The 29th Illinois General Assembly was elected in November 1874. The session began on January 6, 1875 and adjourned on April 15, 1875. No party had a majority in either chamber. The Republicans had a

plurality Plurality may refer to: Law and politics * Plurality decision, in a decision by a multi-member court, an opinion held by more judges than any other but not by an overall majority * Plurality (voting), when a candidate or proposition polls more ...

in both chambers, with 24 members in the Senate and 69 in the House, but control of the chambers was held by a coalition of Democrats, third parties, and independents. The third parties represented in this session included the

Opposition Party In politics, the opposition comprises one or more political parties or other organized groups that are opposed to the government (or, in American English, the administration), party or group in political control of a city, region, state, coun ...

, the

Independent Reform Party The Independent Reform Party, sometimes also known as the Anti-Monopoly Party, was a short-lived political party in Illinois, in the United States. Arising out of the disorder created by the fracturing of the Republican Party in 1872, when the ...

, and the Democratic Liberal Party, which took many of its members (including its leader, former governor

John M. Palmer John McAuley Palmer (September 13, 1817September 25, 1900) was an American politician. He was an Illinois resident, a general who fought for the Union during the American Civil War, the 15th governor of Illinois, and presidential candidate of ...

) and positions from the defunct Liberal Republican Party of 1872. All of these parties were organized for the first time in 1874 and disappeared shortly thereafter, their members subsequently becoming Democrats, Greenbackers, or independents. The three-sided tensions between Democrats, Republicans and reformers led to frequent turmoil during the session, including a violent brawl that erupted in the House when Republican Alfred M. Jones threw a book at Democrat Lewis Plater. Partly due to this climate, fewer laws were passed during this session than any session since the 1830s; amounting to only 118 pages. The expenses incurred by this General Assembly were also commensurately lower, at $221,810—less than half the amount incurred by the preceding 28th General Assembly. The 204 members of the 29th Illinois General Assembly are listed in the 1875 ''Illinois Legislative Manual''. Because the ''Manual'' is not entirely consistent in its labeling of third-party members of the General Assembly, those identified as "Liberal Republican", "Liberal", or "Democratic Liberal" are counted as a single group in the party totals below. Likewise, the one member of the House labeled simply as "Reform" is treated as a member of the Independent Reform Party for the purpose of the totals.

Senate

The Illinois Senate as elected in 1874 contained 51 members, one from each state legislative district. Under the Illinois Constitution of 1870, Senators served overlapping 4-year terms; thus, 26 of the senators in the 29th General Assembly were elected in 1874, the remainder having been elected in 1872. They ranged in age from 30 to 65. Democrat Archibald A. Glenn was elected president of the Senate, thereby also taking on the role of acting

lieutenant governor A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a "second-in-comm ...

Party composition

The Senate of the 29th General Assembly consisted of 24 Republicans, 18 Democrats, and 9 third-party and independent members.

Members

House of Representatives

Under the Illinois Constitution of 1870, the state representatives were elected by

cumulative voting Cumulative voting (sometimes called the single divisible vote) is an election system where a voter casts multiple votes but can lump votes on a specific candidate or can split their votes across multiple candidates. The candidates elected are tho ...

, with each voter distributing three votes among the available candidates. The Illinois House of Representatives as elected in 1874 thus contained 153 members, three from each of the state's 51 districts. However, only 152 members were present for the 29th General Assembly, as Robert Thiem of Cook County failed to make an appearance. The members of the House were overwhelmingly new; only 32 of them had previously served in the General Assembly. They ranged in age from 26 to 75; nearly half (72) were farmers. Among the 152 seated members, there were 70 Republicans, 41 Democrats, and 41 independents and reformers. Opposition Party member Elijah Haines was elected Speaker by a coalition of Democrats, independents and reformers, despite lacking the support of some Democrats.

Senate

Party composition

Members

House of Representatives

Party composition

Members

See also

Citations

References

Further reading