That
he was a vain man may explain his imposing handwriting, or he may have
wanted King George to be able to read it, as the old story goes. In any
event, if John Hancock had done nothing else, he would be remembered for
his big, bold, belligerent signature, the first on the Declaration of
Independence, writ “so big no Britisher would have to use his spectacles
to read it.” “King John” Hancock (1737-93), also known as the King of
Smugglers, was a Revolutionary patriot who led local merchants in
protesting the Stamp Act, heading as he did the largest mercantile firm in
Boston. Immensely popular in his own lifetime, he became a major general
of militia, a member and president of the Continental Congress and except
for one term, was elected annually as governor of Massachusetts from 1780
until his death. His name, as everyone knows, is commonly used to mean a
signature or as a synonym for name itself. It is interesting to note that
John Hancock was the only signer to attach his signature to the
Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. July 2 should, strictly
speaking, be Independence Day – July the Second – for it was on that date
that the Congress voted for independence, the July Fourth document merely
being a revision of the first draft voted upon. Most of the other
delegates signed their names to the Declaration on August 2, the last
signer, Thomas McKean of Delaware, who was among the absentees on that
day, being given permission to affix his signature five years later in
1781.