John Hancock Biography

Elected to the Massachusetts House of Representatives

Elected to the Massachusetts House of Representatives

Appointed Speaker to the Massachusetts House of Representatives

Appointed Speaker to the Massachusetts House of Representatives

After the Boston Massacre a meeting of citizens at Faneuil Hall appoints a committee, which includes Hancock, to meet with Governor Hutchinson and Colonel Dalrymple to demand the removal of the troops

Aimed Tea Act of 1773, which allowed the British East India company to sell tea from China in American colonies without paying taxes

Colonists object to the Tea Act because they believe it violates their rights to "no taxation without representation"

Demonstrators destroy an entire shipment of tea sent by the East India Company

The Boston Tea Party is a protest by the Sons of Liberty in Boston

The British Government responds harshly and the episode escalates into the American Revolution

The Boston Tea Party is a protest by the Sons of Liberty in Boston

Hancock's boycott of tea imported by the British East India Company leads to the Boston Tea Party

Hancock's boycott of tea imported by the British East India Company leads to the Boston Tea Party

Presides over the Massachusetts Provincial Congress Committee of Safety

Hancock's boycott of tea imported by the British East India Company leads to the Boston Tea Party

Presides over the Massachusetts Provincial Congress Committee of Safety

Unanimously elected President of the Massachusetts Provincial Congress

Under Hancock Massachusetts is able to raise bands of "minutemen"-soldiers who pledged to be ready for battle

Under Hancock Massachusetts is able to raise bands of "minutemen"-soldiers who pledge to be ready for battle on short notice

The fourth anniversary of the Boston Massacre, gives a speech strongly condemning the British

Paul Revere supposedly rouses them about midnight before the British troops arrive at dawn for the Battle of Lexington and Concord. Hancock and Samuel Adams slip away from Boston to elude capture, staying in the Hancock-Clarke House in Lexington. Following the battle a proclamation is issued granting a general pardon to all who would demonstrate loyalty to the crown-with the exceptions of Hancock and Adams

Elected President of the Second Continental Congress, succeeding Peyton Randolph after Henry Middleton declined the nomination

The Declaration is adopted by the Continental Congress & signed by John Hancock. Signs the Declaration of Independence in large letters so King George can read it. Hancock is best-remembered for his large, flamboyant signature on the Declaration of Independence, so much so that "John Hancock" has become, in the United States, an informal synonym for "signature"

The Declaration is adopted by the Continental Congress & signed by John Hancock