John Hancock John Hancock ( – October 8 , 1793 ) was a merchant , statesman , and prominent Patriot of the American Revolution . He served as president of the Second Continental Congress and was the first and third Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts . He is remembered for his large and stylish signature on the United States Declaration of Independence , so much so that the term " John Hancock " became , in the United States , a synonym for " signature " . Before the American Revolution , Hancock was one of the wealthiest men in the Thirteen Colonies , having inherited a profitable mercantile business from his uncle . Hancock began his political career in Boston as a protégé of Samuel Adams , an influential local politician , though the two men later became estranged . As tensions between colonists and Great Britain increased in the 1760s , Hancock used his wealth to support the colonial cause . He became very popular in Massachusetts , especially after British officials seized his sloop " Liberty " in 1768 and charged him with smuggling . Although the charges against Hancock were eventually dropped , he has often been described as a smuggler in historical accounts , but the accuracy of this characterization has been questioned . Hancock was one of Boston ' s leaders during the crisis that led to the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War in 1775 . He served more than two years in the Continental Congress in Philadelphia , and as president of Congress , was the first to sign the Declaration of Independence . Hancock returned to Massachusetts and was elected governor of the Commonwealth , serving in that role for most of his remaining years . He used his influence to ensure that Massachusetts ratified the United States Constitution in 1788 . Early life . According to the Gregorian calendar , John Hancock was born on January 23 , 1737 ; according to the Julian calendar then in use , the date was January 12 , 1736 . He was born in Braintree , Massachusetts , in a part of town that eventually became the separate city of Quincy . He was the son of the Reverend John Hancock of Braintree and Mary Hawke Thaxter , who was from nearby Hingham . As a child , Hancock became a casual acquaintance of young John Adams , whom the Reverend Hancock had baptized in 1734 . The Hancocks lived a comfortable life , and owned one slave to help with household work . After Hancock ' s father died in 1744 , John was sent to live with his uncle and aunt , Thomas Hancock and Lydia ( Henchman ) Hancock . Thomas Hancock was the proprietor of a firm known as the House of Hancock , which imported manufactured goods from Britain and exported rum , whale oil , and fish . Thomas Hancock ' s highly successful business made him one of Boston ' s richest and best - known residents . He and Lydia , along with several servants and slaves , lived in Hancock Manor on Beacon Hill . The couple , who did not have any children of their own , became the dominant influence on John ' s life . After graduating from the Boston Latin School in 1750 , Hancock enrolled in Harvard College and received a bachelors degree in 1754 . Upon graduation , he began to work for his uncle , just as the French and Indian War ( 1754 – 1763 ) had begun . Thomas Hancock had close relations with the royal governors of Massachusetts , and secured profitable government contracts during the war . John Hancock learned much about his uncle ' s business during these years , and was trained for eventual partnership in the firm . Hancock worked hard , but he also enjoyed playing the role of a wealthy aristocrat , and developed a fondness for expensive clothes . From 1760 to 1761 , Hancock lived in England while building relationships with customers and suppliers . Upon returning to Boston , Hancock gradually took over the House of Hancock as his uncle ' s health failed , becoming a full partner in January 1763 . He became a member of the Masonic Lodge of St . Andrew in October 1762 , which connected him with many of Boston ' s most influential citizens . When Thomas Hancock died in August 1764 , John inherited the business , Hancock Manor , two or three household slaves , and thousands of acres of land , becoming one of the wealthiest men in the colonies . The household slaves continued to work for John and his aunt , but were eventually freed through the terms of Thomas Hancock ' s will ; there is no evidence that John Hancock ever bought or sold slaves . Growing imperial tensions . After its victory in the Seven Years ' War ( 1756 – 1763 ) , the British Empire was deep in debt . Looking for new sources of revenue , the British Parliament sought , for the first time , to directly tax the colonies , beginning with the Sugar Act of 1764 . The act provoked outrage in Boston , where it was widely viewed as a violation of colonial rights . Men such as James Otis and Samuel Adams argued that because the colonists were not represented in Parliament , they could not be taxed by that body ; only the colonial assemblies , where the colonists were represented , could levy taxes upon the colonies . Hancock was not yet a political activist ; however , he criticized the tax for economic , rather than constitutional , reasons . Hancock emerged as a leading political figure in Boston just as tensions with Great Britain were increasing . In March 1765 , he was elected as one of Boston ' s five selectmen , an office previously held by his uncle for many years . Soon after , Parliament passed the 1765 Stamp Act , a wildly unpopular measure in the colonies that produced riots and organized resistance . Hancock initially took a moderate position : as a loyal British subject , he thought that the colonists should submit to the act , even though he believed that Parliament was misguided . Within a few months , Hancock had changed his mind , although he continued to disapprove of violence and the intimidation of royal officials by mobs . Hancock joined the resistance to the Stamp Act by participating in a boycott of British goods , which made him popular in Boston . After Bostonians learned of the impending repeal of the Stamp Act , Hancock was elected to the Massachusetts House of Representatives in May of 1766 . Hancock ' s political success benefited from the support of Samuel Adams , the clerk of the House of Representatives and a leader of Boston ' s " popular party " , also known as " Whigs " and later as " Patriots " . The two men made an unlikely pair . Fifteen years older than Hancock , Adams had a somber , Puritan outlook that stood in marked contrast to Hancock ' s taste for luxury and extravagance . Apocryphal stories later portrayed Adams as masterminding Hancock ' s political rise so that the merchant ' s wealth could be used to further the Whig agenda . Historian James Truslow Adams portrayed Hancock as shallow and vain , easily manipulated by Adams . Historian William M . Fowler , who wrote biographies of both men , argued that this characterization was an exaggeration , and that the relationship between the two was symbiotic , with Adams as the mentor and Hancock the protégé . Townshend Acts crisis . After the repeal of the Stamp Act , Parliament took a different approach to raising revenue , passing the 1767 Townshend Acts , which established new duties on various imports and strengthened the customs agency by creating the American Customs Board . The British government believed that a more efficient customs system was necessary because many colonial American merchants had been smuggling . Smugglers violated the Navigation Acts by trading with ports outside of the British Empire and avoiding import taxes . Parliament hoped that the new system would reduce smuggling and generate revenue for the government . Colonial merchants , even those not involved in smuggling , found the new regulations oppressive . Other colonists protested that new duties were another attempt by Parliament to tax the colonies without their consent . Hancock joined other Bostonians in calling for a boycott of British imports until the Townshend duties were repealed . In their enforcement of the customs regulations , the Customs Board targeted Hancock , Boston ' s wealthiest Whig . They may have suspected that he was a smuggler , or they may have wanted to harass him because of his politics , especially after Hancock snubbed Governor Francis Bernard by refusing to attend public functions when the customs officials were present . On April 9 , 1768 , two customs employees ( called " tidesmen " ) boarded Hancock ' s brig " Lydia " in Boston Harbor . Hancock was summoned , and finding that the agents lacked a writ of assistance ( a general search warrant ) , he did not allow them to go below deck . When one of them later managed to get into the hold , Hancock ' s men forced the tidesman back on deck . Customs officials wanted to file charges , but the case was dropped when Massachusetts Attorney General Jonathan Sewell ruled that Hancock had broken no laws . Later , some of Hancock ' s most ardent admirers would call this incident the first act of physical resistance to British authority in the colonies and credit Hancock with initiating the American Revolution . " Liberty " affair . The next incident proved to be a major event in the coming of the American Revolution . On the evening of May 9 , 1768 , Hancock ' s sloop " Liberty " arrived in Boston Harbor , carrying a shipment of Madeira wine . When custom officers inspected the ship the next morning , they found that it contained 25 pipes of wine , just one fourth of the ship ' s carrying capacity . Hancock paid the duties on the 25 pipes of wine , but officials suspected that he had arranged to have more wine unloaded during the night to avoid paying the duties for the entire cargo . They did not have any evidence to prove this , however , since the two tidesmen who had stayed on the ship overnight gave a sworn statement that nothing had been unloaded . One month later , while the British warship HMS " Romney " was in port , one of the tidesmen changed his story : he now claimed that he had been forcibly held on the " Liberty " while it had been illegally unloaded . On June 10 , customs officials seized the " Liberty " . Bostonians were already angry because the captain of the " Romney " had been impressing colonists , and not just deserters from the Royal Navy , an arguably illegal activity . A riot broke out when officials began to tow the " Liberty " out to the " Romney " , which was also arguably illegal . The confrontation escalated when sailors and marines coming ashore to seize the " Liberty " were mistaken for a press gang . After the riot , customs officials relocated to the " Romney " , and then to Castle William ( an island fort in the harbor ) , claiming that they were unsafe in town . Whigs insisted that the customs officials were exaggerating the danger so that London would send troops to Boston . British officials filed two lawsuits stemming from the " Liberty " incident : an " in rem " suit against the ship , and an " in personam " suit against Hancock . Royal officials , as well as Hancock ' s accuser , stood to gain financially , since , as was the custom , any penalties assessed by the court would be awarded to the governor , the informer , and the Crown , each getting a third . The first suit , filed on June 22 , 1768 , resulted in the confiscation of the " Liberty " in August . Customs officials then used the ship to enforce trade regulations until it was burned by angry colonists in Rhode Island the following year . The second trial began in October 1768 , when charges were filed against Hancock and five others for allegedly unloading 100 pipes of wine from the " Liberty " without paying the duties . If convicted , the defendants would have had to pay a penalty of triple the value of the wine , which came to £9 , 000 . With John Adams serving as his lawyer , Hancock was prosecuted in a highly publicized trial by a vice admiralty court , which had no jury and did not always allow the defense to cross - examine the witnesses . After dragging out for nearly five months , the proceedings against Hancock were dropped without explanation . Although the charges against Hancock were dropped , many writers later described him as a smuggler . The accuracy of this characterization has been questioned . " Hancock ' s guilt or innocence and the exact charges against him " , wrote historian John W . Tyler in 1986 , " are still fiercely debated . " Historian Oliver Dickerson argued that Hancock was the victim of an essentially criminal racketeering scheme perpetrated by Governor Bernard and the customs officials . Dickerson believed that there is no reliable evidence that Hancock was guilty in the " Liberty " case , and that the purpose of the trials was to punish Hancock for political reasons and to plunder his property . Opposed to Dickerson ' s interpretation were Kinvin Wroth and Hiller Zobel , the editors of John Adams ' s legal papers , who argued that " Hancock ' s innocence is open to question " , and that the British officials acted legally , if unwisely . Lawyer and historian Bernard Knollenberg concluded that the customs officials had the right to seize Hancock ' s ship , but towing it out to the " Romney " had been illegal . Legal historian John Phillip Reid argued that the testimony of both sides was so politically partial that it is not possible to objectively reconstruct the incident . Aside from the " Liberty " affair , the degree to which Hancock was engaged in smuggling , which may have been widespread in the colonies , has been questioned . Given the clandestine nature of smuggling , records are scarce . If Hancock was a smuggler , no documentation of this has been found . John W . Tyler identified 23 smugglers in his study of more than 400 merchants in revolutionary Boston , but found no written evidence that Hancock was one of them . Biographer William Fowler concluded that while Hancock was probably engaged in some smuggling , most of his business was legitimate , and his later reputation as the " king of the colonial smugglers " is a myth without foundation . Massacre to Tea Party . The " Liberty " affair reinforced a previously made British decision to suppress unrest in Boston with a show of military might . The decision had been prompted by Samuel Adams ' s 1768 Circular Letter , which was sent to other British American colonies in hopes of coordinating resistance to the Townshend Acts . Lord Hillsborough , secretary of state for the colonies , sent four regiments of the British Army to Boston to support embattled royal officials , and instructed Governor Bernard to order the Massachusetts legislature to revoke the Circular Letter . Hancock and the Massachusetts House voted against rescinding the letter , and instead drew up a petition demanding Governor Bernard ' s recall . When Bernard returned to England in 1769 , Bostonians celebrated . The British troops remained , however , and tensions between soldiers and civilians eventually resulted in the killing of five civilians in the Boston Massacre of March 1770 . Hancock was not involved in the incident , but afterwards he led a committee to demand the removal of the troops . Meeting with Bernard ' s successor , Governor Thomas Hutchinson , and the British officer in command , Colonel William Dalrymple , Hancock claimed that there were 10 , 000 armed colonists ready to march into Boston if the troops did not leave . Hutchinson knew that Hancock was bluffing , but the soldiers were in a precarious position when garrisoned within the town , and so Dalrymple agreed to remove both regiments to Castle William . Hancock was celebrated as a hero for his role in getting the troops withdrawn . His reelection to the Massachusetts House in May was nearly unanimous . After Parliament partially repealed the Townshend duties in 1770 , Boston ' s boycott of British goods ended . Politics became quieter in Massachusetts , although tensions remained . Hancock tried to improve his relationship with Governor Hutchinson , who in turn sought to woo Hancock away from Adams ' s influence . In April 1772 , Hutchinson approved Hancock ' s election as colonel of the Boston Cadets , a militia unit whose primary function was to provide a ceremonial escort for the governor and the General Court . In May , Hutchinson even approved of Hancock ' s election to the Council , the upper chamber of the General Court , whose members were elected by the House but subject to veto by the governor . Hancock ' s previous elections to the Council had been vetoed , but now Hutchinson allowed the election to stand . Hancock declined the office , however , not wanting to appear to have been co - opted by the governor . Nevertheless , Hancock used the improved relationship to resolve an ongoing dispute . To avoid hostile crowds in Boston , Hutchinson had been convening the legislature outside of town ; now he agreed to allow the General Court to sit in Boston once again , to the relief of the legislators . Hutchinson had dared to hope that he could win over Hancock and discredit Adams . To some , it seemed that Adams and Hancock were indeed at odds : when Adams formed the Boston Committee of Correspondence in November 1772 to advocate colonial rights , Hancock declined to join , creating the impression that there was a split in the Whig ranks . But whatever their differences , Hancock and Adams came together again in 1773 with the renewal of major political turmoil . They cooperated in the revelation of private letters of Thomas Hutchinson , in which the governor seemed to recommend " an abridgement of what are called English liberties " to bring order to the colony . The Massachusetts House , blaming Hutchinson for the military occupation of Boston , called for his removal as governor . Even more trouble followed Parliament ' s passage of the 1773 Tea Act . On November 5 , Hancock was elected as moderator at a Boston town meeting that resolved that anyone who supported the Tea Act was an " Enemy to America " . Hancock and others tried to force the resignation of the agents who had been appointed to receive the tea shipments . Unsuccessful in this , they attempted to prevent the tea from being unloaded after three tea ships had arrived in Boston Harbor . Hancock was at the fateful meeting on December 16 , where he reportedly told the crowd , " Let every man do what is right in his own eyes . " Hancock did not take part in the Boston Tea Party that night , but he approved of the action , although he was careful not to publicly praise the destruction of private property . Over the next few months , Hancock was disabled by gout , which would trouble him with increasing frequency in the coming years . By March 5 , 1774 , he had recovered enough to deliver the fourth annual Massacre Day oration , a commemoration of the Boston Massacre . Hancock ' s speech denounced the presence of British troops in Boston , who he said had been sent there " to enforce obedience to acts of Parliament , which neither God nor man ever empowered them to make " . The speech , probably written by Hancock in collaboration with Adams , Joseph Warren , and others , was published and widely reprinted , enhancing Hancock ' s stature as a leading Patriot . Revolution begins . Parliament responded to the Tea Party with the Boston Port Act , one of the so - called Coercive Acts intended to strengthen British control of the colonies . Hutchinson was replaced as governor by General Thomas Gage , who arrived in May 1774 . On June 17 , the Massachusetts House elected five delegates to send to the First Continental Congress in Philadelphia , which was being organized to coordinate colonial response to the Coercive Acts . Hancock did not serve in the first Congress , possibly for health reasons , or possibly to remain in charge while the other Patriot leaders were away . Gage soon dismissed Hancock from his post as colonel of the Boston Cadets . In October 1774 , Gage canceled the scheduled meeting of the General Court . In response , the House resolved itself into the Massachusetts Provincial Congress , a body independent of British control . Hancock was elected as president of the Provincial Congress and was a key member of the . The Provincial Congress created the first minutemen companies , consisting of militiamen who were to be ready for action on a moment ' s notice . On December 1 , 1774 , the Provincial Congress elected Hancock as a delegate to the Second Continental Congress to replace James Bowdoin , who had been unable to attend the first Congress because of illness . Before Hancock reported to the Continental Congress in Philadelphia , the Provincial Congress unanimously reelected him as their president in February 1775 . Hancock ' s multiple roles gave him enormous influence in Massachusetts , and as early as January 1774 British officials had considered arresting him . After attending the Provincial Congress in Concord in April 1775 , Hancock and Samuel Adams decided that it was not safe to return to Boston before leaving for Philadelphia . They stayed instead at Hancock ' s childhood home in Lexington . Gage received a letter from Lord Dartmouth on April 14 , 1775 , advising him " to arrest the principal actors and abettors in the Provincial Congress whose proceedings appear in every light to be acts of treason and rebellion " . On the night of April 18 , Gage sent out a detachment of soldiers on the fateful mission that would spark the American Revolutionary War . The purpose of the British expedition was to seize and destroy military supplies that the colonists had stored in Concord . According to many historical accounts , Gage also instructed his men to arrest Hancock and Adams ; if so , the written orders issued by Gage made no mention of arresting the Patriot leaders . Gage apparently decided that he had nothing to gain by arresting Hancock and Adams , since other leaders would simply take their place , and the British would be portrayed as the aggressors . Although Gage had evidently decided against seizing Hancock and Adams , Patriots initially believed otherwise . From Boston , Joseph Warren dispatched messenger Paul Revere to warn Hancock and Adams that British troops were on the move and might attempt to arrest them . Revere reached Lexington around midnight and gave the warning . Hancock , still considering himself a militia colonel , wanted to take the field with the Patriot militia at Lexington , but Adams and others convinced him to avoid battle , arguing that he was more valuable as a political leader than as a soldier . As Hancock and Adams made their escape , the first shots of the war were fired at Lexington and Concord . Soon after the battle , Gage issued a proclamation granting a general pardon to all who would " lay down their arms , and return to the duties of peaceable subjects " — with the exceptions of Hancock and Samuel Adams . Singling out Hancock and Adams in this manner only added to their renown among Patriots . President of Congress . With the war underway , Hancock made his way to the Continental Congress in Philadelphia with the other Massachusetts delegates . On May 24 , 1775 , he was unanimously elected President of the Continental Congress , succeeding Peyton Randolph after Henry Middleton declined the nomination . Hancock was a good choice for president for several reasons . He was experienced , having often presided over legislative bodies and town meetings in Massachusetts . His wealth and social standing inspired the confidence of moderate delegates , while his association with Boston radicals made him acceptable to other radicals . His position was somewhat ambiguous , because the role of the president was not fully defined , and it was not clear if Randolph had resigned or was on a leave of absence . Like other presidents of Congress , Hancock ' s authority was mostly limited to that of a presiding officer . He also had to handle a great deal of official correspondence , and he found it necessary to hire clerks at his own expense to help with the paperwork . In Congress on June 15 , 1775 , Massachusetts delegate John Adams nominated George Washington as commander - in - chief of the army then gathered around Boston . Years later , Adams wrote that Hancock had shown great disappointment at not getting the command for himself . This brief comment from 1801 is the only source for the oft - cited claim that Hancock sought to become commander - in - chief . In the early 20th century , historian James Truslow Adams wrote that the incident initiated a lifelong estrangement between Hancock and Washington , but some subsequent historians have expressed doubt that the incident , or the estrangement , ever occurred . According to historian Donald Proctor , " There is no contemporary evidence that Hancock harbored ambitions to be named commander - in - chief . Quite the contrary . " Hancock and Washington maintained a good relationship after the alleged incident , and in 1778 Hancock named his only son " John George Washington Hancock " . Hancock admired and supported General Washington , even though Washington politely declined Hancock ' s request for a military appointment . When Congress recessed on August 1 , 1775 , Hancock took the opportunity to wed his fiancée , Dorothy " Dolly " Quincy . The couple was married on August 28 in Fairfield , Connecticut . John and Dorothy would have two children , neither of whom survived to adulthood . Their daughter Lydia Henchman Hancock was born in 1776 and died ten months later . Their son John was born in 1778 and died in 1787 after suffering a head injury while ice skating . While president of Congress , Hancock became involved in a long - running controversy with Harvard . As treasurer of the college since 1773 , he had been entrusted with the school ' s financial records and about £15 , 000 in cash and securities . In the rush of events at the onset of the Revolutionary War , Hancock had been unable to return the money and accounts to Harvard before leaving for Congress . In 1777 , a Harvard committee headed by James Bowdoin , Hancock ' s chief political and social rival in Boston , sent a messenger to Philadelphia to retrieve the money and records . Hancock was offended , but he turned over more than £16 , 000 , though not all of the records , to the college . When Harvard replaced Hancock as treasurer , his ego was bruised , and for years he declined to settle the account or pay the interest on the money he had held , despite pressure put on him by Bowdoin and other political opponents . The issue dragged on until after Hancock ' s death , when his estate finally paid the college more than £1 , 000 to resolve the matter . Hancock served in Congress through some of the darkest days of the Revolutionary War . The British drove Washington from New York and New Jersey in 1776 , which prompted Congress to flee to Baltimore , Maryland . Hancock and Congress returned to Philadelphia in March 1777 , but were compelled to flee six months later when the British occupied Philadelphia . Hancock wrote innumerable letters to colonial officials , raising money , supplies , and troops for Washington ' s army . He chaired the Marine Committee , and took pride in helping to create a small fleet of American frigates , including the USS " Hancock " , which was named in his honor . Signing the Declaration . Hancock was president of Congress when the Declaration of Independence was adopted and signed . He is primarily remembered by Americans for his large , flamboyant signature on the Declaration , so much so that " John Hancock " became , in the United States , an informal synonym for " signature " . According to legend , Hancock signed his name largely and clearly so that King George could read it without his spectacles , but the story is apocryphal and originated years later . Contrary to popular mythology , there was no ceremonial signing of the Declaration on July 4 , 1776 . After Congress approved the wording of the text on July 4 , a copy was sent to be printed . As president , Hancock may have signed the document that was sent to the printer , but this is uncertain because that document is lost , perhaps destroyed in the printing process . The printer produced the first published version of the Declaration , the widely distributed Dunlap broadside . Hancock , as President of Congress , was the only delegate whose name appeared on the broadside , although the name of Charles Thomson , secretary of the Continental Congress , but not a delegate , was also on it . This meant that until a second broadside was issued six months later with all of the signers listed , Hancock was the only delegate whose name was publicly attached to the treasonous document . Hancock sent a copy of the Dunlap broadside to George Washington , instructing him to have it read to the troops " in the way you shall think most proper " . Hancock ' s name was printed , not signed , on the Dunlap broadside ; his iconic signature appears on a different document — a sheet of parchment that was carefully handwritten sometime after July 19 and signed on August 2 by Hancock and those delegates present . Known as the engrossed copy , this is the famous document on display at the National Archives in Washington , D . C . Return to Massachusetts . In October 1777 , after more than two years in Congress , President Hancock requested a leave of absence . He asked George Washington to arrange a military escort for his return to Boston . Although Washington was short on manpower , he nevertheless sent fifteen horsemen to accompany Hancock on his journey home . By this time Hancock had become estranged from Samuel Adams , who disapproved of what he viewed as Hancock ' s vanity and extravagance , which Adams believed were inappropriate in a republican leader . When Congress voted to thank Hancock for his service , Adams and the other Massachusetts delegates voted against the resolution , as did a few delegates from other states . Back in Boston , Hancock was reelected to the House of Representatives . As in previous years , his philanthropy made him popular . Although his finances had suffered greatly because of the war , he gave to the poor , helped support widows and orphans , and loaned money to friends . According to biographer William Fowler , " John Hancock was a generous man and the people loved him for it . He was their idol . " In December 1777 , he was reelected as a delegate to the Continental Congress and as moderator of the Boston town meeting . Hancock rejoined the Continental Congress in Pennsylvania in June 1778 , but his brief time there was unhappy . In his absence , Congress had elected Henry Laurens as its new president , which was a disappointment to Hancock , who had hoped to reclaim his chair . Hancock got along poorly with Samuel Adams , and missed his wife and newborn son . On July 9 , 1778 , Hancock and the other Massachusetts delegates joined the representatives from seven other states in signing the Articles of Confederation ; the remaining states were not yet prepared to sign , and the Articles would not be ratified until 1781 . Hancock returned to Boston in July 1778 , motivated by the opportunity to finally lead men in combat . Back in 1776 , he had been appointed as the senior major general of the Massachusetts militia . Now that the French fleet had come to the aid of the Americans , General Washington instructed General John Sullivan of the Continental Army to lead an attack on the British garrison at Newport , Rhode Island , in August 1778 . Hancock nominally commanded 6 , 000 militiamen in the campaign , although he let the professional soldiers do the planning and issue the orders . It was a fiasco : French Admiral d ' Estaing abandoned the operation , after which Hancock ' s militia mostly deserted Sullivan ' s Continentals . Hancock suffered some criticism for the debacle but emerged from his brief military career with his popularity intact . After much delay , the new Massachusetts Constitution finally went into effect in October 1780 . To no one ' s surprise , Hancock was elected Governor of Massachusetts in a landslide , garnering over 90 % of the vote . In the absence of formal party politics , the contest was one of personality , popularity , and patriotism . Hancock was immensely popular and unquestionably patriotic given his personal sacrifices and his leadership of the Second Continental Congress . James Bowdoin , his principal opponent , was cast by Hancock ' s supporters as unpatriotic , citing among other things his refusal ( which was due to poor health ) to serve in the First Continental Congress . Bowdoin ' s supporters , who were principally well - off commercial interests from Massachusetts coastal communities , cast Hancock as a foppish demagogue who pandered to the populace . Hancock governed Massachusetts through the end of the Revolutionary War and into an economically troubled postwar period , repeatedly winning reelection by wide margins . Hancock took a hands - off approach to governing , avoiding controversial issues as much as possible . According to William Fowler , Hancock " never really led " and " never used his strength to deal with the critical issues confronting the commonwealth . " Hancock governed until his surprise resignation on January 29 , 1785 . Hancock cited his failing health as the reason , but he may have become aware of growing unrest in the countryside and wanted to get out of office before the trouble came . Hancock ' s critics sometimes believed that he used claims of illness to avoid difficult political situations . Historian James Truslow Adams wrote that Hancock ' s " two chief resources were his money and his gout , the first always used to gain popularity , and the second to prevent his losing it " . The turmoil that Hancock avoided ultimately blossomed as Shays ' Rebellion , which Hancock ' s successor James Bowdoin had to deal with . After the uprising , Hancock was reelected in 1787 , and he promptly pardoned all the rebels . Hancock was reelected to annual terms as governor for the remainder of his life . Final years . When he had resigned as governor in 1785 , Hancock was again elected as a delegate to the Continental Congress , known as the Confederation Congress after the ratification of the Articles of Confederation in 1781 . Congress had declined in importance after the Revolutionary War , and was frequently ignored by the states . Congress elected Hancock to serve as its president , but he never attended because of his poor health and because he was not interested . He sent Congress a letter of resignation in 1786 . In 1787 , in an effort to remedy the perceived defects of the Articles of Confederation , delegates met at the Philadelphia Convention and drafted the United States Constitution , which was then sent to the states for ratification or rejection . Hancock , who was not present at the Philadelphia Convention , had misgivings about the new Constitution ' s lack of a bill of rights and its shift of power to a central government . In January 1788 , Hancock was elected president of the Massachusetts ratifying convention , although he was ill and not present when the convention began . Hancock mostly remained silent during the contentious debates , but as the convention was drawing to close , he gave a speech in favor of ratification . For the first time in years , Samuel Adams supported Hancock ' s position . Even with the support of Hancock and Adams , the Massachusetts convention narrowly ratified the Constitution by a vote of 187 to 168 . Hancock ' s support was probably a deciding factor in the ratification . Hancock was put forth as a candidate in the 1789 U . S . presidential election . As was the custom in an era where political ambition was viewed with suspicion , Hancock did not campaign or even publicly express interest in the office ; he instead made his wishes known indirectly . Like everyone else , Hancock knew that George Washington was going to be elected as the first president , but Hancock may have been interested in being vice president , despite his poor health . Hancock received only four electoral votes in the election , however , none of them from his home state ; the Massachusetts electors all voted for another native son , John Adams , who became the vice president . Hancock was disappointed with his poor showing , but he remained as popular as ever in Massachusetts . His health failing , Hancock spent his final few years as essentially a figurehead governor . With his wife at his side , he died in bed on October 8 , 1793 , at 56 years of age . By order of acting governor Samuel Adams , the day of Hancock ' s burial was a state holiday ; the lavish funeral was perhaps the grandest given to an American up to that time . Legacy . Despite his grand funeral , Hancock faded from popular memory after his death . According to historian Alfred Young , " Boston celebrated only one hero in the half - century after the Revolution : George Washington . " As early as 1809 , John Adams lamented that Hancock and Samuel Adams were " almost buried in oblivion " . In Boston , little effort was made to preserve Hancock ' s historical legacy . His house on Beacon Hill was torn down in 1863 after both the city of Boston and the Massachusetts legislature decided against maintaining it . According to Young , the conservative " new elite " of Massachusetts " was not comfortable with a rich man who pledged his fortune to the cause of revolution " . In 1876 , with the centennial of American independence renewing popular interest in the Revolution , plaques honoring Hancock were put up in Boston . In 1896 , a memorial column was finally erected over Hancock ' s essentially unmarked grave in the Granary Burying Ground . No full - length biography of Hancock appeared until the 20th century . A challenge facing Hancock biographers is that , compared to prominent Founding Fathers like Jefferson and John Adams , Hancock left relatively few personal writings for historians to use in interpreting his life . As a result , most depictions of Hancock have relied on the voluminous writings of his political opponents , who were often scathingly critical of him . According to historian Charles Akers , " The chief victim of Massachusetts historiography has been John Hancock , the most gifted and popular politician in the Bay State ' s long history . He suffered the misfortune of being known to later generations almost entirely through the judgments of his detractors , Tory and Whig . " Hancock ' s most influential 20th century detractor was historian James Truslow Adams , who wrote negative portraits of Hancock in " Harper ' s Magazine " and the " Dictionary of American Biography " in the 1930s . Adams argued that Hancock was a " fair presiding officer " but had " no great ability " , and was prominent only because of his inherited wealth . Decades later , historian Donald Proctor argued that Adams had uncritically repeated the negative views of Hancock ' s political opponents without doing any serious research . Adams " presented a series of disparaging incidents and anecdotes , sometimes partially documented , sometimes not documented at all , which in sum leave one with a distinctly unfavorable impression of Hancock " . According to Proctor , Adams evidently projected his own disapproval of 1920s businessmen onto Hancock , and ended up misrepresenting several key events in Hancock ' s career . Writing in the 1970s , Proctor and Akers called for scholars to evaluate Hancock based on his merits , rather than on the views of his critics . Since that time , historians have usually presented a more favorable portrait of Hancock , while acknowledging that he was not an important writer , political theorist , or military leader . Many places and things in the United States have been named in honor of John Hancock . The U . S . Navy has named vessels USS " Hancock " and USS " John Hancock " ; a World War II Liberty ship was also named in his honor . Ten states have a Hancock County named for him ; other places named after him include Hancock , Massachusetts ; Hancock , Michigan ; Hancock , New York ; and Mount Hancock in New Hampshire . John Hancock University is named for him , as was the John Hancock Insurance company , founded in Boston in 1862 ; it had no connection to Hancock ' s own business ventures . The insurance company passed on the name to the John Hancock Tower in Boston , the John Hancock Center in Chicago , as well as the John Hancock Student Village at Boston University .