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Life and Achievements of John Hancock Essay

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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 …show more content…

He delivered a public address to a large crowd in Boston, commemorating the Boston Massacre. In Hancock's speech he had been so explicit and so patriotic that even the most doubtful became convinced of what his close associates already knew, that Hancock was for real. The speech also convinced the British that he was a rebel. Hancock became a marked man. For this reason, on the day of the battles of Lexington and Concord the British were seeking to arrest Hancock and Samuel Adams. Following those battles, Massachusetts governor Gage issued a proclamation granting a general pardon to all who would demonstrate a proper penitence to the crown, except Hancock and Samuel Adams. In 1774, he was elected to the Provincial Congress of Massachusetts and simultaneously to the Continental Congress. He married Dorothy Quincy on August 23, 1775 and they had two children. His daughter is named Lydia Hancock, and his son is named John George Washington Hancock.
When Peyton Randolph resigned in 1776, John Hancock assumed the position of President. Hancock retired in 1777 due to problems with gout, but continued public service in his native state by participating in the formation of its constitution. In 1780, he was elected the first governor of Massachusetts under the new state constitution. He was re-elected governor each year through 1785 when he resigned, again for

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