Hanson, John (1721-1783), was a Maryland statesman at the time of the Revolutionary War in America (1775-1783). In 1781, he served as president of the Congress of the Confederation, which operated the first government of the United States.
Hanson was born in Charles County, Maryland. He served in the Maryland Assembly almost every year from 1757 to 1779. Hanson helped lead resistance to various British attempts to tax the American Colonies, including the Stamp Act of 1765 and the Townshend Acts of 1767. He also helped organize and arm troops to fight the British during the Revolutionary War.
In 1779, Hanson was elected to the Continental Congress. He signed the Articles of Confederation, the agreement by which the original 13 English colonies formed the United States in 1781. Maryland placed a statue of him in the U.S. Capitol in 1903.
