John Hancock

Born in 1737 Massachusetts, after John Hancock’s clergyman father passed away when Hancock was a boy, he was raised by his wealthy aunt and uncle in Boston, graduating Harvard College in 1754, before working for a decade in his uncle’s shipping business. Upon his uncle’s death in 1764, Hancock inherited a vast fortune and a thriving business, soon making him one of the richest man in the New England colonies.

Early Politics

Entering local Boston politics as a selectman, after British Parliament imposed a steady stream of taxes on the colonies through what became known as The Intolerable Acts—in part to help pay for the colony’s defense during the French and Indian War—anti-British sentiment reached a high point with such insurrectionist protest acts such as the Boston Team Party, which in turn helped to give the region its nickname the “Cradle of Liberty.” Coming into direct conflict with the British when officials seized one of his merchant ships in 1768—under claims of tax avoidance by illegally offloading cargo—Hancock became increasingly involved in a nation’s push for independence, soon declaring Massachusetts an autonomous government when he was elected president of the Massachusetts Provincial Congress.

Second Continental Congress Delegate

Chosen as a delegate to the Second Continental Congress, Hancock’s revolutionary activities made him a leading target for British authorities, narrowly avoiding arrest in Lexington Massachusetts after Paul Revere’s midnight ride and the ensuing first shots of the Revolutionary War at the Battle of Lexington and Concord. Elected president of the Continental Congress in May of 1775—a body that would govern the new nation during the entirety of the war, according to legend, Hancock signed the Declaration of Independence in large bold letters, so that King George III could see his name without the need for glasses. After resigning as head of the Continental Congress in 1777, Hancock went on to become an instrumental framer of the U.S. Constitution, while serving on and off as governor of Massachusetts until his death on October 8th, 1793, making the life and politics of John Hancock, a leading voice during and after the American Revolution.