Fun debate of the day: Was George Washington the real first president of the United States?
Not quite.
George Washington was the first president under the present 1787 Constitution. The honour of being the actual first president of the United States falls to John Hanson, at least according to Washington as well as Thomas Jefferson, but even they got it wrong, according to some.
Say what?
Well, there's a few little gaps in US History as it is taught in many schools:
- 1776: The signing of the Declaration of Independence.
- 1777: The drafting of the Articles of Confederation.
- 1781: The final ratification of the Articles of Confederation.
- 1787: The ratifying of the Constitution
- 1789: George Washington elected as president.
So who was president from 1776 to 1789? Turns out there were a slew of presidents before Washington came into power, and if you include pre-Declaration of Independence days, they stretch all the way back to 1754.
If you just include post-Declaration days, the first president of the United States (meaning the person in charge on July 4, 1776) was...John Hancock! (Although he himself was only the 2nd President of the 2nd Continental Congress.)
Several more present day fun facts to win a round of Trivial Pursuit :
- Who was the president when the United States hit its present border (meaning Puerto Rico all the way to Guam)? Not William McKinley, who was president when the US took over Cuba, Guam and The Philippines (since Cuba & The Philippines are now independent and have been so since 1902 and 1946 respectively); Not Jimmy Carter, who was president when the Panama Canal Zone was dissolved, but Bill Clinton, who was president when The Trust Territory of the Pacific ceased to exist. (Even so, you could argue that as a UN trusteeship, the Trust Territories weren't really a part of the United States, but the Compact of Free Association still binds them to the US.)
- Have DC residents been able to participate in national elections since inception? No. DC residents have only had the right to vote since 1961 (Thank you, 23rd Amendment!). Residents of Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands, American Samoa, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands cannot vote in national elections, however, residents of some US territories and commonwealths can be drafted and pay some federal taxes that other US citizens pay as well.
- Which US Territory's residents aren't US Citizens? American Samoa. Although they do send a representative to the House of Representatives, American Samoans have to apply for actual US citizenship.
- Which US Territory or Commonwealth doesn't have any representation (voting or non-voting) at all in Congress? The Northern Mariana Islands. (Interestingly, with the exception of Puerto Rico, all of the Commonwealth/Territory members of the House are Democrats. The Representative from Puerto Rico caucuses with the Republicans.)
Truly, the US is more like a collection of 50 nations and 6 federal colonies (9 if you include the COFA nations) than one country with equal rights for all.
3 comments:
the word "colony" can be a bit charged, and it may not be exactly right in this context since few american citizens permanently reside in guam, puerto rico, et al.
on the subject of taxation, i recall reading some time ago that puerto rico receives much more from the federal government than it pays in taxes precisely because it isn't a state. supposedly, if puerto rico became a state, it would have to pay a lot more taxes to the federal government without receiving much more that it already gets -- e.g., federal highway and eductional money, social security and medicare. and that's one of the reasons why puerto rico hasn't (and probably won't) voted to either become a state or separate from the u.s. they actually prefer the status quo.
so, although it's possible that guam, the northern mariana islands and some other places are getting a raw deal, i doubt that the same can be said about puerto rico.
to expand on my previous post...
if anything, the u.s. is a colony of puerto rico -- when you consider the number of inhabitants of the island who have permanently settled in america.
also, after i looked into the issue of statehood for puerto rico (and option that doesn't exist for guam, northern mariana islands et al.), i found two very interest sites. the first is an editorial in the new york times against statehood. the second is a page on a pro-statehood site that tries to refute the anti-statehood arguments.
http://tinyurl.com/6zgtmd
http://tinyurl.com/5hrzkh
i don't know why, but the issue of territories and dependencies (as well as citizenship, rights and taxation) is pretty fascinating.
It is quite interesting. Essentially, the US is proclaiming that it is "1 country, 3 systems," like the PRC says about Hong Kong.
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