Person
John Hancock
1737 – 1793
Known for The first and largest signature on the Declaration
Boston's wealthiest merchant and President of the Continental Congress — the first and largest signer of the Declaration of Independence. His trade in imported goods, including tea, gave him a direct financial stake in opposing the 1773 Tea Act that sparked the Boston Tea Party.
Worth noting: like several Patriot leaders honored on this trip, Hancock was himself a slaveholder — a fact that complicates any tidy story about the Revolution and liberty.