John Hancock’s famously large signature appears first on the Declaration of Independence.
Hancock was president of the Second Continental Congress when the Declaration was adopted. His name is placed prominently beneath the text, and its large, flowing lettering helped create the enduring expression that someone should “put their John Hancock” on a document.
Hancock was a wealthy Boston merchant and an important Massachusetts political leader. British authorities had targeted him and Samuel Adams before independence, and Hancock later became the first governor of Massachusetts under the state’s new constitution.
The popular image of Hancock signing on July 4 is simplified. Congress adopted the Declaration that day, but the main signing of the engrossed parchment copy is generally dated August 2, 1776. Hancock’s prominent signature and his role as congressional president made him the document’s best-known signer.