Was the First President of the United States! 1781-1782 A.D.???

Question

Nobody seems to know who John Hanson was and very little is mentioned of him. George Washington was really the 8th President of the United States!

George Washington was not the first President of the United States. In fact, the first President of the United States was one John Hanson. Don't go checking the encyclopedia for this guy's name - he is one of those great men that are lost to history. If you're extremely lucky, you may actually find a brief mention of his name.

The new country was actually formed on March 1, 1781 with the adoption of The Articles of Confederation.
This document was actually proposed on June 11, 1776, but not agreed upon by Congress until November 15, 1777. Maryland refused to sign this document until Virginia and New York ceded their western lands (Maryland was afraid that these states would gain too much power in the new government from such large amounts of land).

Once the signing took place in 1781, a President was needed to run the country. John Hanson was chosen unanimously by Congress (which included George Washington). In fact, all the other potential candidates refused to run against him, as he was a major player in the revolution and an extremely influential member of Congress.

As the first President, Hanson had quite the shoes to fill. No one had ever been President and the role was poorly defined. His actions in office would set precedent for all future Presidents.

He took office just as the Revolutionary War ended. Almost immediately, the troops demanded to be paid. As would be expected after any long war, there were no funds to meet the salaries. As a result, the soldiers threatened to overthrow the new government and put Washington on the throne as a monarch.

All the members of Congress ran for their lives, leaving Hanson as the only guy left running the government. He somehow managed to calm the troops down and hold the country together. If he had failed, the government would have fallen almost immediately and everyone would have been bowing to King Washington. In fact, Hanson sent 800 pounds of sterling siliver by his brother Samuel Hanson to George Washington to provide the troops with shoes.

Hanson, as President, ordered all foreign troops off American soil, as well as the removal of all foreign flags. This was quite the feat, considering the fact that so many European countries had a stake in the United States since the days following Columbus.

Hanson established the Great Seal of the United States, which all Presidents have since been required to use on all official documents.

President Hanson also established the first Treasury Department, the first Secretary of War, and the first Foreign Affairs Department.

Lastly, he declared that the fourth Thursday of every November was to be Thanksgiving Day, which is still true today.

The Articles of Confederation only allowed a President to serve a one year term during any three year period, so Hanson actually accomplished quite a bit in such little time.

Six other presidents were elected after him - Elias Boudinot (1783), Thomas Mifflin (1784), Richard Henry Lee (1785), Nathan Gorman (1786), Arthur St. Clair (1787), and Cyrus Griffin (1788) - all prior to Washington taking office.

So what happened?

Why don't we ever hear about the first seven Presidents of the United States?

It's quite simple - The Articles of Confederation didn't work well. The individual states had too much power and nothing could be agreed upon.

A new doctrine needed to be written - something we know as the Constitution.

And that leads us to the end of our story.

George Washington was definitely not the first President of the United States. He was the first President of the United States under the Constitution we follow today.

And the first seven Presidents are forgotten in history.

Answer 1

Someone ask about the source of the story, please read below.... It's true, no matter how you play with words, dates,etc this guy was the first president...he was actually running the country during this time period.... history has a way of disappearing...



From The File

A "Black" Man, A Moor, John Hanson

Was the First President of the United States!

1781-1782 A.D.



George Washington

was really the 8th President of the United States!





George Washington was not the first President of the

United States. In fact, the first President of the

United States was one John Hanson. Don't go checking

the encyclopedia for this guy's name - he is one of

those great men that are lost to history. If you're

extremely lucky, you may actually find a brief mention

of his name.



The new country was actually formed on March 1, 1781

with the adoption of The Articles of Confederation.

This document was actually proposed on June 11, 1776,

but not agreed upon by Congress until November 15,

1777. Maryland refused to sign this document until

Virginia and New York ceded their western lands

(Maryland was afraid that these states would gain too

much power in the new government from such large

amounts of land).



Once the signing took place in 1781, a President was

needed to run the country. John Hanson was chosen

unanimously by Congress (which included George

Washington). In fact, all the other potential

candidates refused to run against him, as he was a

major player in the revolution and an extremely

influential member of Congress.



As the first President, Hanson had quite the shoes to

fill. No one had ever been President and the role was

poorly defined. His actions in office would set

precedent for all future Presidents.



He took office just as the Revolutionary War ended.

Almost immediately, the troops demanded to be paid. As

would be expected after any long war, there were no

funds to meet the salaries. As a result, the soldiers

threatened to overthrow the new government and put

Washington on the throne as a monarch.



All the members of Congress ran for their lives,

leaving Hanson as the only guy left running the

government. He somehow managed to calm the troops down

and hold the country together. If he had failed, the

government would have fallen almost immediately and

everyone would have been bowing to King Washington. In

fact, Hanson sent 800 pounds of sterling siliver by

his brother Samuel Hanson to George Wasington to

provide the troops with shoes.



Hanson, as President, ordered all foreign troops off

American soil, as well as the removal of all foreign

flags. This was quite the feat, considering the fact

that so many European countries had a stake in the

United States since the days following Columbus.



Hanson established the Great Seal of the United

States, which all Presidents have since been required

to use on all official documents.



President Hanson also established the first Treasury

Department, the first Secretary of War, and the first

Foreign Affairs Department.



Lastly, he declared that the fourth Thursday of every

November was to be Thanksgiving Day, which is still

true today.



The Articles of Confederation only allowed a President

to serve a one year term during any three year period,

so Hanson actually accomplished quite a bit in such

little time.



Six other presidents were elected after him - Elias

Boudinot (1783), Thomas Mifflin (1784), Richard Henry

Lee (1785), Nathan Gorman (1786), Arthur St. Clair

(1787), and Cyrus Griffin (1788) - all prior to

Washington taking office.



So what happened?



Why don't we ever hear about the first seven

Presidents of the United States?



It's quite simple - The Articles of Confederation

didn't work well. The individual states had too much

power and nothing could be agreed upon.



A new doctrine needed to be written - something we

know as the Constitution.



And that leads us to the end of our story.



George Washington was definitely not the first

President of the United States. He was the first

President of the United States under the Constitution

we follow today.

Answer 2

Unfortunately, your facts are a little misconstrued. You are right in the sense that there were other men who had the highest single authority over the land which is currently the United States prior to George Washington, but to call them Presidents of the United States is fallacious. After the Revolutionary War, the thirteen formerly British colonies established a loose association through the Articles of Confederation. As such, the best that could be said for America was that we were the "Confederate States of America" (sound familiar?). It wasn't until a Constitutional Convention was called in Philadelphia in 1787 that we see the origins of what would be called "The United States of America." Although this convention was called with the express purpose of revising the Articles of Confederation, the convention chose, rather, to abandon the Articles of confederation and draft an entirely new constitution. This constitution called for the tri-party government which we now enjoy, and established the executive office of which we are speaking. And so, it wasn't until this constitution had been ratified that we truly had "The United States of America." And, who was the first elected executive officer of this newly formed government? None other than George Washington - the first president of the United States.



As another side note, you are right that Washington's men tried to proclaim him king, but it wasn't Hanson that prevented Washington's ascension. In fact, it was Washington himself who recognized the folly of establishing another monarchy after they had just fought a long and bloody war to free themselves from the previous monarchy's tyranny. If Washington had been a lesser man and accepted the throne, I doubt whether any man (especially a man holding the weak office of president during the Articles of confederation) would have been able to stop him.

Answer 3

Completely and absolutely true. It is a shame these men are forgotten. The reason for this is probably due to the fact that the federal government had so little power and there was no executive body (since everyone was so afraid it would be like a monarchy) so these men were actually the Presidents of the legislature. (Think of it as the Speaker of the House today). With no true executive branch, and such a weak federal government, when the Articles of Confederation folded and the Constitution was created and ratified in 1787, everyone wanted to try and forget the prior failures.

Answer 4

Not really, John and the others were the "President of the Continental Congress", which was a position similar to a Prime Minister, was the highest authority; George Washing was the first "President of the United States", since that office did not exist before George held it first.

Answer 5

George Washington was the first official president. I have no idea who these other guys are.

Anyway, why aren't they mentioned anywhere in U.S. history?



also where are your sources. You can't start spitin out random names and try to say they where the first presidents.

give me internet sites

books

newspaper/ magazine articles. something.....

and if someone told you this then ask them where they got their information.

if you don't have any of this then everything you have just typed is a lot of crap.

Answer 6

you are wrong. those are not yet official presidents and they are members of the Continental congress. they just act like a prime minister as someone have said. they are not considered as presidents.

Answer 7

Complete BS.

Answer 8

Um is this a question?

Answer 9

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