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14 Presidents of the United States Before George Washington

Posted byBy ABS Contributor | Published on: | Updated on July 20, 2017 CommentsComments (22)

john hancock

3. John Hancock (May 24, 1775 – Oct. 31, 1777)(November 1785 – June 5, 1786)The third president was rebel leader and merchant John Hancock.  Hancock  also served as the first and third governor of the commonwealth of Massachusetts. He is remembered for his large and stylish signature on the United States Declaration of Independence, so much so that the term “John Hancock” became a synonym for a signature.

Henry Laurens

4. Henry Laurens (1777–1778)The fourth president was Henry Laurens, who was an American merchant and rice planter from South Carolina and became a political leader during the Revolutionary War.  Laurens succeeded John Hancock as president and was a signatory to the Articles of Confederation, and president when the Constitution was passed on November 15, 1777.
Laurens had earned great wealth as a partner in the largest slave-trading house in North America, Austin and Laurens. In the 1750s alone, this Charleston firm oversaw the sale of more than 8,000 enslaved Africans.

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