The U.S. House election, 1838 was an election for the United States House of Representatives

United States House of Representatives

The United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...

 in 1838.

The Panic of 1837

Panic of 1837

The Panic of 1837 was a financial crisis or market correction in the United States built on a speculative fever. The end of the Second Bank of the United States had produced a period of runaway inflation, but on May 10, 1837 in New York City, every bank began to accept payment only in specie ,...

 set the background for this election cycle, as the carryover effects of the economic downturn led to Whig gains. President Martin Van Buren

Martin Van Buren

Martin Van Buren was the eighth President of the United States . Before his presidency, he was the eighth Vice President and the tenth Secretary of State, under Andrew Jackson ....

 was deeply unpopular and Whig ideas for economic nationalism made slight inroads in suffering districts. However, the Democrats were able to lessen their loss by portraying the crisis as the result of missteps within the private banking industry and not as caused by government inactivity. The Anti-Masonic Party remained as a presence during this election, but also saw a drop in its seat total.

Overall results

Party	Total seats (change)		Seat percentage
Democratic Party	125	-3	51.7%
Whig Party	109	+9	45.0%
Anti-Masonic Party Anti-Masonic Party The Anti-Masonic Party was the first "third party" in the United States. It strongly opposed Freemasonry and was founded as a single-issue party aspiring to become a major party....	6	-1	2.5%
Conservatives	2	+2	0.8%
Totals	242	0	100%