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Senate History

200 Notable Days. Richard A. Baker. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 2006.

200 Notable Days: Senate Stories 1787-2002 includes essays about the landmark days that shaped the Senate as an institution. Arranged chronologically, this book of days collectively reveals the character of the "World's Greatest Deliberative Body." These essays and many more can be found on the Senate's website in the Art & History section under Historical Minute Essays.

Capitol Builder: The Shorthand Journal of Montgomery C. Meigs, 1853-1859, 1861.. U.S. Congress, edited by Wendy Wolff. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 2001.

Montgomery C. Meigs helped to shape the architectural and artistic designs of the House and Senate wings throughout the 1850s expansion of the Capitol. In the publication, Capitol Builder, Meigs’ daily journal entries detail the day-to-day building operations involved in the project, as well as his personal thoughts about his public and private life, discussions of family relationships, and his political views of the era and its personalities.

United States Senate Election, Expulsion, and Censure Cases, 1793-1990. Anne M. Butler and Wendy Wolff. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1995.

Article 1, Section 5, of the U.S. Constitution provides that, "Each House [of Congress] may determine the Rules of its proceedings, punish its members for disorderly behavior, and, with the concurrence of two-thirds, expel a member." The Constitution also gives each house of Congress the power to be the judge of "elections, returns, and qualifications of its members." This publication compiles and explains the various election, expulsion, and censure cases that the Senate engaged in from 1793 to 1990. An updated version of the publication is available on the Senate's website.

Historical Almanac of the United States Senate. Robert J. Dole. Edited by Wendy Wolff and Richard A. Baker. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1989.

Historical Almanac of the United States Senate was prepared in honor of the bicentennial of the creation of the Senate. The work includes a series of "bicentennial minutes," speeches given by Senator Robert Dole describing the first 200 years of the Senate.

The Senate, 1789-1989. Robert C. Byrd. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1988-[1994].

The Senate, 1789-1989 is a four-volume work that provides an in-depth history of the Senate. The first volume is a chronological series of addresses on the history of the Senate. Volume two follows with a topical series of addresses on various aspects of the Senate's operation and powers. The third volume is a compilation of "Classic Speeches, 1830-1993." The final volume provides historical statistics about the Senate from 1789-1992. Much of the content has been reproduced and updated on the Senate website in the Art & History and Reference sections.

The Senate's Civil War. Senate Historical Office. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 2011.

The U.S. Senate played a crucial role in the Civil War. Although the history of the war is often told from the perspective of President Abraham Lincoln and his military commanders, the Senate faced war-related issues before Lincoln took office, and continued to influence national events throughout the war and its aftermath. The booklet The Senate's Civil War provides an overview of the history of the Senate during this remarkable time in American History.

Creation of the Senate: From the Proceedings of the Federal Convention Philadelphia, May-September 1787. US Senate. Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1987.

In 1937, George J. Schulz, the director of the Legislative Reference Service, prepared the document, Creation of the Senate: From the Proceedings of the Federal Convention Philadelphia, May-September 1787. The document details the history of the Constitutional Convention and the creation of the U.S. Senate. Included in this version of the document is the 1987 resolution calling for the reprinting of the original document, as well as an introduction by Senators Robert C. Byrd and Robert Dole.

The Art & History bibliography lists more literature about the U.S. Senate and the U.S. Capitol.