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"John Hancock (1737-1793) was President of the Second Continental Congress and of the Congress
of the Confederation; first Governor of Massachusetts; and the first person
to sign the United States Declaration of Independence.
...
Early Career A Boston selectman and representative to the
Massachusetts General Court, his colonial trade business naturally disposed
him to resist the Stamp Act, which attempted to restrict colonial trading.
The Stamp Act was repealed, but later acts (such as the Townshend Acts)
led to further taxation on common goods. Eventually, Hancock's shipping
practices became more evasive, and he began to smuggle glass, lead, paper
and tea. In 1768, upon arriving from England, his sloop Liberty was
impounded by British customs officials for violation of revenue laws. This
caused a riot among some infuriated Bostonians, depending as they did on the
supplies on Blounder.
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" (Fradin &
McCurdy, 2002).
American Revolution
At first only a financier of the growing rebellion, he 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 Provisional
Congress of Massachusetts, 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 in a minute's 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 roused them about
midnight before the British
troops arrived at dawn for the Battle of Lexington and Concord. 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. He would serve
until October 30, 1777, when he was himself 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.
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. 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.
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.)'"
...
Content courtesy of
Wikipedia with
relevant CelebrateBoston internal links added. Distributed under the
GNU Free Documentation License. This page will not be indexed by search
engines. w200701
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