John Morton (politician)

John Morton (* 1724 in Ridley Township, Chester County today Delaware County, Pennsylvania, colony of the Kingdom of Great Britain today, USA, † April 1, 1777 in Ridley Park, Delaware County, USA ) was the delegate who cast the deciding vote in favor of the Declaration of Independence the United States gave. He is considered one of the Founding Fathers of the United States.

Life

Morton's great-grandparents Martti Marttinen Sr. ( Swedish: Mårten Mårtensson ) from Rautalampi (Finland) and " Justis " Marttinen from Savo (Finland ) came in 1651 with Morton's then eight- year-old grandfather, Martti Marttinen Jr. on the new continent. They were among the first emigrants who settled on the banks of the Delaware River, where Martti Marttinen Sr. had already visited in 1641, the settlement was founded in 1638 by a small group of Finns and Swedes. From 1638 to 1665 came new settlers in twelve expeditions. About 80 % of them were Finns. The settlement was known as " New Sweden ", because at that time Finland was one of Sweden.

Morton's father, also named John, died a few months before his birth on the Amman Country plantation which he had received from his uncle John Bärtilsson. Morton's mother married a little later an Englishman who had an above-average education and, with much love, as Morton came in the appropriate age, oversaw the training at home and drew. In 1753 he married his second cousin Anna Justis, also a great-granddaughter of Martti Marttinen Sr., and settled in Calcon Hook. The couple had three sons and five daughters.

Morton was elected to the provincial assembly, where from 1756 to 1775 worked. For a time he was even speaker of the House of Representatives. Morton was in 1765 a delegate to the Stamp Act Congress. He held various offices, including Justice of the Peace, High Sheriff, Chief Judge at the General Court and the Court of Appeal. Morton 1774 Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania and was elected to the Continental Congress, where he was chairman of the committee that recited the Articles of Confederation. In 1775 he became president of the provincial assembly.

Morton found unexpectedly in a delicate and crucial situation at a significant point of the independence movement in the Continental Congress. Prior to July 4, 1776 the states of Delaware and Pennsylvania had voted against independence aspirations. That's why big doubts arose with the other delegates to the congress how Pennsylvania and Delaware would behave. It hung obviously a lot from them, and it was feared that if these two countries would vote against the Declaration of Independence, the result would turn out very unhappy. In fact, the votes of both states were secured by a mile in favor of independence. But when the votes of the delegation from Pennsylvania were precisely separated, it fell to Morton, cast the deciding vote. He gave his voice in favor of the freedom of his country.

The following year helped Morton to organize a system of confederation, and was chairman of the committee of the whole, as it was adopted on 15 November 1777. In the same year he was seized with an inflammatory fever and died at the age of 54 years. Morton was professor of religion.

During his last illness on the verge of death, he remembered his enemies around him and urged the parties on to tell them that the hour would come when it would be recognized that his vote in favor of American independence the most important moment of his was life.