Encyclopedia, Difference between revisions of "John Hancock" - New World

From New World Encyclopedia
Line 69: Line 69:
  
 
==References==
 
==References==
* Fradin, Dennis Brindell & McCurdy, Michael (2002). ''The Signers: The 56 Stories behind the Declaration of Independence''. Walker & Company. ISBN 0-8027-8850-5.
+
* Fradin, Dennis Brindell & McCurdy, Michael. ''The Signers: The 56 Stories behind the Declaration of Independence''. Walker & Company. ISBN 0-8027-8850-5.
 
* United States Library of Congress (1781). ''George Washington Papers''. Online: [http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/gwhtml/gwhome.html].
 
* United States Library of Congress (1781). ''George Washington Papers''. Online: [http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/gwhtml/gwhome.html].
 
* United States Library of Congress. [http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/jan12.html 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.
 
* United States Library of Congress. [http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/jan12.html 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.

Revision as of 18:04, 8 March 2007

John Hancock
John Hancock


1 and 3 Governor of Massachusetts
In office
1780 – 1785
May 30, 1787 – October 8, 1793
Preceded by Thomas Gage (as Governor of the Province of Massachusetts Bay)
James Bowdoin (1787)
Succeeded by Thomas Cushing (1785), Samuel Adams (1787)

Born January 12 1737
Quincy, Massachusetts
Died October 8 1793
Quincy, Massachusetts
Political party None
Spouse Dorothy Quincy

John Hancock (January 12, 1737– October 8, 1793) was an American leader, politician, writer, political philosopher and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. Hancock 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 Declaration of Independence. He played an instrumental role, sometimes by accident, and other times by design, in provoking the American Revolution.

Early life

Hancock was born in Braintree, Massachusetts in a part of town which eventually became the separate city of Quincy, Massachusetts. His father died when he was young, and he was adopted by his paternal uncle—Thomas Hancock, a highly successful merchant in New England. After graduating from Boston Latin School, he attended Harvard University and received a business degree in 1754, when he was seventeen. Upon graduation, he worked for his uncle. From 1760–1764, Hancock lived in England while building relationships with customers and suppliers of his uncle's shipbuilding business. Shortly after his return from England, his uncle died and he inherited the fortune and business, making him the wealthiest man in New England at the time.

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 (May 21, 1778–January 27, 1787); died at the age of eight years.

Early career

Hancock's signature on the Declaration of Independence

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 ship 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 board.

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

John Hancock, c. 1776

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. 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. two-dollar 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".

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.)

Hancock continued to serve as governor of Massachusetts until his death in 1793. He was interred at the Granary Burying Ground in Boston.

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.


References
ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

  • Fradin, Dennis Brindell & McCurdy, Michael. The Signers: The 56 Stories behind the Declaration of Independence. Walker & Company. ISBN 0-8027-8850-5.
  • United States Library of Congress (1781). George Washington Papers. Online: [2].
  • 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.
  • At The Drive-In - Initiation from 1996 album Acrobatic Tenement refers to Hancock in the first verse. 'John Hancock with the safety off after every show'.

External links

Preceded by:
Peyton Randolph
President of the Second Continental Congress
May 24, 1775 – October 31, 1777
Succeeded by:
Henry Laurens
Preceded by:
Thomas Gage
(Provincial governor)
Governor of Massachusetts
1780 – 1785
Succeeded by:
Thomas Cushing
Preceded by:
Richard Henry Lee
President of the United States in Congress Assembled
November 23, 1785 – May 29, 1786
Succeeded by:
Nathaniel Gorham
Preceded by:
James Bowdoin
Governor of Massachusetts
May 30, 1787 – October 8, 1793
Succeeded by:
Samuel Adams

Credits

New World Encyclopedia writers and editors rewrote and completed the Wikipedia article in accordance with New World Encyclopedia standards. This article abides by terms of the Creative Commons CC-by-sa 3.0 License (CC-by-sa), which may be used and disseminated with proper attribution. Credit is due under the terms of this license that can reference both the New World Encyclopedia contributors and the selfless volunteer contributors of the Wikimedia Foundation. To cite this article click here for a list of acceptable citing formats.The history of earlier contributions by wikipedians is accessible to researchers here:

The history of this article since it was imported to New World Encyclopedia:

Note: Some restrictions may apply to use of individual images which are separately licensed.