John Hancock was serving as the President of the Continental Congress, during the Declaration of Independence, which was ratified on the fourth of July in 1776.
The DeclarationofIndependence bears John Hancock's famously huge signature, which he mockingly claimed the British could read without glasses.
On July 4, 1776, when the declaration was adopted, he was the president of Congress, and as such, he was the first congressman to sign the important document.
He was crucial in bringing about the AmericanRevolution, sometimes unintentionally and other times on purpose.
He was an orphaned boy who was later adopted by a wealthy merchant uncle who was childless.
Hancock graduated from HarvardCollege at the age of 17 after enrolling there to study business.
He served as his uncle's clerk apprentice, and after demonstrating his honesty and competence, he was dispatched on a commercialexpedition to England in 1760.
Thus, from the above it is clear that John Hancock was the president of the continentalcongress when the declaration of independence was ratified on July 4, 1776.
