John Hanson — the first Black president?

 by Olayemi Odesanya (age 10)

 Special to the AmNews

George Washington was really the eighth president of the United States!

Some historians say John Hanson was the first president of United States of America and that George Washington was not the first president.

In fact, the first president of the United States was John Hanson from 1781 to 1782. He was one of the great men who is forgotten in history. Some people do not want the world to know about the Moor John Hanson. Some people say he was not Black and speak about a white John Hanson. But this John Hanson, who lived from April 13,1715 to November 22, 1783, was Black. Records say that his grandfather was an enslaved African who was able to buy his freedom and own his own land.

The new country was actually formed on March 1, 1781, with the adoption of the Articles of Confederation. This was before the Constitution. No one had been president, and the role was not well defined, Hanson's actions in office would set precedent for all future presidents As troops threatened to overthrow the new government and crown Washington as king, all the members of Congress ran for their lives, leaving Hanson as the only man left running the government. Congress, including Washington, chose John Hanson unanimously. So in November 1781, Hanson became the first president of Congress. As stated in the Articles of Confederation, Hanson was elected for a one-year term. In that year, he managed to keep the troops calm and at the same time, hold the nation together. Had he failed, the new government would have collapsed and the world would have been talking about a King Washington.

Although ignored by many historians, Hanson's achievements are still a fact. He declared that the fourth Thursday of every November would be known as Thanksgiving Day. Hanson sent 800 pounds of sterling silver through his brother, Samuel Hanson, to George Washington to provide the troops with shoes. President Hanson also established the first Treasury Department, the first Foreign Affairs Department and the first secretary of war.

The other seven presidents after John Hanson were:
   Elias Boudinot
   Thomas Mifflin
   Richard Henry Lee
   John Hancock
   Nathan Gorman
   Arthur St. Clair
   Cyrus Griffin

I got my information from YouTube and Yahoo Answers.