State Presidents / Governors 1776-1790

Latest Changes: 07Oct27 - created /

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Who Presided Over or Governed the States during 1776-1790? The governors (sometimes called "presidents") of the newly-formed independent states in 1776 were the political leaders with the most power, since they led the political structures that controlled the release of manpower for duty outside the state, set and collected the taxes, decided what money and goods to send to the Continental Congress in support of their obligation to the war effort, and instructed the state's Congressional delegation on what to argue and vote for.

States in Order from North to South

State	Person	Term
New Hampshire	Meshechl Weare	1776-85
... NH ...	John Langdon	1785-86
... NH ...	John Sullivan	1786-88
... NH ...	John Langdon	1788-89
... NH ...	John Sullivan	1789-90
Massachusetts	John Hancock	1780-85
... MA ...	John Bowdoin	1785-87
... MA ...	John Hancock	1787-93
Rhode Island	William Greene	1778-86
... RI ...	John Collins	1786-90
Connecticut	Jonathan Trumbull	1776-84
... CT ...	Matthew Griswold	1784-86
... CT ...	Samuel Huntington	1786-96
New York	George Clinton	1777-95
New Jersey	William Livingston	1781-90
Pennsylvania	Joseph Reed	1778-81
... PA ...	William Moore	1778-81
... PA ...	John Dickinson	1782-85
... PA ...	Benjamin Franklin	1785-88
... PA ...	Thomas Mifflin	1788-99
Delaware	John McKinly, as chair of Council of the Safety to 1777 Feb, then elected President of Delaware. After McKinly was taken prisoner by the British on 1777 Sept 12 Speaker of the Assembly Thomas McKean acted as President for a month, and then Vice President George Read [Ref. Ward, DE Cont.]	1776-78
... DE ...	Caesar Rodney	1778-81
... DE ...	John Dickinson	1781-82
... DE ...	John Cook	1782-83
... DE ...	Nicholas Van Dyke	1783-86
... DE ...	Thomas Collins	1786-89
... DE ...	Jehu Davis	1789
... DE ...	Joshua Clayton	1789-96
Maryland	Thomas Sim Lee	1779-82
... MD ...	William Paca	1782-85
... MD ...	William Smallwood	1785-88
... MD ...	John Eager Howard	1788-91
Virginia	Patrick Henry	1776-79
... VA ...	Thomas Jefferson	1779-81
... VA ...	William Fleming	1781
... VA ...	Thomas Nelson	1781
... VA ...	Benjamin Harrison	1781-84
... VA ...	Patrick Henry	1784-86
... VA ...	Edmund Randolph	1786-88
... VA ...	Beverley Randolph	1788-91
North Carolina	Richard Caswell	1776-??
... NC ...	Abner Nash	1780-81
... NC ...	Thomas Burke	1781-82
... NC ...	Alexander Martin	1782-84
... NC ...	Richard Caswell	1784-87
... NC ...	Samuel Johnston	1787-89
... NC ...	Alexander Martin	1789-92
South Carolina	John Rutledge	1779-82
... SC ...	John Mathews	1782-83
... SC ...	Benjamin Guerard	1783-85
... SC ...	William Moultrie	1785-87
... SC ...	Thomas	1787-89
... SC ...	Charles Pinckney	1789-929
Georgia	John Houstoun	1778-79
... GA ...	John Wereat	1779-80
... GA ...	George Walton	1779-80
... GA ...	Richard Howley	1780
... GA ...	Stephen Heard	1780-81
... GA ...	Nathan Brownson	1781-82
... GA ...	John Martin	1782-83
... GA ...	Lyman Hall	1783-84
... GA ...	John Houstoun	1784-85
... GA ...	Samuel Elbert	1785-86
... GA ...	Edward Telfair	1786-87
... GA ...	George Mathews	1787-88
... GA ...	George Handley	1788-89
... GA ...	George Walton	1789-90

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