"Your John Hancock, please..."
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John Hancock left his famous signature for the world, here's your chance to do the same. This cache is much like the Coin Drop cache except it is for signature items only. There are many wooden nickels and pins. Feel free to trade for one of yours.
John Hancock (January 12, 1737 (O.S.) – October 8, 1793 (N.S.)) was President of the Second Continental Congress and of the Congress of the Confederation; first Governor of Massachusetts; and the first person to sign the United States Declaration of IndependenceA Boston selectman and representative to the Massachusetts General Court, his colonial trade business naturally disposed him to resist the Stamp Act, which attempted to restrict colonial trading.
The Stamp Act was repealed, but later acts (such as the Townshend Acts) led to further taxation on common goods. Eventually, Hancock's shipping practices became more evasive, and he began to smuggle glass, lead, paper and tea. In 1768, upon arriving from England, his sloop Liberty was impounded by British customs officials for violation of revenue laws. This caused a riot among some infuriated Bostonians expecting the supplies on board.
His regular merchant trade as well as his smuggling practices financed much of his region's resistance to British authority and his financial contributions led the people of Boston to joke that "Sam Adams writes the letters [to newspapers] and John Hancock pays the postage"
At first only a financier of the growing rebellion, he later became a public critic of British rule. On March 5, 1774, the fourth anniversary of the Boston Massacre, he gave a speech strongly condemning the British. In the same year, he was unanimously elected president of the Provisional Congress of Massachusetts, and presided over its Committee of Safety. Under Hancock, Massachusetts was able to raise bands of "minutemen"—soldiers who pledged to be ready for battle in a minute's notice—and his boycott of tea imported by the British East India Company eventually led to the Boston Tea Party.
In April 1775 as the British intent became apparent, Hancock and Samuel Adams slipped away from Boston to elude capture, staying in the Hancock-Clarke House in Lexington, Massachusetts (which can still be seen to this day). There Paul Revere roused them about midnight before the British troops arrived at dawn for the Battle of Lexington and Concord. At this time, General Thomas Gage ordered Hancock and Adams arrested for treason. Following the battle a proclamation was issued granting a general pardon to all who would demonstrate loyalty to the crown—with the exceptions of Hancock and Adams. On May 24, 1775, he was elected the third President of the Second Continental Congress, succeeding Peyton Randolph. He would serve until October 30, 1777, when he was himself succeeded by Henry Laurens.
In the first month of his presidency, on June 19, 1775, Hancock commissioned George Washington commander-in-chief of the Continental Army. A year later, Hancock sent Washington a copy of the July 4, 1776 congressional resolution calling for independence as well as a copy of the Declaration of Independence.
Hancock's signature on the United States Declaration of Independence
John Trumbull's famous painting is sometimes incorrectly identified as a depiction of the signing of the Declaration. What the painting actually depicts is the five-man drafting committee presenting their work to the Congress. Trumbull's painting can also be found on the back of the U.S. $2 bill.Hancock was the only one to sign the Declaration of Independence on the fourth; the other 55 delegates signed on August 2nd (see also "Lee Resolution" that declared independence on July 2nd). He also requested Washington have the Declaration read to the Continental Army. According to popular legend, he signed his name largely and clearly to be sure King George III could read it without his spectacles, causing his name to become, in the United States, an eponym for "signature". However, other examples suggest that Hancock always wrote his signature this way.
A number of things have been named after John Hancock:
Several states named a Hancock County after him. They are: Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Mississippi, Ohio, Tennessee, and West Virginia.
The town of Hancock, Massachusetts
The city of Hancock, Michigan
John Hancock Insurance, a U.S. insurance company, and in turn its office buildings,
The John Hancock Tower, the tallest building in Boston, Massachusetts
The "Old" John Hancock building, also in Boston, Massachusetts
The John Hancock Center, major skyscraper in Chicago
Continental schooner USS Hancock, hired to support George Washington's siege of Boston from 1775-1776
Continental Navy frigate USS Hancock, one of the first 13 frigates authorized by the Second Continental Congress in 1775. Served in 1777 until captured by the British.
USS Hancock (AP-3), the former steamer SS Arizona, served as a Navy transport from 1902 to 1925
USS John Hancock, an 1850 steam tug
USS Hancock (CV-19), an aircraft carrier that served from 1944 to 1976, including service in both World War II and the Vietnam War
USS John Hancock (DD-981), a Spruance class destroyer commissioned in 1979 and decommissioned in 2000
The college football John Hancock Bowl, played in El Paso, Texas between 1990 and 1993.
The John Hancock Student Village at Boston University, a 10-acre dormitory and recreational complex sponsored by John Hancock Insurance
Hancock Street, Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A. A street was dedicated to him. Street is located on Beacon Hill.
John Hancock Demonstration School in Philadelphia, PA.
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