John Hancock

The Revolutionary War hero that I chose is John Hancock. John Hancock was born in Braintree, Massachusetts in 1773. He was orphaned as a child, and was adopted by a wealthy uncle who was childless. Hancock attended Harvard College for a business education and graduated at the age of 17. After college he became his Uncle`s apprentice as a clerk. Hancock married Dorothy Quincy. Due to his capabilities Hancock was sent on a business mission to England in 1760. When his Uncle died he became very rich and was said to the wealthiest man in New England. He had great affluence and social power.

John Hancock lived in Massachusetts for almost his entire life. John Hancock believed that the United States should be a free nation and was the first person to sign the Declaration of Independence on July 47th, 1776. The document demanded independence from the rule of Great Britain.

He played a huge role in coaxing the start of the American Revolution. He was in company with other leaders in the republican movement in New England. In 1775, he commissioned our first president, George Washington, as commander in chief of the Army of the United Colonies. In 1774, he was elected to Provincial Congress of Massachusetts and simultaneously to the Continental Congress. He was elected Governor of the state where he served for five years. He served in that office until his death in 1793.

John Hancock has contributed many things to what is now the United States. He risked his own life and forced ideals to a revolution of freedoms. John Hancock impacted my life because he made it possible for me to go to school every day and have fun and live in a nation free from British rule.

Many things have been named after John Hancock; for example the Hancock Tower, is the tallest building in Massachusetts, the USS Hancock is a World War II aircraft carrier, and the John Hancock Center is a major skyscraper in Chicago, Illinois.