John Hancock

For other uses, see John Hancock (disambiguation).

John Hancock
3rd President of the Continental Congress
In office 1775–1778
Preceded by	Peyton Randolph
Succeeded by	Henry Laurens
1st Governor of Massachusetts
In office 1780–1785
Lieutenant	Thomas Cushing
Preceded by	William Howe (as Governor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay)
Succeeded by	Thomas Cushing
3rd Governor of Massachusetts
In office May 30, 1787 – October 8, 1793
Lieutenant	Thomas Cushing
Preceded by	James Bowdoin
Succeeded by	Samuel Adams
Personal details
Born	(1737-01-23)January 23, 1737 Quincy, Massachusetts
Died	October 8, 1793(1793-10-08) (aged 56) Quincy, Massachusetts
Political party	None
Spouse	Dorothy Quincy
Signature

John Hancock (January 23 [O.S. January 12] 1737– October 8, 1793) was President of the Second Continental Congress and of the Congress of the Confederation, the first Governor of Massachusetts, and the first person to sign the United States Declaration of Independence.

Early life

John Hancock was born in Braintree, Massachusetts, the son of Reverend John Hancock and Mary Hawke. They lived in a part of town which eventually became the separate city of Quincy, Massachusetts, where John became a childhood friend of John Adams. In 1742, his father died and John was adopted by his paternal uncle—Thomas Hancock, who had no children and was a highly successful merchant and privateer who lived in Hancock Manor in Boston.

After graduating from the Boston Latin School in 1750, he enrolled in Harvard University and received a bachelors degree in 1754. Upon graduation, he worked for his uncle and was trained for eventually partnership. From 1760 to 1761, John lived in England while building relationships with customers and suppliers of his uncle's shipbuilding business. In January 1763, his uncle made him a full partner. Because of his uncle's illness, John took the leading role in the business. In August 1764, his uncle died and John inherited the business, Hancock Manor, and he became one of the wealthiest men in America.

Early career

While merchants in England routinely paid duties on imports, the colonies not only evaded duties, but smuggled cheap sugar and molasses from the French West Indies, an enemy country, undermining their countrymen in the British West Indies. Hancock smuggled an estimated 1.5 million gallons of molasses a year on which he should have paid £37,500 per year, but which corrupt custom officers only collected £2,000 per year.

In 1765, he took his uncle's seat as one of Boston's five selectman. He did not initially balk at the new taxes since he usually didn't pay them. His colonial trade business naturally led him to resist the Stamp Act. Financially, a British boycott could not come at a better time since his credit had run out in London and he could not buy any more goods if he wanted to. When he told his London agents he would not repay them while the Stamp Act was in effect, his agents joined in protests against the Stamp Act. In May, 1766 one of Hancock's ships brought news to Boston that the Stamp Act had been repealed.

In May, Hancock was elected to the Massachusetts General Court. The Governor asked the General Court to bring the Stamp Act rioters to justice. In response Otis and Adams pushed through the assembly a bill which gave the rioters amnesty.

Parliament agreed to only impose external taxes; the Townshend Acts was passed which put duties on various imports. Hancock's proposal of a partial boycott on British imports was accepted. Hancock also won support for this proposal to begin local manufacture of items such as clothing and jewelery which the colonies had been prohibited from manufacturing. After the passage of the Townshend Act he stated that he would not allow custom officers to board his ships.

On May 1768, Hancock was elected to the Massachusetts House of Representatives. The House elected him each year to the Governor's Council, but the Governor rejected his appointments until 1771 when the Governor changed his mind. Hancock then turned down the position and said he was no longer interested in politics. In 1769, he was elected speaker pro tem.

The Boston Massacre occurred in March 1770. Afterwards, a meeting of citizens at Faneuil Hall appointed a committee, which included Hancock, to meet with Governor Hutchinson and Colonel Dalrymple to demand the removal of the troops. Hancock warned the governor that "there are upwards of 4,000 men ready to take arms". Hutchinson and Dalrymple knew it was a bluff, but Dalrymple agreed to remove both regiments to Castle Island.

Samuel Adams popularity declined after the Boston Massacre and in 1771 Hancock said that he would "never again connect himself with the Adams'".

His regular merchant trade as well as his smuggling practices financed much of his region's resistance to British authority and his financial contributions led the people of Boston to joke that "Sam Adams writes the letters [to newspapers] and John Hancock pays the postage".

The Liberty

John Hancock, c. 1776

In May 1768, one of Hancock's ships, the Liberty, arrived in Boston with a load of Madiera. The custom officers did not inspect the ship until the next morning, when they found the ship was less than one-quarter full. The agents claimed that no wine had been unloaded during the night. The next month, while the warship HMS Romney was in port, one of the custom officers now said that he had been forcibly held on the Liberty and was threatened with death if he told about it. The government seized the ship. A mob gathered at the homes of the custom officers, smashing their windows and threatening to attack the custom officers if they returned.

Hancock was able to obtain the release of the Liberty until the case came up in court. Otis and Adams accused Hancock of capitulating to the government, in response to which Hancock canceled his deal to recover the ship. In August, the charges against Hancock were dropped, but his ship was ordered forfeited. In November, after British troops had arrived, Hancock was again arrested for smuggling on the Liberty. After three months, with no evidence or eyewitness testimony to his guilt being presented, he was acquitted. In February 1769, the events associated with the Liberty caused Parliament to order the Massachusetts Governor to apply the Treasons Act 1534, ordering those suspected of treason to be brought to England.

The ship was armed and roamed the coast looking for smugglers. Liberty's searches and seizures infuriated merchants in Newport and they sent a mob to burn the ship to the waterline.

President of the Continental Congress and the American Revolution

At first only a financier of the growing rebellion, John Hancock later became a public critic of British rule. On March 5, 1774, the fourth anniversary of the Boston Massacre, he gave a speech strongly condemning the British. In the same year, he was unanimously elected president of the Massachusetts Provincial Congress, and presided over its Committee of Safety. Under Hancock, Massachusetts was able to raise bands of "minutemen"—soldiers who pledged to be ready for battle on short notice—and his boycott of tea imported by the British East India Company eventually led to the Boston Tea Party.

In April 1775 as the British intent became apparent, Hancock and Samuel Adams slipped away from Boston to elude capture, staying in the Hancock-Clarke House in Lexington, Massachusetts (which can still be seen to this day). There Paul Revere supposedly roused them about midnight before the British troops arrived at dawn for the Battle of Lexington and Concord, but Prescott was the one who actually informed Hancock and Adams. At this time, General Thomas Gage ordered Hancock and Adams arrested for treason. Following the battle a proclamation was issued granting a general pardon to all who would demonstrate loyalty to the crown—with the exceptions of Hancock and Adams.

On May 24, 1775, he was elected the third President of the Second Continental Congress, succeeding Peyton Randolph. From October 27 1775 to July 1 1776, his title was "President of the United Colonies". From July 2 1776 to October 29 1777, the title was "President of the Continental Congress of the United States of America".

He would serve through some of the darkest days of the Revolutionary War including Washington's defeats in New York and New Jersey as well as Great Britain's occupation of Philadelphia until resigning his office in York, Pennsylvania on October 30, 1777. He was succeeded by Henry Laurens.

In the first month of his presidency, on June 19, 1775, Hancock commissioned George Washington commander-in-chief of the Continental Army. A year later, Hancock sent Washington a copy of the July 4, 1776 congressional resolution calling for independence as well as a copy of the Declaration of Independence.

Hancock's signature on the United States Declaration of Independence

John Trumbull's famous painting is sometimes incorrectly identified as a depiction of the signing of the Declaration. What the painting actually depicts is the five-man drafting committee presenting their work to the Congress. Trumbull's painting can also be found on the back of the U.S. $2 bill.

Hancock was the only one to sign the Declaration of Independence on the fourth; the other 55 delegates signed on August 2nd (see also "Lee Resolution" that declared independence on July 2nd). He also requested Washington have the Declaration read to the Continental Army. According to popular legend, he signed his name largely and clearly to be sure King George III could read it without his spectacles, causing his name to become, in the United States, an eponym for "signature". However, other examples suggest that Hancock always wrote his signature this way.

Major General

In January 1776, he was appointed commander in chief and major general of the Massachusetts militia. In July 1778, he led 6,000 of his militia in an failed attack on the British at Newport, Rhode Island.

Governor of Massachusetts

From 1780–1785, he was governor of Massachusetts. Hancock's skills as orator and moderator were much admired, but during the American Revolution he was most often sought out for his ability to raise funds and supplies for American troops. Despite his skill in the merchant trade, even Hancock had trouble meeting the Continental Congress's demand for beef cattle to feed the hungry army. On January 19, 1781, General Washington warned Hancock:

"I should not trouble your Excellency, with such reiterated applications on the score of supplies, if any objects less than the safety of these Posts on this River, and indeed the existence of the Army, were at stake. By the enclosed Extracts of a Letter, of Yesterday, from Major Genl. Heath, you will see our present situation, and future prospects. If therefore the supply of Beef Cattle demanded by the requisitions of Congress from Your State, is not regularly forwarded to the Army, I cannot consider myself as responsible for the maintenance of the Garrisons below West Point, New York, or the continuance of a single Regiment in the Field." (United States Library of Congress, 1781.)

President of the United States in Congress Assembled

On June 16 1785, Hancock was again elected to the United States in Congress Assembled under the Articles of Confederation. He was unable to attend the session of Congress in November 1785 due to his illness. However, he was elected President of the United States in Congress Assembled on November 23 1785 by the Delegates in the hope his leadership would restore unity in the Confederation Government that was falling apart. Hancock failed to attend any sessions in New York and his Presidential duties were performed by the two chairmen – David Ramsay (23 November 1785 - 12 May 1786) and Nathaniel Gorham (15 May - 5 June 1786). On 29 May 1786, Hancock, who was unable to write himself, had his letter of resignation written.

Quotations

• In circumstances as dark as these, it becomes us, as Men and Christians, to reflect that whilst every prudent measure should be taken to ward off the impending judgments, …at the same time all confidence must be withheld from the means we use; and reposed only on that God rules in the armies of Heaven, and without His whole blessing, the best human counsels are but foolishness… Resolved; …Thursday the 11th of May…to humble themselves before God under the heavy judgments felt and feared, to confess the sins that have deserved them, to implore the Forgiveness of all our transgressions, and a spirit of repentance and reformation …and a Blessing on the … Union of the American Colonies in Defense of their Rights [for which hitherto we desire to thank Almighty God]…That the people of Great Britain and their rulers may have their eyes opened to discern the things that shall make for the peace of the nation…for the redress of America’s many grievances, the restoration of all her invaded liberties, and their security to the latest generations.

• Day of Fasting, Humiliation and Prayer, with a total abstinence from labor and recreation. Proclamation on April 15, 1775

Dorothy Quincy, Mrs John Hancock, by John Singleton Copley, ca 1772

Family

Hancock married Dorothy Quincy. (Dorothy Quincy's aunt, who had the same name as her niece, was the great-grandmother of Oliver Wendell Holmes.)

John and Dorothy had two children, neither of whom survived to adulthood. [1]

• Lydia Hancock (Oct 1776–Aug 1777); died at the age of about ten months.
• John George Washington Hancock (21 May 1778–27 January 1787); died at the age of eight years.

Because of Hancock's fame and the frequency of his family name, many Americans continue to believe that they are descended from him.[2] Among these, for example, was the writer Ernest Hemingway.[3] In view of the childhood demise of both of Hancock's known children, it is unlikely that any such claim can be supported.

Additional notes

In 1772, Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral was published. John Hancock was among those who signed the attestation that Phillis Wheatley, an African American, was its author, refuting the popular assertion that a black woman could not have the intellect to produce the work. When, in 1773, the book was put on display in Aldgate, London (having been refused by Boston publishers) it thus became the first book by an African American to be officially published.

He was also a Freemason. As Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, he presented a flag to the Bucks of America black military unit of Boston.

Legacy

A number of things have been named after John Hancock:

• Several states named a Hancock County after him. They are: Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Mississippi, Ohio, Tennessee, and West Virginia.
• The town of Hancock, Massachusetts
• The city of Hancock, Michigan
• John Hancock Insurance, a U.S. insurance company, and in turn its office buildings,

• The John Hancock Tower, the tallest building in Boston, Massachusetts
• The "Old" John Hancock building, also in Boston, Massachusetts
• The John Hancock Center, major skyscraper in Chicago

• Continental schooner USS Hancock, hired to support George Washington's siege of Boston from 1775-1776
• Continental Navy frigate USS Hancock, one of the first 13 frigates authorized by the Second Continental Congress in 1775. Served in 1777 until captured by the British.
• USS Hancock (AP-3), the former steamer SS Arizona, served as a Navy transport from 1902 to 1925
• USS John Hancock, an 1850 steam tug
• USS Hancock (CV-19), an aircraft carrier that served from 1944 to 1976, including service in both World War II and the Vietnam War
• USS John Hancock (DD-981), a Spruance class destroyer commissioned in 1979 and decommissioned in 2000
• The college football John Hancock Bowl, played in El Paso, Texas between 1990 and 1993.
• The John Hancock Student Village at Boston University, a 10-acre dormitory and recreational complex sponsored by John Hancock Insurance

References

• Fradin, Dennis Brindell & McCurdy, Michael (2002). The Signers: The 56 Stories behind the Declaration of Independence. Walker & Company. ISBN 0-8027-8850-5.
• Unger, Harlow, John Hancock, Merchant King and American Patroit, 2005, ISBN 0785820264
• United States Library of Congress (1781). George Washington Papers. Online: [4].
• United States Library of Congress. U.S. Library of Congress Today in History: January 12. Retrieved January 18, 2003. Most of the initial text of this article was copied from this public domain source.

External links

• United States Congress. "John Hancock (id: H000149)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
• Biography by Charles A. Goodrich, 1856
• Official Commonwealth of Massachusetts Governor Biography
• Genealogy of John Hancock