Introduction to History of New Jersey
The first inhabitants of what is now New Jersey were prehistoric Indians of the Algonquian language family who arrived some 7,000 years ago. They called themselves Lenni-Lenape, “Original People.” (Later, they were known as the Delaware Indians.) Three Lenni-Lenape subtribes inhabited the region—the Minsi in the north; the Unami in the central area; and the Unilachtigo in the south. The chief of the Unami was considered the leader of ail the tribes. The descendants of these original inhabitants occupied New Jersey when European exploration of the region began in the 17th century.
Important dates in New Jersey1524 Giovanni da Verrazzano explored the New Jersey coast.1609 Henry Hudson explored Sandy Hook Bay and sailed up the Hudson River.1630? The Dutch established an outpost in Pavonia.1660 The Dutch established a permanent settlement in Bergen (now part of Jersey City).1664 The Dutch surrendered New Jersey to England.1776 New Jersey adopted its first constitution.1783-1784 Princeton and Trenton each served briefly as the national capital.1787 New Jersey became the third state when it ratified the U.S. Constitution on December 18.1844 New Jersey adopted its second constitution.1858 The first dinosaur skeleton discovered in North America was found buried in Haddonfield.1869 Rutgers defeated the College of New Jersey (now Princeton), by a score of 6 to 4, in New Brunswick in the world's first intercollegiate football game.1879 Thomas A. Edison developed the first practical incandescent lamp in Menlo Park.1911 Many reforms were enacted under Governor Woodrow Wilson.1947 New Jersey adopted its third constitution.1952 The New Jersey Turnpike opened.1969 New Jersey voters approved a state lottery to raise money for the state government and for the schools.1976 New Jersey adopted an individual income tax.1978 Casino gambling began in Atlantic City.1994-2001 Christine Todd Whitman served as New Jersey's first woman governor.European Settlement
Henry Hudson explored the northern coast before sailing up the river that now bears his name on his voyage for the Dutch East India Company in 1609. Holland claimed the region, and in 1618 a Dutch trading post was established at Bergen (now part of Jersey City). In 1623 Captain Cornells Mey (or May) sailed up the Delaware River and founded Fort Nassau on the east bank near present Gloucester City. The Lenni-Lenape Indians were generally friendly, and a fur trade was built up along the Delaware.
In 1624 the Dutch West India Company began colonizing New Netherland. This region of indefinite boundaries centered in Manhattan Island, where the colony's government was located. A patroonship (proprietary estate) called Pavonia was set up at what is now Jersey City.
The English from Virginia made an attempt in the early 1630's to enter the Delaware Valley fur trade, but were repulsed by the Dutch. In 1638 Sweden founded a colony on the west bank of the lower Delaware. Swedish outposts were soon located on the east bank of the river, and encroaching English from New Haven were driven out.
In spite of conflict with the Indians of the lower Hudson Valley, the New Amsterdam Dutch expanded their control. A trading post was built at Hackensack in the 1640's, and in 1655 New Sweden was conquered and annexed. In 1664 Charles II of England granted an area that included New Netherland to his brother, the Duke of York. An English fleet was sent to New Netherland and seized the colony without firing a shot.
Colonial Development
The region between the Hudson and Delaware rivers was granted to Lord Berkeley and Sir George Carteret by the Duke of York in June, 1664, and was named New Jersey. The proprietors founded Elizabethtown (now Elizabeth) as the capital and guaranteed settlers freedom of conscience, freedom of trade, and representation in an assembly. Many colonists from New England and Long Maud moved to the new province.
The western half of the province was sold in 1674 to English Quakers, and in 1676 the province was officially divided into East Jersey and West Jersey. Burlington became the capital of West Jersey. The Concessions and Agreement drawn up for West Jersey by William Penn provided for the most democratic form of any colonial government. In 1682 a Quaker group bought East Jersey, and in 1686 Perth Amboy was made the capital.
The early years of settlement were a time of controversy and disorder. There was confusion over land titles, with the many changes of proprietors; friction among the settlers, who included Puritans, Quakers, Dutch from New York, Scotch-Irish Presbyterians, and Baptists; and conflict with New York, which for a time claimed political jurisdiction. Finally, in 1702 the proprietors of East and West Jersey surrendered their charters to the king and the province was reunited as a crown colony. The two capital cities alternated as the seat of government.
New Jersey became an important industrial region very early and was noted for iron, pottery, and glass throughout its early history. It had its first ironworks, at Shrewsbury, in 1676; its first pottery factory, at Burlington, in 1688; and its first glass factory, near Salem, in 1740. Iron forges and furnaces began to appear all over the northern part of New Jersey in the 18th century.
Revolutionary War and Statehood
William Franklin, Benjamin Franklin's son, was royal governor of New Jersey when the Continental Congress was called in 1774. He refused to send delegates to it, and the following year the patriots deposed him. In 1776 New Jersey adopted a constitution and declared itself an independent state.
During the Revolutionary War, New Jersey—because of its strategic position between the Hudson and Delaware rivers— was the scene of nearly 100 battles and skirmishes. Most crucial were the battle of Trenton, following Washington's crossing of the Delaware on Christmas night of 1776, and the victory at Princeton the next month. The indecisive battle at Monmouth Court House was fought in 1778. The Continental Army spent the winter of 1779–80 at Morris-town, suffering during the severest winter of the century. After the war, the Confederation Congress met at Princeton in 1783 and in Trenton in 1784.
At the Constitutional Convention in 1787 the New Jersey delegation introduced what was called the New Jersey Plan. This was a proposal for giving all states equal representation in Congress, as opposed to the Virginia Plan for representation based on population. The Constitution, as finally drafted, was a compromise of the two plans. New Jersey was the third state to ratify. In 1790 Trenton was made the permanent state capital.
Economic Growth
New Jersey's industrial potential was recognized by Alexander Hamilton, who picked the site of Paterson for the nation's first planned industrial city. The state was fortunate, too, in having inventors as residents. John Stevens, a pioneer in steam power, produced successful steamships. His son Robert inaugurated steam railway service in the state in the early 1830's. New Jersey was active in the building of roads and canals, so that the nearness of New York City and Philadelphia both as markets and as ports could be fully utilized. Truck farming developed in the south, and industry, greatly stimulated by the Civil War, grew in the north.
Lenient incorporation laws and low corporation tax rates attracted many large industries to the state in the late 1800's. Several of the nation's most powerful trusts and holding companies, such as Standard Oil, were organized in New Jersey. The state was also the site of scientific research and invention. Thomas A. Edison, working first at Menlo Park and then in West Orange, was the nation's foremost inventor. John P. Holland, a schoolteacher, tested his first submarine in the Passaic River in 1878 and sold the U.S. Navy its first submarine in 1900.
The growing political power of large industrialists led to a reform movement in the early 20th century. During Woodrow Wilson's governorship (1910–12), progressive legislation provided for election reforms and the regulation of corporate activities. Before the United States entered World War I, New Jersey's powder-making industry supplied vast quantities of explosives to the Allies. Blasts at munitions plants at Jersey City in 1916 and near Kingsland in 1917 were attributed to German saboteurs.
In the postwar expansion of automobile travel, the New Jersey shore became one of the country's most popular resort areas. Development of convention facilities at Asbury Park and Atlantic City drew thousands of additional visitors to the state.
Racial tension plagued New Jersey throughout the 1960's. In 1967, one of the worst race riots in United States history erupted in Newark. In the late 1960's, corruption in government became one of the state's most pressing problems. Investigations into the role of organized crime in government led to the conviction of several state and local officials in the 1970's. In the early 1980's, federal crime probes led to the conviction of U.S. Senator Harrison Williams and a number of others.
During the 1980's, unregulated development and toxic waste disposal were important environmental concerns. In the early 1990's, the state's economy was adversely affected by a nationwide recession. In 1993 New Jersey elected its first woman governor, Christine Todd Whitman, a Republican.
In 2001, Christine Whitman resigned as governor to head the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency under President George W. Bush. She held the post for the next two years.
In 2004, governor James E. McGreevey resigned following the announcement that he was a homosexual and that he had had an extramarital affair. Richard J. Codey, the state Senate president, took over the remainder of McGreevey's gubernatorial term, though Codey did retain his post in the Senate at the same time. In 2005, a state constitutional amendment formed the post of lieutenant governor, effective as of 2010.