Are you an academic or journalist interested in using NOMINATE data? Click here to download the data and learn how to use it.
Explore current and historical political parties, map party control, and learn about polarization.
Under the direction of President John Adams, the Congress passed the Sedition Act of 1798, which made it a criminal offence to publish statements critical of the federal government. The first individual to be tried under the law was Rep. Matthew Lyon, who unsurprisingly had voted against its passage. Lyon was re-elected from jail.
Learn the story of a place through the people that represented it through history
The Gold Standard Act of 1900 ended the decades-running debate over bimetalism and restored the U.S. to 'gold standard' currency -- the system lasted until 1971