Molly Dalton
Eagle ID: 900697015
HIST 1112X
Extra Credit Assignment
1. When beginning this assignment, my first course of action was to go to Google.com, type in
“John Hanson First President” and browse the first few results. I read a few articles written by
random people on sites similar to Wikipedia and definitely saw the claim that he was the first
black president of the United States instead of Barack Obama multiple times. Afterwards, I
spotted a website sponsored by the county in Maryland where I previously read John Hanson
lived. I clicked on this and decided it was credible. (http://www.marshallhall.org/hanson.html)
The photo of John Hanson there was clearly a white man. The short biography stated he was of
Swedish descent. I also think this makes more sense in the context of society at the time. A black
man unfortunately didn’t have those powers at that time and most likely wouldn’t even have
been literate. I was wondering why there was such a discrepancy and came across a comment in
the comment section of one of the articles that may or may not be true, but nevertheless is a
possible explanation. The comment states: “I am studying history and currently earning my
masters. The picture of John Hanson on the left is the real photo, the picture on the right is
senator John Hanson, a politician from Liberia, who was involved with the resettlement of freed
slaves in that country. Whilst this Hanson was indeed black, he also lived a hundred years too
late.” (http://www.nowpublic.com/the_first_president_of_the_usa_was_a_black_man)
2. This story seems like a great story. I was hoping it to be true. My Google search turned up plenty
blogs from anonymous writers who may or may not be credible. I went with a link done by a
newspaperman/historian called “Remember When”, where he publishes random nostalgic
moments in history. The article states that someone contacted him about the story of Private
Tandey, a Green Howard who came so close to shooting a wounded man, who later turned out
to be none other than Adolf Hitler. The historian recounts the story and shares the outcomes of
his research. He found that Hitler did have a copy of the painting based on the records and that
Hitler’s and Tandey’s battalions were present in the same section at the same time at least two
times during the war. Despite this information, information also arose proving that Tandey’s
battalion was actually evacuated two days before Hitler’s unit whenever this painting was
supposed to have been taking place. Papers also supported that Hitler was on leave during this
period of time. So I don’t believe this story is true. I believe it could have been developed simply
to boost morale and make Hitler appear more vulnerable and less invincible in the hard times
that this war took place. (http://rememberwhen.gazettelive.co.uk/2010/08/how-a-green-
howard-nearly-shot.html)