Thomas Miffin: The third President

He was born in Philadelphia, Pa on January 10^th of 1744. He graduated from the College of Philadelphia in 1760. He was a member of the American Philosophical Society. Early in the American Revolution he left the continental congress to serve in the continental army.

Although his family had bee Quakers for four generations he was expelled from the Religious Society of Friends because hie involvement of with a military force contradicted his his faiths nature.

He became a general than later became George Washington’s aide-de-camp and than in August 15^th of 1715 he was appointed by Washington to become the army's first Quartermaster General under order of congress. He was good at the job but preferred to be on the front lines.

Prior to independence he was a member of the Pennsylvania Provincial Assembly. He served two terms in the Continental Congress (1774-1775) and then from ( 1782-1784.) This included a seven month term from November 1783- June 1784) as that body's president. His most important duty as president was to accept George Washington on behalf of the Congress the commission of General George Washington who resigned in 1783.

The importance of the congress declined so precipitously that he found it difficult to convince the states to send enough delegates to Congress to ratify the Treaty of Paris, it finally took place on January 14^th of 1784.

He was a delegate of the United States Constitutional Convention in 1787 as well as a signer of the constitution. He served in the house of Pennsylvania General Assembly ( 1785-1788) and was a member of the Supreme Executive Council of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and on November 5^th of 1788 he was elected President of Council replacing Benjamin Franklin.

He was unanimously reelected to the Presidency on November 11^th of 1789 and presided over the committee that wrote Pennsylvania's 1790 State Constitution. This document did away with the executive council and replaced it with a single Governor.  

Elias Boudinot: The Second President.

He was born May second in 1740 in Philadelphia, His father was a Merchant and a Silversmith and was a neighbor and friend of Benjamin Franklin. His mother was born in British Wales, Indies. He later became Chief Justice of the New Jersey Supreme Court.

He studied and was tutored at home and then went to Princeton to read law as an intern. He also argued for the rights of American Indian citizens. In 1760, He was admitted to the bar, and began his practice in Elizabeth. New Jersey and owned land adjacent to the road in Elizabethtown, New Jersey. In his later years he speculated and invested in land. He became a prominent lawyer and his practice prospered. As the revolution drew near, he aligned with the Whigs and was elected to the New Jersey provincial assembly in 1775. In the early stages of the Revolutionary War he active in promoting enlistment. He also helped support rebel spies.

From 1782 to 1783 he served as President of the Continental Congress. Although the position was mostly a ceremonial position with no real authority, it did require him to handle a good deal of correspondence and sign official documents. He signed the Preliminary Articles of Peace. He was also later appointed as Director of the United States Mint by George Washington in 1795. 

John Hanson: The first president of the Unites States.

Now the history books tell us that George Washington was the first president of the United States, however he wasn't the first but the eighth.. The first seven presidents are hidden in time forever and they have us to believe that Washington was indeed the first president. Sadly that is false and I hope you find this interesting.

The Articles of Confederation was actually propose on June 11 of 1776 but it was not agreed upon by congress until November 15 of 1777 because Maryland refused to sign until New York and Virginia ceded their Western lands and once the signing took place in 1781 a president was needed to run the country. John Hanson was chosen unanimously by congress. ( George Washington was involved). All other influential candidates refused to run against him because he was a major player in the Revolution and a key player in congress.

John Hanson was the actual first black president and not Obama.

He was an American Patriot and elected as president in 1781. As the first president he had quite the shoes to fill. Since no one had been elected President before the role was poorly defined. So his actions in office set a precedent for the future presidents. He took office just as the Revolutionary War ended and almost immediately the troops demanded to be paid.

Since this was a long war there were no funds to meet the salaries so as a result the soldiers threatened to overthrow the new government and put Washington on the thrown as a monarch.

This made all the members of congress run and left Hanson to run the government by himself. He somehow managed to calm the troops and hold the country together.

Back then since the Article of Confederation only allowed a president to serve only one term in a three year period Hanson actually accomplished a lot. He ordered all foreign troops off the American as well as the foreign flags, which wasn't an easy task since so many European countries had a stake in the United States following the days of Columbus. He established the seal of the United States in which all presidents are required to use. He declared that the fourth Thursday of the month of November be set aside for Thanksgiving, which is still honored today.

He established the first Treasury Department, the First secretary of war, and the first Foreign Affairs Department. There are another six presidents who were after him and before Washington that I will write about as well. He served in that office from November 5, 1781 until November 3, 1782. He was the first President to serve a full term after the full ratification of the Articles of Confederation – and like so many of the Southern and New England Founders, he was strongly opposed to the Constitution when it was first discussed. He remained a confirmed anti-federalist until his untimely death.

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.

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