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Biography: Life of John Hancock
Born 1737, Died 1793
Born in January 1737 in Braintree (now Quincy), Massachusetts, John Hancock’s bold signature heads the list of those who signed the Declaration of Independence. Thus the phase “your John Hancock” has come to mean your signature.
Orphaned as a child, John Hancock was adopted by his uncle, a wealthy Boston merchant. Hancock inherited his uncle’s wealth. In 1768 Hancock’s sloop, the Liberty, was seized by the British for nonpayment of duty. The seizure of this vessel caused a riot and aroused the people against British rule.
Although probably motivated by his business interests, John Hancock was important to the revolutionary cause. His address at the funeral of one of the victims of the Boston Massacre led to an order for his arrest. This arrest order was one of the reasons for the British march on Concord, resulting in the battle of Lexington and Concord and the start of the Revolutionary War.
John Hancock was a member of the Continental Congress (1775-1778) and was its president for two years. In 1780 John Hancock was elected the first governor of Massachusetts. Except for a two-year interval, John Hancock held this office until his death on October 8, 1793.
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