John Hancock was born on January 12, 1737 in Braintree, Massachusetts. He was orphaned as a child and then was adopted by a wealthy merchant uncle who was childless. Hancock went to Harvard College for a business education. He graduated Harvard College at the age of 17. He apprenticed to his uncle as a clerk and proved to be honest and capable that in 1760, he was sent on a business mission to England. In England, he witnessed the coronation of King George III and engaged some of the leading businessmen of London.
In 1763, his uncle died and Hancock inherited what was said to be the greatest body of wealth in New England. This placed him in a society of men who consisted mainly of loyalists, suspected by the working population because of their great affluence and social power. He however, soon became very involved in revolutionary politics and his sentiments were, early on and clearly, for independence from Great Britain. He was in company with the Adamses and other prominent leaders in the republican movement of New England. He was elected to the Boston Assembly in 1766, and was a member of the Stamp Act Congress.
In 1768 his boat, Liberty, was impounded customs officials at Boston Harbor, for a charge of running contraband goods. A large group of private citizens stormed the customs post, burned the government boat and beat the officers, causing them to seek refuge on a ship off shore. Soon after, Hancock abetted the Boston Tea Party. Hancock watched the early developments and strongly denounced the acts of violence. Finally he consulted with Samuel Adams, John Adams, and others to understand what was taking place. He soon realized that even his own employees were suffering under the taxation and administrat...
... middle of paper ...
...not national because he had not signed the constitution, he had not been a U. S. Senator, he had not been President, and he had not been a U. S. congressman. Yet, no founding father displayed greater virtue and resolution towards independence and none spent more of their personal wealth toward that effort. During the War of Revolution, it was mostly Hancock's money which armed and fed the volunteers from Massachusetts.
The Declaration of Independence was signed on July 4, 1776. John Hancock and fifty-five others signed the Declaration of Independence. Hancock was the first person to sign the Declaration of Independence. He wrote his name in the center of the page in extra large script. John Hancock's signature was so flamboyant that it led to the phrase we use today, when people write their signatures, they are said to have written their 'John Hancock'.
Benjamin Franklin was the colonial agent representing Massachusetts in Parliament in Britain. During his time of representation, several events were occurring that were essentially leading to a rift between the colonies and Britain. The Tea Act was an act that allowed only the sale of tea that was manufactured by the East India Company. The monopoly was put in place by Parliament to help bail out the company that was bankrupt and ship out the excess tea in the warehouses. In effect, this helped people in Parliament who were stockholders from losing on their monetary gains from the company. Many of the colonists were angry and opposed this act by simply boycotting the tea. The resistance against the Tea Act was felt all around the Thirteen Colonies, with several citizens in Boston taking matters into their own hands. The Boston Tea Party, which took...
Born in January of 1737, John Hancock grew up to become a prominent founding father and important Patriot in American history. Filling many roles throughout his life, John Hancock shaped the course of the Revolution by standing out against the British rule. Originally a merchant and statesmen, Hancock became the president of the Second Continental Congress and helped convince all thirteen colonies to unite for their independence (History). Hancock stood for freedom in a time in which many leaders still hesitated to declare independence, and his influence convinced many colonists to unite against tyranny and still inspires many people today. To play such a significant role in the history of America, however, Hancock grew from experiences long
In American history, there are numerous people who stand out more and are emphasize more than other in history of our country. One man, John Hancock, is one of those astonishing men that stand out.
John Adams was born in Braintree, what is now Quincy, Massachusetts, on October 30, 1735. His father was a farmer, a deacon of the First Parish of Braintree, and a militia officer. John's mother came from a leading family of Brookline and Boston merchants and physicians. John studied hard in the village school. He was twenty three years old when he graduated from Harvard in the class of 1755. He began to practice law in Braintree in 1758. John and Abigail first met in 1759.
John Hancock was born on January 23, 1727 in Braintree, Mass. He is the son of John Hancock and Mary Hawke. John Hancock (father) was a Harvard graduate and minister. They lived in a part of town which eventually became the city known as Quincy, Mass. where John Hancock became the childhood friend of John Adams. In 1742, Hancock’s father died and he was adopted by his uncle, Thomas Hancock. Thomas Hancock lived in Hancock Manor in Boston where he had no children and he was a successful privateer and a merchant. John enrolled in Harvard University, received a bachelors degree, after graduating form Boston Latin School in 1750. After graduating from Harvard he worked for his uncle and he was trained for eventually partnership. From 1760 to 1761, he lived in England. He was building relationship with customers and suppliers of his uncle’s shipbuilding business. In January 1763, Thomas Hancock made John his full partner of his business. Since his uncle was sick, he took over the business. A year later, in August, Thomas Hancock dies of illness. He took full control of the business and became one of the wealthiest in America. At first John Hancock did well. His ship sailed across the Atlantic Ocean with good for the people of London. His ships sailed back with god to sell the colonies. Many colonies needed and bought the goods made in England, the mother country. John Hancock made a lot of money. He was generous, too. He gave food and firewood to the poor in the winter. He also gave a lot of money to the churches of Boston. Many people liked John Hancock because he was a kind man. (Lee, 3-11)
Samuel Adams failed as a brewer and a Newspaper publisher. Samuel Adams also organized Boston’s Sons of Liberty. He helped coordinated Boston’s resistance to the Tea Act. Samuel Adams also represented Massachusetts in Continental Congress from 1774 to 1781. He was also elected to the Massachusetts convention on the ratification of the Constitution in 1787. After Serving John Hancock’s lieutenant from 1789 to 1793, Adams took over as governor. Samuel Adams went to Harvard College and graduate in the year of 1740. Samuel Adams found that his chief preoccupation, politics, was his true calling. An organizer of Boston’s Sons of Liberty he played a key role in 1765 until the war of independence in patriot opposition to what he believed was a plot to destroy the constitutional.
In the late afternoon on July 4th, the Congress finally approved the Declaration of Independence. The president of Congress, John Hancock signed it. After John Hancock signed it, it was official. On July 8th, the Declaration of Independence was read to Philadelphia. By July 15th, all thirteen states had read it and voted for it. On August 2nd, the final draft was the Declaration of Independence was written and signed by the members of Congress. Thomas Jefferson also signed his name.
John Winthrop came to America to avoid the depression in England and escape oppression from Charles I, a king who was impatient with Puritan reformers. Though Winthrop wasn’t a separatist, he embraced Puritan ideas and “wished to reform the national church from within, purging it of everything that harked back to Rome, especially the hierarchy of the clergy and all the traditional Catholic rituals”. He left England for his own self-interests rather than embarking to create a colony independent of England; he was not in the presence of the other founding fathers when they signed the declaration, nor he did not fight in the revolution.
John Adams was born in Braintree, Massachusetts. He went to Harvard to study to become a pastor, but instead decided to become a lawyer. Later he would be a delegate from Massachusetts to both the first and second continental congress. He would also venture to several European countries including Holland, Britain and France, all for diplomatic purposes. When the Constitution was written in 1787, it was decided that Adam...
His father wanted him to study to become a minister but John desired to find another calling. He enjoyed rhetoric and public speaking and thought about being a lawyer but he did not think he was capable. He graduated from Harvard in 1755 with a BA degree. He started working as a school teacher in Worcester, Massachusetts. He then began studying law under James Putman after Putman took Adams to court sessions. He studied law at night and during the day he would teach. He was admitted into the bar at Braintree in 1758 and later opened h...
John Adams was also against slavery and never owned a slave. He provided a successful legal defense to British soldiers who were accused in the Boston Massacre because he believed in the right to counsel and the protection of innocence in 1770. As a lawyer and public figure in Boston, and as a delegate from Mass. to the Continental Congress, he played an important role in persuading Congress to declare independence. In 1776, he helped Thomas Jefferson in drafting the Declaration of Independence.
The Declaration of Independence, written by Thomas Jefferson (with the help of Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, as well as many others), was signed on July 1st, 1776 in Philadelphia. Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence to appeal to the British Parliament and King and explain why the American Colonies wanted independence from England. Thomas Jefferson and the other delegates from the Second Continental Congress agreed that, “all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator certain unalienable rights” (p. 112) which became the base for nearly all of the points made in the document. Logical and emotional statements were used throughout the document to make impactful statements that would convince the audience of the seriousness of the matters they were presenting.
The document Declaration of Independence signed July 4, the year 1776 and written by one of the country’s ancestors Thomas Jefferson. It was a time in history that declared independence a manuscript written for this occasion which introduces five separate sections that include the introduction which states it is vital to take action on Britain for the colonies.
Courageous. Willing. Patriot. These meaningful words define who John Hancock was to America. Born on January 23, 1737, Hancock demonstrated leadership qualities since youth. He played a major role in the American Revolution, as a leading figure, Massachusetts, as a successful governor. Hancock was a true patriot, through his courageous acts of defiance to Britain, pooling his funds to support the Revolution, and leading the Second Continental Congress. Hancock risked his life and the welfare of the people he loved to stand up for his, and the colonist’s freedoms and natural rights they deserved. John Hancock was a people’s man, adored by everyone in Massachusetts, and most of The Second Continental Congress; which allowed him to succeed greatly at leading the revolution.
Declaration of Independence, was a member of the drafting committee, and argued eloquently for it.