34th United States Congress

34th United States Congress
33rd ←
→ 35th

March 4, 1855 – March 4, 1857
Members62 senators
234 representatives
7 non-voting delegates
Senate majorityDemocrat
Senate PresidentVacant
House majorityOpposition coalition
House SpeakerNathaniel P. Banks (A)
Sessions
1st: December 3, 1855 – August 18, 1856
2nd: August 21, 1856 – August 30, 1856
3rd: December 1, 1856 – March 4, 1857

The 34th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C., from March 4, 1855, to March 4, 1857, during the last two years of Franklin Pierce's presidency. The apportionment of seats in the House of Representatives was based on the 1850 United States census. The Whig Party, one of the two major parties of the era, had largely collapsed, although many former Whigs ran as Republicans or as members of the "Opposition Party." The Senate had a Democratic majority, and the House was controlled by a coalition of Representatives led by Nathaniel P. Banks, a member of the American Party.