President of the Continental Congress
| President of the United States in Congress Assembled | |
|---|---|
| Continental Congress | |
| Style |
|
| Status | Presiding officer |
| Appointer | Vote within the Congress |
| Formation | September 5, 1774 |
| First holder | Peyton Randolph |
| Final holder | Cyrus Griffin |
| Abolished | November 2, 1788 |
The president of the United States in Congress Assembled, also called as the president of the Continental Congress and also the president of the Congress of the Confederation, was the presiding officer in the Continental Congress. The Continental Congress was the convention of people in Philadelphia. They met to make the first transitional government of the United States. This was during the American Revolution. The president was a member of Congress elected by the members of the congress. The president would be a discussion moderator in the meetings. This position did not have much power. The office was also unrelated to the President of the United States.[1]
14 men were the president of Congress from September 1774 to November 1788. They came from nine of the original 13 states: Virginia (3), Massachusetts (2), Pennsylvania (2), South Carolina (2), Connecticut, (1), Delaware (1), Maryland (1), New Jersey (1), and New York (1).[2]
List of presidents
Terms and backgrounds of the 14 men who were the president of the Continental Congress:[3]
| Portrait | Name | State/colony | Term | Length | Previous position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Peyton Randolph (1721–1775) | Virginia | September 5, 1774 – October 22, 1774 | 47 days | Speaker of the Virginia House of Burgesses | |
| Henry Middleton (1717–1784) | South Carolina | October 22, 1774 – October 26, 1774 | 4 days | Speaker, S.C. Commons House of Assembly | |
| Peyton Randolph (1721–1775) | Virginia | May 10, 1775 – May 24, 1775 | 14 days | Speaker of the Virginia House of Burgesses | |
| John Hancock (1737–1793) | Massachusetts | May 24, 1775 – October 29, 1777 | 2 years, 158 days | President, Massachusetts Provincial Congress | |
| Henry Laurens (1724–1792) | South Carolina | November 1, 1777 – December 9, 1778 | 1 year, 38 days | President, S.C. Provincial Congress, Vice President, S.C. | |
| John Jay (1745–1829) | New York | December 10, 1778 – September 28, 1779 | 292 days | Chief Justice New York Supreme Court | |
| Samuel Huntington (1731–1796) | Connecticut | September 28, 1779 – July 10, 1781 | 1 year, 285 days | Associate Judge, Connecticut Superior Court | |
| Thomas McKean (1734–1817) | Delaware | July 10, 1781 – November 5, 1781 | 118 days | Chief Justice of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court | |
| John Hanson (1721–1783) | Maryland | November 5, 1781 – November 4, 1782 | 364 days | Maryland House of Delegates | |
| Elias Boudinot (1740–1821) | New Jersey | November 4, 1782 – November 3, 1783 | 364 days | Commissary of Prisoners for the Continental Army | |
| Thomas Mifflin (1744–1800) | Pennsylvania | November 3, 1783 – June 3, 1784 | 213 days | Quartermaster General of Continental Army, Board of War | |
| Richard Henry Lee (1732–1794) | Virginia | November 30, 1784 – November 4, 1785 | 339 days | Virginia House of Burgesses | |
| John Hancock (1737–1793) | Massachusetts | November 23, 1785 – June 5, 1786 | 194 days | Governor of Massachusetts | |
| Nathaniel Gorham (1738–1796) | Massachusetts | June 6, 1786 – February 2, 1787 | 241 days | Board of War | |
| Arthur St. Clair (1737–1818) | Pennsylvania | February 2, 1787 – November 4, 1787 | 275 days | Major General, Continental Army | |
| Cyrus Griffin (1748–1810) | Virginia | January 22, 1788 – November 2, 1788 | 298 days | Judge, Virginia Court of Appeals |
Related pages
References
- ↑ Ellis 1999, p. 1.
- ↑ Morris 1987, p. 101.
- ↑ Jillson & Wilson 1994, p. 77.
Works cited
- Burnett, Edmund Cody (1941). The Continental Congress. New York City, New York: Norton. OCLC 1467233.
- Ellis, Richard J. (1999). Founding the American Presidency. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 0-8476-9499-2. OCLC 40856998.
- Fowler, William M. Jr. (1980). The Baron of Beacon Hill: A Biography of John Hancock. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 0-395-27619-5. OCLC 5493800.
- Jillson, Calvin C.; Wilson, Rick K. (1994). Congressional Dynamics: Structure, Coordination, and Choice in the First American Congress, 1774–1789. Palo Alto, California: Stanford University Press. ISBN 0-8047-2293-5. OCLC 28963682.
- Morris, Richard B. (1987). The Forging of the Union, 1781–1789. New York City, New York: Harper & Row. ISBN 978-0060157333. OCLC 1005621076.
- Sanders, Jennings Bryans (1930). The Presidency of the Continental Congress, 1774-89: A Study in American Institutional History. Chicago. OCLC 492768915.
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Other websites
- Presidentsusa.net articles – "Other" Presidents Archived 2019-07-30 at the Wayback Machine
- United States House of Representatives article – The Articles of Confederation