Born January 23, 1737
Quincy, Massachusetts
Died October 8, 1793
Quincy, Massachusetts

Political leader, businessman

"The [Revolutionary] Cause is certainly a most glorious one, and I trust that every man … is determined to see it gloriously ended, or perish in the ruins of it."
Portrait: John Hancock. Reproduced by permission of the National Archives and Records Administration.

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...