![Cartoon of a white man with an 18th-Century hairstyle, on an American flag background. Text reads "Meet founding father Francis Hopkinson. Lawyer! Judge! Declaration of Independence signer! And... America's first composer! (Sorta...)"](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/5ef7d99/2147483647/strip/true/crop/4000x2000+0+0/resize/880x440!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fdd%2F47%2F045820db481eb687545e7aff9bc8%2Fed444590-3f2c-45ec-9f13-cf20fa1296cf.png)
![Comic panel with three cartoon hands holding up steins of beer in the foreground. In the background, a cartoon colonial-era man sits at a piano. Text reads "My Days have been so Wondrous Free -- the (possibly) first song penned by an america-born colonist -- was a hit in the 1760s."](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/780da78/2147483647/strip/true/crop/2048x2048+0+0/resize/880x880!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F43%2Fcb%2F20494714400e9c10f7abc5e3f131%2F7c8fe920-a862-496e-8bc7-54ba0279a374.png)
![Cartoon panel of an opera being staged, with text reading "He sent off the French to Yorktown with perhaps America's first opera!"](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/ba1b1f0/2147483647/strip/true/crop/2048x2048+0+0/resize/880x880!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F21%2Faf%2F6837f50249f5a7030237932c8581%2F9534cb51-df0e-475c-948a-ffcfe9e49842.png)
![Comic panel with cartoon George Washington in the foreground. In the background, another 18th-Century man with a speech bubble that reads "Ta-Da!" Caption text reads "In "A Toast" Hopkinson helped build the legend of his friend George Washington."](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/dabe307/2147483647/strip/true/crop/2048x2048+0+0/resize/880x880!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F83%2F49%2Fa162f57042d0afa770180d5462fa%2Fec942127-0aaa-4402-ab08-0365f9d09008.png)
![Comic panel of Hopkinson standing atop a black star, in a parody of the "Hamilton" musical logo. Text reads "A founding father who could've written his own Broadway hit!"](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/fcce0d0/2147483647/strip/true/crop/2048x2048+0+0/resize/880x880!/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F59%2F90%2Fdb96d1bc4e38ac4578bfff69c834%2F8c8280b9-c14d-4e0b-8214-9975dc1205e5.png)
Francis Hopkinson, alongside musical contemporaries like William Billings and James Hewitt, played a vital role in shaping the early musical identity of America.
But ol' Hoppie had an ace up his sleeve.
Among his many accomplishments — as a lawyer, judge, and other self-proclaimed deeds — Hopkinson could also brag about his place in history as a signer of the Declaration of Independence.
And, maybe one day, as a Broadway sensation...