Josh Heuer
Active Member
Claim: There were 8 presidents of the United States before George Washington.
Examples:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/582763/posts
(The site goes on to list these folks)
Another example:
http://www.fourwinds10.net/siterun_data/government/us_constitution/news.php?q=1244133512
Which is practically the same thing, almost word for word.
And this:
http://www.constitution.org/hist/first8pres.htm
Which has the same message, but isn't directly copied.
So what's incorrect with these claims?
Debunk:
Well, there are a couple key points to keep in mind.
First, the 'United States' was not a nation of united states yet. In it's infancy, it was a confederate nation, which adopted the Articles of Confederation as a sort of agreement between the 13 states, or colonies. It was the original constitution, and it was drafted by the Continental Congress. They were the governing body of delegates that represented each of the states/colonies as an early form of government.
Second, the president of Continental Congress is NOT the same position as president of the United States. That's part of where the confusion comes in. It's like comparing apples and oranges; presidents and prime ministers; different leaders of different types of government.
So these folks were the presidents of Continental Congress, which is not the same as what out current president is (beginning with Washington, who literally was our first president under the new Constitution).
The problem I suppose comes in people's different levels of knowledge concerning early American history. In a typical high school, at least when I went, there was little/no mention of early American history prior to the American Revolution, and this period of time (between then and George Washington becoming president under the new constitution) was not even covered.
Hopefully more people than not realize this claim as bunk without having to do any research.
Examples:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/582763/posts
Another example:
http://www.fourwinds10.net/siterun_data/government/us_constitution/news.php?q=1244133512
Which is practically the same thing, almost word for word.
And this:
http://www.constitution.org/hist/first8pres.htm
Which has the same message, but isn't directly copied.
So what's incorrect with these claims?
Debunk:
Well, there are a couple key points to keep in mind.
First, the 'United States' was not a nation of united states yet. In it's infancy, it was a confederate nation, which adopted the Articles of Confederation as a sort of agreement between the 13 states, or colonies. It was the original constitution, and it was drafted by the Continental Congress. They were the governing body of delegates that represented each of the states/colonies as an early form of government.
Second, the president of Continental Congress is NOT the same position as president of the United States. That's part of where the confusion comes in. It's like comparing apples and oranges; presidents and prime ministers; different leaders of different types of government.
So these folks were the presidents of Continental Congress, which is not the same as what out current president is (beginning with Washington, who literally was our first president under the new Constitution).
The problem I suppose comes in people's different levels of knowledge concerning early American history. In a typical high school, at least when I went, there was little/no mention of early American history prior to the American Revolution, and this period of time (between then and George Washington becoming president under the new constitution) was not even covered.
Hopefully more people than not realize this claim as bunk without having to do any research.