Remember to Revere our Democracy.
John Hancock became very popular in Massachusetts, especially after British officials seized his sloop Liberty in 1768 and charged him with smuggling. Although the charges against Hancock were eventually dropped, Professor Peter Andreas, author of "Smuggler Nation: How Illicit Trade Made America" explains:
"It is perhaps appropriate that the first signer of the Declaration of Independence was Boston's most well-known merchant-smuggler, John Hancock."
