After the Civil War, Congress reorganized the judicial circuits once again and eliminated the Tenth Circuit. This was the last major reorganization of the circuits, which have remained the same since except for the addition of new states to the existing circuits and the division of two circuits in the twentieth century. Congress carried out this reorganization, as it did in 1862, with the goal of further reducing the number of southerners on the Supreme Court. The new organization reduced to two the number of circuits composed entirely of former slave states and left only one composed solely of former Confederate states. Most significantly, the Sixth Circuit, which had consisted of Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Tennessee, and Kentucky, thereafter consisted of Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio, and Michigan, with Texas and Louisiana moving to the all-southern Fifth Circuit and Arkansas moving to the northern-dominated Eighth. The Sixth Circuit change allowed the assignment of Noah Swayne of Ohio to that circuit after the death of the previous circuit justice, John Catron of Tennessee. With Chief Justice Salmon Chase serving the Fourth Circuit, James Wayne of Georgia, serving the Fifth Circuit, was left as the only southern justice on the Court. The 1866 act also provided for a reduction in the number of authorized seats on the Supreme Court from ten to seven, which resulted in no successors being appointed to replace southern justices Catron and Wayne. Before the size of the Court reached seven members, however, Congress in 1869 increased the number of authorized seats to nine, where it has remained since.
See also:
Landmark Legislation: Circuit Reorganization