Constellation Similarity Assertions
Hancock, John, 1737-1793
John Hancock (b. January 23, 1737, Braintree, MA-d. October 8, 1793, Boston, MA) was a prominent Boston merchant and leading statesman during the American Revolutionary War period. A 1754 graduate of Harvard College, he served as its treasurer from 1773 until 1777.
Born in Braintree, Massachusetts, Hancock moved to Boston after the death of his father, the Reverend John Hancock (1702-1744) and lived with his uncle and aunt, Thomas (1703-1764) and Lydia Hancock (1714-1776). Upon graduating from Harvard, Hancock entered into his uncle’s prosperous trading business; in 1763, he became a partner. With the death of his uncle in 1764, Hancock took charge of the business and much of his uncle’s estate. As one of the wealthiest merchants in Massachusetts, John Hancock was conscious of the adverse effects of the British tariffs enacted after the French and Indian War (1755-1763), and was often involved in the escalating clashes between colonists and representatives of the crown. In early 1765 Hancock was elected a selectman of Boston, and later that year Hancock emerged as a vocal opponent of the Stamp Act. In May 1766 he was elected a member of the Massachusetts House of Representatives.
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