Tuesday, November 22, 2011

I'll Admit My Ignorance...!


I always find something interesting to educate me if I look hard enough!

I had no idea about this man's place in our history! I love finding things like this!

Nov 22, 1783:
John Hanson, so-called first president, dies

On this day in 1783, John Hanson, the first president of the Continental Congress under the Articles of Confederation, dies in his home state of Maryland. Hanson is sometimes called the first president of the United States, but this is a misnomer, since the presidency did not exist as an executive position separate from Congress until the federal Constitution created the role upon its ratification in 1789.

Hanson was the self-educated son of Charles County, Maryland, farmers. His family had lived in Maryland for three generations beginning with the emigration from England of his grandfather, for whom he was named. At age 25, John married 16-year-old Jane Contee in Maryland. Their lasting union produced nine children, five of whom survived to adulthood, although their son Peter was later killed in action as a Continental soldier at Fort Washington, New York, in November 1776.

Hanson's political career began in 1757 with his election to the Maryland Colonial Assembly. He returned to represent Charles County again from 1758-1763, 1765, 1766 and 1768-1769. As colonial-British relations frayed, Hanson took a seat in the revolutionary Annapolis Convention, which took control of the colony from the British in 1774 and renamed itself the Assembly of Freemen in 1776. An outspoken supporter of the Patriot cause, Hanson was instrumental in Maryland's decision to back the rebels laying siege to British-controlled Boston in the aftermath of the battles of Lexington and Concord.

Named a delegate to the Continental Congress in 1779, Hanson served in that body from 1780 to 1782, including a term as the president of Congress (a position similar to that of prime minister in the British Parliament) from 1781 to 1782, during which time the Articles of Confederation were finally ratified and General George Washington defeated the British army at Yorktown, Virginia. Upon the ratification of the Articles on March 1, 1781, the Continental Congress became the "Congress of the Confederation" or the "United States in Congress Assembled." Hanson was the first president of that body, but not of the United States.

I think that every day I learn more about just how ignorant I am about parts of our early history! Just goes to show how much more I need to study and learn, since the public school system seems to have left out so many little details that are really pertinent to the birth of our system.

Thank goodness for home schooling!

Coffee outside on the patio this morning! Nice and cool, which is very pleasant!

15 comments:

The Griper said...

acknowledgement of ignorance is the first sign of wisdom, my friend. for it recognizes the need of knowledge.

and i agree with you on what the public schools have taught about our history. blogging and the need for research on issues has revealed just how ignorant i've been all of my youth also. but have to say i've enjoyed the learning too. it has made me very cautious in debates too.

HermitJim said...

Hey Griper...
You are probably right because I find myself doing more research and then verifying what I read.

It saddens me that as I get older, I am finding that I was not taught so many of these things! Maybe history would have been so much more interesting to study, if the rest of the story had been told!

Thanks so much for coming by this morning!

Anonymous said...

My son, the history major recently graduated with a double major, both related to history. He loves to go back and read the original manuscripts about events in history and then critique the text books. He has proven several times that the text book authors really do not have a clue about the subjects they are writing about. One of his favorites is about an event that the author places over five hundred miles away and almost one and one half years after the actual event. He actually convinced the professor to discard the text book and go with the original manuscript. It is interesting to discover the things you can find if you do your own research

Duke said...

It's amazing to learn of the number of great Americans who were self taught or home schooled.

Dizzy-Dick said...

Text books are notorious for being politically slanted.

Anonymous said...

I had never heard of this gentleman either - thanks for the spotlight on it, thats interesting!

MamaHen said...

Interesting story! It is sad how much public schools leave out.
Sorry i missed your birthday yesterday Jim! So.. Happy Birthday!! hope you had a really nice day. I'm still behind on things; trying to get caught up here at the house since coming home.

JoJo said...

We can always count on your to bring the real history to us. You are truely our professor. Keep up the good research I appreciate it.
Coffee on the patio sounds like a great way to start this day.

HermitJim said...

Hey Anon 3:34...
Good for your son! That's how we ca pass down the true and proper history of our beginning!

Thanks so much for coming by today!


Hey Duke...
Only by learning our true past can we ever hope to not repeat our past errors!

Besides, so many times the actual happenings are much more interesting than the text books!

Thanks, Duke, for dropping by today!


Hey DD...
That they are, buddy! That they are!

Hey, I appreciate the visit today!


Hey Anon 7:42...
Certainly my pleasure! I enjoy sharing what I learn about our beginnings with folks that are truly interested!

Glad you could come by this morning!


Hey ER...
You just made my day a lot brighter! I always enjoy hearing from you!

Thanks for the belated birthday wishes!

Glad to see you again, and thanks for coming over today!


Hey JoJo...
I do what I can, sweetie! I do what I can!

Are you ready for the big turkey day? Bet Fred will enjoy the left overs!

Thanks, sweetie, for coming over today!

TROUBLEnTX said...

I found out about the 6 mil Jews murdered in WW2, reading a book after i was out of Hi School. How could history have left that out???
No telling what we still don't know about our past.
Thx for the post.

HermitJim said...

Hey Trouble...
That's why it's so important that we don't depend on anyone but ourselves to get all the facts!

Often the text books, the newspapers and the main stream media are way too politically motivated to offer the real facts.

Libraries are a great source of information!

Thanks, my friend, for coming by today!

The Griper said...

only by learning of the past can we hope to correct the wrongs of the present also.

Mayberry said...

If "history" classes would actually teach about the man. Never heard of him 'til today...

Gorges Smythe said...

I'm sure that I've read his name before, and seen his character on screen, but I didn't remember any of it. Thanks for an interesting post!

treesong said...

Very interesting and I had never heard of him; not in high school or college. Wish I had a memory now that could retain these facts. I'm going to Google his name and see if anyone's written a book about HIM! Thanks!