Boston Massacre History

Register to read the introduction… England had enacted the Stamp Act, imposing taxes on Americans in 55 different ways. Americans, who had always managed their money in their own assemblies, considered, the act was unconstitutional. Naturally they were furious. John Hancock was also furious. He said there was nothing or no one on earth that could make him pay a penny of that “dammed tax.” He said it loudly and often. When Samuel Adams and other people heard it, they cheered him. The next year was good news. England repealed the Stamp Act. “The news was brought to Boston in John Hancock’s brig the Harrison,” and John announced it to the public. So after the news, John threw a grand party. “He festooned his house with flags, piled his table high with food, and lighted up all of his windows. When the house was full, he rolled out a 126 gallons cask of Madeira wine.” Everybody was cheering at him as the fireworks were set off. On May 1768, John Hancock was elected to the Massachusetts House of Representatives. “The House elected him each year to the Governor’s Council, but the Governor rejected his appointments until 1771 when the Governor changed his mind.” Hancock turned down the position and said that he was no longer interested in politics. On March 1770, The Boston Massacre had occurred. After the Massacre, the citizens at the Faneuil Hall appointed a committee to meet with the Governor Hutchinson and Colonel Dalrymple to demand the removal of troops. Hancock warned the governor that “there are upwards of 4,000 men ready to take arms.” Dalrymple agreed to remove both regiments to the Castle Island. As soon as Samuel Adams popularity declined after the Massacre, Hancock said the he would never have a relationship with Adams. (Fritz, …show more content…
In that same year, he was elected as that president of the Massachusetts Provincial Congress, and presided over its Committee of Safety. Under Hancock, Massachusetts was able to raise bands of "minutemen", soldiers who pledged to be ready for battle on short notice, and his boycott of tea imported by the British East India Company eventually led to the Boston Tea Party. In April 1775 as the British intent became apparent, Hancock and Samuel Adams slipped away from Boston to elude capture, staying in the Hancock-Clarke House in Lexington, Massachusetts (which can still be seen to this day). There Paul Revere supposedly roused them about midnight before the British troops arrived at dawn for the Battle of Lexington and Concord, but Prescott was the one who actually informed Hancock and Adams. At this time, General Thomas Gage ordered Hancock and Adams arrested for treason. Following the battle a proclamation was issued granting a general pardon to all who would demonstrate loyalty to the crown, with the exceptions of Hancock and Adams. On May 24, 1775, he was elected the third President of the Second Continental Congress, succeeding Peyton Randolph. From October 27, 1775 to July 1, 1776, his title was "President of the United Colonies". From July 2, 1776 to October 29, 1777, the title was "President of the Continental Congress of the United States of America". He would serve through some of the darkest days of the Revolutionary War including Washington's defeats in New York and New Jersey as well as Great Britain's occupation of Philadelphia until resigning his office in York, Pennsylvania on October 30, 1777. He was succeeded by Henry Laurens. In the first month of his presidency, on June 19, 1775, Hancock commissioned George Washington commander-in-chief of the Continental Army. In all spring of 1777, the members of Congress had been arguing about