's portion was steadily dwindling.[8]

From 1842 through the 1860s, the House increased minimally at each census and as new states were admitted to the union. But the Fourteenth Amendment dramatically increased the apportionment population of the Southern states because the black population counted fully instead of being reduced to three-fifths its numbers. As a result, a major increase in seats was needed to keep about the same number of seats in the northern states and the House was enlarged by 50 seats (21%) in respect of the 1870 census. The reapportionment of 1872 created a house size of 292. No particular apportionment method was used during the period 1850 to 1890, but from 1890 through 1910, the increasing membership of the House was calculated in such a way as to ensure that no state lost a seat due to shifts in apportionment population.[6] In 1881, a provision for equally populated contiguous and compact single member districts was added to the reapportionment law, and this was echoed in all decennial reapportionment acts through to 1911.[9]

In 1918, after six years of Democratic control of Congress and the presidency, the Republicans gained control of both houses of Congress, and two years later also won the presidency. Due to increased immigration and a large rural-to-urban shift in population from 1910 to 1920, the new Republican Congress refused to reapportion the House of Representatives because such a reapportionment would have shifted political power away from the Republicans.[10][11] A reapportionment in 1921 in the traditional fashion would have increased the size of the House to 483 seats, but many members would have lost their seats due to the population shifts, and the House chamber did not have adequate seats for 483 members. By 1929, no reapportionment had been made since 1911, and there was vast representational inequity, measured by the average district size; by 1929 some states had districts twice as large as others due to population growth and demographic shift.[12]

As an example, the city of Detroit doubled in population between the 1910 and 1920 censuses. Since the House was not reapportioned, the city had just two congressmen representing 497,000 people each. The average congressional district in 1920 had only 212,000. By the end of the decade things had grown worse. One Detroit congressman represented 1.3 million people while some rural districts in Missouri had fewer than 180,000 people.[13]

Impact

[edit]

The Reapportionment Act of 1929 capped the number of representatives at 435 (the size previously established by the Apportionment Act of 1911), where it has remained except for a temporary increase to 437 members upon the 1959 admission of Alaska and Hawaii into the Union.[14]

As a result, the average size of a congressional district has more than tripled in size—from 210,328 inhabitants based on the 1910 Census, to 761,169 according to the 2020 Census. Additionally, due to the unchanging size of the House, combined with the requirement that districts not cross state lines, and the population distribution among states in the 2020 Census there is a wide size disparity among congressional districts: Delaware, the 45th-most populous state, has the largest average district size, with 989,948 people; and Montana, the 44th-most populous state, has the smallest, with 542,113 people. Since 1941, seats in the House have been apportioned among the states according to the method of equal proportions.[15] Implementation of this method has eliminated debates about the proper divisor for district size; any divisor that gives 435 members has the same apportionment. It created other problems however, because, given the fixed-size House, each state's congressional delegation changes as a result of population shifts, with various states either gaining or losing seats based on census results. Each state is then responsible for designing the shape of its districts.[14]

Redistricting

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The Act also did away with any mention of districts at all. This allowed political parties in control of a state legislature to draw district boundaries at will and to elect some or all representatives at large. (1932)[16] This would be the case until Congress enacted the Uniform Congressional District Act.[citation needed]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Napolio, Nicholas G.; Jenkins, Jeffery A. (2023). "Conflict over Congressional Reapportionment: The Deadlock of the 1920s". Journal of Policy History. 35 (1): 91–117. doi:10.1017/S0898030622000355. ISSN 0898-0306.
  2. ^ Okrent, Daniel (May 31, 2011). Last Call; The Rise & fall of Prohibition (Kindle ed.). New York, London, Toronto: Simon & Schuster. p. 4542. ISBN 978-0743277044.
  3. ^ Wood v. Broom, 287 U.S. 1 (1932)
  4. ^ Opinion on Apportionment Bill, 4 April 1792. Washington, D.C.: Founders Online, National Archives. February 1, 2018 [Original source: The Papers of Thomas Jefferson, vol. 23, 1 January–31 May 1792, ed. Charles T. Cullen. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1990, pp. 370–377.] Retrieved March 5, 2018.
  5. ^ The 1842 Apportionment Act
  6. ^ a b c "Fair Representation – Meeting the Ideal of One Man One Vote", Michel L. Balinski and H. Peyton Young
  7. ^ "The 1842 Apportionment Act".
  8. ^ Balinski, Michael L., and Young, H. Peyton, Fair Representation – Meeting the Ideal of One Man One Vote, pages 34, 35
  9. ^ "Reapportionment Law of 1880", census.gov
  10. ^ Apportionment Legislation 1890 – Present, census.gov
  11. ^ Balinski, Michael L., and Young, H. Peyton, Fair Representation – Meeting the Ideal of One Man One Vote, pp. 46, 56, 57
  12. ^ Boeckel, Richard (1927). Apportionment of Representatives in Congress (Report). CQ Press. p. 975. doi:10.4135/cqresrre1927120600. ISSN 1942-5635.
  13. ^ Okrent, Daniel (May 31, 2011). Last Call; The Rise & fall of Prohibition (Kindle ed.). New York, London, Toronto: Simon & Schuster. p. 4542. ISBN 978-0743277044.
  14. ^ a b "Proportional Representation". Washington, D.C.: Office of the Historian, United States House of Representatives. Retrieved September 21, 2018.
  15. ^ "Apportionment Legislation 1890 – Present". U.S. Department of Commerce Economics and Statistics Administration U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved September 21, 2018.
  16. ^ Wood v. Broom, 287 U.S. 1 (1932)
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