Good Morning..."First" President dies

[Okla-homey]

Nov. 22, 1783: John Hanson, so-called first president, dies

223 years ago, on this day in 1783, John Hanson, the first president of the Continental Congress under the Articles of Confederation, dies in his home state of Maryland.

http://img226.imageshack.us/img226/3254/33333333333333320c20johna9.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Hanson is sometimes called the first president of the United States, but this is a misnomer, since the presidency did not exist as an executive position separate from Congress until the federal Constitution created the role upon its ratification in 1789.

Hanson was the self-educated son of Charles County, Maryland, farmers. His family had lived in Maryland for three generations beginning with the emigration from England of his grandfather, for whom he was named.

http://img227.imageshack.us/img227/4193/3333333333333333333333jet2.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
John Hanson

At age 25, John married 16-year-old Jane Contee in Maryland. Their lasting union produced nine children, five of whom survived to adulthood, although their son Peter was later killed in action as a Continental soldier at Fort Washington, New York, in November 1776.

http://img226.imageshack.us/img226/9574/33333333333333333333333ou0.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
The John Hanson Presidential Museum is in a suburb of Cleveland.

Hanson’s political career began in 1757 with his election to the Maryland Colonial Assembly. He returned to represent Charles County again from 1758-1763, 1765, 1766 and 1768-1769. As colonial-British relations frayed, Hanson took a seat in the revolutionary Annapolis Convention, which took control of the colony from the British in 1774 and renamed itself the Assembly of Freemen in 1776.

An outspoken supporter of the Patriot cause, Hanson was instrumental in Maryland’s decision to back the rebels laying siege to British-controlled Boston in the aftermath of the battles of Lexington and Concord.

http://img241.imageshack.us/img241/2054/333333333333333333333joxy7.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
Hanson monument outside his home church in Maryland

Named a delegate to the Continental Congress in 1779, Hanson served in that body from 1780 to 1782, including a term as the president of Congress (a position similar to that of prime minister in the British Parliament) from 1781 to 1782, during which time the Articles of Confederation were finally ratified and General George Washington defeated the British army at Yorktown, Virginia.

http://img209.imageshack.us/img209/7467/33333333333333333333333ql7.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
John Hanson was a pretty popular guy. People made and sold ceramic commemoratives honoring him during the period. Kinda like Dale Earnhardt today.
http://img226.imageshack.us/img226/8162/33333333333333333333333qo9.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Upon the ratification of the Articles on March 1, 1781, the Continental Congress became the "Congress of the Confederation" or the "United States in Congress Assembled." Hanson was the first president of that body, but not of the United States.

http://img227.imageshack.us/img227/2967/33333333333333333333333mn8.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Precisely 160 years after President Hanson's death, John F. Kennedy, the 35th President of the United States, was murdered in Dallas TX on this day in 1963. While the crime has been officially solved, there are quite a few folks (your correspondent among them) who believe there were others, in addition to the feckless Lee Oswald, responsible for the act.

http://img208.imageshack.us/img208/685/insane7zosf2.jpg

[Taxman71]

I think his legend lives on today by his kin singing "Mmmm Bop"

[fadada1]

very interesting. knew nothing about him. thanks.

[hurricane'bone]

[

http://img226.imageshack.us/img226/9574/33333333333333333333333ou0.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
The John Hanson Presidential Museum is in a suburb of Cleveland.



Scariest Presidential Museum ever.

[OUDoc]

very interesting. knew nothing about him. thanks.
Kennedy? You're kidding. ;)

[BigRedJed]

Au contraire, mon fraire. The Articles of Confederation were ratified over the course of several years, but final adoption took place March 1, 1781 when Samuel Huntington (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Huntington_%28statesman%29) was President of the Continental Congress. He is the first man to assume the title of "President of the United States in Congress Assembled," and is also often (mistakenly) referred to as the "first President of the United States."


By the time he became the Presiding officer, every state except Maryland had ratified the Articles and the Confederation. Maryland's main objection lay in her disputed claims to the Ohio Country. Huntington managed to convince the Legislatures of New York, Virgina, and Connecticut to cede their claims to the national congress. After that, Maryland gave in and did likewise, finally ratifying the Articles on March 1, 1781.

The Articles limited the term of President to one year, but the Congress resolved that service before the Articles were in force didn't count. So Huntington stayed on office, now as President of the United States in Congress Assembled (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/President_of_the_Continental_Congress), until July 6, 1781 when ill health forced him to resign and return to Connecticut. In 1782, Connecticut again named him as a delegate, but his health and judicial duties kept him from accepting. He did return to the Congress as a delegate for the 1783 session to see the success of the revolution embodied in the Treaty of Paris.
Hanson's distinction was that he was the first man to serve a full term as President of the United States in Congress Assembled. He was actually the THIRD man to hold the office, after Huntington and Thomas McKean (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Hanson).


A popular urban legend or bar bet suggests that Hanson was the "first President" of the United States.
The origin of the claim that Hanson is the "forgotten" first President stems from a 1932 book by Seymour Wemyss Smith titled John Hanson - Our First President. Nevertheless, officially Hanson was the third presiding officer of the Congress of the United States, and he considered himself a successor to the first two men to hold the office, Samuel Huntington and Thomas McKean, who themselves were successors to prior Presidents of the Second Continental Congress. Nor was the office an executive position like the office of President that was created under the Constitution.
Hanson was, however, the first to serve a full one-year term, and the first to formally use the title President of the United States in Congress Assembled.
A side note: McKean was in office when Cornwallis surrendered at Yorktown, not Hanson.

[BigRedJed]

...John Hanson, the first president of the Continental Congress under the Articles of Confederation...

...Hanson served in that body from 1780 to 1782, including a term as the president of Congress (a position similar to that of prime minister in the British Parliament) from 1781 to 1782, during which time the Articles of Confederation were finally ratified and General George Washington defeated the British army at Yorktown, Virginia...
These are the passages I have a problem with. Otherwise, interesting read. Hanson was truly a patriot and a hero, I don't want to diminish that at all.

[BigRedJed]

Homey probably thinks I have it in for him. I really do love your history posts, Homey.

[BeetDigger]

Kennedy? You're kidding. ;)


Hanson is everywhere in the history textbooks. Now, who is this Kennedy chap?

[BigRedJed]

Here are some more John Hanson myths (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Hanson_%28myths%29). BTW, when I quoted a passage earlier that said Hanson was "the first to formally use the title President of the United States in Congress Assembled," it means that he was the first to use the title when dealing with foreign governments, diplomats or treaties. The other two most assuredly held the title, and did so before he did.

[BigRedJed]

I killed Homey's thread. I'm a tool.

[Frozen Sooner]

So, since we're derailing Homey's history thread, what are the chances of Homey doing something on the acrimonious relationship between George Washington and Alexander Hamilton? I

[BigRedJed]

Correction, we're derailing Homey's alleged history thread. :D

[Okla-homey]

If the post stirs discussion that's a good thing. Infinitely superior to responses like IBTL;)

[BigRedJed]

Heh. *whew!*

[BigRedJed]

Homey's post doesn't change the fact that I'm a tool, of course.