LEAD
You can call today prove your teacher wrong day because after this article you will know something that no one else does because I can tell you for a fact that the 1st president that everyone knows, George Washington was actually 9th. But who was first you may ask? It was the man elected 1779, John Hanson.
P1
If you tell A teacher, friend, or even a family member that George Washington wasn’t the real first president they will probably laugh, But the truth is they’re wrong! The real first president was John Hanson born on April 14th 1721.
P2
But If he was really the first president than why is he not in our history books or on our money? Well according to Jacob A. Nelson “Under the Articles of Confederation, the United States had no
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But so what? We go back to question, Why were the first 8, mainly Hanson, forgotten in Washington dust?
P12
Well, like what was mentioned earlier, “The President of Congress was a ceremonial position within the Confederation Congress.” Said Nelson. But highlight the phrase The President of Congress and more importantly President.
P13
So was that why Hanson was portrayed as the 1st president of the United States of America? Because of a name? A title? But what exactly was The president of congress and mostly what did it do and how high was it ranked in society?
P14
Well according to jjmccollough.com, “The president of Congress was, by design, a position with little authority. The Continental Congress, fearful of concentrating political power in an individual, gave their presiding officer even less responsibility than the speakers in the lower houses of the colonial assemblies.”
P15
“Unlike some colonial speakers, the president of Congress could not, for example, set the legislative agenda or make committee appointments. The president could not meet privately with foreign leaders; such meetings were held with committees or the entire Congress.”