Encyclopedia
New Jersey is a
state in the
Mid-Atlantic and
Northeastern regions of the
United States. It is the fourth smallest, the tenth most populous, and the most densely populated state in the US. The state is named after the British island of
Jersey in the
English Channel. It is bordered on the north by
New York, on the east by the
Atlantic Ocean, on the southwest by
Delaware, and on the west by
Pennsylvania. Parts of New Jersey lie within the
metropolitan areas of
New York,
Philadelphia, and the Delaware Valley.
Inhabited by
Native Americans for more than 11,000 years, the area was settled by the
Swedes and
Dutch. The British later seized control of the region, which was granted to Sir George Carteret and John Berkeley, 1st Baron Berkeley of Stratton as the colony of New Jersey. New Jersey was an important site during the
American Revolutionary War; several decisive battles were fought there. Later, working-class cities such as
Paterson helped to drive the Industrial Revolution in the nineteenth century. New Jersey's position at the center of the
BosWash megalopolis, between
Boston,
New York City,
Philadelphia,
Baltimore and
Washington, D.C., fueled its rapid growth through the
suburban boom of the 1950s and beyond.
Geography
New Jersey is bordered on the north and northeast by
New York; on the east by the
Atlantic Ocean; on the south and southwest by
Delaware; and on the west by
Pennsylvania. The western border of New Jersey is largely defined by the
Delaware River. Because of its dense population and because most communities of northern New Jersey do not have the widespread
reservoir system of neighboring Greater New York City, the slightest dry season leads to
drought warnings; but because there are many streams and rivers close to these communities, the slightest above average rainfall causes frequent flooding as many parts of Northern New Jersey are part of a
flood plain. It is also at the center of the Boston to Washington megalopolis.
New Jersey is broadly divided into three geographic regions: North Jersey, Central Jersey, and South Jersey. North Jersey lies within
New York City's general sphere of influence , and many residents commute to the city to work. Central Jersey is a largely
suburban area. South Jersey is within
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania's general sphere of influence, and most of it is included in the Delaware Valley. Such geographic definitions are loosely defined, however, and there is often dispute over where one region begins and another ends. Some people do not consider Central Jersey to exist at all, but most believe it is a separate geographic and cultural area from the North and South.
Additionally, the New Jersey Commerce, Economic Growth & Tourism Commission divides the state into six distinct regions to facilitate the state's tourism industry. The regions are:
- Gateway Region, encompassing Hudson County, Essex County, Union County, Middlesex County, Bergen County, and Passaic County.
- Skylands Region, encompassing Sussex County, Morris County, Warren County, Hunterdon County, and Somerset County.
- Shore Region, encompassing Monmouth County and Ocean County.
- Delaware River Region, encompassing Mercer County, Burlington County
state = New Jersey |
...
,
Camden County,
Gloucester County, and
Salem County.
High Point, in
Montague Township,
Sussex County, is the highest elevation, at 1,803
feet .
Major rivers include the Manasquan, Maurice,
Mullica,
Passaic,
Hackensack,
Rahway, Rancocas,
Raritan,
Musconetcong, and
Delaware rivers. The
Palisades are a line of steep cliffs on the lower west side of the
Hudson River.
Sandy Hook, along the eastern coast, is a popular recreational beach. It is a barrier spit and an extension of the Barnegat Peninsula along the state's
Atlantic Ocean coast.
Areas managed by the
National Park Service include:
...
Prominent geographic features include:
Climate
New Jersey has a temperate climate, with warm/hot summers and cool/cold winters. During the hurricane season, tropical cyclones can hit New Jersey, though it is unusual for them to travel this far up the
east coast. During the winter months,
Nor'easters can dump up to two feet of snow at once.
The temperatures vary greatly from the northernmost part of New Jersey to the southernmost part of New Jersey. For example, these are the average high and low temperatures for Cape May, NJ and
Sussex, NJ:
| Sussex | Cape May |
|---|
| | High | Low | High | Low |
|---|
| January | 34 | 14 | 42 | 27 |
|---|
| February | 38 | 16 | 43 | 28 |
|---|
| March | 47 | 25 | 51 | 35 |
|---|
| April | 59 | 35 | 60 | 43 |
|---|
| May | 70 | 45 | 69 | 53 |
|---|
| June | 78 | 54 | 78 | 62 |
|---|
| July | 83 | 59 | 84 | 67 |
|---|
| August | 82 | 57 | 83 | 66 |
|---|
| September | 74 | 49 | 77 | 60 |
|---|
| October | 63 | 37 | 66 | 49 |
|---|
| November | 51 | 30 | 56 | 40 |
|---|
| December | 39 | 21 | 47 | 31 |
|---|
History
Some claim there is evidence suggesting that people have inhabited New Jersey since 10,500 BC. This would have been a post
Ice age culture consisting of traveling hunters. However, the Europeans were the first to document the land. New Jersey’s first European presence was not until the year 1497, when Italian explorer
John Cabot first saw New Jersey while sailing up the coast. “Florentine,
Giovanni da Verrazano, reportedly visited the coast in 1524” but neither of these men are considered New Jersey’s discoverer . Cabot failed to explore the land and Verrazano left no record supporting his claim.
Sir
Henry Hudson is the explorer generally credited with having discovered New Jersey in 1609. On September 4, 1609 he dropped anchor in Cape May and took a crew of 20 men for a week of exploration. He didn’t leave any European culture behind, but he did document his discovery very well. New Jersey’s first taste of European personality came from Captain Cornelius Jacobsen Mey. In “1620 he sailed up the Delaware, and in 1624 he erected Fort Nassau at the Mouth of Timber Creek” . He explored the greater Delaware Bay area and confirmed that the land was good for planting. He declared it as ready for colonization and named Cape May in his own honor.
Europeans agreed that the land was good for planting, but they felt discontent towards the inhabitants. The Lenni-Lenape tribe occupied New Jersey at this time. The Europeans found them strange and uncivilized; while in fact that couldn’t have been further from the truth. The Lenni-Lenape
Native Americans tribe was part of the greater Algonquin nation. The tribe was well organized into “three groups, which were geographic distributed” . These sub-tribes each had a sub-chief or sakima. The sub-tribes each had their respective names, “the Minsi, or the people of the stony country in the north; the Unami, or the people down the river in the central portion; and Unilachitgo or the people who leave near the ocean in the south” . The Unami sakima was normally thought to be the chief of the whole Lenni-Lenape tribe. The tribe was in fact so well organized that it had a network of trails resembling the locations of many of our modern-day highways. They were also the leading force of peace within the nation. The tribe was frequently asked to serve as intermediaries to settle inter-tribal conflicts.
It was their contact with the early Dutch traders that would be the beginning of the end for the Lenni-Lenape. In 1638, a company of
Swedes and ethnic
Finns, under the supervision of Dutch political and commercial interests, set sail for the New World. They sailed across the North Atlantic, south along the New Jersey Coast, then into the
Delaware Bay and up the Delaware River to Wilmington. They began to settle both sides of the Delaware at a site not far from what would become Salem. A fort named Old Fort Elfsborg became the central hub for trade. The Scandinavian influence prevails today as linguists theorize that certain speech patterns in Southern New Jersey area are traceable to the mixed and changing Swedish-English vocabulary.
Colonial era
Much of New Jersey was claimed by the
Dutch. The Dutch colony of
New Netherland consisted of parts of modern
New York and New Jersey. Although the European principle of land ownership was not recognized by the Lenape, Dutch policy required formal purchase of all land settled upon, and the first such purchase was of
Manhattan, by Peter Minuit.
The entire region became a territory of
England 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, against extremely little resistance.
During the
English Civil War the
Channel Isle of
Jersey remained loyal to the Crown and gave sanctuary to the King. It was from the Royal Square in St. Helier that
Charles II of England was first proclaimed King in 1649, following the execution of his father,
Charles I. The North American lands were divided by
Charles II, who gave his brother, the Duke of York the region between
New England and
Maryland as a proprietary colony . James then granted the land between the
Hudson River and the
Delaware River to two friends who had remained 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 the colony to
Quakers in England , 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.
Revolutionary War era
New Jersey was one of the
thirteen colonies that revolted against British rule in the
American Revolution. The was passed July 2, 1776, just two days before the
Second Continental Congress declared American Independence from
Britain.
New Jersey representatives Richard Stockton,
John Witherspoon,
Francis Hopkinson,
John Hart, and
Abraham Clark were among the men who signed the
United States Declaration of Independence. These men, just like all the others, took tremendous risks in order to fight for independence and all went on to serve their newly founded country for the rest of their lives. Distinguished lawyer Richard Stockton, New Jersey born and College of New Jersey graduate, sacrificed his royal judicial title and his considerable international economic interest in order to be an elected delegate for New Jersey at the General Congress. John Witherspoon was a Scottish immigrant. He came to New Jersey to serve as the sixth president of the College of New Jersey. He was a world renowned Presbyterian minister and became a leading member of the Continental Congress. Witherspoon went on to become one of the leaders of the new national Presbyterian church. Francis Hopkinson was somewhat of a renaissances man for his time. He was articulate in several fields of the arts and a very impressive scientist. Perhaps the capstone of his career was being appointed by President George Washington to the federal bench. John Hart was prominent land owner and judge of the Hunterdon County court. Like Stockton, he sacrificed his high standing with the royal court and dedicated his life to the New Jersey Assembly. After signing the Declaration of Independence, he went on to become the speaker of the New Jersey Assembly. The last of the men was native to Elizabethtown, Abraham Clark. He was slightly different from his fellow New Jersey representatives. He jumped from job to job working as a farmer, surveyor, transporter, legal adviser, and finally politician. He was well liked in all these field and had become a prominent member of society, but he found his home in government. Upon this he had held numerous political positions at all the various levels of government.
It was an act of the Provincial Congress, which made itself into the state Legislature. To reassure neutrals, it provided that it would become void if New Jersey reached a reconciliation with Great Britain.
During the
American Revolutionary War, British and American armies crossed New Jersey numerous times and several pivotal battles took place in the state. Because of this, New Jersey today is often referred to as "The Crossroads of the Revolution."
On Christmas Day, 1776, the
Continental Army under
George Washington crossed the
Delaware River and engaged the unprepared Hessian troops in the
Battle of Trenton. Slightly more than a week after victory at
Trenton, on January 3, 1777, the American forces gained an important victory by stopping Cornwallis's charges at the Second Battle of Trenton. By evading Cornwallis's army, Washington made a surprise attack on
Princeton, and successfully defeated the British garrison there.
Later, American forces under Washington met the forces under General Henry Clinton at the Battle of Monmouth in an indecisive engagement. 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 , which ended the war.
New Jersey was the third state to ratify the
United States Constitution, which was overwhelmingly popular in New Jersey, as it prevented New York and Pennsylvania from charging and keeping tariffs on goods imported from Europe. In November 20, 1789, the state became the first in the newly-formed Union to ratify the
Bill of Rights.
The 1776
New Jersey State Constitution gave the vote to "all inhabitants" who had a certain level of wealth. This included both women and blacks; although not married women, who could not own property. Both sides, in several elections, claimed that the other side had had unqualified women vote, and mocked them for use of "petticoat electors" ; on the other hand, both parties passed Voting Rights Acts. In 1807, the legislature passed a bill interpreting the constitution to mean universal
white male suffrage, excluding paupers.
Nineteenth century
On February 15, 1804, New Jersey became the last northern state to abolish
slavery by enacting legislation that slowly phased out slavery. However, by the close of the
Civil War, about a dozen African-Americans in New Jersey were still apprenticed freedmen. New Jersey initially refused to ratify the Constitutional Amendments banning slavery and granting rights to America's Black population.
Unlike the Revolutionary War, no Civil War battles took place within the state. However, throughout the course of the Civil War, over 80,000 enlisted in the Northern army to defeat the Southern rebels. In total, soldiers from New Jersey formed 4 militia regiments, 33 infantry regiments, 3 cavalry regiments, and 5 batteries of light artillery.
New Jersey was one of the few states to reject President
Abraham Lincoln twice in national elections, and sided with
Stephen Douglas and
George B. McClellan during their campaigns. McClellan later became governor. During the war, the state was led first by Republican Governor Charles Smith Olden, then by Democrat Joel Parker.
In 1844, the second
state constitution was ratified and brought into effect. Counties thereby became districts for the State Senate, and some realignment of boundaries immediately followed. This provision was retained in the 1947 Constitution, but was overturned by the
Supreme Court of the United States in 1961.
While the Governorship was stronger than under the 1776 constitution , the 1844 created many offices that were not responsible to him, or to the people, and gave him a three-year term, but he could not succeed himself.
In the
Industrial Revolution, cities like
Paterson grew and prospered. Previously, the economy had been largely agrarian, which was problematically subject to crop failures and poor soil. This caused a shift to a more industrialized economy, one based on manufactured commodities such as
textiles and
silk. Inventor
Thomas Edison also became an important figure of the Industrial Revolution, having been granted 1,093 patents. Transportation was greatly improved as locomotion and
steamboats were introduced to New Jersey.
Iron mining was also a prevalent industry during the middle to late 1800s. Mines such as Mt. Hope, Mine Hill and the Rockaway Valley Mines created a thriving industry, which spawned new towns and was one of the driving forces behind the need for the
Morris Canal.
Twentieth century
Through both World Wars, 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 principal location for defense in the
Cold War. Fourteen
Nike Missile stations were constructed, especially for the defense of
New York City and
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. PT-109, commanded by Lt. John F. Kennedy, was built at the Elco Boatworks in Bayonne, and the aircraft carrier Enterprise was briefly docked at the Military Ocean Terminal in Bayonne in the 1950s before she was sent to Japan to be scrapped.
New Jersey became a prosperous state through the
Roaring Twenties but fell in prosperity under the
Great Depression 
