John Hancock

Biography

John Hancock was born in Braintree, Massachusetts, in 1737, the son of a minister. After his father's death he was raised in Boston by his wealthy uncle Thomas Hancock, graduated from Harvard College in 1754 and trained in the family trading house. He inherited the business and a large fortune in 1764, becoming one of the richest men in the colonies.

Hancock joined the colonial opposition to British taxation as a protégé of Samuel Adams. The 1768 seizure of his sloop Liberty by customs officers, followed by a smuggling prosecution that was eventually dropped, made him a popular hero. In 1774 he became president of the Massachusetts Provincial Congress, and in April 1775 he and Adams were the leaders British troops were rumoured to be seeking at Lexington.

In May 1775 he was elected President of the Second Continental Congress and held the post until October 1777. As president he signed the Declaration of Independence with a large, flamboyant signature that became a byword, and he later signed the Articles of Confederation.

Hancock was elected the first governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in 1780, resigned in 1785 and returned in 1787, pardoning the Shays rebels. He presided over the state convention that narrowly ratified the U.S. Constitution in 1788 and remained governor until his death in 1793.