Lenapehoking ( Unami : Lënapehòkink ) is widely translated as ' homelands of the Lenape ', which in the 16th and 17th centuries, ranged along the Eastern seaboard from western Connecticut to Delaware , and encompassed the territory adjacent to the Delaware and lower Hudson river valleys, and the territory between them.
157-512: Beginning in the 17th century, European colonists started settling on traditional Lenape lands. Combined with the concurrent introduction of Eurasian infectious diseases and encroachment from the colonists, the Lenape were severely depopulated and lost control over large portions of Lenapehoking. In the 18th and 19th centuries, the United States government forcibly removed the Lenape to
314-590: A band of Canarse from Brooklyn who occupied the bottom quarter of Manhattan, known then as the Manhattoes , for 60 guilders ' worth of trade goods. Minuit conducted the transaction with the Canarse chief Seyseys, who accepted valuable merchandise in exchange for an island that was actually mostly controlled by another indigenous group, the Weckquaesgeeks . Dutch fur traders set up a network upstream on
471-414: A bill interpreting the constitution to mean universal white male suffrage , excluding paupers; the constitution was itself an act of the legislature and not enshrined as the modern constitution. On February 15, 1804, New Jersey became the last northern state to abolish new slavery and enacted legislation that slowly phased out existing slavery. This led to a gradual decrease of the slave population. By
628-730: A capital city and royal palace, fully expecting the Dutch to retain control of this rich area. As the Dutch had in Europe, it tolerated the presence of Jews and other religious groups in the colony. After Maurits departed in 1643, the Dutch West India Company took over the colony until it was lost to the Portuguese in 1654. The Dutch retained some territory in Dutch Guiana , now Suriname . The Dutch also seized islands in
785-666: A century after Spain. The relatively late arrival meant that the British could use the other European colonization powers as models for their endeavors. Inspired by the Spanish riches from colonies founded upon the conquest of the Aztecs , Incas , and other large Native American populations in the 16th century, their first attempt at colonization occurred in Roanoke and Newfoundland , although unsuccessful. In 1606, King James I granted
942-590: A charter with the purpose of discovering the riches at their first permanent settlement in Jamestown, Virginia in 1607. They were sponsored by common stock companies such as the chartered Virginia Company financed by wealthy Englishmen who exaggerated the economic potential of the land. The Reformation of the 16th century broke the unity of Western Christendom and led to the formation of numerous new religious sects, which often faced persecution by governmental authorities. In England, many people came to question
1099-516: A colony in Greenland in the late tenth century, and lasted until the mid 15th-century, with court and parliament assemblies ( þing ) taking place at Brattahlíð and a bishop located at Garðar . The remains of a settlement at L'Anse aux Meadows in Newfoundland , Canada, were discovered in 1960 and were dated to around the year 1000 (carbon dating estimate 990–1050). L'Anse aux Meadows is
1256-475: A core group of scientists, who sought to map and catalogue the flora, fauna, and other aspects of the natural world. A major Russian expedition for exploration was mounted in 1742, contemporaneous with other eighteenth-century European state-sponsored ventures. It was not clear at the time whether Eurasia and North America were completely separate continents. The first voyages were made by Vitus Bering and Aleksei Chirikov , with settlement beginning after 1743. By
1413-517: A higher proportion of immigrants. New Jersey is home to roughly half a million unauthorized immigrants , comprising an estimated 6.2% of the population, which in 2018 was the fifth-highest percentage of any U.S. state. The municipalities of Camden, Jersey City, and Newark are considered sanctuary cities for illegal immigrants. For further information on various ethnoracial groups and neighborhoods prominently featured within New Jersey, see
1570-794: A large and diverse population. New Jersey was among the Thirteen Colonies that supported the American Revolution , hosting several pivotal battles and military commands in the American Revolutionary War . New Jersey remained in the Union during the American Civil War and provided troops, resources, and military leaders in support of the Union Army . After the war, the state emerged as
1727-547: A major manufacturing center and a leading destination for immigrants, helping drive the Industrial Revolution in the U.S. New Jersey was the site of many industrial, technological, and commercial innovations . Many prominent Americans associated with New Jersey have proven influential nationally and globally, including in academia, advocacy, business, entertainment, government, military, non-profit leadership, and other fields. New Jersey's central location in
SECTION 10
#17327656882061884-417: A major destination for immigrants and is home to one of the world's most multicultural populations . Echoing historical trends, the state has increasingly re-urbanized, with growth in cities outpacing suburbs since 2008. New Jersey is one of the most educated, affluent, healthy, diverse and highly developed states in the U.S., ranking it high in several quality of life metrics. As of 2022, New Jersey had
2041-799: A major industry, especially the Sterling Hill Mine . New Jersey prospered through the Roaring Twenties . The first Miss America Pageant was held in 1921 in Atlantic City ; the Holland Tunnel connecting Jersey City to Manhattan opened in 1927; and the first drive-in movie was shown in 1933 in Camden . During the Great Depression of the 1930s, the state offered begging licenses to unemployed residents,
2198-518: A million residents commute daily into the city for work, many via public transportation. The Jersey Shore , along the Atlantic Coast in Central and South Jersey, has its own unique natural, residential, and cultural characteristics owing to its location by the ocean. South Jersey represents the southernmost geographical region of the northeastern United States . The Delaware Valley includes
2355-772: A motor torpedo boat commanded by Lt. (j.g.) John F. Kennedy in World War II, was built at the Elco Boatworks in Bayonne . The aircraft carrier USS Enterprise (CV-6) was briefly docked at the Military Ocean Terminal in Bayonne in the 1950s before she was sent to Kearney to be scrapped. In 1962, the world's first nuclear-powered cargo ship, the NS Savannah , was launched at Camden. In 1951,
2512-499: A native Philadelphian, had New Jersey ties and formally resided in New Jersey at the time; he later became Governor of New Jersey (1878–81). (In New Jersey, the factions of the Democratic party managed an effective coalition in 1860.) During the American Civil War , the state was led first by Republican governor Charles Smith Olden , then by Democrat Joel Parker . During the course of the war, between 65,000 and 80,000 soldiers from
2669-522: A planetary scale, ... The fact that this other slavery had to be carried out clandestinely made it even more insidious. It is a tale of good intentions gone badly astray." A major event in early Spanish colonization, which had so far yielded paltry returns, was the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire (1519–1521). It was led by Hernán Cortés and made possible by securing indigenous alliances with
2826-691: A protected group of Christians, Indigenous men no longer could aspire to be ordained Christian priests. Throughout the Americas, the Jesuits were active in attempting to convert the Indigenous peoples to Christianity. They had considerable success on the frontiers in New France and Portuguese Brazil , most famously with Antonio de Vieira, S.J; and in Paraguay , almost an autonomous state within
2983-675: A range of responses, from outright hostility to active embrace of the new religion." In central and southern Mexico where there was an existing Indigenous tradition of creating written texts, the friars taught Indigenous scribes to write their own languages in Latin letters . There is a significant body of texts in Indigenous languages created by and for Indigenous peoples in their own communities for their own purposes. In frontier areas where there were no settled Indigenous populations, friars and Jesuits often created missions , bringing together dispersed Indigenous populations in communities supervised by
3140-408: A richer endowment of antibodies. The large-scale contact with Europeans after 1492 introduced Eurasian germs to the indigenous people of the Americas . Epidemics of smallpox (1518, 1521, 1525, 1558, 1589), typhus (1546), influenza (1558), diphtheria (1614) and measles (1618) swept the Americas subsequent to European contact, killing between 10 million and 100 million people, up to 95% of
3297-481: A seafaring nation and built a global empire in regions where the Portuguese had originally explored. In the Dutch Golden Age , it sought colonies. In the Americas, the Dutch conquered the northeast of Brazil in 1630, where the Portuguese had built sugar cane plantations worked by black slave labor from Africa. Prince Johan Maurits van Nassau-Siegen became the administrator of the colony (1637–43), building
SECTION 20
#17327656882063454-533: A series of Papal Bulls that confirmed Spanish claims to the newly discovered lands. After the final Reconquista of Iberia , the Treaty of Tordesillas was ratified by the Pope, the two kingdoms of Castile (in a personal union with other kingdoms of Spain) and Portugal in 1494. The treaty divided the entire non-European world into two spheres of exploration and colonization. The longitudinal boundary cut through
3611-579: A state. The Mamusse Wunneetupanatamwe Up-Biblum God , a translation by John Eliot of the gospel into Algonquian , was published in 1663. Roman Catholics were the first major religious group to immigrate to the New World, as settlers in the Spanish and Portuguese colonies of Portugal and Spain, and later, France in New France . No other religion was tolerated and there was a concerted effort to convert indigenous peoples and black slaves to Catholicism. The Catholic Church established three offices of
3768-720: Is Kitty Ann Mountain in Morris County , rising 892 feet (272 m). The Palisades are a line of steep cliffs on the west side of the Hudson River in Bergen and Hudson Counties . Major New Jersey rivers include the Hudson , Delaware , Raritan , Passaic , Hackensack , Rahway , Musconetcong , Mullica , Rancocas , Manasquan , Maurice , and Toms rivers. Due to New Jersey's peninsular geography, both sunrise and sunset are visible over water from different points on
3925-474: Is estimated that from Columbus's arrival to the end of the 19th century between 2.5 and 5 million Native Americans were forced into slavery. Indigenous men, women, and children were often forced into labor in sparsely populated frontier settings, in the household, or in the toxic gold and silver mines. This practice was known as the encomienda system and granted free native labor to the Spaniards. Based upon
4082-803: Is now New York Harbor and took control of Fort Amsterdam , annexing the entire province. During the English Civil War , the Channel Island of Jersey remained loyal to the British Crown and gave sanctuary to the King . In the Royal Square in St Helier , Charles II of England was proclaimed King in 1649, following the execution of his father, Charles I . North American lands were divided by Charles II , who gave his brother,
4239-498: Is now Brazil. They imported millions of slaves to run their plantations. The Portuguese and Spanish royal governments expected to rule these settlements and collect at least 20% of all treasure found (the quinto real collected by the Casa de Contratación ), in addition to collecting all the taxes they could. By the late 16th century silver from the Americas accounted for one-fifth of the combined total budget of Portugal and Spain. In
4396-600: Is part of the Pennsylvania-based Lehigh Valley metro area. The 21 counties in New Jersey, listed in order by population (as of the 2020 census) are: For its overall population and nation-leading population density, New Jersey has a relative paucity of classic large cities. This paradox is most pronounced in Bergen County , the state's most populous county, whose 955,732 residents at the 2020 census inhabited 70 municipalities, of which
4553-434: Is the fifth-smallest state in land area , but with close to 9.3 million residents as of the 2020 United States census , it ranks 11th in population . The state capital is Trenton , and the state's most populous city is Newark . New Jersey is the only U.S. state in which every county is deemed urban by the U.S. Census Bureau . New Jersey was first inhabited by Paleo-Indians as early as 13,000 B.C.E. The Lenape were
4710-454: The 2010 U.S. census , which counted 8,791,894 residents. The state ranked eleventh in the country by total population and first in population density, with 1,185 residents per square mile (458 per km ). Historically, New Jersey has experienced one of the fastest growth rates in the country, with its population increasing by double digits almost every decade until 1980; growth has since slowed but remained relatively robust until recently. In 2022,
4867-406: The 2010 United States census , only four municipalities had over 100,000 residents (although Edison and Woodbridge Township came very close); this number increased to seven by the 2020 census. Residents of New Jersey are most commonly referred to as New Jerseyans or, less commonly, as New Jerseyites. According to the 2020 U.S. census , the state had a population of 9,288,994, a 5.7% increase since
Lenapehoking - Misplaced Pages Continue
5024-762: The American Civil War 's end, about a dozen African Americans in New Jersey were still held in bondage. New Jersey voters eventually ratified the constitutional amendments banning slavery and granting rights to the United States' black population. Industrialization accelerated in the present-day North Jersey region of the state following completion of the Morris Canal in 1831. The canal allowed for anthracite coal to be transported from eastern Pennsylvania 's Lehigh Valley to North Jersey's growing industries in Paterson , Newark , and Jersey City . In 1844,
5181-677: The American Midwest , including the state of Oklahoma . Lenape nations today control lands within Oklahoma ( Delaware Nation and Delaware Tribe of Indians ), Wisconsin ( Stockbridge-Munsee Community ), and Ontario ( Munsee-Delaware Nation , Moravian of the Thames First Nation , and Delaware of Six Nations ). Lenape speakers in Oklahoma called their northeastern homelands Lenapehoking translating to: in
5338-630: 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 sometimes referred to as "The Crossroads of the American Revolution". The winter quarters of the Continental Army were established in New Jersey twice by General George Washington in Morristown , which has been called "The Military Capital of
5495-716: The Appalachians range around the headwaters of the Delaware River and along both banks of its basin down to the mouth of the Lehigh River . Inland, the tribe had to deal with the fierce and territorial Susquehannocks ; the Delawares' territory has generally been plotted with boundaries along mountain ridges topped by the drainage divides between the right bank tributaries of the Delaware River on
5652-678: The Cape May County peninsula at the southeastern tip of New Jersey; in doing so, the Jersey Shore became readily accessible to millions of residents in the New York metropolitan area. In 1959, Air Defense Command deployed the CIM-10 Bomarc surface-to-air missile to McGuire Air Force Base . On June 7, 1960, an explosion in a CIM-10 Bomarc missile fuel tank caused an accident and subsequent plutonium contamination. In
5809-567: The Caribbean that Spain had originally claimed but had largely abandoned, including Sint Maarten in 1618, Bonaire in 1634, Curaçao in 1634, Sint Eustatius in 1636, Aruba in 1637, some of which remain in Dutch hands and retain Dutch cultural traditions. On the east coast of North America, the Dutch planted the colony of New Netherland on the lower end of the island of Manhattan , at New Amsterdam starting in 1624. The Dutch sought to protect their investments and purchased Manhattan from
5966-459: The Caribbean , and parts of South America. They also gained Florida and Quebec in the French and Indian War . John Smith convinced the colonists of Jamestown that searching for gold was not taking care of their immediate needs for food and shelter. The lack of food security leading to an extremely high mortality rate was quite distressing and cause for despair among the colonists. To support
6123-456: The Dominion of New England from 1686 to 1689. In 1702, the two provinces were reunited under a royal governor rather than a proprietary one . Edward Hyde , titled Lord Cornbury, became the first governor of the royal colony. Britain believed that he was an ineffective and corrupt ruler, taking bribes and speculating on land. In 1708, he was recalled to England. New Jersey was then ruled by
6280-667: The Dutch in the early 17th century, and their primary relationship with the Dutch and later European settlers was through fur trade . The Dutch were the first Europeans to lay claim to lands in New Jersey. The Dutch colony of New Netherland consisted of parts of the modern Mid-Atlantic states. Although the European principle of land ownership was not recognized by the Lenape , Dutch West India Company policy required its colonists to purchase land that they settled. The first to do so
6437-566: The Hudson River . There were Jewish settlers from 1654 onward, and they remained following the English capture of New Amsterdam in 1664. The naval capture was despite both nations being at peace with the other. Russia came to colonization late compared to Spain or Portugal, or even England. Siberia was added to the Russian Empire and Cossack explorers along rivers sought valuable furs of ermine , sable , and fox . Cossacks enlisted
Lenapehoking - Misplaced Pages Continue
6594-669: The Indigenous peoples of the Americas to the Christian religion . Pope Alexander VI issued the Inter caetera bull in May 1493 that confirmed the lands claimed by the Kingdom of Spain , and mandated in exchange that the Indigenous peoples be converted to Catholic Christianity . During Columbus 's second voyage, Benedictine friars accompanied him, along with twelve other priests. With
6751-585: The Lenape tribe . Scheyichbi is the Lenape name for the land that represents present-day New Jersey. The Lenape were several autonomous groups that practiced maize agriculture in order to supplement their hunting and gathering in the region surrounding the Delaware River , the lower Hudson River , and western Long Island Sound . The Lenape were divided into matrilineal clans that were based upon common female ancestors. Clans were organized into three distinct phratries identified by their animal sign: Turtle , Turkey , and Wolf . They first encountered
6908-805: The New Jersey Supreme Court to fund schools equitably, the New Jersey legislature passed an income tax bill in 1976. Prior to this bill, the state had no income tax. In the early part of the 2000s, two light rail systems were opened: the Hudson–Bergen Light Rail in Hudson County and the River Line between Camden and Trenton . The intent of these projects was to encourage transit-oriented development in North Jersey and South Jersey , respectively. The HBLR
7065-409: The New Jersey Turnpike opened, facilitating efficient travel by car and truck between North Jersey and metropolitan New York , and South Jersey and metropolitan Philadelphia . Subsequently, in 1957, the Garden State Parkway was completed, serving as a diagonal counterpart to the Turnpike, and opening up highway travel along New Jersey's coastal flank between Bergen County in the northeast and
7222-430: The North Atlantic Ocean . The pressure of collision between North America and Africa gave rise to the Appalachian Mountains . Around 18,000 years ago, the Ice Age resulted in glaciers that reached New Jersey. As glaciers retreated, they left behind Lake Passaic along with rivers, meadows , swamps, and gorges . Since the 6th millennium BC , Native American people have inhabited New Jersey, beginning with
7379-418: The Philippines . New Jersey is one of the most ethnically diverse states in the United States: as of 2022, over one-fifth (21.5%) of its residents are Hispanic or Latino, 15.3% are Black, and one-tenth are Asian. One in four New Jerseyans were born abroad and more than one million (12.1%) are not fully fluent in English. Compared to the U.S. as a whole, the state is more racially and ethnically diverse and has
7536-416: The River Plate in South America. These explorers include João Vaz Corte-Real in Newfoundland; João Fernandes Lavrador , Gaspar and Miguel Corte-Real and João Álvares Fagundes , in Newfoundland, Greenland, Labrador, and Nova Scotia (from 1498 to 1502, and in 1520). During this time, the Portuguese gradually switched from an initial plan of establishing trading posts to extensive colonization of what
7693-540: The Second Continental Congress declared American Independence from Great Britain . It was an act of the Provincial Congress , which made itself into the State Legislature . To reassure neutrals, it provided that it would become the legislature would disband if New Jersey reached reconciliation with Great Britain. Among the 56 Founding Fathers who signed the Declaration of Independence , five were New Jersey representatives: Richard Stockton , John Witherspoon , Francis Hopkinson , John Hart , and Abraham Clark . During
7850-440: The Silk Road , the traditional route for trade between Europe and Asia, forced European traders to look for alternative routes. The Genoese mariner Christopher Columbus led an expedition to find a route to East Asia, but instead landed in The Bahamas . Columbus encountered the Lucayan people on the island Guanahani (possibly Cat Island ), which they had inhabited since the ninth century. In his reports, Columbus exaggerated
8007-474: The Skylands Region , is more wooded, rural, and mountainous. The chief tree of the northern forests is the oak . The New Jersey Pine Barrens is situated in the southern interior of New Jersey and covered extensively by mixed pine and oak forest; its population density is lower than most of the state. High Point in Montague Township , Sussex County is the state's highest elevation at 1,803 feet (550 m) above sea level. The state's highest prominence
SECTION 50
#17327656882068164-704: The Spanish Inquisition , in Mexico City ; Lima, Peru ; and Cartagena de Indias in Colombia to maintain religious orthodoxy and practice. The Portuguese did not establish a permanent office of the Portuguese Inquisition in Brazil, but did send visitations of inquisitors in the seventeenth century. English and Dutch colonies, on the other hand, tended to be more religiously diverse. Settlers to these colonies included Anglicans , Dutch Calvinists , English Puritans and other nonconformists , English Catholics , Scottish Presbyterians , French Protestant Huguenots , German and Swedish Lutherans , as well as Jews , Quakers , Mennonites , Amish , and Moravians . Jews fled to
8321-434: The Spanish conquest of the Aztec empire , evangelization of the dense Indigenous populations was undertaken in what was called the "spiritual conquest". Several mendicant orders were involved in the early campaign to convert the Indigenous peoples. Franciscans and Dominicans learned Indigenous languages of the Americas , such as Nahuatl , Mixtec , and Zapotec . One of the first schools for Indigenous peoples in Mexico
8478-399: The Treaty of Tordesillas in 1494, Portugal and Spain agreed to divide the Earth in two, with Portugal having dominion over non- Christian lands in the world's eastern half, and Spain over those in the western half. Spanish claims essentially included all of the Americas ; however, the Treaty of Tordesillas granted the eastern tip of South America to Portugal, where it established Brazil in
8635-433: The first wave of European colonization , the religious discrimination , persecution , and violence toward the Indigenous peoples' native religions was systematically perpetrated by the European Christian colonists and settlers from the 15th–16th centuries onwards. During the Age of Discovery and the following centuries, the Spanish and Portuguese colonial empires were the most active in attempting to convert
8792-531: The indigenous population of the Americas. The cultural and political instability attending these losses appears to have been of substantial aid in the efforts of various colonists in New England and Massachusetts to acquire control over the great wealth in land and resources of which indigenous societies had customarily made use. Such diseases yielded human mortality of unquestionably enormous gravity and scale – and this has profoundly confused efforts to determine its full extent with any true precision. Estimates of
8949-428: The northern Great Plains , experienced little to no colonization at all until the 1800s. European contact and colonization had disastrous effects on the indigenous peoples of the Americas and their societies. Norse Viking explorers were the first known Europeans to set foot in North America. Norse journeys to Greenland and Canada are supported by historical and archaeological evidence. The Norsemen established
9106-495: The pre-Columbian population of the Americas vary tremendously. Others have argued that significant variations in population size over pre-Columbian history are reason to view higher-end estimates with caution. Such estimates may reflect historical population maxima, while indigenous populations may have been at a level somewhat below these maxima or in a moment of decline in the period just prior to contact with Europeans. Indigenous populations hit their ultimate lows in most areas of
9263-494: The 16th century perhaps 240,000 Europeans entered ports in the Americas. France founded colonies in the Americas: in eastern North America (which had not been colonized by Spain north of Florida ), a number of Caribbean islands (which had often already been conquered by the Spanish or depopulated by disease), and small coastal parts of South America. Explorers included Giovanni da Verrazzano in 1524; Jacques Cartier (1491–1557), and Samuel de Champlain (1567–1635), who explored
9420-418: The 1790s the first permanent settlements were established. Explorations continued down the Pacific coast of North America , and Russia established a settlement in the early nineteenth century at what is now called Fort Ross, California . Russian fur traders forced indigenous Aleut men into seasonal labor. Never very profitable, Russia sold its North American holdings to the United States in 1867, called at
9577-416: The 1800s, although some parts of the continent gained their independence from Europe by then, countries such as the United States continued to fight against Native Americans and practiced settler colonialism . The United States for example practiced a settler colonial policy of Manifest Destiny and the Trail of Tears . Other regions, including California , Patagonia , the North Western Territory, and
SECTION 60
#17327656882069734-609: The 1920s to 1960s and were employed as skyscraper construction workers (many belonged to the Mohawk Tribe ) and played an important role in building the skyline of Philadelphia and New York City . In the University City section of West Philadelphia , there has been some political activity by Urban Indian residents of the area, who adapted the namesake Lenapehoking to where they live. Lenape nations today control lands within Oklahoma ( Delaware Nation and Delaware Tribe of Indians ), Wisconsin ( Stockbridge-Munsee Community ), and Ontario ( Munsee-Delaware Nation , Moravian of
9891-453: The 1950s, and by 2020 had rebounded to 311,549. New Jersey is located at the center of the Northeast megalopolis , the most populated American urban agglomeration . It is bordered on the north and northeast by New York (parts of which are across the Hudson River , Upper New York Bay , the Kill Van Kull , Newark Bay , and the Arthur Kill ); on the east by the Atlantic Ocean; on the southwest by Delaware across Delaware Bay ; and on
10048-410: The 1960s, race riots erupted in many of the industrial cities of North Jersey . The first race riots in New Jersey occurred in Jersey City on August 2, 1964. Several others ensued in 1967, in Newark and Plainfield . Other riots followed the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. in April 1968, just as in the rest of the country. A riot occurred in Camden in 1971. As a result of an order from
10205-412: The 48 states. In addition, Fort Dix (1917) (originally called "Camp Dix"), Camp Merritt (1917), and Camp Kilmer (1941) were all constructed to house and train 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 for the defense of the New York City and Philadelphia areas. PT-109 ,
10362-452: The American Revolution." On the night of December 25–26, 1776, the Continental Army under George Washington crossed the Delaware River . After the crossing, they surprised and defeated the Hessian troops in the Battle of Trenton . Slightly more than a week after victory at Trenton , Continental Army forces gained an important victory by stopping General Cornwallis's charges at the Second Battle of Trenton . By evading Cornwallis's army,
10519-674: The Americas in the early 20th century; in a number of cases, growth has returned. According to scientists from University College London , the colonization of the Americas by Europeans killed so much of the indigenous population that it resulted in climate change and global cooling . Some contemporary scholars also attribute significant indigenous population losses in the Caribbean to the widespread practice of slavery and deadly forced labor in gold and silver mines. Historian Andrés Reséndez, supports this claim and argues that indigenous populations were smaller previous estimations and "a nexus of slavery, overwork and famine killed more Indians in
10676-428: The Atlantic Ocean and the eastern part of present-day Brazil. The countries declared their rights to the land despite the fact that Indigenous populations had settled from pole to pole in the hemisphere and it was their homeland. After European contact, the native population of the Americas plummeted by an estimated 80% (from around 50 million in 1492 to eight million in 1650), due in part to Old World diseases carried to
10833-461: The Aztecs' enemies, mobilizing thousands of warriors against the Aztecs for their own political reasons. The Aztec capital, Tenochtitlan , became Mexico City , the chief city of the " New Spain ". More than an estimated 240,000 Aztecs died during the siege of Tenochtitlan , 100,000 in combat, while 500–1,000 of the Spaniards engaged in the conquest died. The other great conquest was of the Inca Empire (1531–35), led by Francisco Pizarro . During
10990-409: The British column by surprise. When the British army attempted to flank the Americans, the Continental Army retreated in disorder. Their ranks were later reorganized and withstood 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
11147-478: The Caribbean than smallpox, influenza and malaria." According to the Cambridge World History , the Oxford Handbook of Genocide Studies, and the Cambridge World History of Genocide, colonial policies in some cases included the deliberate genocide of indigenous peoples in North America. According to the Cambridge World History of Genocide, Spanish colonization of the Americas also included genocidal massacres. According to Adam Jones , genocidal methods included
11304-602: The Census Bureau estimated there were 6,262 fewer residents than in 2020, a decline of 0.3% from 2020, related to the COVID-19 pandemic . New Jersey is the only state where every county is deemed urban as defined by the Census Bureau . Most residents live in the counties surrounding New York City , the nation's largest city, Philadelphia , the nation's sixth-largest city, or along the eastern Jersey Shore ;
11461-738: The Continental Army was able to make a surprise attack on Princeton and successfully defeated the British forces there on January 3, 1777. Emanuel Leutze 's painting of Washington Crossing the Delaware became an icon of the Revolution. Continental Army forces under Washington's command met British forces under General Henry Clinton at the Battle of Monmouth in an indecisive engagement in June 1778. Washington's forces attempted to take
11618-687: The Darien scheme was one of the factors that led the Kingdom of Scotland into the Act of Union 1707 with the Kingdom of England , creating the united Kingdom of Great Britain and giving Scotland commercial access to English, now British, colonies. The Netherlands had been part of the Spanish Empire , due to the inheritance of Charles V of Spain. Many Dutch people converted to Protestantism and sought their political independence from Spain. They were
11775-452: 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 land between the Hudson River and the Delaware River (the land that would become New Jersey) to two friends who had remained loyal through the English Civil War : Sir George Carteret and Lord Berkeley of Stratton . The area
11932-462: The Dutch colony of New Amsterdam when the Spanish and Portuguese inquisitions cracked down on their presence. The European lifestyle included a long history of sharing close quarters with domesticated animals such as cows, pigs, sheep, goats, horses, dogs and various domesticated fowl , from which many diseases originally stemmed. In contrast to the indigenous people, the Europeans had developed
12089-494: The European empires of Spain , Portugal , Britain , France , Russia , the Netherlands , Denmark , and Sweden began to explore and claim the Americas, its natural resources, and human capital , leading to the displacement, disestablishment, enslavement , and even genocide of the Indigenous peoples in the Americas, and the establishment of several settler colonial states. Russia began colonizing
12246-617: The Indies in 1524, based in Seville, and issued laws of the Indies to assert its power against the early conquerors. The crown created the viceroyalty of New Spain and the viceroyalty of Peru to tighten crown control over these rich prizes of conquest. Over this same time frame as Spain, Portugal claimed lands in North America (Canada) and colonized much of eastern South America naming it Santa Cruz and Brazil . On behalf of both
12403-682: The Industrial Revolution, having been granted 1,093 patents , many of which for inventions he developed while working in New Jersey. Edison's facilities, first at Menlo Park and then in West Orange , are considered perhaps the first research centers in the United States. Christie Street in Menlo Park was the first thoroughfare in the world to have electric lighting. Transportation was greatly improved as locomotion and steamboats were introduced to New Jersey. Iron mining
12560-756: The Jersey Shore. The state consists of two climate zones; most of the state has a humid subtropical climate (Cfa), while the northwest has a humid continental climate (Dfa). New Jersey receives between 2,400 and 2,800 hours of sunshine annually. Summers are typically hot and humid, with statewide average high temperatures of 82–87 °F (28–31 °C) and lows of 60–69 °F (16–21 °C); however, temperatures exceed 90 °F (32 °C) on average 25 days each summer, exceeding 100 °F (38 °C) in some years. Winters are usually cold, with average high temperatures of 34–43 °F (1–6 °C) and lows of 16 to 28 °F (−9 to −2 °C) for most of
12717-403: The New World. Smallpox was especially devastating, for it could be passed through touch, allowing native tribes to be wiped out, and the conditions that colonization imposed on Indigenous populations, such as forced labor and removal from homelands and traditional medicines. Some scholars have argued that this demographic collapse was the result of the first large-scale act of genocide in
12874-488: The Northeast megalopolis helped fuel its rapid growth and suburbanization in the second half of the 20th century. Since the beginning of the 21st century, the state's economy has become highly diversified, with major sectors including biotechnology , pharmaceuticals , information technology , finance , and tourism , and it has become an Atlantic seaboard epicenter for logistics and distribution . New Jersey remains
13031-476: The Pacific Coast from Alaska to California . Violent conflicts arose during the beginning of this period as indigenous peoples fought to preserve their territorial integrity from increasing European colonizers and from hostile indigenous neighbors who were equipped with Eurasian technology. Conflict between the various European empires and the indigenous peoples was a leading dynamic in the Americas into
13188-548: The Pacific Northwest in the mid-18th century, seeking pelts for the fur trade. Many of the social structures—including religions , political boundaries , and linguae francae —which predominate in the Western Hemisphere in the 21st century are the descendants of those that were established during this period. The rapid rate at which some European nations grew in wealth and power was unforeseeable in
13345-499: The Portuguese and Spanish crowns, cartographer Amerigo Vespucci explored the South American east coast and published his new book Mundus Novus ( New World ) in 1502–1503 which disproved the belief that the Americas were the easternmost part of Asia and confirmed that Columbus had reached a set of continents previously unheard of to any Europeans. Cartographers still use a Latinized version of his first name, America , for
13502-558: The Spanish crown had acknowledged their inability to control and properly ensure compliance with traditional laws overseas, so they granted to Native Americans specific protections not even Spaniards had, such as the prohibition of enslaving them even in the case of crime or war. These extra protections were an attempt to avoid the proliferation of irregular claims to slavery. However, as historian Andrés Reséndez has noted, "this categorical prohibition did not stop generations of determined conquistadors and colonists from taking Native slaves on
13659-554: The Susquehannock and the occasional visit by a related Potomac tribe when there wasn't active tribal warfare. The greater Philadelphia area was known to host European to Indian contacts from the Dutch traders contacts with the Susquehanna (1600), English traders (1602), and both tribes with New Netherland traders after 1610. Along the left bank Delaware valley, the territory extended to all of present-day New Jersey , and
13816-583: The Thames First Nation , and Delaware of Six Nations ). Lenape place names are used throughout the region. The following are merely examples and the list is by no means exhaustive. European colonization of the Americas During the Age of Discovery , a large scale colonization of the Americas , involving a number of European countries, took place primarily between the late 15th century and
13973-494: The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration have concluded that New Jersey has been the fastest-warming state by average air temperature over a 100-year period beginning in the early 20th century. The U.S. Census Bureau divides New Jersey's 21 counties into seven metropolitan statistical areas , with 20 counties included in either the New York City or Philadelphia Combined Statistical Area . Warren County
14130-472: The aid of indigenous Siberians , who sought protection from nomadic peoples, and those peoples paid tribute in fur to the czar. Thus, prior to the eighteenth-century Russian expansion that pushed beyond the Bering Strait dividing Eurasia from North America, Russia had experience with northern indigenous peoples and accumulated wealth from the hunting of fur-bearing animals. Siberia had already attracted
14287-521: The beginning of Virginia's settlements in 1587 until the 1680s, the main source of labor and a large portion of the immigrants were indentured servants looking for a new life in the overseas colonies. During the 17th century, indentured servants constituted three-quarters of all European immigrants to the Chesapeake Colonies . Most of the indentured servants were teenagers from England with poor economic prospects at home. Their fathers signed
14444-413: The century, the new Province of Pennsylvania was given to William Penn in settlement of a debt the king owed his father. Its government was established by William Penn in about 1682 to become primarily a refuge for persecuted English Quakers, but others were welcomed. Baptists , German and Swiss Protestants , and Anabaptists also flocked to Pennsylvania. The lure of cheap land, religious freedom and
14601-582: The colony, numerous supply missions were organized. Tobacco later became a cash crop, with the work of John Rolfe and others, for export and the sustaining economic driver of Virginia and the neighboring colony of Maryland . Plantation agriculture was a primary aspect of the economies of the Southern Colonies and in the British West Indies . They heavily relied on African slave labor to sustain their economic pursuits. From
14758-545: The complete and irrevocable renunciation of their ancestral religious beliefs and practices. In 1539, Mexican bishop Juan de Zumárraga oversaw the trial and execution of the Indigenous nobleman Carlos of Texcoco for apostasy from Christianity . Following that, the Catholic Church removed Indigenous converts from the jurisdiction of the Inquisition , since it had a chilling effect on evangelization. In creating
14915-458: The debate on Christianization was particularly acute during the early 16th century, when Spanish conquerors and settlers sought to mobilize Indigenous labor. Later, two Dominican friars, Bartolomé de Las Casas and the philosopher Juan Ginés de Sepúlveda , held the Valladolid debate , with the former arguing that Native Americans were endowed with souls like all other human beings, while
15072-763: The dominant Indigenous group when Europeans arrived in the early 17th century, and they were subdivived into dialectal groups such as the Munsee, in the north, and the Unami and the Unalachtigo, elsewhere. Dutch and Swedish colonists founded the first European settlements in the state, with the British later seizing control of the region and establishing the Province of New Jersey , named after Jersey . The colony's fertile lands and relative religious tolerance drew
15229-568: The early 1500s, and the East Indies to Spain, where It established the Philippines . The city of Santo Domingo , in the current-day Dominican Republic , founded in 1496 by Columbus, is credited as the oldest continuously inhabited European-established settlement in the Americas. By the 1530s, other Western European powers realized they too could benefit from voyages to the Americas, leading to British and French colonializations in
15386-520: The early 15th century because it had been preoccupied with internal wars and it was slowly recovering from the loss of population caused by the Black Death . The Ottoman Empire 's domination of trade routes to Asia prompted Western European monarchs to search for alternatives, resulting in the voyages of Christopher Columbus and his accidental arrival at the New World . With the signing of
15543-486: The early 19th century. The Norse explored and colonized areas of Europe and the North Atlantic, colonizing Greenland and creating a short-term settlement near the northern tip of Newfoundland circa 1000 AD. However, due to its long duration and importance, the later colonization by the European powers involving the continents of North America and South America is more well-known. During this time,
15700-566: The early period of exploration, conquest, and settlement, c. 1492–1550, the overseas possessions claimed by Spain were only loosely controlled by the crown. With the conquests of the Aztecs and the Incas, the New World now commanded the crown's attention. Both Mexico and Peru had dense, hierarchically organized indigenous populations that could be incorporated and ruled. Even more importantly, both Mexico and Peru had large deposits of silver, which became
15857-601: The east—and on the west and south—the left bank tributaries of the Susquehanna and Lehigh Rivers ; bounds which included the Catskills , parts of Northeastern Pennsylvania through the entire Pocono Mountains along the left bank of the Lehigh River . The Schuylkill River and its mouth in the present-day Philadelphia area or right bank of the Lehigh River were contested hunting grounds, generally shared with
16014-513: The economic motor of the Spanish empire and transformed the world economy. In Peru, the singular, hugely rich silver mine of Potosí was worked by traditional forced indigenous labor drafts, known as the mit'a . In Mexico, silver was found outside the zone of dense indigenous settlement, so free laborers migrated to the mines in Guanajuato and Zacatecas . The crown established the Council of
16171-662: The entire coast from beyond the Saint Lawrence River in today's Canada , and the tribes throughout all of New England, down into northern South Carolina , the Delaware Confederation stretched from the southern shores of modern-day Delaware along the Atlantic seaboard into western Long Island and Connecticut, then extended westwards across the Hudson water gap into the eastern Catskills part of
16328-672: The extreme southern and northwestern counties are relatively less dense overall. Since the 2000 census, the United States Census Bureau calculated that New Jersey's center of population was located in East Brunswick . The state is located in the middle of the Northeast megalopolis , which has more than 50 million residents. As of 2019, New Jersey was the third highest U.S. state measured by median household income , behind Maryland and Massachusetts ;
16485-533: The field of battle, stating that the indigenous were now subjects of the Spanish Crown and would be punished if they resisted. When the news of this situation and the abuse of the institution reached Spain, the New Laws were passed to regulate and gradually abolish the system in the Americas, as well as to reiterate the prohibition of enslaving Native Americans. By the time the new laws were passed, in 1542,
16642-674: The first ten years of English rule took place along the Hackensack River and Arthur Kill . Settlers came primarily from New York and 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, with William Penn acting as trustee for the lands for a time. New Jersey was governed as two distinct provinces, East and West Jersey , for 28 years between 1674 and 1702, which were part of
16799-458: The following articles: New Jersey is one of the most ethnically and religiously diverse states in the United States. Nearly one-fourth of New Jerseyans (22.7%) were foreign born , compared to the national average of 13.5%. As of 2011, 56.4% of New Jersey's children under the age of one belonged to racial or ethnic minority groups, meaning that they had at least one parent who was not non-Hispanic white. The 2019 Vintage Year Census estimated that
16956-510: The following: Indigenous population loss following European contact directly led to Spanish explorations beyond the Caribbean islands they initially claimed and settled in the 1490s, since they required a labor force to both produce food and to mine gold. Slavery was not unknown in Indigenous societies. With the arrival of European colonists, enslavement of Indigenous peoples "became commodified, expanded in unexpected ways, and came to resemble
17113-459: The form of gold, agricultural products, and labor. The Spanish Crown tried to terminate the system through the Laws of Burgos (1512–13) and the New Laws of the Indies (1542). However, the encomenderos refused to comply with the new measures and the indigenous people continued to be exploited. Eventually, the encomienda system was replaced by the repartimiento system which was not abolished until
17270-420: The friars in order to more easily preach the gospel and ensure their adherence to the faith. These missions were established throughout Spanish America which extended from the southwestern portions of current-day United States through Mexico and to Argentina and Chile. As slavery was prohibited between Christians and could only be imposed upon non-Christian prisoners of war and/or men already sold as slaves,
17427-442: The governors of New York, but this infuriated the settlers of New Jersey, who accused these 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. New Jersey was one of the Thirteen Colonies that revolted against British rule in the American Revolution . The New Jersey Constitution of 1776 was passed July 2, 1776, just two days before
17584-418: The highest annual median household income , at $ 96,346, of all 50 states. Almost one-tenth of all households in the state, or over 323,000, are millionaires , the highest representation of millionaires among all states. New Jersey's public school system consistently ranks at or among the top of all U.S. states. In 2024, New Jersey was ranked as having the second-healthiest population overall. New Jersey
17741-436: The highest number of millionaires both per capita and per square mile in the U.S., and the fact that it has the most scientists and engineers per square mile in the world. According to HUD 's 2022 Annual Homeless Assessment Report , there were an estimated 8,752 homeless people in New Jersey. The top countries of origin for New Jersey's immigrants in 2018 were India , Dominican Republic , Mexico , Ecuador , and
17898-406: The kinds of human trafficking that are recognizable to us today". While the disease was the main killer of indigenous peoples, the practice of slavery and forced labor was also a significant contributor to the indigenous death toll. With the arrival of Europeans other than the Spanish, enslavement of native populations increased since there were no prohibitions against slavery until decades later. It
18055-457: The land of the Lenape. It was popularized when Nora Thompson Dean shared the term with Theodore Cornu in 1970, and later with Herbert C. Kraft . This term has gained widespread acceptance and is found widely in recent literature on the Lenape and in New York institutions today. Another historical Lenape term for much of the same region is Scheyischbi or Scheyichbi , although this is also often cited as referring specifically to New Jersey. At
18212-647: The late 18th century. New Jersey New Jersey is a state in both the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is the most densely populated state and at the center of the Northeast megalopolis . New Jersey is bordered to the northeast by New York state ; on its east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean ; on its west by the Delaware River and Pennsylvania ; and on its southwest by Delaware Bay and Delaware . At 7,354 square miles (19,050 km ), New Jersey
18369-463: The latter argued to the contrary to justify their enslavement. In 1537, the papal bull Sublimis Deus definitively recognized that Native Americans possessed souls, thus prohibiting their enslavement, without putting an end to the debate. Some claimed that a native who had rebelled and then been captured could be enslaved nonetheless. When the first Franciscans arrived in Mexico in 1524, they burned
18526-598: The migrants from England died in the first few years. Economic advantage also prompted the Darien scheme , an ill-fated venture by the Kingdom of Scotland to settle the Isthmus of Panama in the late 1690s. The Darien Scheme aimed to control trade through that part of the world and thereby promote Scotland into a world trading power. However, it was doomed by poor planning, short provisions, weak leadership, lack of demand for trade goods, and devastating disease. The failure of
18683-504: The modern era . For example, the labor and tribute of inhabitants of Hispaniola were granted in encomienda to Spaniards, a practice established in Spain for conquered Muslims. Although not technically slavery, it was coerced labor for the benefit of the Spanish grantees, called encomenderos . Spain had a legal tradition and devised a proclamation known as The Requerimento to be read to indigenous populations in Spanish, often far from
18840-419: The most populous is Hackensack , with 46,030 residents. Many urban areas extend far beyond the limits of a single large city, as New Jersey municipalities tend to be geographically small; three of the four largest cities in New Jersey by population have under 20 square miles (52 km ) of land area, and eight of the top ten, including all the top five, have a land area under 30 square miles (78 km ). As of
18997-477: The native population of North America which would come to be known as the skrælings . After capturing and killing eight of the natives, they were attacked at their beached ships, which they defended. Systematic European colonization began in 1492. A Spanish expedition sailed west to find a new trade route to the Far East , the source of spices, silks, porcelains, and other rich trade goods. Ottoman control of
19154-563: The natives was important. About 16,000 French men and women became colonizers. The great majority became subsistence farmers along the St. Lawrence River . With a favorable disease environment and plenty of land and food, their numbers grew exponentially to 65,000 by 1760. Their colony was taken over by Britain in 1760, but social, religious, legal, cultural, and economic changes were few in a society that clung tightly to its recently formed traditions. British colonization began in North America almost
19311-566: The northeast tip of the Americas, including in the present-day United States . Within a century, the Swedish established New Sweden ; the Dutch established New Netherland ; and Denmark–Norway along with the Swedish and Dutch established colonization of parts of the Caribbean . By the 1700s, Denmark–Norway revived its former colonies in Greenland , and Russia began to explore and claim
19468-417: The northeastern United States. Hurricanes and tropical storms , tornadoes , and earthquakes are rare; the state was impacted by a hurricane in 1903 , Tropical Storm Floyd in 1999 , and Hurricane Sandy in 2012 , which made landfall in the state with top winds of 90 mph (145 km/h). Climate change is affecting New Jersey faster than much of the rest of the United States. Climatologists at
19625-578: The northwest of the state, to 7B near Cape May. All-time temperature extremes recorded in New Jersey include 110 °F (43 °C) on July 10, 1936, in Runyon , Middlesex County and −34 °F (−37 °C) on January 5, 1904, in River Vale , Bergen County. Average annual precipitation ranges from 43 to 51 inches (1,100 to 1,300 mm), spread uniformly throughout the year. Average snowfall per winter season ranges from 10–15 inches (25–38 cm) in
19782-463: The only site widely accepted as evidence of pre-Columbian trans-oceanic contact. It was named a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1978. It is also notable for its possible connection with the attempted colony of Vinland , established by Leif Erikson around the same period or, more broadly, with the Norse colonization of the Americas . Leif Erikson's brother is said to have had the first contact with
19939-710: The organization of the Church of England by the end of the 16th century. One of the primary manifestations of this was the Puritan movement, which sought to purify the existing Church of England of its residual Catholic rites. The first of these people, known as the Pilgrims , landed on Plymouth Rock in November 1620. Continuous waves of repression led to the migration of about 20,000 Puritans to New England between 1629 and 1642, where they founded multiple colonies . Later in
20096-487: The papers that gave them free passage to America and an unpaid job until they came of age. They were given food, clothing, and housing and taught farming or household skills. American landowners were in need of laborers and were willing to pay for a laborer's passage to America if they served them for several years. By selling passage for five to seven years worth of work, they could then start on their own in America. Many of
20253-596: The phrase "gold, glory, and God". The Spanish justified their claims to the New World based on the ideals of the Christian Reconquista of the Iberian Peninsula from the Muslims, completed in 1492. In the New World, military conquest to incorporate indigenous peoples into Christendom was considered the "spiritual conquest". In 1493, Pope Alexander VI , the first Spaniard to become Pope, issued
20410-475: The practice of exacting tribute from Muslims and Jews during the Reconquista , the Spanish Crown granted a number of native laborers to an encomendero , who was usually a conquistador or other prominent Spanish male. Under the grant, they were theoretically bound to both protect the natives and convert them to Christianity. In exchange for their forced conversion to Christianity , the natives paid tributes in
20567-509: The quantity of gold in the East Indies , which he called the " New World ". These claims, along with the slaves he brought back, convinced the monarchy to fund a second voyage. Word of Columbus's exploits spread quickly, sparking the Western European exploration, conquest, and colonization of the Americas. Spanish explorers, conquerors, and settlers sought material wealth, prestige, and the spread of Christianity , often summed up in
20724-535: The region of Canada he reestablished as New France . The first French colonial empire stretched to over 10,000,000 km (3,900,000 sq mi) at its peak in 1710, which was the second largest colonial empire in the world, after the Spanish Empire . In the French colonial regions, the focus of the economy was on sugar plantations in the French West Indies . In Canada the fur trade with
20881-734: The right to improve themselves with their own hand was very attractive. Mainly due to discrimination, there was often a separation between English colonial communities and indigenous communities. The Europeans viewed the natives as savages who were not worthy of participating in what they considered civilized society. The native people of North America did not die out nearly as rapidly nor as greatly as those in Central and South America due in part to their exclusion from British society. The indigenous people continued to be stripped of their native lands and were pushed further out west. The English eventually went on to control much of Eastern North America ,
21038-496: The sacred places dedicated to the Indigenous peoples' native religions . However, in Pre-Columbian Mexico , burning the temple of a conquered group was standard practice, shown in Indigenous manuscripts, such as Codex Mendoza . Conquered Indigenous groups expected to take on the gods of their new overlords, adding them to the existing pantheon. They likely were unaware that their conversion to Christianity entailed
21195-533: The second state constitution was ratified and brought into effect. Counties thereby became districts for the state senate, and some realignment of boundaries (including the creation of Mercer County ) immediately followed. This provision was retained in the 1947 Constitution, but was overturned by the Supreme Court of the United States in 1962, by the decision Baker v. Carr . While the Governorship
21352-464: The signing of the Treaty of Paris , which ended the war. On December 18, 1787, New Jersey became the third state to ratify the United States Constitution , which was overwhelmingly popular in New Jersey since it prevented New York and Pennsylvania from charging tariffs on goods imported from Europe. On November 20, 1789, New Jersey became the first in the newly formed Union to ratify the Bill of Rights . The 1776 New Jersey State Constitution gave
21509-494: The south and near the seacoast, 15–30 inches (38–76 cm) in the northeast and central part of the state, to about 40–50 inches (1.0–1.3 m) in the northwestern highlands, but this often varies considerably from year to year. Precipitation falls on an average of 120 days a year, with 25 to 30 thunderstorms, most of which occur during the summer. During winter and early spring, New Jersey can experience nor'easters , which are capable of causing blizzards or flooding throughout
21666-401: The southern counties of New York State , including Rockland, Orange, Westchester, and Putnam Counties, Nassau County , and the five boroughs of New York City . Several indigenous peoples from diverse tribes, both from the region historically and from elsewhere, live in the Northeast megalopolis or Eastern Seaboard . Many of people from the Haudenosaunee Confederacy moved into the area in
21823-414: The southwestern counties of the state, which reside within the Delaware Valley surrounding Philadelphia . Despite its heavily urban character and a long history of industrialization , forests cover roughly 45 percent of New Jersey's land area, or approximately 2.1 million acres (8,500 km ), ranking 31st among the 50 U.S. states and six territories. Northwestern New Jersey, often referred to as
21980-493: The state enlisted in the Union army; unlike many states, including some Northern ones, no battle was fought there. 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
22137-429: The state's ethnic makeup was as follows: 71.9% White alone, 15.1% Black or African American alone, 10.0% Asian alone, 0.6% American Indian and Alaska Native alone, 0.1% Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone, and 2.3% Two or more races. Hispanic or Latino accounted for 20.9%, while White alone (non-Hispanic or Latino) accounted for 54.6% of the population. Many of the municipalities in Bergen County, New Jersey ,
22294-437: The state's median household income was over $ 85,000 compared to the national average of roughly $ 65,000. Conversely, New Jersey's poverty rate of 9.4% was slightly lower than the national average of 11.4%, and the sixth lowest of the fifty states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico . This is attributed to several factors, including the state's proximity to the major economic centers of New York City and Philadelphia , its hosting
22451-434: The state, but temperatures can, for brief periods, fall below 10 °F (−12 °C) and sometimes rise above 50 °F (10 °C). Northwestern parts of the state have significantly colder winters with sub-0 °F (−18 °C) being an almost annual occurrence. Spring and autumn may feature wide temperature variations, with lower humidity than summer. The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone classification ranges from 6 in
22608-463: The time " Seward's Folly ". Duke Ferdinand I de Medici made the only Italian attempt to create colonies in America. For this purpose, the Grand Duke organized in 1608 an expedition to the north of Brazil, under the command of the English captain Robert Thornton. Thornton, on his return from the preparatory trip in 1609 (he had been to the Amazon ), found Ferdinand I dead and all projects were cancelled by his successor Cosimo II . Beginning with
22765-409: The time of the arrival of the Europeans in the 16th and 17th centuries, the Lenape homeland ranged along the Atlantic's coast from western Connecticut to Delaware , which generally encompassed the territory adjacent to the Delaware and lower Hudson river valleys, as well the hill -and- ridge dominated territory between them. Relatives of the Algonquian Amerindians whose territories ranged along
22922-403: The two continents. In April 1500, Portuguese noble Pedro Álvares Cabral claimed the region of Brazil to Portugal; the effective colonization of Brazil began three decades later with the founding of São Vicente in 1532 and the establishment of the system of captaincies in 1534, which was later replaced by other systems. Others tried to colonize the eastern coasts of present-day Canada and
23079-470: The vote to all inhabitants who had a certain level of wealth. This included women and Black people, but not married women because they were not legally permitted to own property separately from their husbands. Both sides, in several elections, claimed that the other side had had unqualified women vote and mocked them for use of petticoat electors, whether entitled to vote or not; on the other hand, both parties passed Voting Rights Acts. In 1807, legislature passed
23236-463: The west by Pennsylvania across the Delaware River . New Jersey is broadly divided into the North , Central , and South Jersey geographic regions, although some residents do not consider Central Jersey a region in its own right. Across the regions are five distinct areas divided by natural geography and population concentration. Northeastern New Jersey, often referred to as the Gateway Region , lies closest to Manhattan in New York City, and up to
23393-607: The zeppelin airship Hindenburg crashed in flames over Lakehurst , and the SS Morro Castle beached itself near Asbury Park after going up in flames while at sea. Through both World Wars , New Jersey was a center for war production, especially naval construction. The Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company yards in Kearny and Newark and the New York Shipbuilding Corporation yard in Camden produced aircraft carriers , battleships, cruisers, and destroyers. New Jersey manufactured 6.8 percent of total United States military armaments produced during World War II , ranking fifth among
23550-436: Was Michiel Pauw , who established a patron ship called Pavonia in 1630 along North River , that eventually became Bergen . Peter Minuit 's purchase of lands along the Delaware River established the colony of New Sweden , that lasted until the Dutch conquered it in 1655. Then the entire region became a territory of England on June 24, 1664, after an English fleet under command of Colonel Richard Nicolls sailed into what
23707-408: Was also a leading industry during the middle to late 19th century. Bog iron pits in the New Jersey Pine Barrens were among the first sources of iron for the new nation. Mines such as Mt. Hope, Mine Hill, and the Rockaway Valley Mines created a thriving industry. Mining generated the impetus for new towns and was one of the driving forces behind the need for the Morris Canal . Zinc mines were also
23864-496: Was credited with a revitalization of Hudson County and Jersey City . Urban revitalization has continued in North Jersey in the 21st century. In 2014, Jersey City's Census-estimated population was 262,146, with the largest population increase of any municipality in New Jersey since 2010, representing an increase of 5.9% from the 2010 U.S. census , when the city's population was enumerated at 247,597. Between 2000 and 2010 Newark experienced its first population increase since
24021-418: Was founded by Pedro de Gante in 1523. The friars aimed at converting Indigenous leaders, with the hope and expectation that their communities would follow suit. In densely populated regions, friars mobilized Indigenous communities to build churches, making the religious change visible; these churches and chapels were often in the same places as old temples, often using the same stones. "Native peoples exhibited
24178-514: Was named the Province of New Jersey . Since its inception, New Jersey has been characterized by ethnic and religious diversity . New England Congregationalists settled alongside Scots Presbyterians and Dutch Reformed migrants. While the majority of residents lived in towns with individual landholdings of 100 acres (40 ha), a few rich proprietors owned vast estates. English Quakers and Anglicans owned large landholdings. Unlike Plymouth Colony , Jamestown and other colonies, New Jersey
24335-556: Was populated by a secondary wave of immigrants who came from other colonies instead of those who migrated directly from Europe. New Jersey remained agrarian and rural throughout the colonial era, and commercial farming developed sporadically. Some townships, such as Burlington on the Delaware River and Perth Amboy , emerged as important ports for shipping to New York City and Philadelphia. The colony's fertile lands and tolerant religious policy drew more settlers, and New Jersey's population had increased to 120,000 by 1775. Settlement for
24492-448: Was ranked as the fourth most diverse state in 2024. New Jersey ranks near the top on both the American Human Development Index and the standard Human Development Index . According to climatology research by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration , New Jersey has been the fastest-warming state by average air temperature over a 100-year period beginning in the early 20th century, which has been attributed to warming of
24649-494: Was stronger than under the 1776 constitution, the constitution of 1844 created many offices that were not responsible to him, or to the people, and it gave him a three-year term, but he could not succeed himself. New Jersey was one of the few Union states (the others being Delaware and Kentucky ) to select a candidate other than Abraham Lincoln twice in national elections, and sided with Stephen A. Douglas (1860) and George B. McClellan (1864) during their campaigns. McClellan,
#205794