Peyton Randolph was the first elected president of the Continental Congress, preceding George Washington as the first official president of the United States. The position was largely ceremonial and had no relation to the current office of the US president. Randolph died before the Declaration of Independence and was Thomas Jefferson’s first cousin. He was re-elected briefly before resigning due to ill health.
George Washington was the first official president of the United States, but Peyton Randolph was the first to be elected president of the Continental Congress. The First Continental Congress in 1774 was a meeting of delegates from each colony to discuss the so-called intolerable acts that had been passed by Britain following the Boston Tea Party. The Second Continental Congress, which began in 1775, adopted the United States Declaration of Independence in 1776. While the Continental Congress is viewed by historians as the forerunner of United States government, the position of president was largely ceremonial. The duties of the president were simply to be an impartial moderator of the meetings and bore no relation to the current office of the president of the United States.
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Peyton Randolph died of what was probably a stroke in 1775, and thus missed the Declaration of Independence for less than a year.
Thomas Jefferson and Peyton Randolph were first cousins.
Randolph was elected as the first president of the Continental Congress in a unanimous vote, and was re-elected briefly as the third president, before being forced to resign due to ill health.
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