John Hancock was an American businessman and statesman. He was extremely popular in his home state, serving nine terms as governor from 1780 to 1785, and from 1787 until his death in 1793.
Background
John Hancock was born on January 12, 1736, at Braintree, Massachusetts, United States and baptized there four days later, on January 16, 1736. His father, Rev. John Hancock, was pastor of the church at Braintree; his mother, Mary Hawke, was at the time of her marriage to John Hancock the widow of Samuel Thaxter. Since his father died while young John was a boy, he was adopted by his childless uncle, Thomas Hancock, the richest merchant in Boston. Thus his future was made before he knew there was any difficulty in such making.
Education
John went to the Boston Latin School and Harvard, graduating in 1754.
Career
After graduation john Hakcock at once entered his uncle’s mercantile office and there was trained in the lore of a general shipping merchant of the day. In 1760, under the tutelage of the former governor, Thomas Pownall, he was sent to London to learn the English end of the business. There, as the heir of one of the richest of American merchants his way was undoubtedly easy. By October 1761 he was once more in Boston and on January 1, 1763, he became a partner of Thomas Hancock & Company. When his uncle Thomas died of apoplexy in 1764, John, the poor minister’s orphan, found himself at twenty-seven the head of Boston’s leading mercantile house and the chief heir to £70, 000.
John was never much of a merchant but he continued the firm and in 1765 protested to his English correspondents about the Stamp Act. In 1767 he carried out his uncle’s promise to Harvard to give them £300 worth of books, to which he added some of his own; but with characteristic vanity he informed the bookseller that the entire donation was a present from himself.
In 1768, Hancock imported a large cargo of Madeira wine in his sloop Liberty and while the tidesman was forcibly confined between decks (according to his sworn statement) some of the cargo was smuggled ashore. Other merchants, less reputable than Hancock, had been smuggling wine; and accordingly, the government, strong in the presence of the ship Romney, decided on drastic action. The Liberty, then reloading for the outward voyage, was seized and towed out to the Romney and a riot on shore ensued. Suit was entered against Hancock, who was defended by John Adams, but the prosecution was dropped after a few months. The Liberty was condemned, however, and, converted into a coast guard, was ultimately burned by a mob at Newport, Rhode Island. The whole episode, both because of the popular feeling aroused and because of the legal questions involved, was one of the most important in the prelude to revolution. The Liberty affair added much to Hancock’s local prestige.
In 1769 John was elected to the General Court, and in 1770, after the “Massacre, ” he was made head of the town committee. Samuel Adams, who recognized the importance of the rich young man, soon became a determining influence in his life. From now on Hancock became the idol of the populace and sided with the patriot party. In 1773 he took a leading part in the publication of the “Hutchinson Letters. ” The next year, he was chosen to deliver the oration on the anniversary of the “Massacre. ” He continued to be elected to the General Court and to minor offices. In 1774, when the Court transformed itself into a Provincial Congress, he was chosen president, and also chairman of a committee of safety with power to call out the militia. He was one of those especially excluded from the offer of amnesty made by the British. The following year he was again elected president of the Provincial Congress and a delegate to the second Continental Congress.
Hancock was the richest New Englander on the patriot side and, quite apart from any personal ability, his value to the cause was obvious; though his ostentatious display on the way to Philadelphia and later at the Congress greatly exasperated the forthright and short-tempered John Adams. His wealth, judiciously expended among the people, and his espousal of the American side of the controversy, had made him immensely popular with those who did not work with him so closely. He was elected president of the Congress, reelected the following year, and signed the Declaration of Independence.
Not realizing his own limitations, he desired to be made commander-in-chief of the army, but Congress promptly thwarted his ambitions by the appointment of Washington to that office. Hancock never forgave what he considered this slight to his ability and pretensions. He also never forgave Samuel Adams, whom he believed responsible for blocking a congressional vote of thanks for his services in 1777. He resigned the presidency of the Congress, October 29, 1777, and although he continued a member of that body, he soon came to spend much of his time in Boston.
In 1778 Hancock commanded the Massachusetts contingent of 5, 000 men who were to take part in a complicated movement against the British on Rhode Island. His performance of his minor role was neither able nor very creditable, although it was the union of many circumstances which made the expedition a failure. During the latter part of the war his interest was much greater in Massachusetts politics than in Congress, and he did much to increase his local popularity.
Although Hancock had lost a part of his fortune, he was still wealthy and lavished money in various public ways. In one peculiar instance, however, he appeared to care nothing for his reputation. Being socially and financially prominent, he had been made treasurer of Harvard College in 1773, and for several years save that institution infinite trouble. He refused to make accountings or to heed pointed suggestions that he resign. Finally, while he was away from Boston as president of the Continental Congress, one of the Harvard tutors was sent to him by the Corporation to receive the papers and securities in his hands, and succeeded in getting from him £16, 000 of the college securities. The rest of the property he held was not returned until after his death. In June 1777, upon the recommendation of the Overseers, the Corporation elected a new treasurer.
In 1780 Hancock was a member of the Massachusetts constitutional convention and in September of that year was elected first governor of the state by an overwhelming majority. He served until early in 1785 when in the face of serious conditions - which later culminated in Shays’s Rebellion - he had an attack of gout and resigned. James Bowdoin carried the state through the rebellion and then Hancock again became a candidate for the governorship and was elected. In 1788 he presided at the convention to ratify the Federal Constitution. The convention, like the people, was much divided. Hancock had the gout and did not take the chair. A solution for the conflict was found in a series of amendments to be proposed, drawn up by some of the Federalists. It was suggested Hancock present them as his own. The gout fortunately disappeared, Hancock presented the amendments, became the popular peace-maker, and added much to his prestige. He was again elected governor, for a ninth term, and was serving when he died at the age of fifty-six.
Achievements
Personality
Hancock was a man with good manners, an expensive taste in dress, and a liberal purse, but with mind of mediocre quality.
Connections
On August 28, 1775, at Fairfield, Connecticut, Hancock was married to Dorothy Quincy.