January 19, 2008
by Clay Barham
George Washington was the first President under our current United States Constitution, but who ran the country in the thirteen-years between the split with Britain and George Washington's inaugural? Why is this important? From 1620 New England, through the break with Great Britain, new traditions grew in America. Those traditions led us to human freedom and dignity not found anywhere else in the world.
There were five Presidents of the Continental Congress, serving under the 1774 Articles of Association. Then, there were ten Presidents serving under the 1781 Articles of Confederation. There have been 43 Presidents serving under the 1789 Constitution. Samuel Huntington was the last to serve as President of the Continental Congress, and the first to serve as President under the 1781 Constitution, providing for "The Perpetual Union of the United States of America." When the Continental Congress ceased to exist, the United States of America in Congress Assembled, assumed all federal constitutional powers.
President Abraham Lincoln, saw the 1774, 1781 and 1789 Constitutions as steps in promoting the ideals of the 1776 Declaration of Independence. To Lincoln, this was our founding document, describing intentions of Americans at the time it was written. It was, to him, our primary founding expression, all other documents and laws rising from it. From Lincoln's First Inaugural Speech, he said:
"... We find the proposition that in legal contemplation the Union is perpetual confirmed by the history of the Union itself. The Union is much older than the Constitution. The Articles of Association formed it, in fact, in 1774. It was matured and continued by the Declaration of Independence in 1776. It was further matured, and the faith of all the then thirteen States expressly plighted and engaged that it should be perpetual, by the Articles of Confederation in 1778. And finally, in 1787, one of the declared objects for ordaining and establishing the Constitution was "to form a more perfect Union.""
Few scholars note President Lincoln's use of the Articles in his July 4th, 1861 State of the Union speech to justify waging war against the South to preserve what the first Constitution called the "Perpetual Union".
The first President of the Continental Congress of the United Colonies of America was Peyton Randolph. George Washington called Peyton Randolph "The Father of our Country." He was the first and third President of the Continental Congress, sitting for less than two months. In that respect, the position must have been honored, and not just as a presiding officer over the Continental Congress.
The President who introduced the Resolution that declared our Independence on July 2, 1776 was Richard Henry Lee, the Uncle of Robert E. Lee, and brother of Light horse Harry Lee. The President who signed George Washington's commission to lead the Continental Army was John Hancock, the fourth and thirteenth President, and the most prominent signature on the Declaration of Independence.
President Thomas Mifflin conspired with Conway Cabal, the name from which the word "Cabal" came from, to remove George Washington, as Commander-in-Chief, replacing him with General Horatio Gates. President John Hanson persuaded Maryland to delay their ratification of the Articles of Confederation, which created the "Perpetual Union" known as the United States of America. President Henry Laurens was imprisoned in the Tower of London, and later exchanged for General Cornwallis.
Under the Articles of 1781, a President was needed to run the Country. Samuel Huntington serving then as President of the Continental Congress stepped in as President of the United States until July, resigning due to ill health. The United States in Congress Assembled elected Thomas McKean the second U.S. President, and he served until John Hanson's election as third President in November of 1781. Hanson was the most engaged of all three.
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As the first President, Huntington had big shoes to fill. No one had ever been President, and the role was undefined. Huntington's, McLean's and later Hanson's actions in office would set the precedent for all future Presidents. Hanson took office just as the Revolutionary War ended.
President John Jay persuaded John Adams and Benjamin Franklin to ignore the order of the Congress to include France in the negotiations of the Treaty of Paris, ending the American war for independence. Jay later became the first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. The President, who negotiated the release of President Elias Boudinot, the fourth President of the United States, and the entire Continental Congress from Independence Hall in the summer of 1783, was Arthur St. Clair, later the ninth President of the United States. The President who signed the ratification of the Treaty that ended the war with England was Thomas Mifflin, the fifth President of the United States.
President Arthur St Clair, as the ninth President, sponsored and signed legislation to hold the 1787 Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia, after the Annapolis Convention failed to reach a quorum in 1786. These Presidents presided over a 1774 to 1788 government combining executive, legislative, and judicial branches into one body.
The Articles of Association and the first Constitution defined no clear-cut duties of the president, but they appointed cabinet officers and committees to serve the presidents. The impotence of the government of the United States, under the first constitution, demonstrates how far Americans were willing to go to maintain their individual freedom and be free of an unwanted busybody government.
Almost immediately, after hostilities with the British died down, the troops of the Continental Army demanded to be paid. As expected, after any long war, there were no funds to meet the salaries. The soldiers threatened to overthrow the new government and put Washington on the throne as a monarch. All the members of Congress ran for their lives, leaving the third President, John Hanson as the only one left running the government. He somehow managed to calm the troops down and hold the country together. If he had failed, the government would be a monarchy.
Hanson, as President, ordered all foreign troops off American soil, as well as the removal of all foreign flags. This was quite the feat, as many European countries had a stake in the United States. Hanson established the Great Seal of the United States, which all Presidents have since been required to use on all official documents. President Hanson also established the first Treasury Department, the first Secretary of War, and the first Foreign Affairs Department. Lastly, he declared that the fourth Thursday of every November was to be Thanksgiving Day, which is still true today.
The Articles allowed a President to serve a one-year term during any three-year period, so Hanson accomplished a lot in little time. Seven other presidents were elected after him. George Washington was elected the First President of the United States of America, under the just ratified third Constitution replacing the Articles of Confederation.
Our traditions had been well established since 1620 in America, and the will of the people was always in play. It was not the will of ruling elite; otherwise, government would not have been so well restrained. That is the lesson, which should be taught to all Americans who believe preserving liberty a good idea.
The changes in government were never bloodthirsty or carried out using armed troops, not like the shifts in government that occur in the Old World, even today. The changes were always to keep power in the hands of the people.
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Clay Barham [send him email] has been a candidate for the California legislature and a stand-in talk show host for ABC. He was educated in physical and behavioral sciences, with a Ph.D. in sociology. He is the author of five books, with his latest being Foundations of Modern American Conservatism and Liberalism: The Roots of Freedom and Tyranny. Visit his website at http://www.claysamerica.com.
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