The territory which would later become the state of New Jersey was settled by Dutch and Swedish colonists in the early seventeenth century. In 1664, at the onset of the Second Anglo-Dutch War, English forces under Richard Nicolls ousted the Dutch from control of New Netherland (present-day New York, New Jersey, and Delaware), and the territory was divided into several newly defined English colonies. Despite one brief year when the Dutch retook the colony (1673–74), New Jersey would remain an English possession until the American colonies declared independence in 1776.
In 1664, James, Duke of York (later King James II) divided New Jersey, granting a portion to two men, Sir George Carteret and John Berkeley, 1st Baron Berkeley of Stratton, who supported the monarchy's cause during the English Civil War (1642–49) and Interregnum (1649–60).[3][4][5] Carteret and Berkeley subsequently sold their interests to two groups of proprietors, thus creating two provinces: East Jersey and the West Jersey.[6] The exact location of the border between West Jersey and East Jersey was often a matter of dispute.[7] The two provinces would be distinct political divisions from 1674 to 1702.
West Jersey was largely a Quaker colony due to the influence of Pennsylvania founder William Penn and its prominent Quaker investors. Many of its early settlers were Quakers who came directly from England, Scotland, and Ireland to escape religious persecution.[8] Although a number of the East Jersey proprietors in England were Quakers and First Governor Robert Barclay of Aberdeenshire Scotland (Ury served by proxy) was a leading Quaker theologian, the Quaker influence on the East Jersey government was insignificant. Many of East Jersey's early settlers came from other colonies in the Western Hemisphere, especially New England, Long Island, and the West Indies. Elizabethtown and Newark in particular had a strong Puritan character.[9][10] East Jersey's Monmouth Tract, south of the Raritan River, was developed primarily by Quakers from Long Island.[11][12]
In 1702, both divisions of New Jersey were reunited as one royal colony by Queen Anne with a royal governor appointed by the Crown.[13] Until 1738, this Province of New Jersey shared its royal governor with the neighboring Province of New York. The Province of New Jersey was governed by appointed governors until 1776. William Franklin, the province's last royal governor before the American Revolution (1775–83), was marginalized in the last year of his tenure, as the province was run de facto by the Provincial Congress of New Jersey. In June 1776, the Provincial Congress formally deposed Franklin and had him arrested, adopted a state constitution, and reorganized the province into an independent state. The constitution granted the vote to all inhabitants who had a certain level of wealth, including single women and blacks (until 1807). The newly formed State of New Jersey elected William Livingston as its first governor on 31 August 1776—a position to which he would be reelected until his death in 1790.[14][15] New Jersey was one of the original Thirteen Colonies, and was the third colony to ratify the constitution forming the United States of America. It thereby was admitted into the new federation as a state on 18 December 1787. On 20 November 1789 New Jersey became the first state to ratify the Bill of Rights.
- ^ The Proprietary House Museum (Perth Amboy, New Jersey). The Proprietary House: History Archived 18 January 2014 at the Wayback Machine (from the museum's website). Retrieved 29 June 2013.
- ^ New Jersey Department of State, Division of Travel and Tourism. "Proprietary House The Royal Governor's Mansion" Archived 4 March 2014 at the Wayback Machine (official state tourism website). Retrieved 29 June 2013.
- ^ Firth, C.H.; Knighton, C. S. (revised). "Carteret, Sir George, first baronet (1610?–80), naval officer and administrator" Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, January 2008).
- ^ Hayton, D. W. "Berkeley, John, first Baron Berkeley of Stratton (bap. 1607, d. 1678), royalist army officer and courtier" Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, January 2008).
- ^ "The Duke of York's Release to John Lord Berkeley, and Sir George Carteret, 24th of June, 1664" from Leaming, Aaron and Spicer, Jacob. The Grants, Concessions, and Original Constitutions of the Province of New-Jersey. The acts passed during the proprietary governments, and other material transactions before the surrender thereof to Queen Anne. The instrument of surrender, and her formal acceptance thereof, Lord Cornbury's Commission and Introduction consequent thereon. (2nd Edition. Philadelphia: William Bradford, 1758), 8–11. Published online at the Avalon Project: Documents in Law, History and Diplomacy, Yale Law School, Lillian Goldman Law Library. Retrieved 5 April 2013.
- ^ "Quintipartite Deed of Revision, Between E. and W Jersey: July 1st, 1676" from Thorpe, Francis Newton (editor). The Federal and State Constitutions Colonial Charters, and Other Organic Laws of the States, Territories, and Colonies Now or Heretofore Forming the United States of America Volume IV. (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1909). Published online at the Avalon Project: Documents in Law, History and Diplomacy, Yale Law School, Lillian Goldman Law Library. Retrieved 5 April 2013.
- ^ Gordon, Thomas Francis. The history of New Jersey: from its discovery by Europeans, to the adoption of the Federal Constitution. (Trenton, New Jersey: Daniel Fenton, 1834), 73.
- ^ Pomfret, John Edwin. The Province of West New Jersey, 1609–1702: A History of the Origins of an American Colony. (New York: Octagon Books, 1956).
- ^ Whitehead, William A. East Jersey Under the Proprietary Governments: A Narrative of Events connected with the Settlement and Progress of the Province, until the Surrender of the Government to the Crown in 1703. [sic] (Newark, New Jersey: New Jersey Historical Society, 1875).
- ^ Pomfret, John E. The Province of East New Jersey, 1609–1702: The Rebellious Proprietary. (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1962).
- ^ Salter, Edwin. A History of Monmouth and Ocean Counties: Embracing a Genealogical Record of Earliest Settlers in Monmouth and Ocean Counties and Their Descendants. (Bayonne, New Jersey: E Gardner & Son, 1890), 24.
- ^ Steen, James. New Aberdeen: Or the Scotch Settlement of Monmouth County, New Jersey. (Matawan, NJ: Journal Steam Print, 1899), 5.
- ^ "Surrender from the Proprietors of East and West New Jersey, of Their Pretended Right of Government to Her Majesty; 1702" from Leaming, Aaron and Spicer, Jacob. The Grants, Concessions, and Original Constitutions of the Province of New-Jersey. The acts passed during the proprietary governments, and other material trnasactions before the surrender thereof to Queen Ann. [sic] The instrument of surrender, and her formal acceptance thereof, Lord Cornbury's Commission and Introduction consequent thereon. (2nd Edition. Philadelphia: William Bradford, 1758) 600–618. Published online at the Avalon Project: Documents in Law, History and Diplomacy, Yale Law School, Lillian Goldman Law Library. Retrieved 5 April 2013.
- ^ Wright, Robert K., Jr., MacGregor, Morris J., Jr. "William Livingston" in Soldier-Statesmen of the Constitution. (CMH Publication 71-25) (Washington D.C.: United States Army Center of Military History, 1987), 103–105.
- ^ United States Congress. "Livingston, William (1723–90)" in Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1774 to present citing Klein, Milton M. The American Whig: William Livingston of New York. (New York: Garland Publishers, 1990/1993).
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