The Facts Everyone Should Know Test

[Danger]

Thanks, Jimmy.
The only objection that I have to your second link is the following:

A prime example of why history is best learned from history books, not comic books (or the modern equivalent, web sites of dubious validity).

It seems a bit ironic, since this is itself from a net site, but the main point is that we heard about these (alleged?) previous presidents long before the Internet even existed. I don't think that you can categorize history texts as 'comic books'. The reason that I mentioned the ambiguity is that various sources claimed anywhere from 6 to 10 POTUS's (POTi?), depending upon when the US actually came into existence.
The subject doesn't interest me enough for me to dig into it further, but it does still seem to generate debate among real historians.

 

[BobG]

Before the Constitution of the United States, there was another document called the Articles of Confederation. Here is a url for more information about it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Articles_of_Confederation
That government, was ratified in 1781 and remained in effect until 1788 when the Constitution was ratified. Under that government, there were 8 presidents of the United States:
John Hanson
Elias Boudinot
Thomas Mifflin
Richard Henry Lee
John Hancock
Nathan Gorman
Arthur St. Clair
Cyrus Griffin
However, http://www.snopes.com/history/american/hanson.htm calls this information false.

That's because the similarity in the title's name (President of the United States in Congress Assembled) is a lot greater than the similarity in the position's role in government. Besides, he was only the third president of Congress under the Articles of Confederation. Your list leaves out Samuel Huntington and Thomas McKean (who replaced Huntington for a few months because of Huntington's ill health).

And if you consider them the nation's first leaders, then why not the President of the First Continental Congress, Peyton Randolph? Or, if the fact that we still weren't an independent nation during the First Continental Congress, how about the first President of the Second Continental Congress, which, coincedently, also happened to be Peyton Randolph? The war for independence had already started at the time, making the Second Continental Congress the first colonial government to act independently of England.

Or maybe you prefer John Hancock. He was the second President of the Second Continental Congress, but was president of congress at the time of the Declaration of Independence.

All of the above were presidents of Congress (kind of like being House Speaker), not the leader of an independent executive branch of government, which is why George Washington is considered the first President of the United States. He's the first to fill the role as it exists today.

 

[Jimmy Snyder]

There seems to be a lot of debate on this issue from many angles. I have no dog in this race myself. I do note that before the ratification of the Constitution, any entity that could be called the United States is not what is meant by that term today. The urban legend page seems conflicted:

1. John Hanson was president of the United States.
2. The Articles of Confederation did not form the United States into a country, in the same sense that NATO is not a country.
3. Therefore John Hanson was not president of the United States.

?

 

[Monique]

They didn't even ask who was the first president of the US

 

[Beeza]

78% :) I am a borderline idiot.

 

[SpaceTiger]

The urban legend page seems conflicted:

1. John Hanson was president of the United States.

Where does it say that? All I see is a description of the legend, followed by a debunking, which includes the sentence:

And John Hanson couldn't possibly have been the "first president of the United States," because neither the office of President of the United States nor the nation known as the United States of America was created until after he was dead.

 

[Jimmy Snyder]

This is the paragraph in the url that I referred to. Emphasis is mine

The key point here is that the Articles of Confederation did not create a nation called "the United States of America." They created, as stated in the first two articles, an alliance of thirteen independent and sovereign states who had agreed to "enter into a firm league of friendship with each other" while retaining their "sovereignty, freedom, and independence." The title of the confederacy so created was designated "The United States of America," but no nation with that name was created by the Articles of Confederation, any more than the formation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization resulted in the establishment of a nation known as "NATO."

The url is correct in noting the designation. Here is the text from the document itself.

Article I. The Stile of this Confederacy shall be "The United States of America."

 

[SpaceTiger]

The url is correct in noting the designation. Here is the text from the document itself.

Article I. The Stile of this Confederacy shall be "The United States of America."

Where does it say he was the president? It says he was the first to preside over the Congress under the Articles of the Confederation. In fact, the article goes on to explain that although the words "United States of America" were used, it was not a nation and did not refer to the United States of America as we understand it today. How do you feel that this is conflicted?

 

[Danger]

It says he was the first to preside over the Congress under the Articles of the Confederation.

Isn't presiding what a president does?

They didn't even ask who was the first president of the US

We know that, hence the following:

this post seems to indicate that the test was asking about the first president. That's not what I meant.

 

[Jimmy Snyder]

Where does it say he was the president?

It is implicit in the statement that the Articles of Confederation did not create a nation. Why mention it unless he was its president? Which he was. Which they did not deny. On rereading the article, I confirm my characterization of it.

 

[SpaceTiger]

It is implicit in the statement that the Articles of Confederation did not create a nation. Why mention it unless he was its president? Which he was.

So you're claiming that, contrary to their statement in the first paragraph of the snopes article, an office called "President of the United States" was created by the Articles of the Confederation. Do you have a reference to back this up?

 

[Jimmy Snyder]

Article 9 (excerpt): The United States in Congress assembled shall have authority to appoint a committee, to sit in the recess of Congress, to be denominated 'A Committee of the States', and to consist of one delegate from each State; and to appoint such other committees and civil officers as may be necessary for managing the general affairs of the United States under their direction -- to appoint one of their members to preside, provided that no person be allowed to serve in the office of president more than one year in any term of three years;

But this is irrelevant. Once again, the claim is implicit in the paragraph on the Urban Legend site. Why even mention the fact that the US was not a country unless it was to concede that he was its president?

 

[mathwonk]

how can anyone not know who wasin a wonderful life, donna reed, and ward bond!

 

[russ_watters]

That's because the similarity in the title's name (President of the United States in Congress Assembled) is a lot greater than the similarity in the position's role in government.

And the same goes for the name "United States of America".

Names aside, you can't consdier them the same government/country. Any question asking about the "United States of America" is at the very least implying that it is talking about the second incarnation.

One thing though, the Snopes article needs to fix the Capitalization of the Name, United states Of america in the article. It is misleading...

[edit: ehh, I should read entire threads befor posting. Already covered...]

 

[russ_watters]

Isn't presiding what a president does?

Sure, but the question is what he is presiding over.

 

[Gokul43201]

Isn't presiding what a president does?

Not over Congress. The Vice President presides over the Senate and the Speaker presides over the House.

 

[Jimmy Snyder]

I do note that before the ratification of the Constitution, any entity that could be called the United States is not what is meant by that term today.

I feel forced to backtrack from this. Here is the last sentence of the Constitution of the United States of America. Emphasis mine.

Done in Convention by the Unanimous Consent of the States present the Seventeenth Day of September in the Year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and Eighty seven and of the Independence of the United States of America the Twelfth In witness whereof We have hereunto subscribed our Names

The "twelfth" doesn't make sense if they thought they were creating a new entity called the United States of America. Here is the preamble:

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

They weren't establishing a country, they were establishing a Constitution. Not of the United States, but for it. They were not forming a new union, but rather a more perfect one. They were already the people of the United States even without ratification. How many times I have read these words without realizing what they meant.

In view of this, I would say as with Hank Arron/Babe Ruth, the asterisk is in the wrong place. George Washington was the first President of the United States of America under the Constitution.

 

[marlon]

Stupid American
You scored 86% not an idiot!
You probably get your news from Regis, don't you? You wouldn't be impossible to have a conversation with, but there would definitely be a few hand-on-forehead moments.




My test tracked 1 variable How you compared to other people your age and gender:

You scored higher than 99% on Culturedness

 

[marlon]

who is mickey mantle ?
who played in "it's a wonderful life"

who wrote moby dick

i did not know those

marlon

 

[marlon]

Was that just a random guess? It seems strange that a European would know John Adams was a US president, but wouldn't recognize George Washington. I don't think many Americans would recognize a picture of John Adams.

Most people in Europe will recognize George Washington. The other guy,John Adams that is, i never heard of.

marlon

 

[marlon]

The president question sort of surprised me. The picture is obviously George Washington, but I thought that it was generally accepted that he was not the first president.

WHAT ?

George Washington is NOT the first US president ? I have always learned that he was.

marlon

 

[turbo]

who is mickey mantle ?
who played in "it's a wonderful life"

who wrote moby dick

i did not know those

marlon

Mickey Mantle was a famous baseball player (NY Yankees) well-known for his home-runs.

That movie starred Jimmy Stewart.

Moby Dick was written by Herman Melville. The book was based on the sinking of the whaling ship Essex. The real story was far more gruesome than the novel, involving starvation and cannibalism at sea. Google on "Owen Coffin" if you're interested. BTW, Mountain's song "Nantucket Sleighride" was dedicated to the memory of Owen Coffin.

 

[mathwonk]

jimmy stewaRT, DONNA REED, WARD BOND, JEEZ,...

HERMANN MELVILLE, ARE YOU KIDDING? SURELY NO ONE IS UNAWARE OF THAT! what about the author of pitcairns island, or mysteries of paris?

on the other hand I've never heard of "youtube".

 

[Evo]

HERMANN MELVILLE, ARE YOU KIDDING? SURELY NO ONE IS UNAWARE OF THAT!

Yeah, I thought that Moby Dick was a classic known worldwide. Like who doesn't know who wrote Les Miserables?

 

[arildno]

Yeah, I thought that Moby Dick was a classic known worldwide. Like who doesn't know who wrote Les Miserables?

Yes, it belongs to the class of "books that I ought to read, but have never found the time to do so".
That is, the same class of books that most people put Remembrance of Things Past, for example.

 

[marlon]

Yeah, I thought that Moby Dick was a classic known worldwide. Like who doesn't know who wrote Les Miserables?

Moby Dick ? I first thought that was a detective but that's Dick Tracey no ? Ofcourse Les Misérables is very well known here.

greets
koopatrizzle

 

[Evo]

I've actually never read Moby Dick, but read enough about it that I know the story and the author. My mother gave me her copy of Les Miserables in French when I was 8, I muddled through part of it then decided to wait for the movie. I have not seen the Broadway play either.

 

[marlon]

My mother gave me her copy of Les Miserables in French when I was 8,

WOW !

BRAVO...

You understood that kind of French at the age of 8 ?

marlon

 

[Evo]

WOW !

BRAVO...

You understood that kind of French at the age of 8 ?

marlon

No, of course not. I could understand barely enough to get the gist. But I'm stubborn and really tried reading it, I just couldn't do it though.

Babar was more my speed.

 

[neutrino]

Most people in Europe will recognize George Washington. The other guy,John Adams that is, i never heard of.

marlon

Here's some trivia regarding Adams: He was the first (P)resident of the White House.

Edit: I just saw this -

During Adams' second day in the house he wrote a letter to his wife Abigail, containing a prayer for the house. Adams wrote:

I pray Heaven to bestow the best of blessings on this House, and all that shall hereafter inhabit it. May none but honest and wise men ever rule under this roof.

Looks like his prayers have gone unanswered.