President of the Continental Congress - wikipedia President of the Continental Congress This article is part of a series on the United States Continental Congress Predecessors Albany Congress 1754 Stamp Act Congress 1765 1st Continental Congress Declaration and Resolves Continental Association Petition to the King 2nd Continental Congress Olive Branch Petition Committee of Secret Correspondence Necessity of Taking Up Arms Lee Resolution Declaration of Independence Model Treaty Articles of Confederation Court of Appeals in Cases of Capture Congress of the Confederation Bank of North America Land Ordinance of 1784 / of 1785 Northwest Ordinance of 1787 Members List of delegates Presidents of the Continental Congress Secretary of the Continental Congress United States portal The president of the Continental Congress was the presiding officer of the Continental Congress, the convention of delegates that emerged as the first ( transitional ) national government of the United States during the American Revolution. The president was a member of Congress elected by the other delegates to serve as a neutral discussion moderator during meetings of Congress. Designed to be a largely ceremonial position without much influence, the office was unrelated to the later office of President of the United States. Upon the ratification of the Articles of Confederation ( the new nation 's first constitution ) in March 1781, the Continental Congress became the Congress of the Confederation. The membership of the Second Continental Congress carried over without interruption to the First Congress of the Confederation, as did the office of president. Fourteen men served as president of Congress between September 1774 and November 1788. They came from 9 of the original 13 states : Virginia ( 3 ), Massachusetts ( 2 ), Pennsylvania ( 2 ), South Carolina ( 2 ), Connecticut ( 1 ), Delaware ( 1 ), Maryland ( 1 ), New Jersey ( 1 ), and New York ( 1 ). The median age at the time of election was 47. Contents 1 Role 2 Term of office 3 List of presidents 4 Relationship to the President of the United States 5 See also 6 References 6.1 Works cited 7 External links Role The president of Congress was, by design, a position with little authority. The Continental Congress, fearful of concentrating political power in an individual, gave their presiding officer even less responsibility than the speakers in the lower houses of the colonial assemblies. Unlike some colonial speakers, the president of Congress could not, for example, set the legislative agenda or make committee appointments. The president could not meet privately with foreign leaders ; such meetings were held with committees or the entire Congress. The presidency was a largely ceremonial position. There was no salary. The primary role of the office was to preside over meetings of Congress, which entailed serving as an impartial moderator during debates. When Congress would resolve itself into a Committee of the Whole to discuss important matters, the president would relinquish his chair to the chairman of the Committee of the Whole. Even so, the fact that President Thomas McKean was at the same time serving as Chief Justice of Pennsylvania, provoked some criticism that he had become too powerful. According to historian Jennings Sanders, McKean 's critics were ignorant of the powerlessness of the office of president of Congress. The president was also responsible for dealing with a large amount of official correspondence, but he could not answer any letter without being instructed to do so by Congress. Presidents also signed, but did not write, Congress 's official documents. These limitations could be frustrating, because a delegate essentially declined in influence when he was elected president. Historian Richard B. Morris argued that, despite the ceremonial role, some presidents were able to wield some influence : Lacking specific authorization or clear guidelines, the presidents of Congress could with some discretion influence events, formulate the agenda of Congress, and proded Congress to move in directions they considered proper. Much depended on the incumbents themselves and their readiness to exploit the peculiar opportunities their office provided. Congress, and its presidency, declined in importance after the ratification of the Articles of Confederation and the ending of the Revolutionary War. Increasingly, delegates elected to the Congress declined to serve, the leading men in each state preferred to serve in state government, and the Congress had difficulty establishing a quorum. President Hanson wanted to resign after only a week in office, but Congress lacked a quorum to select a successor, and so he stayed on. President Mifflin found it difficult to convince the states to send enough delegates to Congress to ratify the 1783 Treaty of Paris. For six weeks in 1784, President Lee did not come to Congress, but instead instructed secretary Charles Thomson to forward any papers that needed his signature. John Hancock was elected to a second term in November 1785, even though he was not then in Congress, and Congress was aware that he was unlikely to attend. He never took his seat, citing poor health, though he may have been uninterested in the position. Two delegates, David Ramsay and Nathaniel Gorham, performed his duties with the title of `` chairman ''. When Hancock finally resigned the office in June 1786, Gorham was elected. After he resigned in November 1786, it was months before enough members were present in Congress to elect a new president. In February 1787, General Arthur St. Clair was elected. Congress passed the Northwest Ordinance during St. Clair 's presidency and elected him as the governor of the Northwest Territory. As the people of the various states began debating the proposed United States Constitution in later months of 1787, the Confederation Congress found itself reduced to the status of a caretaker government. There were not enough delegates present to choose St. Clair 's successor until January 22, 1788, when the final president of Congress, Cyrus Griffin, was elected. Griffin resigned his office on November 15, 1788, after only two delegates showed up for the new session of Congress. Term of office Prior to ratification of the Articles, presidents of Congress served terms of no specific duration ; their tenure ended when they resigned, or, lacking an official resignation, when Congress selected a successor. When Peyton Randolph, who was elected in September 1774 to preside over the First Continental Congress, was unable to attend the last few days of the session due to poor health, Henry Middleton was elected to replace him. When the Second Continental Congress convened the following May, Randolph was again chosen as president, but he returned to Virginia two weeks later to preside over the House of Burgesses. John Hancock was elected to fill the vacancy, but his position was somewhat ambiguous, because it was not clear if Randolph had resigned or was on a leave of absence. The situation became uncomfortable when Randolph returned to Congress in September 1775. Some delegates thought Hancock should have stepped down, but he did not ; the matter was resolved only by Randolph 's sudden death that October. Ambiguity also clouded the end of Hancock 's term. He left in October 1777 for what he believed was an extended leave of absence, only to find upon his return that Congress had elected Henry Laurens to replace him. Hancock, whose term ran from May 24, 1775 to October 29, 1777 ( a period of 2 years, 5 months ), was the longest serving president of Congress. The length of a presidential term was ultimately codified by Article Nine of the Articles of Confederation, which authorized Congress `` to appoint one of their number 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 ''. When the Articles went into effect in March 1781, however, the Continental Congress did not hold an election for a new president under the new constitution. Instead, Samuel Huntington continued serving a term that had already exceeded the new Term limit. The first president to serve the specified one - year term was Thomas McKean ( November 5, 1781 to November 4, 1782 ). List of presidents Terms and backgrounds of the 14 persons who served as president of the Continental Congress : President State / colony Term Length Previous position Peyton Randolph Virginia 001 ! September 5, 1774 -- October 22, 1774 7001480000000000000 ♠ 48 days Speaker of the Virginia House of Burgesses Henry Middleton South Carolina 02 ! October 22, 1774 -- October 26, 1774 7000500000000000000 ♠ 5 days Speaker, S.C. Commons House of Assembly Peyton Randolph Virginia 03 ! May 10, 1775 -- May 24, 1775 7001150000000000000 ♠ 15 days Speaker of the Virginia House of Burgesses John Hancock Massachusetts 04 ! May 24, 1775 -- October 29, 1777 7002890000000000000 ♠ 890 days President, Massachusetts Provincial Congress Henry Laurens South Carolina 05 ! November 1, 1777 -- December 9, 1778 7002404000000000000 ♠ 404 days President, S.C. Provincial Congress, Vice President, S.C. John Jay New York 06 ! December 10, 1778 -- September 28, 1779 7002293000000000000 ♠ 293 days Chief Justice New York Supreme Court Samuel Huntington Connecticut 07 ! September 28, 1779 -- July 10, 1781 7002652000000000000 ♠ 652 days Associate Judge, Connecticut Superior Court Thomas McKean Delaware 08 ! July 10, 1781 -- November 5, 1781 7002119000000000000 ♠ 119 days Chief Justice of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court John Hanson Maryland 09 ! November 5, 1781 -- November 4, 1782 7002365000000000000 ♠ 365 days Maryland House of Delegates Elias Boudinot New Jersey 10 ! November 4, 1782 -- November 3, 1783 7002365000000000000 ♠ 365 days Commissary of Prisoners for the Continental Army Thomas Mifflin Pennsylvania 11 ! November 3, 1783 -- June 3, 1784 7002214000000000000 ♠ 214 days Quartermaster General of Continental Army, Board of War Richard Henry Lee Virginia 12 ! November 30, 1784 -- November 4, 1785 7002340000000000000 ♠ 340 days Virginia House of Burgesses John Hancock Massachusetts 13 ! November 23, 1785 -- June 5, 1786 7002195000000000000 ♠ 195 days Governor of Massachusetts Nathaniel Gorham Massachusetts 14 ! June 6, 1786 -- November 3, 1786 7002151000000000000 ♠ 151 days Board of War Arthur St. Clair Pennsylvania 15 ! February 2, 1787 -- November 4, 1787 7002276000000000000 ♠ 276 days Major General, Continental Army Cyrus Griffin Virginia 16 ! January 22, 1788 -- November 15, 1788 7002299000000000000 ♠ 299 days Judge, Virginia Court of Appeals Relationship to the president of the United States Because Hanson was the first president to serve under the Articles of Confederation, his grandson later promoted him as the `` first President of the United States '' and waged a successful campaign to have Hanson 's statue placed in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol, even though, according to historian Gregory Stiverson, Hanson was not one of Maryland 's foremost leaders of the Revolutionary era. In reality, beyond a similarity of title, the office of president of Congress `` bore no relationship '' to the later office of President of the United States. As historian Edmund Burnett wrote : ( T ) he President of the United States is scarcely in any sense the successor of the presidents of the old Congress. The presidents of Congress were almost solely presiding officers, possessing scarcely a shred of executive or administrative functions ; whereas the President of the United States is almost solely an executive officer, with no presiding duties at all. Barring a likeness in social and diplomatic precedence, the two offices are identical only in the possession of the same title. See also America 's Critical Period History of the United States ( 1776 -- 89 ) References ^ Jump up to : Ellis 1999, p. 1. Jump up ^ Morris 1987, p. 101. Jump up ^ Jillson & Wilson 1994, p. 71. Jump up ^ Jillson & Wilson 1994, pp. 71 -- 73. Jump up ^ Jillson & Wilson 1994, pp. 75, 89. Jump up ^ Jillson & Wilson 1994, pp. 77 -- 78. ^ Jump up to : Gregory A. Stiverson, `` Hanson, John, Jr. '', American National Biography Online, February 2000. Jump up ^ H. James Henderson. `` Boudinot, Elias '', American National Biography Online, February 2000. Jump up ^ Sanders 1930, 13. Jump up ^ Jillson & Wilson 1994, pp. 76, 82. Jump up ^ Jillson & Wilson 1994, p. 81. Jump up ^ Sanders 1930, pp. 21 -- 22. Jump up ^ Jillson & Wilson 1994, p. 76. Jump up ^ Jillson & Wilson 1994, p. 80. Jump up ^ Jillson & Wilson 1994, p. 78. Jump up ^ Jillson & Wilson 1994, p. 89. Jump up ^ Morris 1987, p. 100 Jump up ^ Jillson & Wilson 1994, pp. 85 -- 88. Jump up ^ John K. Alexander, `` Mifflin, Thomas '', American National Biography Online, February 2000. Jump up ^ Jillson & Wilson 1994, p. 87. ^ Jump up to : Jillson & Wilson 1994, p. 88. Jump up ^ Sanders 1930, p. 29. Jump up ^ Sanders 1930, pp. 30 -- 31. Jump up ^ Sanders 1930, p. 11. Jump up ^ Sanders 1930, pp. 11 -- 12. Jump up ^ Fowler 1980, p. 191. Jump up ^ Fowler 1980, p. 199. Jump up ^ Fowler 1980, p. 230 -- 31. Jump up ^ Ford, Worthington C. ; et al., eds. ( 1904 -- 37 ). `` Journals of the Continental Congress, 1774 - 1789 ''. Washington, D.C. Retrieved December 31, 2017. CS1 maint : Explicit use of et al. ( link ) CS1 maint : Date format ( link ) ^ Jump up to : Burnett 1941, 503. Jump up ^ Burnett 1941, p. 524. Jump up ^ Jillson & Wilson 1994, p. 77. Jump up ^ Burnett 1941, p. 34. Works cited Burnett, Edward Cody ( 1941 ). The Continental Congress. New York City, New York : Norton. Ellis, Richard J. ( 1999 ). Founding the American Presidency. Lanham, Maryland : Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 0 - 8476 - 9499 - 2. Fowler, William M., Jr. ( 1980 ). The Baron of Beacon Hill : A Biography of John Hancock. Boston : Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 0 - 395 - 27619 - 5... Jillson, Calvin C. ; Wilson, Rick K. ( 1994 ). Congressional Dynamics : Structure, Coordination, and Choice in the First American Congress, 1774 -- 1789. Palo Alto, California : Stanford University Press. ISBN 0 - 8047 - 2293 - 5... Morris, Richard B. ( 1987 ). The Forging of the Union, 1781 -- 1789. New York City, New York : Harper & Row. ISBN 978 - 0060157333. Sanders, Jennings Bryans ( 1930 ). The Presidency of the Continental Congress, 1774 - 89 : A Study in American Institutional History. Chicago. External links Presidentsusa.net articles -- `` Other '' Presidents United States House of Representatives article -- The Articles of Confederation Presidents of the Continental Congress First Continental Congress Peyton Randolph Henry Middleton Second Continental Congress Peyton Randolph John Hancock Henry Laurens John Jay Samuel Huntington Confederation Congress Samuel Huntington Thomas McKean John Hanson Elias Boudinot Thomas Mifflin Richard Henry Lee John Hancock * ( David Ramsay Nathaniel Gorham ) Nathaniel Gorham Arthur St. Clair Cyrus Griffin * Hancock did not attend during his 2nd term ; Ramsay and Gorham served as chairmen in his absence Government of the United States under the Articles of Confederation Congresses 1st Continental Congress 2nd Continental Congress The US in Congress Assembled Delegates Committee of the States Congressional Officers President Secretary Civil Offices / Officers Postmaster General Superintendent of Finance / Agent of the Marine Secretary at War Secretary of Foreign Affairs Court of Appeals Military Board of War Continental Army Commander in Chief Continental Navy Continental Marines Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=President_of_the_Continental_Congress&oldid=818367336 '' Categories : Continental Congress Continental Congressmen Heads of state of the United States Legislative speakers Lists of presidents United States presidential history Hidden categories : CS1 maint : Explicit use of et al. CS1 maint : Date format Talk Contents About Wikipedia Български Deutsch Español Français Mirandés Nederlands Polski Português Srpskohrvatski / српскохрватски Suomi Tiếng Việt Edit links This page was last edited on 3 January 2018, at 03 : 52. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution - ShareAlike License ; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia ® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization. About Wikipedia

Question: who was voted the leader of the second continental congress
Answer: Peyton Randolph