New Jersey
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State flag
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NEW JERSEY,
one of the Middle Atlantic states of the U.S., bordered on
the NE by New York State, on the E by the Atlantic Ocean, on the
S by Delaware, and on the W and NW by Pennsylvania. The Hudson R. and New York Bay form part of the state’s boundary with
New York; Delaware Bay and the Delaware R. form the boundary with
Delaware; and the Delaware R. forms the Pennsylvania boundary. New Jersey
also has sovereignty over most of Ellis Island, part of the Statue
of Liberty National Monument in New York Harbor.
New Jersey entered the Union on Dec. 18, 1787, as the third
of the original 13 states. During the American Revolution, it had
been the scene of several important events, including George Washington’s crossing
of the Delaware in December 1776 to defeat the British at Trenton,
now the state capital. Manufacturing became the leading economic
activity of the state in the late 19th century; today, New Jersey is known for its important pharmaceuticals industry, popular coastal resorts, productive farms, and burgeoning service sector. President Grover Cleveland was born
in New Jersey, and President Woodrow Wilson spent most of his adult
life here. The state is named for the Isle of Jersey, in the English
Channel, the birthplace of Sir George Carteret, who in 1644 became
a part owner of what is now New Jersey. New Jersey is known as the
Garden State.
| NEW JERSEY STATE FACTS |
| DATE OF STATEHOOD: |
December 18, 1787; 3d state |
| CAPITAL: |
Trenton |
| MOTTO: |
Liberty and prosperity |
| NICKNAME: |
Garden State |
| STATE TREE: |
Red oak |
| STATE FLOWER: |
Violet |
| STATE BIRD: |
Eastern goldfinch |
| POPULATION (2000 census: |
8,414,350; 9th among the states |
| AREA: |
22,590 sq km (8722 sq mi);
47th largest
state; includes 3375 sq km (1303 sq mi) of inland water |
| COASTLINE: |
209 km (130 mi) |
| HIGHEST POINT: |
High Point, 550 m (1803 ft) |
| LOWEST POINT: |
Sea level, at the Atlantic coast |
| ELECTORAL VOTES: |
15 |
| U.S. CONGRESS: |
2 senators; 13 representatives |
| GOVERNOR: |
Jon S. Corzine (Dem.)
Took office January 2006 |
New Jersey, with an area of 22,590 sq km (8722 sq mi), is
the 47th largest state in the U.S.; 3.4% of its land area
is owned by the federal government. The state is roughly rectangular
in shape, and its extreme dimensions are about 265 km (about 165
mi) from N to S and about 100 km (about 60 mi) from E to W. Elevations
range from sea level, along the Atlantic Ocean, to 550 m (1803 ft),
atop High Point in the N. The approximate mean elevation is 76 m
(250 ft). New Jersey’s coastline is 209 km (130 mi) long.
The S three-fifths of New Jersey is part of the Atlantic Coastal Plain.
Most of its surface is nearly flat, seldom rising to more than 30
m (100 ft); for some distance inland from the Atlantic Ocean elevations
are less than 15 m (50 ft). Along the lower Delaware R. and along
Delaware Bay are extensive marshes. Large marshes are also found
along the Atlantic coast, between the mainland and barrier beaches
(low offshore islands). Several bays—such as Great Bay,
Barnegat Bay, and Sandy Hook Bay—are also situated between
the mainland and the barrier beaches. The SW part of the region
has fertile, sandy-loam soil.
Northwest of the coastal plain is a section of the Piedmont
Plateau. It is separated from the plain by the Fall Line, which
extends NE from the Trenton area to Newark Bay. Underlain by beds
of red sandstone and shale intruded by layers of volcanic basalt,
it is generally a region of low relief, lying at elevations of about 30
to 150 m (about 100 to 500 ft). The Watchung Mts., in the N part
of the region, are ridges of diabase rock rising some 60 to 90 m
(some 200 to 300 ft) above the general surface level.
To the N of the Piedmont area is a part of the New England
Upland, known locally as the Reading Prong or New Jersey Highlands.
Underlain mostly by metamorphic rocks such as gneiss and schist,
it rises steeply in such mountains as the Pohatcong, Scotts, and
Sparta. Broad, flat-floored valleys are situated between the ridges.
Many lakes are in the region.
A section of the Appalachian Valley and Ridge region
lies
in NW New Jersey. Immediately beyond the New Jersey Highlands is
a part of the Great Valley, known locally as the Kittatinny Valley,
some 24 km (some 15 mi) wide and underlain by limestone or sandstone
and shale. Beyond the valley are the Kittatinny Mts., a flat-topped
sedimentary ridge containing some of the highest elevations in the
state. The scenic Delaware Water Gap is situated where the Delaware
R. flows through the mountains.
Nearly one-third of New Jersey, mainly in the W and S,
drains
into the Delaware R. and Delaware Bay. Much of the N part of the
state is drained into the Atlantic Ocean via the Passaic, Hackensack,
and Raritan rivers. A small N section is drained into the Hudson
R. by way of the Wallkill R. Rivers of the Atlantic Coastal Plain
are mostly short, and some are swampy in their lower courses; they
include the Toms, Mullica, and Great Egg Harbor rivers.
Several lakes lie in the New England Upland region. Among
the largest of these are Hopatcong, Mohawk, and Greenwood lakes.
New Jersey has a temperate climate. Average monthly temperatures
in the N range from about –1° C (about 30° F)
in January to about 21° to 24° C (about 70° to
75° F) in July; in the S the range is from about –1° to
1° C (about 30° to 34° F) in January
to about 24° to 25° C (about 75° to 77° F) in
July. The coolest temperatures are usually in the higher elevations
of the NW; the warmest temperatures are along the SE coast. The
recorded temperature in the state has ranged from –36.7° C
(–34° F), in 1904 at River Vale in the NE, to
43.3° C (110° F), in 1936 at Runyon. Annual precipitation
varies between 1220 and 1270 mm (about 48 to 50 in) in most parts
of the N and between about 1040 and 1140 mm (about 41 to 45 in)
in the S. It is fairly evenly distributed throughout the year. Parts
of the N receive up to about 1270 mm (50 in) of snow per year; the
yearly snowfall in the S usually is much less. Violent storms are
unusual in New Jersey, but occasionally hurricanes from the Atlantic
strike the state.
| NEW JERSEY AVERAGE CLIMATE |
| |
Newark |
Atlantic City |
| Average January temperature range |
–4.4° to 3.9° C |
24° to 39° F |
–4.4° to 5° C |
24° to 41° F |
| Average July temperature range |
19.4° to 30° C |
67° to 86° F |
18.3° to 29.4° C |
65° to 85° F |
| Average annual temperature |
12.2° C |
54° F |
12.2° C |
54° F |
| Average annual precipitation |
1041 mm |
41 in |
1143 mm |
45 in |
| Average annual snowfall |
711 mm |
28 in |
406 mm |
16 in |
| Mean number of days per year with appreciable precipitation |
122 |
113 |
| Average daily relative humidity |
63% |
69% |
| Mean number of clear days per year |
96 |
96 |
Nearly 40% of New Jersey is covered with forests,
which are generally made up of both deciduous and coniferous trees.
In the N, oak, birch, beech, maple, and hemlock are intermixed.
To the S, oak, white cedar, and pine are common. A unique area is
the large Pine Barrens of the Atlantic Coastal Plain region. Mostly
scrub pine and oak grow in the sandy soil of the area. Other common
plants of New Jersey are goldenrod, wild azalea, dogwood, mountain
laurel, daisy, violet, and fern.
Among the large mammals of New Jersey are many white-tailed
deer and a few bear (mainly living in the N). Small mammals include
fox, squirrel, chipmunk, rabbit, woodchuck, opossum, and skunk.
Two poisonous snake species, found mainly in the N, are the timber
rattlesnake and copperhead. The state’s large number of birds
include the bluebird, bluejay, cardinal, goldfinch, sparrow, and
owl. A variety of shore birds are found in New Jersey, including
the gull, heron, osprey, and duck. Marine life along the coastline
of the Atlantic Ocean includes oysters, clams, crabs, flounder,
bluefish, bass, and menhaden.
New Jersey has substantial deposits of several minerals such
as stone (including granite, limestone, marble, slate), sand and
gravel, clay, zinc, iron ore, and marl. Stone is chiefly found in
the N part of New Jersey, and sand and gravel are found in many
parts of the state.
According to the 2000 census, New Jersey had 8,414,350
inhabitants,
an increase of 8.9% over 1990. In 2000 the average population
density of 1,134.5 people per sq mi of land area was the highest
of the 50 states. Whites made up 72.6% of the population and blacks
13.6%; additional population groups included
19,492 American Indians, 480,276 Asians, and 3329 Native Hawaiian and
other Pacific Islanders. (These figures do not include the 2.5% of
the population who reported more than one race.) A total of 1,117,191
persons, or about 13.3% of the population, were of Hispanic
(primarily Puerto Rican and Cuban) background. New Jersey’s
largest cities were Newark, Jersey City, Paterson, Elizabeth, and
Edison. Trenton is the capital.
According to a 2000 survey, Roman Catholics then made up about 40% of the population and 70% of all religious adherents in the state. Jews comprised an estimated 5.6% of the population, and Muslims 1.4%. Leading Protestant denominations included the United Methodist Church, with 1.7% of the population, and the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), 1.4%.
New Jersey is one of the most urbanized states in the U.S. In 2000 about 94% of the state’s residents lived in areas defined as urban, and the rest of the population lived in rural areas.
| POPULATION OF NEW JERSEY SINCE 1790 |
| Year of Census |
Population |
Classified As Urban |
| 1790 |
184,000 |
0% |
| 1820 |
278,000 |
3% |
| 1850 |
490,000 |
18% |
| 1880 |
1,131,000 |
54% |
| 1900 |
1,884,000 |
71% |
| 1920 |
3,156,000 |
80% |
| 1940 |
4,160,000 |
82% |
| 1960 |
6,067,000 |
89% |
| 1980 |
7,365,000 |
89% |
| 1990 |
7,730,188 |
89% |
| 2000 |
8,414,350 |
94% |
| POPULATION OF TEN LARGEST CITIES IN NEW JERSEY |
| |
2000 Census |
1990 Census |
| Newark |
273,546 |
275,221 |
| Jersey City |
240,055 |
228,537 |
| Paterson |
149,222 |
140,891 |
| Elizabeth |
120,568 |
110,002 |
| Edison (township) |
97,687 |
88,680 |
| Woodbridge (township) |
97,203 |
93,092 |
| Dover (township) |
89,706 |
15,115 |
| Hamilton (township) |
87,109 |
86,553 |
| Trenton |
85,403 |
88,675 |
| Camden |
79,904 |
87,492 |
New Jersey has a comprehensive statewide educational system,
a number of interesting historical sites, and a variety of cultural
institutions. The state’s residents also make use of the
extensive cultural and educational facilities of New York City and
Philadelphia.
In 1813 a group of New Jersey residents tried to
establish
a state-supported public school system. Not until 1871, however,
did the legislature abolish all fees for instruction in public schools.
The first state normal school (later Trenton State College; now
the College of New Jersey) was founded in Trenton in 1855. In 2002 the total public school enrollment was about 1,367,000, including about 979,000 students in prekindergarten through 8th grade and 389,000 in grades 9-12. Private schools enrolled some 200,000 students. In the early 2000s New Jersey public high schools had the highest graduation rate in the U.S.
The state’s first institution of higher education,
the College of New Jersey, now Princeton University, in Princeton,
was founded in 1746. In the early 2000s New Jersey had 58 institutions of higher education with an aggregate annual enrollment of more than 360,000 students, of whom about 290,000 were in public institutions. Besides Princeton University,
notable schools included Rutgers (1766), the State University of New Jersey,
with its main campus in New Brunswick; Princeton Theological Seminary
(1812), in Princeton; Kean University (1855), in Union; William
Paterson University (1855), in Wayne; Seton Hall University (1856), in South
Orange; Rider University (1865), in Lawrenceville; Drew University
(1866), in Madison; Bloomfield College (1868), in Bloomfield; Stevens
Institute of Technology (1870), in Hoboken; New Jersey Institute of Technology
(1881), in Newark; Montclair State University (1908), in Upper
Montclair; and Fairleigh Dickinson University (1942), in Madison and
Teaneck.
The Institute for Advanced Study (1930), in Princeton, is a noted
center for research.
New Jersey has a number of outstanding museums. These
include
the Art Museum at Princeton University (1882); the New Jersey
Historical
Society Museum (1845) and the Newark Museum (1909), which has a
noted collection of Oriental art, in Newark; the Morris Museum (1913),
in Morristown; the Montclair Art Museum (1914), in Montclair; the
U.S. Army Communications-Electronics Museum (1976), at Fort Monmouth;
and the New Jersey State Museum (1895), part of the state cultural
center in Trenton. The Liberty Science Center (1993), in Liberty
State Park in Jersey City, contains dozens of hands-on exhibits.
In 1997 the New Jersey Performing Arts Center opened in Newark.
The first public library in New Jersey was founded in 1750
in Trenton. In the early 1990s the state had more than 380 public
libraries and branches.
Many of New Jersey’s historical sites commemorate
people and places associated with the American Revolution. Red Bank
Battlefield Park, in Woodbury, was the site of Fort Mercer; Batsto
Area of the Wharton State Forest, in Batsto, was the site of the
ironworks (founded c. 1766) that supplied cannonballs to U.S. forces
during the revolution; and Morristown National Historical Park,
in Morristown, encompasses the winter headquarters of the Continental
Army in 1777 and 1779–80. Other points of interest include
the Princeton Battle Monument, in Princeton; the Trenton Battle
Monument, in Trenton; the Historic Towne of Smithville, a restoration
of an 18th-century community; and Edison National Historic Site,
containing the library, workshop, laboratory, and home of Thomas
A. Edison, in West Orange. Among the homes of noted figures are
the James Fenimore Cooper House, located in Burlington; the Grover Cleveland
Birthplace, located in Caldwell; and the Walt Whitman House, in
Camden.
New Jersey’s seaside resorts are popular attractions
for swimming, fishing, and boating enthusiasts. The leading resorts
include Atlantic City, Asbury Park, Ocean City, Wildwood, and Cape
May. The state also has several large lakes and its wooded and mountain
areas draw hunters and skiers.
The Meadowlands Sports Complex, in East Rutherford, includes
an outdoor stadium, an indoor arena, and a horse racetrack. New
Jersey’s professional sports teams that play in the complex
include the New Jersey Nets (basketball) and the New Jersey Devils
(ice hockey); two New York professional football teams, the New York
Giants and the New York Jets, also play at the Meadowlands.
The first radio station in New Jersey, and
the second in the U.S., WJZ in Newark, was licensed in 1921; it
subsequently was moved to New York City. WATV in Newark became (1948)
the state’s first commercial television station; it is
now public station WNET. The New Jersey Gazette,
New Jersey’s first newspaper, was initially published in
1777 in Burlington. In 2004, New Jersey had 17 daily newspapers
with a combined daily circulation of about 1,273,000. Influential
newspapers included the Star-Ledger, in Newark;
the Times and the Trentonian, both
in Trenton; the Courier-Post, in Camden; the Record,
in Bergen Co.; and the Asbury Park Press. In 2003, 65% of New Jersey households had computers and 61% had Internet access.
New Jersey is governed under a constitution adopted in 1947 and put into effect in 1948, as amended. Two earlier constitutions
had been adopted in 1776 and 1844. An amendment to the constitution
may be proposed by the state legislature. To become effective, it
must be approved by either a three-fifths majority of the legislature
at one session or by a simple majority of each house at two successive
sessions, and then by a majority of persons voting on the issue
in a general election.
The chief executive of New Jersey is a governor, who is popularly
elected to a 4-year term and who is limited to a maximum of two
consecutive terms. The 1947 constitution provided for the president of the state senate to succeed the governor should the latter resign, die, or be removed from office; a state constitutional amendment approved by the voters in November 2005 established the position of lieutenant governor, to run conjointly with the governor, effective with the general election of November 2009. The governor, with the consent of the senate, appoints the state’s principal executive officials, such as the secretary of state, treasurer, and attorney general.
The bicameral New Jersey legislature is made up of a senate and a general assembly. The 40 members of the senate are usually
popularly elected to serve 4-year terms; senate terms beginning
in January of the second year following the U.S. decennial census,
however, are for only two years. The 80 members of the general assembly
are popularly elected to 2-year terms.
New Jersey’s highest court, the supreme court, is
made up of a chief justice and six associate judges. The appellate
division of the superior court has 34 judges, and the superior court
itself (the major trial court) has 395 judges. The judges of both
these courts are appointed by the governor, with the consent of
the senate, to 7-year terms.
In the early 2000s New Jersey had 21 counties, 324 municipalities, 242 townships, 549 school districts, and 276 special districts.
Each of the counties was governed by an elected board of chosen
freeholders.
New Jersey elects 2 senators and 13 representatives to the U.S.
Congress. The state has 15 electoral votes in presidential elections.
The Republican and Democratic parties in New Jersey are closely
matched. In presidential elections from 1948 to 1988 the state’s
voters generally favored the Republican nominee; since then, the
Democrats have prevailed. Peter Rodino,
a Democrat who served in the U.S. House of Representatives from
1949 through 1989, chaired the House Judiciary Committee for 16
years (1973–89); in 1974 he presided over the committee’s
impeachment inquiry into President Richard M. Nixon. Bill Bradley, another prominent Democrat who served three
terms in the U.S. Senate (1979–97) and ran unsuccessfully
for the 2000 presidential nomination. Thomas Kean (1935– ), a two-term Republican state governor (1982-90) and president (1990-2005) of Drew University, headed a bipartisan commission authorized by Congress to investigate the circumstances surrounding the terrorist attacks against the U.S. on Sept. 11, 2001. His son, Tom Kean, Jr. (1968– ), a Republican state senator, ran unsuccessfully in 2006 for a U.S. Senate seat.
Since the late 19th century, manufacturing has been a
leading economic activity of New Jersey and it has long been
a major employer. New Jersey has an important tourist industry, and
many workers are employed by commercial firms. Newark is a major
center of the U.S. insurance industry, and the state has several
important facilities engaged in the research and development of
communications and electronic equipment. Many New Jersey
residents commute to jobs in the nearby New York City and Philadelphia
metropolitan areas.
| NEW JERSEY STATE ECONOMY |
| STATE BUDGET (in thousands) |
| General revenue |
$50,588,543 |
| General expenditure |
$46,455,897 |
| Accumulated debt |
$35,770,241 |
 |
| STATE TAXES PER CAPITA |
$2,416 |
|
| PERSONAL INCOME, PER CAPITA |
$43,771 |
|
| POPULATION BELOW POVERTY LEVEL |
8.4% |
|
| EMPLOYMENT DISTRIBUTION |
| Management, business, finance |
702,000 |
| Professional and related |
913,000 |
| Services |
583,000 |
| Sales and related |
503,000 |
| Office and administrative support |
640,000 |
| Farming, fishing, forestry |
too small to be validly estimated |
| Construction and extraction |
190,000 |
| Installation, maintenance, repair |
117,000 |
| Production |
187,000 |
| Transportation and moving |
271,000 |
|
| GROSS STATE PRODUCT |
$430.8 billion |
|
| NET FARM INCOME |
$127,000,000 |
| Principal products |
greenhouse/nursery, horses, blueberries |
Farming contributes less than 1% of the annual gross
state product, but some agricultural commodities are produced in
sizable quantities. The state is usually among the top 20 U.S. states
in the combined production of tomatoes and other vegetables. In 2004, the state had some 10,000 farms, which had an average size of 33 ha (83 acres). Net farm income in 2003 was valued at $127 million. About 70% of the annual farm income is derived
from the sale of crops, and the rest comes from sales of livestock and
livestock products. The chief crops are greenhouse and nursery
products (especially commercial flowers), tomatoes,
blueberries, peaches, peppers, cranberries, and soybeans. Also produced in significant amounts are potatoes, eggplants, onions, beans, asparagus, apples, soybeans, hay, corn and strawberries. The SW counties of Salem, Cumberland,
and Gloucester are particularly favored for vegetable production and
have helped New Jersey earn its reputation as the Garden State.
The principal livestock and livestock products are dairy goods,
chicken eggs, beef cattle, hogs, and turkeys. Dairying is centered
in the SW part of New Jersey, and poultry raising in the E counties.
Forestry in New Jersey is not an important commercial activity, although
some wood pulp and other forestry products are manufactured. Trees
in the state are mostly too small to be of commercial value.
Although fishing is not a major employer, the industry does
contribute to the New Jersey economy; in 2004, commercial fishing earned about $140 million. More than half of the clams caught in the U.S. come from
New Jersey waters; major clam beds stretch from Barnegat Bay to
Cape May. Other shellfish taken are crab, lobster, oysters, and scallops.
Saltwater finfish such as menhaden, fluke, swordfish, tuna, flounder,
bluefish, and mackerel are caught by commercial fishers and processed
locally.
The annual value of nonfuel mineral output in 2005 was estimated at $249 million. The leading mineral products are basalt, limestone, granite, and
other types of stone; sand and gravel; and zircon concentrates.
Also produced in significant amounts are clay, peat, and greens and marl. Nonfuel minerals were valued (2005 est.) at $365 million.
New Jersey’s manufacturing sector accounted for about 10% of the 2005 gross state product. Workers engaged in manufacturing numbered about 312,000 at the end of 2006, down more than 100,000 from the year 2000. New Jersey’s more than 10,000 manufacturing firms exported more than $19 billion in total goods, or 91% of the state’s exports, in 2005. Principal manufactures include chemicals, food products, fabricated metals, computers and electronic products, printed materials, plastics and rubber, nonmetallic metals, and machinery. New Jersey is one of the major U.S. states in chemical production;
products include petrochemicals, pharmaceuticals, and basic chemicals
such as sulfuric acid. A wide variety of food products are processed
in New Jersey; among them are canned and frozen vegetables and fruit,
packed meat, and baked goods. Among the electrical and electronic
items produced in the state are communications equipment, home
appliances, and motors. Other important manufactures of New Jersey
include apparel and textiles, pottery and fine china, glass, and paper goods. The NE part of the state is the leading manufacturing area; another important industrial region, in central and S New Jersey, includes the cities of Trenton and Camden.
Tourists annually spend over $15 billion in the state, and more than 350,000 jobs depend on tourism and related industries. Most visitors are attracted by the state’s 209 km (130 mi) of beaches and many long-established ocean resorts; Atlantic City, which has large gambling casinos and a retail shopping center (The Walk), averages more than 30 million visitors annually. Many travelers also are lured by the mountains, lakes, and scenic areas (such as the Delaware Water Gap) of the NW part of the state and by the Pine Barrens of the S. New Jersey maintains 36 state parks.
New Jersey is an important link between the big
industrial areas of New York State and New England and the S and W parts of
the U.S. The state has about 62,700 km (about 39,000 mi) of roads, including over 690 km (430 mi) of interstate highways. The New Jersey Turnpike is a major N-S artery for commercial and private vehicles. The state is connected by bridges and tunnels with New York City and by bridges with Pennsylvania and Delaware. New Jersey is served by about 2550 km (almost 1600 mi) of operated Class I railroad track. The seaports
at Newark and Elizabeth, both regulated by the Port Authority of
New York and New Jersey, are among the most important in the U.S. and
have modern facilities for handling containerized freight. Smaller
ports are on the Delaware R. at Paulsboro, Camden, Gloucester City, and
Trenton. New Jersey has 49 public-use airports. By far the busiest air terminal is Newark International Airport, officially named Newark Liberty International Airport after Sept. 11, 2001, when hijacked United Air Lines Flight 93, departing from the airport, crashed in Shanksville, Pa.); it is one of the three major airports serving the New York City metropolitan area. Many smaller craft in that area make use of Teterboro (N.J.) Airport.
The electricity-generating plants of New Jersey have an installed
capacity of about 13.7 million kw; the estimated electricity production in 2005 (by source, in kwh) was 1.4 billion (coal), 108 million (petroleum), and 49 million (natural gas). Nuclear power plants generate approximately 65% of
the state’s electricity.
The Indians of the region that is now New Jersey were known
as the Delaware or Leni-Lenape (“true men”). Classified
as members of the Algonquian group, the Indians were subdivided
into three tribal units—the Minsi, Unami, and Unalactigo.
The area was claimed by both the Dutch and the English
when
they began to found colonies on the coast of North America in the
early 17th century. The Dutch founded settlements at Fort Nassau
(present-day Gloucester City) on the Delaware River in 1624, and
at Pavonia (now part of Jersey City) in 1630. Swedish settlements
on the Delaware were taken over by the Dutch in 1655. Nevertheless,
New Jersey was still sparsely settled in 1664, when King Charles
II of England granted all the territory between the Connecticut and
Delaware rivers to his brother, James, duke of York (later King
James II).
James ousted the Dutch and assigned New Jersey to two
close friends,
Sir George Carteret and John, Lord Berkeley (1603?–78),
who named it after the island of Jersey in the English Channel.
Assuming governmental control, the two proprietors issued a
constitution
known as the Concessions and Agreement of 1665, which provided that
freeholders were annually to elect members of an assembly and which
offered freedom of religious beliefs. English settlers resisted
the proprietors’ authority, however, and in 1674 Berkeley
sold his half interest to a consortium of Quakers. Boundaries had
to be established between Quaker property and the Carteret proprietary,
and this resulted in a division into East and West Jersey. Carteret’s
estate of East Jersey was auctioned off after his death in 1681.
Acquired by William Penn and associates, it was soon subdivided
amid conflicting claims. West Jersey, also a Quaker province, had
similar problems over land grants.
In 1702, East and West Jersey were united as the royal province
of New Jersey. By that date, its population was made up of people
from the British Isles, Holland, Belgium, France, and Germany, as
well as slaves from Africa and the West Indies.
Conflicts among rival political factions over fiscal and land
policies continued to trouble the colony until the eve of the American
Revolution. Part of the problem stemmed from the fact that New Jersey
shared royally appointed governors with New York until 1738. The
first governor appointed for New Jersey alone was Lewis Morris,
who served from 1738 until his death in 1746. The economy of colonial
New Jersey was based on agriculture, including the breeding of livestock;
the area also contained iron mines, and iron manufactures were produced.
New Jersey’s last royal governor was William Franklin,
son of Benjamin Franklin. Assuming office in 1763, he remained in
power until 1776, when he was deposed by a provincial congress for
siding with the British during the Revolution. Sentiment in the
province was divided over the revolutionary cause, but New Jersey
gradually moved into the patriot camp after 1774. On July 2, 1776,
the same provincial congress that deposed Franklin approved a state
constitution. The first state governor was William Livingston, who
remained in office until his death in 1790.
Several important battles of the Revolution were fought in
New Jersey. The Americans were routed at Fort Lee (November 1776)
but won victories at Trenton (December 1776), Princeton (1777),
Monmouth (1778), and Springfield (1780). George Washington’s
army encamped at Morristown and other localities within the state.
At the war’s conclusion, the Continental Congress established
the nation’s capital at Princeton from June until November
1783.
Because of a continuing controversy with New York over transportation
rights on the Hudson River and over the use of New York Harbor,
New Jersey favored a new federal constitution that would protect
the rights of the smaller states. At the Constitutional Convention,
held in Philadelphia in 1787, the New Jersey delegates led small-state
efforts that resulted in the adoption of equal representation in
the U.S. Senate.
Alexander Hamilton, the first U.S. secretary of the treasury,
envisioned the creation of a manufacturing complex along the falls of the Passaic River. To foster industrial development, he supported the creation of the Society for Establishing Useful Manufactures, in the new community of Paterson. Under New Jersey’s state constitution of 1776, women were granted suffrage. When a number of women voted in disputed local elections in 1807, however, the legislature rescinded this right with the Suffrage Reform Act.
Under New Jersey’s state constitution of 1776 women
were granted suffrage, but when a number of women voted in disputed
local elections in 1807, the legislature rescinded this right with
the Suffrage Reform Act.
The state remained primarily agricultural into the 1820s. Manufacturing
became important after 1840, when Paterson, already a textile center,
began producing armaments and locomotives. The Civil
War provided further impetus for industrialization. By 1870 the
population had grown to more than 900,000, with the greatest increase
centered in Jersey City, Newark, Bayonne, and Passaic. New Jersey became a leading center for research industry when Thomas A. Edison established a research facility at Menlo Park in 1876. Paterson became a symbol for bitter labor strife in the early decades of
the 20th century, when the city’s factory workers struggled
to organize to improve their work and wage conditions.
The Virginia-born Woodrow Wilson, the 28th president of the U.S., first achieved prominence as president of Princeton University and as Democratic
governor of New Jersey (1911–13). Wilson established a
record as a reform governor before moving on to the presidency in
the election of 1912. State politics in the post–World
War I era was associated with “bossism” under
Frank Hague (1876–1956) of Jersey City, who was an influential figure
in New Jersey from 1913 to 1947.
After World War II, New Jersey experienced an industrial and
population boom, becoming the eighth most populous state by 1960.
Immigrant groups in the early 20th century included Irish, Italians,
Jews, and Slovaks; blacks, Puerto Ricans, and Cubans came in later
decades. The construction of a containerization center at Port Newark,
the expansion of Newark International Airport, the emergence of
the Meadowlands Sports Complex (1976) in East Rutherford, and the establishment (1978) of gambling casinos in Atlantic City brought new jobs to New Jersey during the 1970s and 1980s. A series of corruption scandals led to the election of two reform-minded governors: Brendan Byrne (1924-), a Democrat, who held office from 1974 to 1982, and his popular Republican successor, Thomas Kean. James J. Florio (1937-), who had lost his 1981 governorship race to Kean by fewer than 1800 votes, won the 1989 gubernatorial election, when Kean was constitutionally barred from seeking a third term.
By the early 1990s, the state’s
population growth had leveled off, and service industries dominated
the economy. Environmental protection, urban renewal, and reform
of public education funding were among the challenges facing the
state.
By the early 1990s, the state’s population growth had leveled off, and service industries dominated the economy. Environmental protection, urban renewal, and reform of public education funding, and budget shortfalls were among the challenges facing the state. To meet the state’s financial obligations, Florio pushed through a $2.8 billion tax increase; his public support plummeted, and he lost his 1993 reelection bid to a Republican, Christine Todd Whitman (1946– ). Reelected in 1997, she resigned in January 2001 to head the federal Environmental Protection Agency.
The winner of the gubernatorial election in November 2001 was a Democrat, Jim McGreevey (1957– ). McGreevey stunned voters in August 2004 when, with his wife standing beside him, he announced that he was "a gay American" and had been conducting an extramarital affair with a man, who, it was later learned, had been given the post of New Jersey homeland security adviser. McGreevey left office in November, and in accordance with the state constitution, the president of the state senate, Richard Codey (1946– ), became acting governor. Jon Corzine (1947– ), a wealthy Democrat who had been serving in the U.S. Senate, won the gubernatorial contest in November 2005. Codey again assumed the governorship on an interim basis in April 2007, when Corzine was seriously injured in an automobile accident. Voters had approved a state constitutional amendment establishing the office of lieutenant governor; it was to become effective with the 2009 election.
When Corzine took office as governor in January 2006, he appointed Bob Menendez (1954– ), a Democrat of Cuban ancestry, to serve out his U.S. Senate term. The following November, Menendez won a full 6-year term in the Senate, defeating Tom Kean, Jr., son of the former governor.