John Morton (politician)

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John Morton
John Morton's signature

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

Life

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

Morton's father, who was also called John, died a few months before his birth on the Ammansland plantation he had received from his uncle John Bärtilsson. Morton's mother married a little later an Englishman who had an above-average education and who, with a lot of love, when Morton reached the appropriate age, supervised and directed his education at home. 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 worked from 1756 to 1775. For a time he was even Speaker of the House of Representatives. Morton was a delegate to the Stamp Act Congress in 1765 . He has held various offices including Justice of the Peace, High Sheriff , Presiding Judge at the General Court and the Court of Appeals . Morton became associate judge in the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in 1774 and was elected to the Continental Congress, where he became chairman of the committee that presented the articles of confederation . In 1775 he became president of the provincial assembly.

Morton's tomb in Chester, Pennsylvania

At a significant point in the independence movement in the Continental Congress, Morton unexpectedly found himself in a delicate and crucial position. Before July 4, 1776, the states of Delaware and Pennsylvania had voted against the independence movement. As a result, the other delegates to Congress had great doubts about how Pennsylvania and Delaware would behave. Much depended on them, obviously, and it was feared that if these two states voted against the US Declaration of Independence , the outcome would be very unfortunate. In fact, the votes of both states were by far secured in favor of independence. But when the votes of the Pennsylvania delegation were precisely separated, it fell to Morton to cast the decisive vote. He gave his vote in favor of the freedom of his country.

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

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

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personal data
SURNAME Morton, John
BRIEF DESCRIPTION is considered one of the founding fathers of the USA
DATE OF BIRTH 1724
PLACE OF BIRTH Ridley Township , Chester County now Delaware County , Pennsylvania , USA
DATE OF DEATH April 1, 1777
Place of death Ridley Park , Delaware County , USA