John Hancock was president of the Continental Congress when it adopted the Declaration of Independence, a milestone remembered by America250.
Hancock, a wealthy merchant from Massachusetts, became president of the Second Continental Congress in May 1775. In that role he presided over the debates surrounding independence and over the congressional approval of the Declaration on July 4, 1776. His position was congressional rather than executive: the United States did not yet have a presidency under the later Constitution.
Hancock’s large signature appears prominently on the engrossed parchment. Tradition has made it a symbol of bold signing, although the document’s exact signing process unfolded over time and most delegates signed on August 2. Hancock was one of 56 eventual signers.
He later served as governor of Massachusetts and became a major figure in the state’s postwar politics. Hancock is sometimes mistakenly described as the first U.S. president, but George Washington became the first president under the Constitution in 1789.