New Jersey is the fourth smallest and most densely populated
state of the United States of America. The state is named
after the island of Jersey in the English Channel.
New Jersey was once inhabited by the Lenape Native Americans.
New Jersey was settled by the Dutch in the early 1630s, who
formed a settlement at present-day Jersey City. At the time,
much of what is now New Jersey was claimed as part of the
Dutch colony of New Netherland, which also included parts of
present-day New York State and had its capital at New
Amsterdam, now known as New York City. Some of southwestern
New Jersey also was settled by the Swedes in the mid-1600s as
part of the Swedish colony of New Sweden, which included parts
of Delaware and southeastern Pennsylvania. These Swedish
territories were seized by the Dutch under Peter Stuyvesant in
1654 and incorporated into New Netherland.
The entire region became a territory of Britain in 1664 when a
British fleet under the command of Colonel Richard Nicolls
sailed into what is today New York Harbor and took over the
colony. They met extremely little resistance.
The North American lands were divided by King Charles II of
England, who gave his brother, the Duke of York (later King
James II) the region between New England and Maryland as a
proprietary colony (as opposed to a royal colony). James then
granted the land between the Hudson River and the Delaware
River (the land that would become New Jersey) to two friends
who had been loyal through the English Civil War: Sir George
Carteret and Lord Berkeley of Stratton.
Settlement for the first 10 years of English rule was in the
Hudson River region and came primarily from New England. On
March 18, 1673 Berkeley sold his half of New Jersey to Quakers
in England (with William Penn acting as trustee for a time)
who settled the Delaware Valley region as a Quaker colony. New
Jersey was governed as two distinct provinces, West Jersey and
East Jersey, for the 28 years between 1674 and 1702. In 1702,
the two provinces were united under a royal, rather than a
proprietary, governor.
New Jersey was one of the thirteen colonies that revolted
against British rule in the American Revolution. During the
American Revolutionary War, British and American armies
crossed New Jersey numerous times and several pivotal battles
took place in the state. Today, New Jersey is often referred
to as "The Crossroads of the Revolution" because of that.
On Christmas, 1776, the Continental Army under George
Washington crossed the Delaware River and engaged the
unprepared Hessian troops in the Battle of Trenton. The river
crossing has become an iconic moment in the early history of
the United States of America, having been immortalized in
Emanuel Gottlieb Leutze's painting Washington Crossing the
Delaware.
Slightly more than a week after victory at Trenton, on January
3, 1777, the American forces scored an important victory by
first defeating Cornwallis's charges at the Second Battle of
Trenton. By dodging Cornwallis's soldiers, Washington made a
surprise attack on Princeton, and successfully defeated the
British garrison there.
Later on, the American forces underneath George Washington
engaged the forces underneath General Henry Clinton at the
Battle of Monmouth, resulting indecisively. Washington
attempted to take the British column by surprise; when the
British army attempted to flank the Americans the Americans
retreated in disorder. The ranks were later reorganized and
withstood the British charges.
In the summer of 1783, the Continental Congress met in Nassau
Hall at Princeton University, making Princeton the nation's
capital for four months. It was there that the Continental
Congress learned of the signing of the Treaty of Paris (1783)
which ended the war. On November 20, 1789, the state became
the first in the newly-formed Union to ratify the Bill of
Rights.
Ironically, on February 15, 1804 New Jersey became the last
northern state to abolish slavery by enacting legislation that
slowly phased out slavery.
Unlike during the Revolutiony War, no battles of the American
Civil War took place within the state of New Jersey. However,
throughout the course of the American Civil War, over 25,000
enlisted in the Northern army to defeat the Southern rebels.
In total, the soldiers from New Jersey formed 31 regiments.
New Jersey was one of the few states to reject President
Abraham Lincoln twice in national elections. It sided towards
Stephen Douglas and George Brinton McClellan during their
campaigns. George McClellan later became a governor of the
state.
Through both World Wars in the 1900's, New Jersey was a center
for war production, especially in naval construction.
Battleships, cruisers, and destroyers were all made in this
state. In addition, Camp Kilmer, Fort Dix, and Camp Merritt
were all constructed to help American soldiers through both
World Wars. New Jersey also became a prinicipal location for
defense in the Cold War. 14 Nike Missile stations were
constructed, especially for the defense of New York City and
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
New Jersey became a prosperous state through the Roaring
Twenties, but fell in prosperity under the Great Depression.
Begging licenses were even offered to the unemployed by the
state government in order to provide money for those who could
not be helped by the exhausted state funds. During this time
period, the zeppelin Hindenburg went up in flames over
Lakehurst, New Jersey.
