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John Hancock's Childhood

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You may have known who George Washington, Paul Revere, or Patrick Henry were, but maybe you don’t know who John Hancock was. Hancock had a very interesting childhood caused by him being adopted by his uncle. His childhood wasn’t the only interesting part of his life since his adult life had a lot of twists and turns. Hancock had a very important position and powerful impact on the American Revolution.

John Hancock was born on January 12, 1737, according to the Julian calendar, which was in use then. According to the Gregorian calendar, which is in use now, he was born on January 23, 1737. Hancock was born in Braintree, Massachusetts, the current town of Quincy, Massachusetts. John’s father and grandfather were ministers and wanted John to …show more content…

His wealth was generated by the massive shipping company, The House of Hancock. One of Hancock’s ships, The Liberty, was carrying a shipment of Madeira wine. Customs officers searched The Liberty and found that it only carried 25 pipes of wine, just one-fourth of the ship’s carrying capacity. John paid for the 25 pipes of wine. The officials suspected that Hancock was going to secretly unload more wine at night to avoid paying for all the cargo. Two tidesmen on the ship stayed on board overnight and swore nothing had been unloaded. This event was called, The Liberty Affair. A month later one of the tidesmen changed his story. The tidesman said that he had been forcibly held on the Liberty by John Hancock’s orders and illegally unloaded the cargo. The next day the officials seized the Liberty and found 20 barrels of tar and 200 barrels of oil which had no permit to have the goods loaded on the ship. This event was very important to the revolution. It strengthened Britain’s decision to suppress the rebels in Boston. Speaking of rebels, you should hear about the Sons of Liberty. The organization was founded by Samuel Adams. John Hancock was a part of this organization and helped support and influence others to join. Hancock also supplied the Minutemen with ammunition and weapons.

Hopefully, you have somewhat of a sense of who John Hancock was. His childhood outlined his interesting adulthood life. Hancock’s adoption caused his inheritance of the House of Hancock and him being a powerful political figure. His being a respected political figure probably helped him support the Patriots in the American

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