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MARYLAND MANUAL 867 for several sessions. In 1773, he moved to Frederick County where he was to make his home for the rest of his life. While he lived in Charles County, he assumed the leadership of the opposition to the Stamp Act which secured for him local prominence. He also strongly advocated the Non-Importation Agreement in 1769, an action which virtually suspended all trade with England. After his removal to Frederick County, he presided at a meeting held to protest the closing of the Port of Boston. Shortly thereafter, he was appointed a delegate to the Convention of Maryland as well as a member of the Committee of Observation. In 1775, he signed the document known as the "Association of Freemen of Maryland" an agreement which continued armed and commercial resistance, and following the Battle of Bunker Hill, he played a prominent role in providing men and supplies for Washington's Army. In 1777, Congress submitted the Articles of Confederation to the legislatures of each state for ratification. Within a year and a half all had ratified the Articles except Maryland which refused to do so until those states which claimed lands in the Northwest Territory should surrender their claims. Maryland alone voted that Congress only had the sole right and power to determine the western boundary of those states which possessed land claims. Maryland insisted that the Northwest Territory should become the common property of the United States, "subject to be parceled out by Congress into free, convenient and independent governments." Led by John Hanson, who in 1779 had been elected to the Continental Congress, Maryland per- sisted in its demands until finally Congress yielded and recommended that all states with western land claims cede them to the Confedera- tion. After the adoption of the "Maryland plan," the Articles of Confederation then became operative when John Hanson and Daniel Carroll signed the document. On November 5, 1781, John Hanson was elected "President of the United States in Congress Assembled." He served until April of the following year, when increasing ill health forced him to become in- active. After General Washington's victory over Cornwallis at York- town, Hanson presented Washington to Congress to which he replied with a most appropriate address on November 28 of the same year. When Hanson's term expired in November of 1782, his health was so impaired that he decided to retire to private life. While he was visiting his nephew at Oxon Hill in Prince George's County, he died there on November 22, 1783. According to family tradition, he is buried at Oxon Hill, but the exact site of his grave remains unknown. In 1902, Maryland selected John Hanson to represent the state by a statue in the National Hall of Fame in the United States Capitol. In 1972, the Postal Service honored him with the issuance of a special postal card in his honor. The action by the Maryland General Assem- bly in 1973, honors a distinguished Maryland patriot who played an outstanding role in the winning of the Revolutionary War and in laying the foundation of the new nation. NAMES AND ORIGINS OF COUNTIES ALLEGANY The name is from the Indian word Oolikhanna, meaning "Beautiful Stream." The County was erected by an Act of Assembly, Chapter 29, Acts of 1789. The County seat is Cumberland. |
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Maryland Manual, 1973-74
| Volume 176, Page 867 View pdf image (33K) |
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