John Hancock

John Hancock (English: John Hancock, January 23, 1737 - October 8, 1793), American businessman, revolutionary, politician, and one of the founding fathers of the United States. He served as president of the Continental Congress from 1775 to 1777 and as governor of Massachusetts from 1780 to 1785 and 1787 to 1793. Due to his gorgeous signature on the American Declaration of Independence, "John Hancock" has become synonymous with autographs in the United States. Before the American Revolution, Hancock inherited a lucrative business company from his uncle and was one of the wealthiest men in thirteen North American states. He began his political career as a protégé of Samuel Adams, a well-known Boston politician, but the two gradually became estranged. In the 1760s, as relations between the North American colonies and Britain became increasingly tense, Hancock began to use his wealth to support the cause of colonial independence. He became even more popular in Massachusetts after British officials seized his sloop Liberty in 1768 and charged him with smuggling. The British charges against him were eventually dropped. He is often described as a smuggler in historical records, but the accuracy of this description has been questioned. Hancock was one of Boston's leaders during the American Revolution. He served for more than two years in the Continental Congress in Philadelphia, and as president of the convention was the first to sign the American Declaration of Independence. Thereafter, he returned to his native Massachusetts and was elected its first governor, a position he held for much of the rest of his life. He used his influence to secure Massachusetts' ratification of the United States Constitution in 1788.