A Splendid Biography of a Forgotten Founding Father

"King Hancock: The Radical Influence of a Moderate Founding Father" by Brook Barbier.

In the collection of biographies on the Founding Fathers, there are a plethora to choose from concerning George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Benjamin Franklin; a good selection concerning John Adams, James Madison, and Alexander Hamilton; and a sufficient number concerning John Jay, Samuel Adams, and James Monroe.

One recognizable name, given his signature, that has not been lost to history, but does seem to have been lost to the American memory, is John Hancock. If not for his signature on the Declaration of Independence, Hancock’s name might be nearly forgotten along with most of the other 55 signers of the founding document.

It isn’t right that a man such as Hancock should be so scarcely remembered. Historian Brooke Barbier looks to correct this insufficient recollection of one of America’s most important founders. In her new biography, “King Hancock: The Radical Influence of a Moderate Founding Father,” she brings the famous unknown man back to life with a grace and skill fitting of a person who wished to not only be remembered, but loved by his fellow patriots and citizens.

The American ‘King’

The title of the book is rather jilting considering the early Americans fought to throw off the chains of monarchy. Ms. Barbier explains that it was originally a “nickname used derisively by British soldiers” but was soon adopted by Bostonians and those in the countryside during the opening scenes of the American Revolution at Concord. Militiamen yelled “King Hancock forever!” as the British soldiers conducted their 15-mile retreat from Concord to Boston. As Ms. Barbier notes, it gave the colonists a way to taunt “their new enemies with a novel rallying cry.”

There had to be a reason why the British soldiers concocted the insult, and Ms. Barbier explains in her biography that Hancock’s wealth, dress, and extravagant, fun-loving parties were part and parcel of the reason. The author takes the reader on a journey from Hancock’s childhood, when his minister father died and he was sent to live with his wealthy and childless aunt and uncle, to inheriting his uncle’s merchant business, and growing said business until he became one of the wealthiest (if not the wealthiest) men in Boston.

A Sudden Change

Ms. Barbier presents a man caught in the middle of political and economic strife between the American colonists and the British monarchy and Parliament. The Americans had done well economically as part of the British Empire and profited politically from the monarchy’s salutary neglect. After the French and Indian War concluded, in which the Americans spent their own blood and treasure to help the British defeat the French and their Indian allies, England found itself in more debt than it could manage and believed taxing the well-to-do American colonists would alleviate the financial strain.

“King Hancock” describes how the wealthy merchants and the average laborers viewed and reacted to this new reality. Ms. Barbier channels the revolutionary fervor in seamless fashion from Parliament’s tax acts to intimidation methods by the Sons of Liberty to the Boston Massacre to the “shot heard round the world” at Lexington and Concord. All the while, Hancock plays the moderate, but this doesn’t equate to indecisiveness.

In fact, Ms. Barbier presents a businessman who isn’t swayed by rabble rousers or British expeditionary forces. Rather, he is a thoughtful leader who knows how far is too far (on both the British and American sides) and the location of the point of no return.

A Hard Working Leader

Hancock’s health issues, specifically gout, interfered with his work. At times, his focus led him to working himself sick. When he was elected president of the Second Continental Congress, he stayed the course—working long hours into the night, overseeing the debates and legislative discussions of Congress—for 29 months, making him the longest-serving president of the Second Continental Congress.

On July 4, 1776, John Hancock, president of the Continental Congress put his signature to the Declaration of Independence, watched by fellow patriots. Printed by Currier & Ives. (MPI/Getty Images)

Through illness and tragedy, of which Hancock suffered greatly on both accounts, he proved a man of resolve, but also, and this is striking in the book, a man of the people. In a sense, Hancock was a populist leader. He was wealthy beyond the means of other Bostonians, yet he was down to earth and could converse with anyone, from admirals of the French Royal Navy to fellow revolutionaries like Samuel Adams, to the common laborer, like George Hewes, a shoemaker’s apprentice. Ms. Barbier sets the tone of Hancock’s affable manner in a delightful story with Hewes.

A Needed and Wonderful Biography

In a relatively short biography, Ms. Barbier packs a grand amount of historical information, ranging from Hancock’s interactions with the Founding Fathers, such as the Adams cousins, and Washington; to the post-war (French and Indian War, and the War for Independence) economic upheaval and its impact; to Hancock’s frustrating marriage; to his political accomplishments as the beloved governor of Massachusetts; and his influence on the ratifying of the Constitution, despite his reservations about the power of the federal government.

Even toward the end of his political career, as he neared the end of his life, Hancock held immense sway.

As Ms. Barbier writes, “Without Hancock, the Constitution surely would have been defeated, for he had ‘an amazing influence over a great number of wavering Members.’” Furthermore, she concludes through various historical documents and contemporary correspondences, that had Massachusetts not ratified the Constitution, numerous other states would have most likely followed suit, and the now-longest living constitution would have been killed in the cradle.

“King Hancock” was a wonderful read for many reasons. It’s undoubtedly a popular historical era, and Ms. Barbier accomplishes the telling of a familiar story with a fresh voice. Her ability to stay on track with Hancock’s life as a merchant, husband, grieving father, and political master, while also providing insight into the social rules and laws of the time, is a testament to her skill as both writer and historian. Most importantly, Ms. Barbier has given us a biography of a famous forgotten man who is assuredly worth remembering.

‘King Hancock: The Radical Influence of a Moderate Founding Father’ By Brooke Barbier Harvard University Press, Oct. 10, 2023 Hardcover: 230 pages

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