Province of New Jersey
The Province of New Jersey was one of the Middle Colonies of Colonial America and became the U.S. state of New Jersey in 1776. The province had originally been settled by Europeans as part of New Netherland but came under English rule after the surrender of Fort Amsterdam in 1664, becoming a proprietary colony. The English renamed the province after the island of Jersey in the English Channel. The Dutch Republic reasserted control for a brief period in 1673–1674. After that it consisted of two political divisions, East Jersey and West Jersey, until they were united as a royal colony in 1702. The original boundaries of the province were slightly larger than the current state, extending into a part of the present state of New York, until the border was finalized in 1773.[1]
New Jersey
Proprietary Colony of England (1664–1673)
Royal Colony of England (1702–1707)
Royal Colony of Great Britain (1707–1776)
Elizabethtown (1664–1673)
Perth Amboy and Burlington (1702–1776)
English, Dutch
Proprietary colony
(1664-1673)
Royal colony
(1702-1776)
Richard Nicolls (first)
John Berry (last)
Lord Cornbury (first)
William Franklin (last)
Council
General Assembly
Provincial Congress
(1775-1776)
1664
1776
Dominion of New England[edit]
The Dominion of New England was a short-lived administrative union. On May 7, 1688, the Province of New York, the Province of East Jersey, and the Province of West Jersey were added to the Dominion. The capital was located in Boston, but because of its size, New York, East Jersey, and West Jersey were run by the lieutenant governor from New York City. After news of the overthrow of James II by William of Orange in the Glorious Revolution of 1688 reached Boston, the colonists rose up in rebellion, and the Dominion was dissolved in 1689.
New York–New Jersey Line War[edit]
The New York – New Jersey Line War was a series of skirmishes and raids that took place for over half a century between 1701 and 1765 at the disputed border between the two American colonies the Province of New York and the Province of New Jersey. Border wars were not unusual in the early days of settlements of the colonies and originated in conflicting land claims. Because of ignorance, willful disregard, and legal ambiguities, such conflicts arose involving local settlers until a final settlement was reached. In the largest of these squabbles some 210,000 acres (850 km2) of land were at stake between New York and New Jersey. The conflict was eventually settled by royal commission in 1769.
First state constitution[edit]
New Jersey's first state constitution was adopted on July 2, 1776.[16] The American Revolutionary War was underway, and General George Washington recently had been defeated in New York, putting the state in danger of invasion.[16] The 1776, the New Jersey State Constitution was drafted in five days and ratified within the next two days to establish a temporary government, thereby preventing New Jersey from collapsing and descending into anarchy.[17] Among other provisions, it granted unmarried women and blacks who met property requirements the right to vote.[16]