JOHN HANCOCK: First to Sign, First to Invest in America’s Independence, by Willard Sterne Randall
When John Hancock scrawled his enormous signature at the bottom of the Declaration of Independence, it was a brave act; capture by the British might have meant execution. The musical “1776” has Hancock claiming that he wrote it out supersized “so Fat George in London can read it without his glasses!”
But despite his courage, Hancock remains a little hard to see. Unlike Adams and Jefferson, he did not leave extensive writings. Unlike Washington, he did not play a leading military role (though he longed to). Unlike all three of them, he did not make it to the presidency, but served as a precursor of sorts in the Continental Congress.
These deficits have left their mark. Historians generally neglect Hancock when they write collective biographies of the founders, and there are no major monuments to him. There will be 250 statues in Donald Trump’s National Garden of American Heroes that is supposed to be completed by July 4 next year. The actress Ingrid Bergman and the “Jeopardy!” host Alex Trebek have made the cut, but not the American who did more than most to define Independence Day.
The Declaration of Independence may have been composed by a different founder, but, as the historian Willard Sterne Randall writes in “John Hancock,” it was Hancock who led the Second Continental Congress to appoint the committee that drafted it. He also raised funds for the Continental Army, oversaw shipbuilding efforts for the Navy and kept Congress together even as it fled Philadelphia when the British came too close for comfort.
For all these reasons, it is welcome news to have a biography that presents a compelling case for a reappraisal. Randall tells the story of an 18th-century American who seemed preordained to follow the path of his father and grandfather into the ministry, but then swerved in another direction when his father died and a wealthy uncle offered to adopt him. At times, the narrative structure resembles the twists and turns of Henry Fielding’s 1749 novel, “Tom Jones,” about a foundling with a hearty appetite for life.
Tutored by his uncle, Hancock proved to have an exceptional nose for business. In the 1760s, as relations deteriorated between England and its American colonies, Hancock was on the front lines as a well-informed importer who understood the ways in which local tempers were flaring over tariffs on goods like paper and tea. As the English tightened the screws, he extended lines of credit to Boston’s lesser merchants, a financial tie that meant the Massachusetts business community moved in lockstep with him when he wanted to pressure the Crown with a boycott.
Randall also effectively conveys the real affection that bonded Hancock and his fellow Bostonians, whom he helped with purchases of firewood during particularly cold winters and fireworks displays when there was happier news to celebrate. His philanthropy earned him many friends, but his expensive tastes grated on more abstemious leaders like Samuel Adams.
Hancock was elected to office, first locally, and then, when he assumed the presidency of the Continental Congress in May 1775, as a leader of the not-quite-United States. In 1777, exhausted, he requested a leave, and returned to Boston for a spell. After that, he never completely regained his national stature, although he served capably in local offices and helped Massachusetts survive its own internal fissures, including Shays’ Rebellion in the 1780s.
If the early Revolutionary period represented Hancock’s apogee, he stayed true to the patriot cause for many years after. Unlike another financial genius who was rising at that moment — Alexander Hamilton — he was suspicious of a strong central government and yet he worked to secure the approval of the U.S. Constitution in Massachusetts. Weakened by gout, he began to fade just as the country was coming together. For all of these reasons, Hamilton gets the $10 bill and the musical.
Randall handles the arc of Hancock’s life efficiently, but there remain unasked questions relating to slavery. There is some evidence that Hancock, as the governor of Massachusetts, impeded the extradition of people who had escaped bondage in the South and that he endorsed compensation for forced labor. The author does not investigate these subjects, nor does he linger over the way the peculiar institution might have helped bolster Hancock’s inherited fortune.
It is unlikely Hancock will be restored to the top tier of the founders, but remembering him better could reap dividends. With his financial acumen, propensity for dramatic gestures and flamboyant signature, he might appeal to the right, and a certain Sharpie-wielding president. With his respect for due process and democracy, and his direct support of those in need, he also represents values that might be associated with the left. To bring a divided people closer together, as he did in 1776, would be a good way to honor a founder who has been waiting a long time for his close-up.
JOHN HANCOCK: First to Sign, First to Invest in America’s Independence | By Willard Sterne Randall | Dutton | 272 pp. | $34
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