Hancock, John, 1737-1793

<p>The signature of John Hancock on the Declaration of Independence is the most flamboyant and easily recognizable of all. It is perhaps no surprise that the story of his part in the revolution is equally engaging. Few figures were more well known or more popular than John Hancock.</p>

<p>He played an instrumental role, sometimes by accident, and other times by design, in coaxing the American Revolution into being.</p>

<p>Born in Braintree, Massachusetts in 1737, he was orphaned as a child, and adopted by a wealthy merchant uncle who was childless. Hancock attended Harvard College for a business education and graduated at the age of 17. He apprenticed to his uncle as a clerk and proved so honest and capable that, in 1760, he was sent on a business mission to England.</p>

<p>John Hancock (January 23, 1737 [O.S. January 12, 1736] – October 8, 1793) was an American Founding Father, merchant, statesman, and prominent Patriot of the American Revolution. He served as president of the Second Continental Congress and was the first and third Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. He is remembered for his large and stylish signature on the United States Declaration of Independence, so much so that the term John Hancock or Hancock has become a nickname in the United States for one's signature.[1] He also signed the Articles of Confederation, and used his influence to ensure that Massachusetts ratified the United States Constitution in 1788.</p>

<p>Before the American Revolution, Hancock was one of the wealthiest men in the Thirteen Colonies, having inherited a profitable mercantile business from his uncle. He began his political career in Boston as a protégé of Samuel Adams, an influential local politician, though the two men later became estranged. Hancock used his wealth to support the colonial cause as tensions increased between colonists and Great Britain in the 1760s. He became very popular in Massachusetts, especially after British officials seized his sloop Liberty in 1768 and charged him with smuggling. Those charges were eventually dropped; he has often been described as a smuggler in historical accounts, but the accuracy of this characterization has been questioned.</p>

<p>As the son and grandson of ministers, John Hancock was destined for the ministry. His life took an abrupt change, however, when his father died. He along with his mother, brother and sister went to live with his grandparents in Lexington, Massachusetts. Hancock's stay in Lexington was, however, brief. Hancock’s grandfather sought better schooling for his grandson to prepare him for Harvard College, and made arrangements for John to move to Boston and live with Uncle Thomas and his wife Lydia. Thomas Hancock one of the richest merchants in Boston and lived in a grand mansion atop Beacon Hill. He and Lydia had no children.</p>

<p>Hancock attended Boston Latin School and graduated from Harvard in 1754. Instead of following the career path of his father and grandfather, Hancock returned to Beacon Hill to his Uncle’s enterprise. When Uncle Thomas died in 1765 Hancock inherited his entire fortune. Hancock loved politics more than business. In 1765 he was elected a selectman of Boston. His election came at a moment when colonial resistance to the Acts of Parliament was intensifying, and Hancock allied himself with the Boston Whigs.</p>

<p>Hancock's popularity guaranteed him election to every political post he sought, and in 1774 he was chosen as a member of the Massachusetts delegation to the First Continental Congress. In 1775 he returned as a member of the Second Continental Congress which elected him President. He presided over the chamber during the discussion concerning the appointment of a commander in chief for the Continental Army. It is likely that he saw himself as a candidate for the post and was deeply disappointed when both John Adams and Samuel Adams rose to nominate George Washington. Hancock remained president during the debate over independence and famously signed the Declaration with his bold signature.</p>