Hanson, John, 1715-1783

John Hanson (April 14 [O.S. April 3] 1721 – November 15, 1783) was an American Founding Father, merchant, and politician from Maryland during the Revolutionary Era. In 1779, Hanson was elected as a delegate to the Continental Congress after serving in a variety of roles for the Patriot cause in Maryland. He signed the Articles of Confederation in 1781 after Maryland joined the other states in ratifying them. In November 1781, following ratification of the articles, he was elected President of the Confederation Congress—a mostly ceremonial and clerical position, sometimes styled President of the United States in Congress assembled—by his fellow delegates. He was not the first person to hold the office. Samuel Huntington and Thomas McKean had each preceded him under the Articles of Confederation, as had five other men as President of the Continental Congress before ratification. Some Hanson descendants and biographers have falsely claimed that he was actually the first holder of the office of President of the United States, an unrelated executive position created in 1789 by the Constitution of the United States.