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Painting: by Walter Gilman Page, 1893 |
Governors of Massachusetts
John Hancock (1737-1793)
Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts
1780-1785, 1787-1793
John Hancock was the wealthiest merchant in New
England before becoming affiliated with the revolutionary cause.
Encouraged by Samuel Adams, he headed a citizens' committee, which
called on Thomas Hutchinson to remove English troops from Boston.
He rose to prominence serving as the president of the Massachusetts
Provisional Congress (1774-1775) and as president of the First and
Second Continental Congresses (1775-1777).
During Hancock's first five years as Governor,
Massachusetts' economy suffered from severe inflation. Strict debt
laws imprisoned growing numbers of farmers who defaulted on loans.
Hancock lived a conspicuously opulent life in his mansion crowning
Beacon Hill. The citizenry still had weapons and were accustomed
to fighting the taxes of remote governments. Recognizing the stirrings
of revolution and suffering from reoccurring gout, Hancock resigned
the governorship until the resistance, which took the form of Shay's
Rebellion, was put down.
After several years' absence, Hancock won reelection
and convened the Massachusetts convention to ratify the U.S. Constitution.
Massachusetts was then the second largest state in population, and
Hancock convened the largest state convention. He gathered 364 delegates
who openly debated and proposed elements to the U.S. Constitution.
In 1788, they recommended the addition of a Bill of Rights to protect
individual liberty and state autonomy.
Governor Hancock continued to be reelected
annually with victory margins frequently well above eighty percent.
He died in office in 1793 and was succeeded by his friend, Lieutenant
Governor Samuel Adams.
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