The signature of John Hancock on the Declaration of Independence is the most flamboyant and easily recognizable of all. Few figures were more well-known or more popular than John Hancock who played an instrumental role in coaxing the American Revolution into being. Inheriting great wealth at the age of 26, Hancock soon became involved in revolutionary politics and spent much of his fortune for the cause of American Independence.

In 1774, he was elected to the Continental Congress, assuming the position of president in 1776, thus giving him the duty of being the first signer of the Declaration of Independence. The dignity and character of John Hancock did not suffer for his love of public attention. He was a populist in every sense, who held great confidence in the ability of the common man. He also displayed a pronounced contempt for unreasoned authority. A decree had been delivered from England in early 1776 offering a large reward for the capture of several leading figures. Hancock was one of them. On signing the Declaration he commented, "The British ministry can read that name without spectacles; let them double their reward."

On a more pious note, Hancock recognized the great blessings bestowed upon America, noting in 1788 that God had given to this country:

"A name and a standing among the nations of the world…I hope and pray that the gratitude of their hearts may be expressed by proper use of those inestimable blessings, by the greatest exertions of patriotism, by forming and supporting institutions for cultivating the human understanding, & … by establishing laws for the support of piety, religion, and morality…and by exhibiting on the great theatre of the world those social, public, and private virtues which give more dignity to a people, possessing their own sovereignty than the crowns and diadems afford to sovereign princes."