John Hancock
Born January 23, 1737
Quincy, Massachusetts
Died October 8, 1793
Quincy, Massachusetts
Political leader, businessman
John Hancock played an important role in American life during the early days of the Revolution. He served as a unifying force among men who displayed a wide variety of opinions about the wisdom of declaring independence. Although criticized for his vanity and self-interest, he showed strong abilities as the president of the Second Continental Congress. But after 1776, Hancock spent most of his time attending to the affairs of his home state of Massachusetts, where he was immensely popular.
John Hancock was born in 1737 in what is now Quincy, Massachusetts. He was the second of three children born to John Hancock, a Protestant minister, and his wife, Mary Hawke Thaxter Hancock. When young John Hancock was seven years old, his father died of a heart attack. His mother then sent him to live with his uncle, Thomas Hancock, one of Boston's wealthiest businessmen. John Hancock attended Boston Latin School, then graduated in 1754 from what is now Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He immediately went to work as a clerk in his uncle's shipping business.
In 1760 young Hancock went to London, England, to learn more about his uncle's foreign business affairs.
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