President of the Continental Congress

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The President of the Continental Congress was the presiding officer of the legislative body that governed the American colonies during the early years of the Revolutionary War, before the establishment of the U.S. Constitution.

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Observed surface forms (1)


Statements (51)

Predicate Object
instanceOf political office
presiding officer
appliesDuringPeriod American Revolutionary War
Confederation period of United States history
appliesToJurisdiction Thirteen Colonies
United Colonies of America
surface form: United States (under Articles of Confederation)
appointedBy Continental Congress
country United States of America
surface form: United States (historical predecessor)
dissolved 1789
firstHolder Peyton Randolph
followedBy President of the Congress of the Confederation
hasCharacteristic did not function as a modern executive president
largely ceremonial authority
hasRole maintaining order during debates
presiding over sessions of the Continental Congress
representing the Continental Congress in official correspondence
signing official documents of the Continental Congress
historicalContext governance of the American colonies and early United States before the U.S. Constitution
inception 1774
legalBasis resolutions of the Continental Congress
legislativeBody Continental Congress
notableOfficeHolder John Hancock
John Hanson
John Jay
Samuel Huntington
officeHolder Arthur St. Clair
Cyrus Griffin
Elias Boudinot
Henry Laurens
Henry Middleton
John Hancock
John Hanson
John Jay
Nathaniel Gorham
Peyton Randolph
Richard Henry Lee
Samuel Huntington
Thomas McKean
Thomas Mifflin
partOf Continental Congress
replacedBy President of the United States
Speaker of the United States House of Representatives
seat Annapolis
surface form: Annapolis, Maryland

Baltimore
New York City
Philadelphia
Princeton, New Jersey, United States
surface form: Princeton, New Jersey

Trenton, New Jersey
York, Pennsylvania
selectionMethod election by delegates of the Continental Congress
termLength no fixed constitutional term

Referenced by (3)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Henry Middleton office President of the Continental Congress
John positionHeld President of the Continental Congress
subject surface form: John Hancock
this entity surface form: President of the Second Continental Congress
Samuel Huntington positionHeld President of the Continental Congress