The list of men who served as U.S. Presidents
under the Constitution of 1777, the Articles of Confederation are:
Samuel Huntington 1st President of the United
States of America
in Congress Assembled
March 1, 1781 to July 6, 1781
Thomas McKean
2nd President of the United States of America
in Congress Assembled
July 10, 1781 to November 5, 1781
John Hanson 3rd President of the United
States of America
in Congress Assembled
November 5, 1781 to November 4, 1782
Elias Boudinot
4th President of the United States of America
in Congress Assembled
November 4, 1782 to November 3, 1783
Thomas Mifflin
5th President of the United States of America
in Congress Assembled
November 3, 1783 to June 3, 1784
Richard Henry Lee 6th President of the United
States of America
in Congress Assembled
November 30, 1784 to November 23, 1785
John Hancock 7th President of the United
States of America
in Congress Assembled
November 23, 1785 to June 6, 1786
Nathaniel Gorham 8th President of the United
States of America
in Congress Assembled
June 1786 - November 13, 1786
Arthur St. Clair 9th President of the United
States of America
in Congress Assembled
February 2, 1787 to October 29, 1787
Cyrus Griffin 10th President of the United
States of America
in Congress Assembled
January 22, 1788 to March 4, 1789
One
of the great challenges of the effort in obtaining primary sources from 1774 to
1788 on the presidencies was that the National Archives
and Records Administration
(NARA) was not founded until 1934. Originally, the Continental Congress,
then United States in Congress Assembled, and finally the Tri-Parte 1787
Government as well as its agencies were responsible for maintaining their own
documents. This resulted in the loss and destruction of valuable records,
letters and manuscripts including the original Declaration of Independence.
Consequently, primary sources attesting to existence of the U.S. Presidency
under Constitution of 1777 must be ferreted out of museums, libraries, hundreds
of government agencies (federal, state and local), historical societies and even
in private collections. Many of these manuscripts are incomplete but the
writings of Washington, Adams, and Jefferson were easily uncovered thanks to the
online repositories illuminating their discussions and correspondence with
Confederation U.S. Presidents. Most importantly, the Library of Congress
completed a masterful scholarly effort in collecting and placing online the
“Letters of the Delegates to Congress”
[70]
at
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/amlaw/lwdg.html.
Here many letters are found illuminating the nature of the Pre-1789 presidencies
such as, Washington writing Secretary Charles Thompson, after being informed of
the election of Thomas McKean as the Second President of the United States in
Congress Assembled:
Sir, I have been honored by your letter of the 10th that Congrefs, upon the
retiring of the late President Huntington elected the honorable Thomas McKean,
Esq. to preside in their respectable body, I shall for the future conduct my
correspondence agreeable to this information.
[71]
In another letter,
dated the same day to the new President, Washington conveys to McKean the
importance of Presidential communication to the Commander-in-Chief, in part
Washington writes:
I take this Opportunity most sincerely to congratulate you Sir, on the Honor
conferred on you by Congress, in being elected to preside in that most
respectable Body; happy, as I expect to be in your Correspondence, I dare say I
shall have no Reason to complain of the Mode of your conducting it; as from a
knowledge of your Character I flatter myself it will ever be performed with
great Propriety.
I take the Liberty however to request as a particular Favor, that you will be so
good as to convey to me, as you have Opportunity, any interesting Intelligence
which you may receive, either from Europe or respecting our Continental Affairs;
your Situation will put it particularly in your Power to oblige me in this
Request, and be assured Sir! that a greater Obligation cannot be conferred,
since for Want of Communication in this Way, I have often been left in the Dark
in Matters which essentially concern the public Welfare; and which, if known,
might be very influential in the Government of my Conduct in the Military Line.
I am happy to be informed by Accounts from all Parts of the Continent, of the
agreeable Prospect of a very plentiful Supply of almost all the Productions of
the Earth. Blessed as we are with the Bounties of Providence, necessary for our
support and Defence (sic), the Fault must surely be our own (and great indeed
will it be), if we do not, by a proper Use of them, attain the noble Prize for
which we have so long been contending, the Establishment of Peace, Liberty and
Independence.
[72]
On November 30, 1781,
a month after his win at Yorktown Washington writes John Hanson, the third U.S.
President, in less then four months:
Your Excellency's several Favors of the 10th. 13th. and 24th. instant with their
Inclosures were handed me while on the Road to this Town, which has prevented my
Reply before the present Moment. While I Congratulate your Excellency on your
Appointment to fill the most important Seat in the United States, I take the
same opportunity to thank you with great Sincerity for the very polite Manner in
which you are pleased to tender me the Advantages of your Correspondence. As a
mutual free Communication cannot fail to be attended with great Satisfaction to
me, and will undoubtedly be productive of very useful Consequences to the public
Cause, your Excellency may be assured I shall pay very particular Attention to
this Correspondence.
I sincerely Accord to your Excellency's Sentiment that Our public Affairs at
present assume a promising Aspect; but suffer me to begin the Freedom of our
Correspondence, by Observing to your Excellency, that upon our future vigorous
Improvement of the present favorable Moment, depend the happy Consequences which
we now promise ourselves as the Result of all the successful Events of the last
Campaign.[73]
Washington’s letters to his superiors are numerous and show a consistent
communication between the Commander-in-Chief and the Presidents of the United
States in Congress Assembled. Subsequent chapters are filled with letters
concerning military and political matters that provide ample evidence why it was
necessary to combine the two offices in the Federal Constitution of 1787.
It is the Federal Constitution of 1777, along with its proclamations, laws, and
resolutions used to conduct the government of the United States from1781 to 1788
that provides irrefutable evidence ten men served as President of the United
States before George Washington. Here are four examples of many, where the
title President of the United States was used as recorded by the Official
Journals of The United States in Congress Assembled:
Ratification of
Treaty between the United States and Sweden signed by John Hanson as President:
The United States in Congress assembled --To all
who shall see these presents, send greeting.
It having been represented to Congress by their minister plenipotentiary at the
Court of Versailles, that the king of Sweden has signified by his ambassador at
that Court to our said minister his desire to enter into a treaty with the
United States in Congress assembled; and we being willing to promote the same
for establishing harmony and good intercourse between the citizens of the United
States and the subjects of the said king:--Know ye, therefore, That we,
confiding in the integrity, prudence and ability of the honourable Benjamin
Franklin, esquire, have nominated, constituted and appointed, and by these
presents do nominate, constitute and appoint the said Benjamin Franklin, our
minister plenipotentiary, giving him full powers, general and special, to act in
that quality, to confer, treat, agree and conclude with the person or persons
vested with equal powers by the said king, of and concerning a treaty of amity
and commerce between the United States in Congress assembled, and the king of
Sweden; and whatever shall be so agreed and concluded for us and in our name to
sign and thereupon to make such treaty, conventions and agreements as he shall
judge conformable to the ends we have in view, hereby promising in good faith
that we will accept, ratify and execute whatever shall be agreed, concluded and
signed by our said minister. And whereas it may so happen that our aforesaid
minister may die, or be otherwise incapacitated to execute this commission: We
do, in that case, by these presents constitute and appoint the honourable John
Adams our minister plenipotentiary for the purpose aforesaid; and in case of his
death or incapacity, we appoint the honourable John Jay our minister
plenipotentiary for the purpose aforesaid; and in case of his death or
incapacity also, we do appoint the honourable Henry Laurens our minister
plenipotentiary for the purpose aforesaid, with all the powers herein before
delegated to the honourable Benjamin Franklin. In witness whereof we have
caused these to be sealed with our seal. Done at Philadelphia this 28th day of
September in the year of our Lord 1782 and in the year of our Independence, by
the United States in Congress assembled. In testimony whereof, we have caused
the seal of the United States of America to be affixed to these presents.
Witness His Excellency John Hanson, Esq. President of the United States in
Congress assembled, the twenty-eighth day of September, in the year of our Lord,
one thousand seven hundred and eighty-two, and of our sovereignty and
Independence the seventh.
[74]
United States
Commercial Agent Appointment signed by Elias Boudinot as President:
We reposing special trust and confidence in your
abilities and integrity have constituted and appointed, and by these presents do
constitute and appoint you our commercial agent during our pleasure, at the city
and port of Havannah, to manage the occasional concerns of Congress, to assist;
the American traders with your advice, and to solicit their affairs with the
Spanish Government, and to govern yourself according to the orders you may from
time to time receive from the United States in Congress assembled. And that you
may effectually execute the office to which you are appointed, we request the
Governor, Judges and all other officers of his Catholic Majesty to afford you
all countenance and assistance.
In Testimony whereof we have caused the Seal of the
United States of America to be hereunto affixed. Witness his Excellency Elias
Boudinot, President of the United States in Congress assembled, the second day
of June in the Year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty three, and
of our Sovereignty and Independence the seventh.[75]
United States
Native American Commissioners Appointment signed by Thomas Mifflin as
President:
The United States in Congress Assembled
To all who shall see these presents send
Greeting: Whereas, we have judged it proper that one or more convention or
conventions be held with the Native Americans residing within the boundaries of
the United States of America in the northern and middle departments
comprehending the whole of the Native Americans known by the name of the Six
Nations and all to the northward and westward of them and as far south as the
Cherokees exclusive, for the purposes of receiving them into the favour and
protection of the United States and of establishing boundary lines of property
for separating and dividing the settlements of the citizens of the United States
of America from the Native American villages and hunting grounds and thereby
extinguishing as far as possible all occasion of future animosities, disquiet
and vexation;
Now, therefore, Know Ye that we reposing special
trust and confidence in the integrity, prudence and ability of our trusty and
beloved George Rogers Clarke, Oliver Wolcot, Nathaniel Greene, Richard Butler
and Stephen Higgenson, have nominated, constituted and appointed and by these
presents do nominate constitute and appoint them the said George Rogers Clarke,
Oliver Wolcot, Nathaniel Greene, Richard Butler and Stephen Higgenson our
commissioners giving and granting to them and to any three of them full power
and authority for us and in our name to confer, treat, agree and conclude with
the said Native Americans or with any nation or tribe of Native Americans within
the boundaries of the United States or bordering thereon in the northern and
middle departments aforesaid, of and concerning the establishment of peace with
the said Native Americans, extinguishing their claims and settling boundaries
between them and the citizens of the United States, in as ample form and with
the same effect as if we were personally present and acted therein, hereby
promising to hold valid and to fulfil and execute whatever shall be agreed upon,
concluded and signed by our said commissioners or any three of them.
In testimony whereof we have caused the seal of the
United States of America to be hereunto affixed, witness his Excellency Thomas
Mifflin, president of the United States in Congress assembled this twelfth day
of March in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty-four and
of our Sovereignty and independence the eighth.[76]
Land Charters of
Compact to be executed by the President if the United States:
Resolved, That the resolutions of the 23d. of
April, 1784, in the words following Viz: "That so much of the Territory ceded or
to be ceded by individual States to the United States as is already purchased or
shall be purchased of the Native American Inhabitants, and offered for sale by
Congress, shall be divided into distinct States in the following manner, as
nearly as such Cessions will admit; that is to say, by parallels of latitude, so
that each State shall comprehend from North to South two degrees of latitude
beginning to count from the completion of forty five degrees North of the
equator; and by Meridians of longitude, one of which shall pass through the
lowest point of the rapids of Ohio, and the other through the western Cape of
the mouth of the great Kanhaway: but the Territory eastward of this last
Meridian, between the Ohio, lake Erie and Pennsylvania, shall be one State
whatsoever may be its comprehension of Latitude. That which may lie beyond the
Completion of the 45th degree between the said Meridians shall make part of the
State adjoining it on the South; and that part of the Ohio, which is between the
same Meridians coinciding nearly with the parallel of 39° shall be substituted
so far in lieu of that parallel on a boundary line"; And "That the preceding
articles shall be formed into a charter of Compact; shall be duly executed by
the President of the United States in Congress Assembledunder his hand and the seal of the United States; shall be promulgated;
and shall stand as fundamental Constitutions between the thirteen original
States and each of the several States now newly described, unalterable from and
after the sale of any part of the Territory of such State, pursuant to this
resolve, but by the joint consent of the United States in Congress assembled,
and of the particular State within which such alteration is proposed to be made"
be and they are hereby repealed.[77]
These and a multitude of laws, treaties, commissions and resolutions enacted
under the Journals of the United States of Congress Assembled from 1781-1788 are
primary sources the U.S. Presidency was birthed, enacted and finally reformed
under the Federal Constitution of 1777.
George Washington, the 1st Commander-in-Chief:
One of the most remarkable events in United States history occurred on December
23, 1783. In November of 1783 the British finally evacuated New York and
Congress made the important decision to scale down the Continental Army as peace
has been negotiated with Great Britain. It was in Annapolis, in yet
another federal capitol that the last great act of the Revolutionary War
occurred on December 23, 1783; the Commander-in-Chief was to resign his
commission.
"The General came to town last friday, and
announced his arrival, by a letter to congress, requesting to know, in what
manner they chused he should resign his authority; whether by private letter or
public audience? The latter was preferred without hesitation. Some etiquette
being settled on saturday, a public dinner was ordered on monday and the
audience to be on tuesday. The feast on monday was the most extraordinary I ever
attended. Between 2 and 3 hundred Gentn: dined together in the ball-room. The
number of cheerful voices,, with the clangor of knives and forks made a din of a
very extraordinary nature and most delightful influence. Every man seemed to be
in heaven or so absored in the pleasures of imagination, as to neglect the more
sordid appetites, for not a soul got drunk, though there was wine in plenty and
the usual number of 13 toasts drank, besides one given afterwards by the General
which you ought to be acquainted with: it is as follows. 'Competent powers to
congress for general purposes.'
"In the evening of the same day, the Governor gave a ball at the State House. To
light the rooms every window was illuminated. Here the company was equally
numerous, and more brilliant, consisting of ladies and Gentn: Such was my
villanous awkwardness, that I could not venture to dance on this occasion, you
must therefore annex to it a cleverer Idea, than is to be expected from such a
mortified whelp as I am. The General danced every set, that all the ladies might
have the pleasure of dancing with him, or as it has since been handsomely
expressed, get a touch of him.”
A
committee, composed of Thomas Jefferson, Elbridge Gerry, and James McHenry,
reported to Congress, on December 22, that the resignation should be performed
in the following manner:
"1. The President and members are to be seated
and covered, and the secretary to be standing by the side of the President.
2. The arrival of the General is to be announced
by the messenger to the secretary, who is thereupon to introduce the General
attended by his aids to the Hall of Congress.
3. The General being conducted to a chair by the
secretary is to be seated with an aid on each side, standing, and the secretary
is to resume his place.
4. After a proper time for the arrangement of
spectators, silence is to be ordered by the secretary, if necessary, and the
President is to address the general in the following words: "'Sir, The United
States in Congress assembled are prepared to receive your communications.
'"Where upon the General is to arise and address Congress, after which he is to
deliver his Commission and a copy of his address to the President.
5. The General having resumed his place, the
President is to deliver the answer of Congress, which the General is to receive
standing.
"6. The President having finished, the secretary
is to deliver the General a copy of the answer, and the General is then to take
his leave. ‘When the General rises to make his address, and also when he
retires, he is to bow to Congress, which they are to return by uncovering
without bowing.’ “
What made this action especially remarkable was that George Washington, at the
pinnacle of his power and popularity, surrendered the Commander-in-Chief
commission to President Thomas Mifflin. Five years earlier, the President was
then Major-General Mifflin[78]
who, as a member of the Board of War, conspired to replace Washington as
Commander-in-Chief with Horatio Gates in 1778. What follows is The United States
in Congress Assembled Journal’s account of George Washington's December 23, 1783
resignation.
According to order, his Excellency the Commander-in-Chief was admitted to a
public audience. Being seated, and silence ordered, the President, after a
pause, informed him that the United States in Congress assembled, were prepared
to receive his communications; Washington arose and addressed Congress as
follows:
Mr. President:
The great events on which my resignation
depended, having at length taken place, I have now the honor of offering my
sincere congratulations to Congress, and of presenting myself before them, to
surrender into their hands the trust committed to me, and to claim the
indulgence of retiring from the service of my country. Happy in the confirmation
of our independence and sovereignty, and pleased with the opportunity afforded
the United States, of becoming a respectable nation, I resign with satisfaction
the appointment I accepted with diffidence; a diffidence in my abilities to
accomplish so arduous a task; which however was superseded by a confidence in
the rectitude of our cause, the support of the supreme power of the Union, and
the patronage of Heaven.
The successful termination of the war has
verified the most sanguine expectations; and my gratitude for the interposition
of Providence, and the assistance I have received from my countrymen, increases
with every review of the momentous contest.
While I repeat my obligations to the army in
general, I should do injustice to my own feelings not to acknowledge, in this
place, the peculiar services and distinguished merits of the gentlemen who have
been attached to my person during the war. It was impossible the choice of
confidential officers to compose my family should have been more fortunate.
Permit me, sir, to recommend in particular, those who have continued in the
service to the present moment, as worthy of the favorable notice and patron age
of Congress.
I consider it an indispensable duty to close
this last act of my official life by commending the interests of our dearest
country to the protection of Almighty God, and those who have the
superintendence of them to his holy keeping. Having now finished the work
assigned me, I retire from the great theatre of action, and bidding an
affectionate farewell to this august body, under whose orders I have so long
acted, I here offer my commission, and take my leave of all the employments of
public life'
George Washington then advanced and delivered to President Mifflin his
commission, with a copy of his address. He then returned to having resumed his
place before Congress and the President, whereupon the President Thomas Mifflin
returned him the following answer:
Sir,
The United States in Congress assembled receive
with emotions, too affecting for utterance, the solemn deposit resignation of
the authorities under which you have led their troops with safety and triumph
success through a long a perilous and a doubtful war. When called upon by your
country to defend its invaded rights, you accepted the sacred charge, before
they it had formed alliances, and whilst they were it was without funds or a
government to support you. You have conducted the great military contest with
wisdom and fortitude, through invariably regarding the fights of the civil
government power through all disasters and changes. You have, by the love and
confidence of your fellow-citizens, enabled them to display their martial
genius, and transmit their fame to posterity. You have persevered, till these
United States, aided by a magnanimous king and nation, have been enabled, under
a just Providence, to close the war in freedom, safety and independence; on
which happy event we sincerely join you in congratulations.
Having planted defended the standard of liberty
in this new world: having taught an useful lesson a lesson useful to those who
inflict and to those who feel oppression, you retire from the great theatre of
action, loaded with the blessings of your fellow-citizens, but your fame the
glory of your virtues will not terminate with your official life the glory of
your many virtues will military command, it will continue to animate remotest
posterity ages and this last act will not be among the least conspicuous. We
feel with you our obligations to the army in general; and will particularly
charge ourselves with the interests of those confidential officers, who have
attended your person to this interesting affecting moment.
We join you in commending the interests of our
dearest country to the protection of Almighty God, beseeching him to dispose the
hearts and minds of its citizens, to improve the opportunity afforded them, of
becoming a happy and respectable nation. And for you we address to him our
earnest prayers, that a life so beloved may be fostered with all his care; that
your days may be happy, as they have been illustrious; and that he will finally
give you that reward which this world cannot give.
The United States of America, no longer had a Commander-in-Chief for its
Generals to report to but report they did from December 24, 1784 to March 1789
directly to the President of the United States.
The Pinnacle of all evidence verifying the U.S. Presidency existed before 1789,
came in third month of President Thomas Mifflin's term On January 14, 1784 The
United States in Congress Assembled finally assembled a quorum of congressman
representing enough States to ratify the Definitive Treaty of Peace,
which ended the War with Great Britain. On January 21st the following
Proclamation was published and appeared in the Pennsylvania Gazette:
A PROCLAMATION. WHEREAS Definitive Articles of
peace and friendship, between the United States of America and his Britannic
Majesty, were concluded and signed at Paris on the 3d day of September, 1783, by
the Plenipotentiaries of the said United States and of His said Britannic
Majesty, duly and respectively authorized for that purpose, which definitive
articles are in the words following:
And we, the United States in Congress assembled,
having seen and duly considered the definitive articles aforesaid, did, by a
certain article, under the seal of the United States, bearing date this 14th day
of January, 1784, approve, ratify and confirm the same, and every part and
clause thereof, engaging and promising that we would sincerely and faithfully
perform and observe the same, and never to suffer them to be violated by any
one, or transgressed in any manner, as far as should be in our power.
And being sincerely disposed to carry the said
articles into execution, truly, honestly and with good faith, according to the
intent and meaning thereof, We have thought proper, by these presents, to notify
the premises to all the good citizens of these States, hereby enjoining all
bodies of magistracy, legislative, executive and judiciary, all persons bearing
office, civil or military, of whatever rank, degree or powers, and all others,
the good citizens of these states, of every vocation and condition, that,
reverencing those stipulations entered into on their behalf, under the authority
of that federal bond, by which their existence as an independent people is bound
up together, and is known and acknowledged by the nations of the world, and with
that-good faith, which is every man's surest guide, within their several
offices, jurisdictions and vocations, they carry into effect the said definitive
articles, and every clause and sentence thereof, strictly and completely.
Given under the seal of the United States.
Witness his Excellency THOMAS MIFFLIN, our President, at Annapolis, this 14th
day of January 1784, and of the sovereignty and independence of the United
States of America, the eighth.
[81]
Under the Great Seal of the United States Thomas Mifflin, signed as “our
President” on the official Treaty that ended the War with Great Britain five
years before George Washington’s 1789 inauguration. King George III would
sign the treaty for Great Britain on April 9, 1784.
As you read through each of the chapters honoring these 14 Presidents of the
Continental Congress and the United States you will discover that each man
served, to the best of his ability a government that was experimenting with a
concept called a democratic republic. The Presidents held their offices in high
regard working tireless with no pay. Most ended their terms thoroughly exhausted
and ill due to the pressures of serving as the President, Legislative and
Judicial Chairs of the United States in Congress Assembled. It was a fluid
office that was undefined and overtly convoluted by an expanding unicameral
State sinking in a flawed constitution. Additionally, its treasury was burdened
by mountains of revolutionary war debt and peace with the European powers, even
by 1788, was tenuous at best.
Never-the-less these men overcame all challenges and served the United States of
America as its Presidents enacting legislation, treaties and two U.S.
Constitutions that now have sustained their nation for 232 years. The
Presidents viewed the election to their office as one of honor. Although never
paid, the Presidency made them national figures, enhancing their reputations in
their all important home States.
The second President of the United States under the Articles, Thomas McKean
served a mere four month tenure in office. This signor of both Federal
Constitutions and the Declaration of Independence referred to the importance of
his Presidency when turning down his party’s request to run as Thomas
Jefferson’s Vice President under the new 12th Amendment to the second
U.S. Constitution. Governor McKean wrote on October 16, 1803 to Pennsylvania
Republican Party Founder Alexander J. Dallas:
... President of the United States in Congress
Assembled in the year of 1781 (a proud year for Americans) equaled any merit or
pretensions of mine and cannot now be increased by the office of Vice President.
[82]
Upon Pennsylvania
ratifying the 12th Amendment to the Constitution of 1787,
creating for the first time a Presidential/Vice Presidential ticket, Governor
McKean transmitted the state ratification on January 8, 1804 to President
Jefferson with a letter stating:
Several Gentleman of the Republican Party have wished to use my name as a
Candidate for Vice President, but I have absolutely declined it on public and
personal considerations, and my reasons seem to have given satisfaction.[83]
Clearly, former
President McKean, although respectful of President Jefferson’s office, saw the
Vice Presidency as a post vastly substandard of the office he held in the
crucial months of 1781.
The 1781-1788 Presidency of the United States:
In this internet age, when communication is instantaneous, the amount of
misinformation permeating the written and visual record is astounding. Careful
scholarship, now more then ever, must be observed, especially on matters
historically important to the national identity of the United States of America
which founded the internet. This author, whenever possible, has gone directly
to primary sources to give an account of the U.S. Presidency’s progression from
1774 to 1788. The most salient points of the case are summarized as follows:
1. The Journals of the
Continental Congress and the United States in Congress Assembled clearly
indicate that there were six Presidents of the Continental Congress and ten
Presidents of the United States in Congress Assembled before George Washington's
Inauguration in 1789. Two of the Presidents, John Hancock and Samuel Huntington
served in both offices bring the total number of men hold office to 14.
2. These fourteen
Presidents, aside from Secretary Charles Thomson, were the only members of the
United States and Colonies freely elected by Congressional Delegates to
represent the United Colonies/States in their entirety.
3. Peyton Randolph,
Henry Middleton and John Hancock served under the Colonial Articles of
Association from 1774 to July 2, 1776.
4. John Hancock, Henry
Laurens, John Jay, and Samuel Huntington served under the Articles of
Association and the Declaration of Independence from July 2, 1776 to March 1,
1781 on which day the Constitution of 1777, the Articles of Confederation was
finally ratified,
5. The First State to
ratify The "Perpetual Union" of the United States was Virginia (not
Delaware) on December 16 1777. However, it wasn't until March 1, 1781 when
Maryland agreed to the mandatory unanimous ratification of the Articles of
Confederation, that first “Constitution” of the United States legally
bound the 13 States into one united country.
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Which U.S. President adopted
the Philadelphia Constitutional Convention
resolution, enacted the Northwest Ordinance, and backed George Washington,
James Madison and Nathaniel Gorham's resolution to submit the new U.S.
Constitution to the States for ratification without Congressional
alterations?
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