NEW JERSEY 



4168 



NEW JERSEY 



Settlement and Colonial Government. When 

 the first settlement of white men in New Jer- 

 sey was made by the Dutch in 1617, the terri- 

 tory was occupied by the Lenni-Lennape tribe 

 of Algonquian Indians. Through the discovery 

 and exploration of the Delaware River by Cor- 

 nelius Mey, for whom Cape May was named, 

 Holland claimed the territory. Farmers and 

 traders from New Amsterdam settled in Hud- 

 son and Bergen counties and the influence of 

 the Dutch Church and speech was deeply im- 

 pressed upon the northeast section of the state. 

 Groups of Swedes settled in the Delaware Val- 

 ley near Philadelphia, but they submitted to 

 the domination of the Dutch, who controlled 

 the colony until 1664, when the territory was 

 conquered by the English and granted to Lord 

 Berkeley and Sir George Carteret. In recog- 

 nition of Carteret's defense of the Island of 

 Jersey, the grant was called New Jersey. A 

 liberal government was established and many 

 immigrants from New England settled in the 

 colony. Carteret assumed control of the east- 

 ern section, or "East Jersey," and Berkeley dis- 

 posed of his interests in the west to a company 

 of Friends, who controlled "West Jersey" until 

 both it and East Jersey passed under the con- 

 trol of the boards of proprietors. 



In 1702 the Jerseys were reunited in a crown 

 colony and the usual colonial quarrels between 

 the people and the royal officers continued un- 

 til independence was declared. The growth of 

 New York and Philadelphia attracted many of 

 the New Jersey colonists to those cities, and 

 gave rise to Banjamin Franklin's famous re- 

 mark that New Jersey was like a cider barrel 

 tapped at both ends. Before the Revolution, 

 Huguenots, Scotch and Irish had settled in the 

 central and western parts of the colony, ferries 

 and post roads had been built, Princeton Uni- 

 versity and Rutgers College had been founded 

 and the first Indian reservation in America had 

 been established in 1758 in Burlington County. 



Independence and Statehood. The Revolu- 

 tion found the colony divided in sentiment, and 

 a large number remaining loyal to England 

 joined the Tory raiders known in the colony 

 as the "Pine Robbers." On July 2, 1776, New- 

 Jersey issued a declaration of independence. 

 During the Revolution, nearly one hundred 

 battles were fought within the state, prominent 

 among them being the battles of Trenton, 

 Princeton, Red Bank, Monmouth, Paulus Hook 

 and the engagements around Elizabeth and 

 Newark. Washington's "retreat across the Jer- 

 seys" and winter occupation of Morristown are 



other noted events of the war. The state con- 

 tributed over ten thousand men besides its 

 militia to the Continental army, and its losses 

 were especially severe. 



In the Constitutional Convention, the New 

 Jersey representatives offered the "New Jersey 

 Plan," recommending a Union with little au- 

 thority over the states, but they unanimously 

 adopted the Federal Constitution on December 

 18, 1787. In the early nineteenth century, New 

 Jersey was the center of the political struggle 

 between partisans of the Federalist leader, Alex- 

 ander Hamilton, and Aaron Burr, the advocate 

 of state sovereignty, which culminated in the 

 duel fought at Weehawken in which Hamilton 

 was killed. During the War of 1812, the neces- 

 sity for the overland transportation of troops 

 led to the granting of the first railroad charter 

 in the United States, and the Camden and Am- 

 boy Railroad and the Delaware and Raritan 

 Ship Canal were constructed. 



In the slavery struggle the state was gener- 

 ally Northern in sentiment and supported the 

 Union army with its full quota of troops. New 

 Jersey's greatest period of prosperity followed 

 the war. Its cities grew with unprecedented 

 rapidity, manufactures increased in importance 

 and agricultural interests in the southern sec- 

 tion of the state were developed. The chief 

 issues in state politics have been those con- 

 nected with taxation, the tariff and the control 

 of corporations. In 1906 the great political 

 power of the railroad corporations was broken. 



The state has generally been Republican in 

 national politics, but recently has had several 

 Democratic governors and legislatures. In 1910, 

 Woodrow Wilson, then president of Princeton 

 University, was elected governor, and a Demo- 

 cratic majority was elected to the legislature. 

 The administration of Governor Wilson was 

 notable for many political reforms. In the 

 Presidential election of 1912, Wilson carried the 

 state by a large majority, and in 1916 the Re- 

 publican candidate, Hughes, won the state. The 

 Democratic legislature of 1913 passed measures 

 advocated by President Wilson reforming jury 

 selection. E.B.P. 



Consult Lee's New Jersey aa a Colony and as a 

 State; Stockton's Stories of New Jersey. 



Related Subject*. The following articles in 

 these volumes will be of interest in connection 

 with a study of New Jersey : 



Asbury Park 

 Atlantic City 

 Bayonne 



CITIES 



Bloomfleld 

 Bridgeton 

 Camden 



