John Hanson - Personal life, Political career, President of Congress, Legacy

Colonial and Revolutionary official, born in Charles Co, Maryland, USA. He served in the Maryland Assembly almost continuously during 1757–79. He signed the Association of the Freemen of Maryland (1775), which approved armed resistance against the British. Elected to the Continental Congress (1779), he signed the Articles of Confederation (1781) and then served as president of the Congress of the Confederacy (some historians have therefore called him ‘the first president of the United States’). He worked to free the public lands to the west from the control of individual states, especially Virginia.

John Hanson (April 13, 1715 – November 22, 1783) was a delegate to the Continental Congress from Maryland. Because he was the first man to serve a full term as President of the Continental Congress under the Articles of Confederation in 1781 and 1782, he has been called the first President of the United States, but this claim is inaccurate.

Hanson is one of the most enigmatic figures in US history.

Personal life

John was the third generation of his family in Maryland. John's parents were Samuel (1684-1740) and Elizabeth Story Hanson (1689-1764) who owned a farm there.

In 1744 he married Jane Contee (born 1728) in Annapolis. Alexander (1749-1806), known as Alexander Contee Hanson, Sr., became a lawyer and a judge. His son, Alexander Contee Hanson became a US Senator. Samuel (1756-1781), known as Dr. Samuel Harrison Hanson, became a physician.

Political career

John Hanson was first elected to represent Charles County in the colonial assembly in 1757.

When the colonial assembly was dismissed or prorogued in 1774, Hanson became a representative in the Annapolis Convention which replaced it as a revolutionary government.

In December of 1779, the Maryland House of Delegates named John Hanson as one of its delegates to the Continental Congress. While Hanson was in Congress, the Articles of Confederation were at last ratified by all the states.

President of Congress

Before the adoption of the Constitution in 1787, the states operated under the direction of the Continental Congress, although they remained in principle a confederation of independent states. under the Articles, the position adopted the title President of the United States in Congress Assembled, and Hanson was the first presiding officer of the Congress to use that title when dealing with foreign governments, diplomats, or treaties.

Hanson's term as President of Congress, during this critical formation period, did have longstanding influence.

Among the accomplishments of Hanson's presidency of Congress:

Delivered the official Thanks of Congress to George Washington for his victory at Yorktown Commended Gen. Lafayette and thanked France for his services Pressed states to keep up their commitments to sending delegates to Congress, which was often short of a quorum Passed legislation for the Bank of North America, the first central bank Appointed a Secretary of the United States to assist in correspondence and record-keeping Granted Gen. Cornwallis for Henry Laurens, the first president of the Continental Congress Established the United States Mint Established the predecessor agency of the State Department Proclaimed the first national Thanksgiving holiday Created the position of Chairman of Congress, a predecessor of the vice-presidency Negotiated a peace treaty with Britain Settled a dispute between Connecticut and Pennsylvania, with Hanson acting as an equivalent of Chief Justice Called for the first national census

"First President" myth

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.

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.

Legacy

Maryland law specifies that "the Governor annually shall proclaim April 13 as John Hanson's birthday and dedicate that day to the statesman." Also, the John Hanson Highway is named in his honor.

In 1903 the state of Maryland donated a bronze statue by Richard E.