the 1st black prez hmmmm?

Media Credit: www.dickgregory.com Dick Gregory's web site shows this picture of John Hanson as a black man.

Media Credit: John Hesselius This portrait from Wikipedia is illustrative of most pictures associated with John Hanson.

Many Americans are excited about the possibility of an African American man potentially being the president. Obama may potentially be credited as the first African American to hold presidential office, but does the name John Hanson ring a bell? Most likely not. It is possible that you have seen him before. It is said Hanson is one of the men pictured on the back of the two dollar bill.

Just what exactly was his significance you ask? Well, Hanson was president of the Continental Congress, what some would call the "true" first president of the United States. According to www.dickgregory.com "the new country was actually formed on March1, 1781 with the adoption of Confederation…Once the signing took place in 1781; a president was needed to run the country. John Hanson was chosen unanimously by congress."

Hanson tremendously influenced the way the country is run, even today. The web site www.dickgregory.com says that "Hanson established the Great Seal of the United States, established the first Treasury Department, the first Secretary of War, and the first Foreign Affairs Department. Also he declared that the fourth Thursday of every November was to be Thanksgiving Day, which is still true today."

But why cite www.dickgregory.com for a history lesson? It speaks to the controversy sparked by John Hanson's life. The largest argument of his legacy is not whether or not it is accurate, but instead whether or not he was African American.

According to www.wikipwedia.com, the question of whether John Hanson was a black man or not leaves "two possible origins for this belief. The first is that Hanson's grandfather was an early English immigrant to Maryland; (that) worked as an indentured servant. In six years, the immigrant John had worked his way out of debt, and a few years afterwards had purchased his own small farm. There is no record that the grandfather was black, but if indentured servitude was confused with chattel slavery, it is easy to see where this belief would have appeared."

Hanson's one year (as well as six other presidents that followed) term is not acknowledged because they served terms during a time when only the articles of confederation were followed. The constitution that we follow today was not yet created. Our Constitution was forged during the time George Washington took office as president of the United States.