Quote:
Originally Posted by rustyp
I believe your statement about John Hanson should read first person elected under the articles of confederation. The articles were adopted in 1777 but took until 1781 to get all 13 states to ratify them.
During the American Revolution, the Continental Congress created the Articles of Confederation as the first governing document of the unified colonies. The Articles were ratified by all 13 states March 1 1781 and gave Congress authority over trade, foreign relations and war. It was the document establishing the fact there was a national body of government. It only had "one branch" , The Continental Congress.
Not until September 17, 1787, was the US Constitution adopted by the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia. The Constitution was made to replace the failed Articles of Confederation, America's first governing document. It established the "three branches"
of government.
Thus on March 1 1781 a federal government is legally recognized by the states with congress being the only branch. On that date John Hanson was the president of the congress. For this reasoning many historians pick John Hanson as the first president of our country.
|
That is true. But there are those that look at things with a different interpretation and I have read where some believe that it may of been John Hancock because he was the president of the Second Continental Congress. I think it's a matter of semantics. I agree that the true first president of United States under a governmental system closest to what we have today would be John Hanson. However, the belief in American society that George Washington was the first president is too entrenched to ever change.