Colonial history of New Jersey

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History of New Jersey
Colonial period
American Revolution
Nineteenth Century
Twentieth Century
Twenty-first Century

Main article: History of New Jersey

The colonial history of New Jersey began in 1609 with the discovery of Cape May by Sir Henry Hudson. In the 17th Century parts of what is now New Jersey were colonized by Dutch and Swedish settlers. In 1664 the entire area was seized by the British who maintained control until the American Revolution.

[edit] New Netherland

Map of New Netherland (17th century)

For more details on this topic, see New Netherland.

Much of New Jersey was claimed by the Dutch. The Dutch colony of New Netherland, started in 1614, 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, in 1626. Variously dated between 1623 and 1626, the Dutch colonists built Fort Nassau on the location of nowadays Gloucester City, New Jersey.

In 1643-1645, the Dutch colonists fought the Weckquaesgeek Indians in the bloody Kieft's War, near nowaday’s Jersey City and elsewhere in New Netherland. The war is named for Willem Kieft, the Director-General of New Netherland at the time.

The last Dutch governor was Peter Stuyvesant, who was unpopular with his subjects because he tried to restrict religious freedom: the Flushing Remonstrance of 1657 objected to his ban on Quakers as an infringement on the residents as Christians and as Dutch citizens. Peter Stuyvesant used military coercion in order to accomplish some of his goals, which only made him less liked. At New Netherland's height, 6,000 inhabitants resided in the colony.

The first permanent town, established in New Netherland in 1661, was Bergen, now Jersey City.

The relative location of the New Netherland and New Sweden in eastern North America.

Captain Cornelius Jacobsen Mey, a Dutch explorer, also explored the New Jersey and Delaware Bay area. Cape May was named after Mey, as well as Cape May, New Jersey and Cape May County.

[edit] New Sweden

For more details on this topic, see New Sweden.

In addition, some of southwestern New Jersey was settled by the Swedes by the mid-1600s ^[1]. New Sweden, founded in 1638, rose to its height under governor Johan Björnsson Printz (1643-1653). Led by Printz, the settlement extended as far north as Fort Christina (on both sides of the Delaware River). He helped to improve the military and commercial status of the colony by constructing Fort Nya Elfsborg, which is now near Salem, on the east side of the Delaware River. This action prevented the river from being easily taken by the English and Dutch, who were also trying to expand into the New World. The Swedish and Finnish colonists generally lived in peace with their Dutch and Lenape neighbors. Under last governor of New Sweden, Johan Rising, the Swedes captured Fort Casimir (now New Castle, Delaware), which was close to Fort Christina but was on the western side of the Delaware River. After capturing the fort, it was named Fort Trinity by the Swedes.

This action provoked a furious Governor Stuyvesant, who, in revenge, sent seven armed Dutch ships and 317 soldiers to the Delaware River the next summer. Realizing that the situation was hopeless, the vastly outnumbered Swedes immediately surrendered Fort Trinity, and Governor Rising surrendered Fort Christina two weeks later. In 1655, the Dutch completely took over these lands and annexed them to New Netherland.

[edit] Province of New Jersey

Main article: Province of New Jersey

Italian navigator John Cabot left England in 1498 to explore North America, but never returned. The British later used Cabot's voyage as proof that England had claims to the North American lands. New Jersey's Cape May was discovered in 1609 by Sir Henry Hudson ^[2], in the service of the Dutch East India Company. He passed through Chesapeake Bay and the Delaware River before arriving at the Hudson River.

From the colony of New Netherland the Dutch interfered with Britain's transatlantic trade with its North American colonies. Insisting that John Cabot had been the first to discover North America, the British granted the land that now encompasses New Jersey to the Duke of York, who ordered Colonel Richard Nicolls to take over the area. In September 1664, a British fleet under the command of Richard Nicolls sailed into what is now New York Harbor and seized the colony from the Dutch. The British received little resistance, perhaps due to the unpopularity of the Dutch governor, Peter Stuyvesant ^[3]. After capturing the colony, Nicolls took the position of deputy-governor of New Amsterdam and the rest of New Netherland, guaranteeing colonists' property rights, laws of inheritance, and the enjoyment of religious freedom. New Netherland (or at least part of it) was renamed New Jersey (after the English Channel Island of Jersey at which Charles II of England was proclaimed king in 1649) and New Amsterdam was renamed New York (after the Duke of York).

The original provinces of West and East New Jersey are shown in yellow and green respectively. The Keith Line is shown in red, and the Coxe and Barclay line is shown in orange

Charles II gave the region between New England and Maryland to his brother, the Duke of York (later King James II), as a proprietary colony (as opposed to a royal colony). Later James granted the land between the Hudson River and the Delaware River that would become New Jersey to two friends who had been loyal to him through the English Civil War: Sir George Carteret and Lord Berkeley of Stratton.

The two proprietors of New Jersey attempted to entice more settlers to move to New Jersey by granting sections of lands to settlers and by passing Concession and Agreement, a document granting religious freedom to all inhabitants of New Jersey; under the British Church of England there was no such religious freedom. In return for land, settlers paid annual fees known as quitrents. Philip Carteret was appointed by the two proprietors as the first governor of New Jersey. Philip Carteret designated Elizabethtown as the first capital of the colony^[4]. However, it became difficult for the two proprietors to collect the quitrents. As a result, on March 18, 1673 Berkeley sold his share of New Jersey to the Quakers. ^{[5] [6]}.

For more details on this topic, see Border between West Jersey and East Jersey.

With this sale, New Jersey was divided into East Jersey and West Jersey. The exact border between West and East Jersey was often disputed, but generally corresponded to the border dividing present day South and North Jersey. The border between the two sides reached the Atlantic Ocean to the north of Atlantic City. The border line was created by George Keith, and can still be seen in the county boundaries between Burlington and Ocean Counties, and between Hunterdon and Somerset Counties, reaching upward to a point on the Delaware River which is just north of the Delaware Water Gap. The border was often disputed, so with the 1676 Quintipartite Deed more accurate surveys and maps were made to resolve property disputes. This resulted in the Thornton line, drawn around 1696, and the Lawrence line, drawn around 1743, which was adopted as the final line for legal purposes.

On April 15, 1702, under the reign of Queen Anne, West and East Jersey were reunited as a royal colony. Edward Hyde, Lord Cornbury became the first governor of the colony as a royal colony. Lord Cornbury was an ineffective and corrupt ruler, taking bribes and speculating on land, so in 1708 he was recalled to England. New Jersey was then ruled by the governors of New York, but this infuriated the settlers of New Jersey, who accused those governors of favoritism to New York. Judge Lewis Morris led the case for a separate governor, and was appointed governor by King George II in 1738^[7].

For more details on this topic, see New York-New Jersey Line War.

The East Jersey/West Jersey border was not the only one in dispute. Beginning in 1701, New Jersey's border with New York was in dispute, resulting in a series of skirmishes and raids. In the largest of these squabbles some 210,000 acres (849.8 km²) of land were at stake between New York and New Jersey. The conflict was eventually settled by a royal commission in 1769.

In 1746 The College of New Jersey (now Princeton University) was founded in Elizabethtown by a group of Great Awakening "New Lighters" that included Jonathan Dickinson, Aaron Burr, Sr. and Peter Van Brugh Livingston. In 1756 the school moved to Princeton.

[edit] Life in Colonial New Jersey

Many of the colonists of New Jersey took up the occupation as farmers. However, despite the fertility of the soil, farmers were forced to struggle due to the dearth of English money. Some farmers had slaves work for them, and others owned indentured servants that had to work to pay back debts.

Transportation was difficult by todays standards. Usually, people walked by foot or traveled on horseback.

The majority of the colonists lived in simple log cabins. The idea of the log cabin came from the Dutch, the original settlers. Since New Jersey was ideally located next to the coast, colonists farmed, fished, and traded by sea.

Education came through private academies, religious schools, or private tutors. There were no public schools for children. Many children were forced to start working at a young age in order to generate an income for the family anyway.

[edit] Notes and references