President of the Massachusetts Provincial Congress
In office
1774–1775
President of the Continental Congress
In office
May 24, 1775 – October 31, 1777
John Hancock
1st and 3rd Governor of Massachusetts
In office
October 25, 1780 – January 29, 1785
May 30, 1787 – October 8, 1793
Portrait by John Singleton Copley, c. 1770–72, Massachusetts Historical Society
Born
Died
Spouse(s)
Signature
January 23, 1737(1737-01-23)
Quincy, Massachusetts
October 8, 1793 (aged 56)
Quincy, Massachusetts
Dorothy Quincy
John Hancock (January 23, 1737 [O.S. January 12, 1736] – October 8, 1793) was a 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 "John Hancock" became, in the United States, a synonym for "signature".
Before the American Revolution, Hancock was one of the wealthiest men in the Thirteen Colonies, having inherited a profitable shipping business from his uncle. Hancock began his political career in Boston as a protégé of Samuel Adams, an influential local politician, though the two men would later become estranged. As tensions between colonists and Great Britain increased in the 1760s, Hancock used his wealth to support the colonial cause. He became very popular in Massachusetts, especially after British officials seized his sloop Liberty in 1768 and charged him with smuggling. Although the charges against Hancock were eventually dropped, he has often been described as a smuggler in historical accounts, but the accuracy of this characterization has been questioned.
Hancock was one of Boston's leaders during the crisis that led to the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War in 1775. He served more than two years in the Continental Congress in Philadelphia, and as president of Congress was the first to sign the Declaration of Independence. Hancock returned to Massachusetts and was elected as governor of the Commonwealth for most of his remaining years. He used his influence to ensure that Massachusetts ratified the United States Constitution in 1788.