# 1810 Midterm Elections First-term [[James Madison]] administration midterm. The election produced the **War Hawks** generation of younger Democratic-Republican Congressmen — most prominently [[Henry Clay]] (KY) and [[John C. Calhoun]] (SC) — who would dominate the 12th Congress (1811-1813), drive the United States into the **[[War of 1812]]**, and define American political life for the next four decades. ## Result - **House:** Democratic-Republicans held majority of ~108 of 142 seats; significant new-member influx - **Senate:** Democratic-Republicans held majority (~30 of 36 seats) - **Chambers flipped:** None - **Net change:** Generational transition within Democratic-Republican majority rather than partisan shift ## Notable - **Henry Clay** elected Speaker of the House at age 34 in his first term — extraordinary procedural rise that established Clay's career trajectory - The 12th Congress War Hawks (Clay, Calhoun, Felix Grundy, Peter Porter) drove the June 18, 1812 war declaration against Britain - John C. Calhoun, also a freshman in the 12th Congress, would later become the antebellum era's leading states-rights and pro-slavery theorist ## Connections - [[James Madison]] — Sitting president. - [[Henry Clay]] — Elected Speaker by the Congress this election produced.