John Hanson (Liberia)

John Hanson (d. c. 1860) was an African American associated with the American Colonization Society, which sought to relocate black Americans to Liberia. In Liberia, he served as a senator from Grand Bassa County.
Senator Hanson has been confused with an earlier John Hanson, a white politician from Maryland who served as President of the Continental Congress during the American Revolution. According to this myth, John Hanson of Maryland was actually black. Internet sites promoting the hoax use the photograph of Senator John Hanson of Liberia to support the claim, even though photography had not yet been invented when the earlier John Hanson was living, as he died in 1783, and photography was not commercially introduced until 1839.