House funding battle and the 49–49 tie
- When
- 29 February–29 April 1796
- Where
- United States House of Representatives
- Part of
- Jay Treaty
After the treaty took effect on 29 February 1796, a bitter House funding fight ensued; Fisher Ames's April 1796 speech preceded a final vote deadlocked at 49 to 49.
The treaty was proclaimed in effect on February 29, 1796, but one final, bitter legislative battle remained: the House could doom the treaty by refusing to pass its funding. In April 1796, after two months of fighting, a gravely ill Federalist Representative Fisher Ames gave an impassioned defense later described as one of the greatest speeches in American history. In the final vote on April 29, 1796, the impasse was stuck in a 49 to 49 tie.
Sources
- Jay Treaty Wikipedia, revision of 2026-08-27
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