Lost Hero: Who Was Really Our First President?

—Curriculum Unit Overview—

From 1781 to 1782 he was “President of the United States in Congress Assembled” under the Articles of Confederation. As the presiding officer of Congress, Hanson was responsible for initiating a number of programs that helped America gain a world position.
—John Hanson Statue on the website The Architect of the Capitol, a link from the EDSITEment resource Congress Link

At the time the Founders were shaping the future of a new country, John Adams suggested the President should be addressed as “His Excellency.” Happily, others recognized that such a title was inappropriate. Though the proper form of address represents only a small detail, defining everything about the Presidency was central to the idea of America that was a work-in-progress when the nation was young.

In this lesson, students look at the role of President as defined in the Articles of Confederation and consider the precedent-setting accomplishments of John Hanson, the first full-term “President of the United States in Congress Assembled.”

Note: This curriculum unit may be taught either as a stand-alone unit or as a prequel to the complementary EDSITEment unit Before and Beyond the Constitution: What Should a President Do?

How was the role of “President” defined in the Articles of Confederation?

What important developments occurred during John Hanson's term as the first full-term “President of the United States in Congress Assembled”?

How did they affect the future of the U.S. and the office of the President?

• Describe the role of “President of the United States in Congress Assembled” under the Articles of Confederation and explain how the President was elected.
• Describe some of the actions of John Hanson in his role as “President of the United States in Congress Assembled.”
• List some of the problems and accomplishments that occurred under the Articles of Confederation.

• Review the lesson plan. Locate and bookmark suggested materials and other useful websites. Download and print out documents you will use and duplicate copies as necessary for student viewing.
• Download the blackline masters for this unit, available here as a PDF file. Print out and make an appropriate number of copies of any handouts you plan to use in class.
• Students with an understanding of the fears of the Founders regarding a powerful executive will benefit the most from this lesson. When discussing the structure of the Executive sketched in the Articles of Confederation, it is useful to refer back to the complaints of the colonists as summarized by Jefferson in the Declaration of Independence. Help students understand why and how the Founders were cautious. Consult the following EDSITEment lessons for grades 6-8 for more information on:
• The Declaration of Independence.
• Lesson: Jefferson vs. Franklin: Renaissance Men
• Jefferson vs. Franklin: Revolutionary Philosophers
• The defects in the Articles of Confederation and the debates in the Constitutional Convention.
• Lesson: The Federalist Debates: Balancing Power Between State and Federal Governments
• The debates in the Constitutional Convention.
• The Constitutional Convention: Four Founding Fathers You May Never Have Met
• The Constitutional Convention: What the Founding Fathers Said
• On March 1, 1781, the Articles of Confederation, which had been passed by the Continental Congress in 1777, finally came into force with ratification by Maryland. On October 19 of the same year, British General Cornwallis surrendered a large army to General George Washington, effectively ending the Revolutionary War. Days later, the Continental Congress elected John Hanson of Maryland the "President of the United States in Congress Assembled" with no dissenting votes. On paper, the role was largely ceremonial, with its only specified duty being presiding over the Congress; however, some people believe Hanson was integral to a number of important actions. Many of the initiatives begun during Hanson's term in office were realized later when Washington was Chief Executive (for example, the census and Postal Service).
• The EDSITEment-reviewed website Digital Classroom offers The Declaration of Independence: A History and The Constitution: A History for background on those fundamental documents as well as the Articles of Confederation.
• Unless otherwise specified, historic documents referred to in the lesson plan are available on the EDSITEment resource Avalon Project at the Yale Law School.
• The handout "Documents for John Hanson's Term as President of the United States in Congress Assembled," on pages 3-8 of the PDF file (see download instructions, above), uses very brief excerpts from the records of the Continental Congress. The documents are intended to represent a sample of the problems and accomplishments of the Continental Congress under the Articles of Confederation during John Hanson's tenure as President. The interesting but relatively inconsequential question about Hanson's place in history serves in this lesson as a hinge into the more important question of the problems with the Articles of Confederation that eventually led to the drafting of the U.S. Constitution.
  
  The records of the Continental Congress are presented to students in their original language. Some difficult terms, indicated by underlining, are defined in parentheses. Some grammar and spelling has been standardized. In many classes, students will be able to understand the text sufficiently for the requirements of this lesson; some classes will benefit by simply going through a few (or all) of the documents as a whole class. The passages are all short but vary in length; if students will be looking at them in groups, assign groups and passages accordingly. There are 12 documents; use all of them or choose those most appropriate for your class. Some representing defects in the Articles and accomplishments of the Congress are marked.
• For further reading, consult the Recommended Reading List provided here as a PDF file.

Lesson One: Starting a Government from Scratch

Lesson Two: The “To Do List” of the Continental Congress

Lesson Three: Was John Hanson Actually the First President?

• American Memory [http://memory.loc.gov/]
  • A Century of Lawmaking
    [http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/amlaw/lawhome.html]
  • Asking the States to Help Out With a Census
    [http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/hlaw:@field(DOCID+@lit(dg018252))]
  • Asking the States to Provide the Troops They Promised
    [http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/hlaw:@field(DOCID+@lit(dg018252))]
  • Asking the States to Send Representatives to Congress
    [http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/hlaw:@field(DOCID+@lit(dg018507))]
  • Communicating With a Head of State
    [http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/hlaw:@field(DOCID+@lit(dc00516))]
  • Defects in the Articles of Confederation
    [http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/bdsds/defects.html]
  • Documents from the Continental Congress and the Constitutional Convention
    [http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/bdsds/bdsdhome.html]
  • Franklin Authorized to Secure a Loan
    [http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/hlaw:@field(DOCID+@lit(jc02227))]
  • George Washington to John Hanson dated November 30, 1781
    [http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/mgw:@field(DOCID+@lit(gw230399))]
  • George Washington to John Hanson, November 30, 1781
    [http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/mgw:@field(DOCID+@lit(gw230399))]
  • Giving Washington Authority to Negotiate a Treaty with Britain
    [http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/hlaw:@field(DOCID+@lit(jc02324))]
  • Granting Authority for Benjamin Franklin to Negotiate with a Head Of State
    [http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/hlaw:@field(DOCID+@lit(jc02333))]
  • Hanson Elected President
    [http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/hlaw:@field(DOCID+@lit(jc02182))]
  • Hanson Re-Elected By His State While Serving As President
    [http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/hlaw:@field(DOCID+@lit(jc021103))]
  • Hanson's Proclamation Instituting Thanksgiving Holiday
    [http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/bds:@field(DOCID+@lit(077-1))]
  • John Hanson to Nathanael Greene 29th. Jan. 1782
    [http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/hlaw:@field(DOCID+@lit(dg018319))]
  • John Hanson to Philip Thomas Philadelphia Nov. 13th 1781
    [http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/hlaw:@field(DOCID+@lit(dg018197))]
  • Journals of the Continental Congress
    [http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/amlaw/lwjc.html]
  • Journals of the Continental Congress Monday, December 17, 1781
    [http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/hlaw:@field(DOCID+@lit(jc021112))]
  • Journals of the Continental Congress: November 10, 1775
    [http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/hlaw:@field(DOCID+@lit(jc00344))]
  • Journals of the Continental Congress: November 9, 1775
    [http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/hlaw:@field(DOCID+@lit(jc00343))]
  • Journals of the Continental Congress: Wednesday, November 21, 1781
    [http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/hlaw:@field(DOCID+@lit(jc02194))]
  • Journals of the Contintental Congress: Thursday, November 1, 1781
    [http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/hlaw:@field(DOCID+@lit(jc02180))]
  • Last Engagements of the Revolutionary War
    [http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/gwhtml/1782.html]
  • Starting A Department Of Foreign Affairs
    [http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/hlaw:@field(DOCID+@lit(jc02237))]
  • The Next Election for President Monday, November 4, 1782
    [http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/hlaw:@field(DOCID+@lit(ed0055))]
  • The To Do List of the Continental Congress
    [http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/hlaw:@field(DOCID+@lit(jc02125))]
  • American Treasures from the Library of Congress
    [http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/treasures/]
  • About Common Sense
    [http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/treasures/trm028.html]
• American Studies at the University of Virginia [http://xroads.virginia.edu/]
• From Revolution to Reconstruction
  [http://odur.let.rug.nl/~usa/index.htm]
• Common Sense
  [http://odur.let.rug.nl/~usa/D/1776-1800/paine/CM/sensexx.htm]
• National Museum of American History
  [http://americanhistory.si.edu/]
• The American Presidency: John Hanson Mug
  [http://americanhistory.si.edu/presidency/2a1a.html]
• Avalon Project at the Yale Law School
  [http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/avalon.htm]
• Articles of Confederation
  [http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/contcong/07-12-76.htm]
• The Constitution of the United States
  [http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/usconst.htm]
• The Declaration of Independence
  [http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/declare.htm]
• Federalist Papers
  [http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/federal/fed.htm]
• Federalist Papers : No. 69
  [http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/federal/fed69.htm]
• Congress Link [http://www.congresslink.org/]
• About Government
  [http://www.aboutgovernment.org/legislativebranch.htm]
• Architect of the Capitol Home Page
  [http://www.aoc.gov/]
• John Hanson Statue
  [http://www.aoc.gov/cc/art/nsh/hanson.htm]
• Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
  [http://bioguide.congress.gov/]
• HANSON, John, 1715-1783
  [http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=H000177]
• Digital Classroom [http://www.archives.gov/digital_classroom/index.html]
• The Constitution: A History
  [http://www.archives.gov/exhibit_hall/charters_of_freedom/constitution/
  constitution_history.html]
• The Declaration of Independence: A History
  [http://www.archives.gov/exhibit_hall/charters_of_freedom/declaration/
  declaration.html]
• EDSITEment [http://edsitement.neh.gov]
• Lesson: The Federalist Debates: Balancing Power Between State
  and Federal Governments
  [http://edsitement.neh.gov/view_lesson_plan.asp?id=425]
• Lesson: Jefferson vs. Franklin: Renaissance Men
  [http://www.edsitement.neh.gov/view_lesson_plan.asp?id=413]
• Jefferson vs. Franklin: Revolutionary Philosophers
  [http://www.edsitement.neh.gov/view_lesson_plan.asp?id=414]
• The Constitutional Convention: Four Founding Fathers
  You May Never Have Met
  [http://www.edsitement.neh.gov/view_lesson_plan.asp?id=401]
• The Constitutional Convention: What the Founding Fathers Said
  [http://www.edsitement.neh.gov/view_lesson_plan.asp?id=402]
• Internet Public Library [http://www.ipl.org]
• Ben's Guide to U.S. Government for Kids:
  The Articles of Confederation
  [http://bensguide.gpo.gov/6-8/documents/articles/index.html]
• Constitution Society
  [http://www.constitution.org/]
• Bill of Rights (Britain, 1689)
  [http://www.constitution.org/eng/eng_bor.htm]
• Cato #5 Executive Power
  [http://www.constitution.org/afp/cato_05.htm]
• Official Web Site of the British Monarchy
  [http://www.royal.gov.uk/]
• William III and Mary II
  [http://www.royal.gov.uk/output/Page100.asp]
• Their Stamp on History
  [http://www.stamponhistory.com/]
• John Hanson
  [http://www.stamponhistory.com/2003/09/07/0006]
• US History.org
  [http://www.ushistory.org/]
• Brief Biography of Thomas Paine
  [http://www.ushistory.org/paine/]
• Learner.org [http://www.learner.org/]
• Olive Branch Petition
  [http://www.learner.org/channel/workshops/primarysources/revolution/
  docs/olive.html#top]
• The Coming of Independence: Transcript, Page 3
  [http://www.learner.org/biographyofamerica/prog04/transcript/page03.html]
• Papers of George Washington [http://www.virginia.edu/gwpapers/]
• George Washington's Life and Times
  (Designed for middle and high school students) [http://gwpapers.virginia.edu/lesson/life/index.html]