List of Presidents of Congress

During the American Revolutionary War, the president of the Continental Congress played a very important role in the historical development of the United States. Many of these people such as John Hancock went on to sign some of the most famous documents in American history. Many of which helped shaped the foundations of the structure of the early American Government or took part in the actual combat in the American Revolution. Many of the contributions made by these people do go unnoticed and completely forgotten by flows of time. I hope to educate as many people as possible about the things that some of these people made during their tenure in the continental congress. At least 14 people have held the position of the Presidency of the Continental Congress. According to historical records. Many have held the position more than once throughout their tenue in the continental congress. Below is a link to the article that validates that these individuals mentioned above have held the position of President of the Continental Congress. I have provided a list of the names of the people that served as president of the continental congress. I also provided an image of that shows what these people looked like and the order of sequence that they served. I have provided the states they represented and the time they served in office. I also would like to point out that quite a lot of people would not be familiar with these names as they are not usually talked about in many US History Textbooks. I do hope that some of this information will be helpful regarding the historical significance of the role of the Continental Congress during the American Revolution.

Here is the official list of known individuals that occupied the office of President of the Continental Congress were:

Peyton Randolph (1721–1775) Virginia September 5, 1774- October 22, 1774
Henry Middleton South Carolina October 22, 1774 –October 26, 1774
Peyton Randolph (1721–1775) Virginia May 10, 1775 – May 24, 1775
John Hancock (1737–1793) Massachusetts May 24, 1775 – October 29, 1777
Henry Laurens (1724–1792) South Carolina November 1, 1777 – December 9, 1778
John Jay (1745–1829) New York December 10, 1778 – September 28, 1779
Samuel Huntington (1731–1796) Connecticut September 28, 1779 – July 10, 1781
Thomas McKean (1734–1817) Delaware July 10, 1781 – November 5, 1781
John Hanson (1721–1783) Maryland November 5, 1781 – November 4, 1782
Elias Boudinot (1740–1821) New Jersey November 4, 1782 – November 3, 1783
Thomas Mifflin (1744–1800) Pennsylvania November 3, 1783 – June 3, 1784
Richard Henry Lee (1732–1794) Virginia November 30, 1784 – November 4, 1785
John Hancock (1737–1793) Massachusetts November 23, 1785 – June 5, 1786
Nathaniel Gorham (1738–1796) Massachusetts June 6, 1786 – February 2, 1787
Arthur St. Clair (1737–1818) Pennsylvania February 2, 1787 – November 4, 1787
Cyrus Griffin (1748–1810) Virginia January 22, 1788 – November 2, 1788

citation

Rust, Randal. “Continental Presidents, Congress, Confederation, 13 Original States.” American History Central, May 16, 2024. https://www.americanhistorycentral.com/entries/continental-congress-presidents/.