The Forgotten Presidents

OntarioVanMan

Retired Expediter
Owner/Operator
The presidents before George Washington

Who was the first president of the United States? Ask any school child and they will readily tell you "George Washington." And of course, they would be wrong—at least technically. Washington was not inaugurated until April 30, 1789. And yet, the United States continually had functioning governments from as early as September 5, 1774 and operated as a confederated nation from as early as July 4, 1776. During that nearly fifteen year interval, Congress—first the Continental Congress and then later the Confederation Congress—was always moderated by a duly elected president. As the chief executive officer of the government of the United States, the president was recognized as the head of state. Washington was thus the fifteenth in a long line of distinguished presidents—and he led the seventeenth administration—he just happened to be the first under the current constitution. So who were the luminaries who preceded him? The following brief biographies profile these "forgotten presidents."

The Forgotten Presidents (The presidents before George Washington)

There is some discussion I found that John Hanson was a black man...

If true that would make Obama NOT the first Black president....
 

Turtle

Administrator
Staff member
Retired Expediter
All those forgotten presidents.... what were they the president of? It certainly wasn't the United States of America. ;)

The presidents before Washington were actually presidents of the Continental Congress which was designated by the Articles of Confederation. We weren't even a nation then, we were a confederation of states looking for an identity. We didn't become a nation until after our declaration of independence from Britain, and even then not until we won that independence.
 

OntarioVanMan

Retired Expediter
Owner/Operator
All those forgotten presidents.... what were they the president of? It certainly wasn't the United States of America. ;)

The presidents before Washington were actually presidents of the Continental Congress which was designated by the Articles of Confederation. We weren't even a nation then, we were a confederation of states looking for an identity. We didn't become a nation until after our declaration of independence from Britain, and even then not until we won that independence.

i can read ya know....;)..I knew the difference...It is just part of American history one does not hear too much about....
 

OntarioVanMan

Retired Expediter
Owner/Operator
Or that the star spangled banner was a stolen British drinking song...

In 1814, Francis Scott Key wrote new words for a well-known drinking song, "To Anacreon in Heaven," to celebrate America's recent victory over the British. However, only in 1931, following a twenty-year effort during which more than forty bills and joint resolutions were introduced in Congress, was a law finally signed proclaiming "The Star Spangled Banner" to be the national anthem of the United States.

The Star-Spangled Banner" is the national anthem of the United States of America. The lyrics come from "Defence of Fort McHenry",[1] a poem written in 1814 by the 35-year-old lawyer and amateur poet, Francis Scott Key, after witnessing the bombardment of Fort McHenry by the British Royal Navy ships in Chesapeake Bay during the Battle of Fort McHenry in the War of 1812.

The poem was set to the tune of a popular British drinking song, written by John Stafford Smith for the Anacreontic Society, a men's social club in London. "The Anacreontic Song" (or "To Anacreon in Heaven"), with various lyrics, was already popular in the United States. Set to Key's poem and renamed "The Star-Spangled Banner", it would soon become a well-known American patriotic song. With a range of one and a half octaves, it is known for being difficult to sing. Although the song has four stanzas, only the first is commonly sung today, with the fourth ("O! thus be it ever when free men shall stand...") added on more formal occasions. The fourth stanza includes the line "And this be our motto: In God is our Trust.".
 

AMonger

Veteran Expediter
Although the song has four stanzas, only the first is commonly sung today, with the fourth ("O! thus be it ever when free men shall stand...") added on more formal occasions. The fourth stanza includes the line "And this be our motto: In God is our Trust.".

A hilarious youtube video of Jamie Kennedy pulling a prank, singing the ENTIRE national anthem at a ball game:

YouTube - Jamie Kennedy Experiment national anthem
 
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