The Forgotten First President

The first President of the US was a man named John Hanson-not George Washington as we are taught in school. I'm sure you folks here on ATS already know this but this information is posted as a recent article in relation to the Thanksgiving holiday; John Hanson was the person who recognized Thanksgiving as an official annual observed holiday. So, as we celebrate Thanksgiving this year we have Hanson to thank as well.

“George Washington was very famously the first president of our second government under the Constitution,” Michael told “Top Line” during a recent interview outside a replica of Hanson’s historic home in Frederick, Maryland. “But for eight years before the birth of that second government, we had an original government chartered under the Articles of Confederation. It had its presidents, the first of whom was John Hanson."

Here's a WIKI on him:
en.wikipedia.org...

Dick Gregory, the actor/comedian says that Hanson was the actual first Black President. Not Obama.
dickgregory.com...

Interesting bit of history, eh ATS?



news.yahoo.com...

He was the first President in America not of America. As it says in the wiki link he was just President of Congress and that's it. He was about the same as the Speaker of the house or the Head of the Senate that we have now. Also the comedian is wrong he was not a black man he was white.

a reply to: lostbook

That's a bit inaccurate. He was the first president of the Confederation of States, and the confederacy was too weak to function as a central government. It was bankrupt before it even began and had a hard time surviving the revolutionary war. Had it continued in its limited state, there's no way the US would be the super power it is today. Heck, we might have been invaded very early on, because we wouldn't have even had the ability to deal with piracy in our waters let alone controlling the entire continental land mass.

The only mistake I can see in the formation of the United State is that the constitution was ratified without a bill of rights. We can thank Thomas Jefferson for our salvation. Were it not for him and some helpful anti-federalists who stuck around, Americans wouldn't have had very many liberties for very much longer in our history.

originally posted by: buster2010
He was the first President in America not of America. As it says in the wiki link he was just President of Congress and that's it. He was about the same as the Speaker of the house or the Head of the Senate that we have now. Also the comedian is wrong he was not a black man he was white.

Thanks for that, Buster. I looked him over multiple times but I don't see where he is black either. I'm merely reporting the information that's out there.

This article in the Huffington Post claims that there were 6 other Presidents with Black ancestry:

Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dr. Auset Bakhufu includes the 34th president in his book 'Six Black Presidents: Black Blood : White Masks USA,' saying Eisenhower's mother, Ida Elizabeth Stover Eisenhower, an anti-war advocate, was part black.

Calvin Coolidge
In his book, Dr. Vaughn claimed that the nation's 30th president also had black ancestry, writing Coolidge "claimed his mother was dark because of mixed Indian ancestry. Coolidge's mother's maiden name was ‘Moor’, in Europe the name was given to all blacks. Dr. Auset Bakhufu says that by 1800 the New England Indian was hardly any longer pure Indian, because they had mixed so often with Blacks."

Warren Harding
The country's 29th president, never denied his black heritage. According to Rogers, "Harding had black ancestors between both sets of parents. William Chancellor, a white professor of economics and politics at Wooster College in Ohio, wrote a book on the Harding family genealogy and identified Black ancestors among both parents of President Harding. Justice Department agents allegedly bought and destroyed all copies of this book.

Abraham Lincoln
The country's 16th president is widely known as "The Great Emancipator," but in his book, Rogers wrote that Lincoln was in fact the illegitimate son of an African man, and that his mother was said to have admitted that he was the progeny of a black man. This assertion has yet to be confirmed.

Andrew Jackson
In his 2001 book, 'Black People And Their Place in History,' Dr. Leroy Vaughn cites an article written in the Virginia Magazine of History that the country's seventh president was the son of an Irish woman who married a black man. The magazine also stated that Jackson's oldest brother had been sold as a slave.

Thomas Jefferson
In his 19-page pamphlet 'The Five Negro Presidents,' Joel A. Rogers wrote that the country's third president was described by a political opponent as the "son of a half-breed Indian squaw and a Virginia mulatto father."

It is no secret that Jefferson fathered children with his slave Sally Hemmings from his Monticello residence. However, any evidence of African ancestry remains unconfirmed.

Jefferson allegedly destroyed all papers, portraits and personal effects of his mother when she died.

I find it all very interesting.

www.huffingtonpost.com...

a reply to: Nechash

I agree with everything you said with the exception of the cause of the failure of the articles of.confederation.

The reason they failed was because of rampant counterfeiting of currency. They went against the grain and the bankers fought back. Counterfeit money was produced by experts....not peasants in barns.

The response was weak because the elites that did make it into government under the articles of confederation were purposely obtuse and difficult. They wanted it to fail so they could rewrite things to favor business interests.

They were scared of direct democracy too.

The anti Federalists were our last defense and fought to keep the bankers and private business owners at bay as much as possible.

What they warned us of has come to pass.

Anyone arguing for greater federal powers is not a true libertarian.....

a reply to: tadaman

Really? A person who wants zero federal powers is an anarchist, so a libertarian must want some federal powers. At what point does that end? Does it end at negative liberty? Does it end at military defense? Does it keep on going until we have positive liberties and environmental protections and social justice? There is such a thing as a left-libertarian, me being among them. ;p

a reply to: Nechash
If you havent noticed the constitution is a document of negative powers. It doesnt say what can be done, but rather what can not be done.

Social justice has nothng to do with libertarian philosophy. Though we wish to rebrand it and everything to suit our needs at any given moment...that doesnt just change things. Environmental issues are campaign issues. Please. Whats next abortion examples?

If you want more government control and reach....then you dont want people to decide for themselves ...
What you are probably and dont know it is an authoritarian ....left leaning but still an authoritarian none the less.

Arguing for more federal power is just that. Comparing the counter argument to something like anarchy is a common tactic...as if no medium ground exists...I could do the same but that would be intellectual dishonesty so as to win an argument ...something that is not conducive to dialogue but battering an opponent over face.

You are not a libertarian. You are an authoritarian with liberal (leftist) tendencies ....

Hitler was an extremist new ager and left leaning authoritarian. Its hard to force public opinion unless you sell it under the guise of "common good"...and "for our own good" measures like environmentalism. Hitler would be thrilled to see the environmental side of world politics. He was set to do the same. He literally hugged trees and performed ceremonies to gaia

Lol

a reply to: tadaman

Hitler was also a vegetarian and had an interest in the occult and in speed, so I'm sure he and I could have much to talk about assuming he could manage to shut up about genocide and world domination for just a moment. ;p