America's First President

Well heyo I’m back! I know it has been awhile between posts, I apologize. But don’t worry, this is a good one. Or at least I think so because I am from Maryland, home of crabs and the Wire. So here’s some pre-weekend Maryland/Early American History for ya…

John Hanson: The First President of the United States of America

Wait, what? What about the infallible George Washington? Who is this John Hanson character? Well, first of all, his name is John, so you know he was important because half the important Americans during the Revolution were named either John or George. But John Hanson, was born in Charles County, Maryland in 1721 to wealthy landowners and a politically active family (his father served several terms in the Maryland General Assembly). As he grew older, he married, and moved to Frederick, Maryland becoming one of the most ardent patriots in the area. He was elected to the Second Continental Congress in 1779 and became a leading proponent of the Articles of Confederation. He was also largely responsible for convincing the Maryland General Assembly (the final holdout state) to ratify the Articles.

As you may know, before there was James Madison and the Constitution we know and love today, there were the Articles of Confederation. A document that gave a lose connection to all 13 states but left the bulk of governing authority to the states. The “federal government” (if you can call it that) consisted of a Confederation Congress with a President to manage the few powers it had. The one major action the Confederation Congress took, was in 1784 (after Hanson’s death) they approved the Northwest Ordinance, which created the Northwest Territory (modern-day Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois).

Enter our man, John Hanson. When the Articles of Confederation were approved, members of the Second Continental Congress (once led by John Hancock) automatically transferred to the Confederation Congress. The first official session of Congress met on November 5, 1781 after the surrender of the British at Yorktown, and John Hanson was elected to be its President. The Articles specified one-year terms in this position, which Hanson fulfilled, and then chose not to run again. As President, his official duties consisted mostly of signing official documents and presiding over the Congress, which he found rather boring. Thus the one-term. Hanson died a year after leaving office. The Constitution was proposed in 1787 and George Washington was sworn into office as the first President under this new government on March 4, 1789.

Hanson’s legacy was promoted by his son, Alexander Cotte Hanson, Jr. who later became a Senator for Maryland, and his grandsons who claimed he was really the first POTUS. In fact, George Washington (a close friend of Hanson’s) referred to him as President Hanson) when he appeared before Congress in 1781. April 13 is now remembered each year as John Hanson’s birthday in Maryland, and he represents one of the two statues from Maryland in the Capitol Statuary Hall collection (the other being Charles Carroll). The United States’ first governing document as a new nation were the Articles of Confederation, and he was the first president of the federal legislature, albeit with no real power. First President or not? You be the judge.