John Morton doesn’t get much attention among the signers of the Declaration of Independence, but he probably should. In the summer of 1776, the Pennsylvania delegation to the Continental Congress was deeply divided over independence. On July 2, the vote was split. It fell to Morton to break the tie. He voted yes. Because of that single vote, Pennsylvania supported independence, and the Declaration moved forward. He was also a signer of the Declaration. Like other signers, he paid a personal price. Many of his neighbors and former friends in Pennsylvania viewed his support for independence as treason. Many turned against him. Less than a year later, on April 1, 1777, Morton became the first signer to die. He was only 51, likely from tuberculosis. He never got to see whether the great gamble would succeed or what the country became.