This print made after a drawing by G. Heiss depicts 'Congress' in turbulent seas while under the command of Captain Elie A. F. Lavallette. USS Congress was the the fourth US Navy ship to carry that name. She was a sailing frigate, like her predecessor, USS Congress of 1799. Congress was launched at Portsmouth Navy Yard on 16 August, 1841, and placed in commission under Captain Philip Voorhees in May, 1842. Her first cruise took her to the Mediterranean for service with the squadron of Commodores Charles W. Morgan and Charles Morris. In December 1843, Voorhees joined Commodore Daniel Turner's Brazil Squadron blockading Montevideo in safeguarding US trade during the Uruguayan Civil War.

Congress was placed in ordinary at Norfolk, Virginia, in March, 1845, and was recommissioned on 15 September as flagship of Commodore Robert F. Stockton, sailing for the Pacific Ocean in late October. After landing the US Commissioner to the Sandwich Islands at Honolulu, Hawaii, on 10 June, she proceeded to Monterey Bay where she joined the Pacific Squadron. Captain Elie A. F. Lavallette assumed command on 20 July and employed her along the west coast during the Mexican-American War.