The President of the Continental Congress was the presiding officer of the Continental Congress. He was elected by the delegates to the congress. After the Articles of Confederation were adopted on March 1, 1781, the office was known as the President of the United States in Congress Assembled.

The office of President of the Continental Congress is probably most analogous to the modern-day Speaker of the United States House of Representatives. Like the Speaker, the President of the Continental Congress was expected to refrain from participating in debate, and was expected to vote last and only if his vote would be decisive. However, unlike the Speaker, the President of the Continental Congress had no power to assign delegates to committees.

The most famous President of the Continental Congress may be John Hancock, who presided over the Continental Congress when the Declaration of Independence was adopted and signed. His large and bold signature on the declaration has led to his name becoming a slang term for a signature.

Changes under the Articles of Confederation

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The Articles of Confederation imposed a few changes on the office of the President of the Continental Congress. As mentioned before, the formal title of the presiding officer became “The President of the United States, in Congress Assembled”, reflecting the change in the name of the congress to “The United States, in Congress Assembled”. Except for John Hanson, most of the Presidents used this title only for treaties and on the diplomatic credentials for ministers.

In their only explicit mention of the office, the Articles also term limited the President of the Continental Congress. A delegate could not serve as President of the Continental Congress in more than one year out of any three.

“President of the United States”

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The formal title of “President of the United States, in Congress Assembled” was often shortened to simply “President of the United States”.

However, the office of President of the Continental Congress had very little relationship to the office of President of the United States beyond the name. The President of the United States is the head of the executive branch of government, while the President of the Continental Congress was merely the chair of a body that most resembled a legislature, although it possessed legislative, executive, and judicial powers.

List of Presidents

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The following men served as the President of the First Continental Congress:

• Peyton Randolph (September 5, 1774 – October 21, 1774) and
• Henry Middleton (October 22, 1774 – October 26, 1774)

The following men served as the President of the Second Continental Congress:

• Peyton Randolph (May 10, 1775 – May 23, 1775)
• John Hancock (May 24, 1775 – October 31, 1777)
• Henry Laurens (November 1, 1777 – December 9, 1778)
• John Jay (December 10, 1778 – September 27, 1779)
• Samuel Huntington (September 28, 1779 – March 1, 1781)

The following men served as President of the United States in Congress Assembled:

• Samuel Huntington (March 1, 1781 – July 9, 1781)
• Thomas McKean (July 10, 1781 – November 4, 1781)
• John Hanson (November 5, 1781 – November 3, 1782)
• Elias Boudinot (November 4, 1782 – November 2, 1783)
• Thomas Mifflin (November 3, 1783 – October 31, 1784)
• Richard Henry Lee (November 30, 1784 – November 6, 1785)
• John Hancock (November 23, 1785 – May 29, 1786)
• Nathaniel Gorham (June 6, 1786 – November 5, 1786)
• Arthur St. Clair (February 2, 1787 – November 4, 1787)
• Cyrus Griffin (January 22, 1788 – November 2, 1788)

Notes

1. On March 1 1781 the title of the office changed, but Samuel Huntington remained president.
2. Continuation of term begun before official change of title.
3. Thomas McKean was the first President simply titled “President of the United States” in any official documents.

References

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Books

Web

See also

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• Continental Congress
• Articles of Confederation
• United States Constitution
• Constitutional Convention
• Annapolis Convention (1786)

Continental Congress

Präsident des Kontinentalkongresses | Prezydenci Kongresu Kontynentalnego