12) John Hancock
Pros: Along with men of vision and men of action, the revolution needed another type of figure: men of means. Franklin may have been the brain, and Sam Adams the fist, but John Hancock was the wallet. Increasingly frustrated by his mistreatment by the British, the merchant became a smuggler, bankrolling the Sons of Liberty gang. Later, as governor of Massachusetts, he was instrumental in the ratification of the Constitution.
Cons: Poor penmanship.
