John Hancock
1737–1793 · President of the Continental Congress whose large signature on the Declaration became the most famous on the document.
John Hancock was born in 1737 in Braintree, Massachusetts, and raised in Boston by a wealthy uncle who left him a great mercantile fortune. He became a leading merchant and a popular patriot after British officials seized his sloop Liberty in 1768 for alleged smuggling. As president of the Continental Congress in 1776, he was the first to sign the engrossed Declaration of Independence; his large, clear signature is the one most people recognize today. Hancock spent the rest of his life in Massachusetts politics, serving many years as governor and presiding over the state convention that ratified the Constitution, which he finally supported after amendments were promised. He could be vain and fond of display, yet he gave generously to public causes and remained a symbol of the patriot cause. He died in office as governor in 1793.
See also: Signers of the Declaration · Samuel Adams · John Adams · Robert Treat Paine · Elbridge Gerry
Key dates
- 1737 Born in Braintree (now Quincy), Massachusetts
- 1768 British officials seize his sloop Liberty
- 1775 Becomes president of the Continental Congress
- 1776 Signs the Declaration first, as president of Congress
- 1780 Elected governor of Massachusetts
- 1793 Dies in office as governor
Read about them
Grades 6–8
- The Founding Documents · In the library
More lives
John Adams · Samuel Adams · Josiah Bartlett · Carter Braxton · Edmund Burke · Charles Carroll of Carrollton