John Hancock Was A Rabble-Rousing Smuggler
Wikimedia CommonsHe was so wealthy that he could — and did — finance most of the rebellions in Boston.
John Hancock could well be seen as an American anti-hero who outwitted and bit his thumb at British authority. After all, he was a wealthy shipping magnate who was so good at smuggling that he became known as “The Prince of Smugglers.”
He afforded his lavish lifestyle, which he was often criticized for, by smuggling Dutch tea into Boston aboard his ship, the Liberty. And when he was caught, he had the means to afford a promising defense.
But he was also an opportunist who used anti-British sentiment to profit off the people. He corralled unwitting citizens to protest British tax laws that hampered his business and funded the demonstrations himself. From the Boston Tea Party to the Boston Massacre, Hancock helped instigate and foment violence on the streets for his own gain.
Around the same time that the founding father entered local politics in 1765, British Parliament started imposing numerous tax regulations on the 13 colonies. Anti-British sentiment grew stronger every year, and Hancock found a way to capitalize on that.
When his ship was impounded by British authorities in 1768, Hancock was charged with violating tax laws, fined heavily, and taken to court. But since Hancock had become quite the popular figure in Boston, the seizure of his ship led to violence on the streets all in the name of liberty. British authorities eventually sent in military forces, and in 1770, things came to a bloody head with the Boston Massacre.
Wikimedia CommonsThe rebel group known as the Sons of Liberty led the charge during the Boston Tea Party and dumped 342 chests into the harbor.
The British sent in more than 2,000 soldiers in a city of 16,000 colonists to enforce Britain’s tax laws. Violence between colonists and British loyalists as well as the troops erupted soon enough, and John Hancock personally urged citizens to keep fighting. Ultimately, the armed Brits shot and killed five colonists.
The Boston Tea Party in December 1773 arguably only occurred with the help of smugglers like Hancock. When British Parliament imposed the Tea Act in May of that year, Hancock saw yet another opportunity to bolster his pockets. The legislation allowed the British East India Company to sell duty-free tea the colonies, which dampened Hancock’s own smuggling prospects in wake of the new monopoly. So he instigated the citizens of Boston to revolt and dump 342 chests of tea into the harbor.
John Hancock is credited as being the first signer of the Declaration of Independence. He was certainly on the right side of history in railing against British rule, but his desire for independence was not borne out of the need for liberty and justice, but out of self-interest.
