|
Location:
|
New Jersey is in the northeast
part of the USA. New York sits to the north of New Jersey and
also to the northeast, from north to south, separated by the Hudson
River, Upper New York Bay, and separated from Staten Island by the
straits of Kill Van Kull and Arthur Kill (Staten Island Sound). Lower
New York Bay and the Atlantic Ocean occupy the rest of
the eastern border. The south and southeastern borders are separated
from Delaware by the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and the Delaware Bay
and the Delaware River to the southeast. Approaching New
Jersey's water border with Pennsylvania sits the Twelve Mile Circle,
an arc that forms most of the border between Delaware and Pennsylvania.
The arc was created from a land deed from the Duke of York to
William Penn which granted Penn the tract of land that lies within a
twelve mile circle surrounding the town of Newcastle. This
caused small portions of the New Jersey peninsula to reside in
Delaware. The rest of New Jersey's border with the Delaware
River is established by conventional means. Pennsylvania
occupies the rest of New Jersey's eastern border to the north across
the Delaware River.
|
|
Brief History:
|
Before European exploration and
settlement, the area of New Jersey was inhabited by tribes of the
Lenape. The European settlers referred to them as the Delaware Indians.
The first European to explore
the coast of New Jersey was Giovanni da Verrazzano in 1524, on behalf
of France. In 1609, Sir Henry Hudson discovered what is now New
Jersey’s Cape May on behalf of the Dutch East India Company. Before too
long, the Dutch West
India Company would claim the areas of New Jersey and New York as the
colony of New Netherland. The first European and Dutch settlement in
New Jersey was Pavonia, which is now Jersey City, across the Hudson
River from New York City.
The Swedes also were settling in
part of southwestern New Jersey by the mid-1600’s, but in 1655, the
Dutch overtook these lands and annexed them to New Netherland. In 1664,
the British seized the colony.
New Jersey was included in a
grant of land from King Charles II to his brother James, Duke of York.
In turn, James granted the land to Sir John Berkeley and Sir George
Carteret in 1664. The two tried to entice settlers to come to New
Jersey by granting land and religious freedom. In 1674, Berkeley sold
his share of New Jersey to the Quakers. This sale divided the province
in to East Jersey and West Jersey. In 1702, Queen Anne reunited the
colony.
New Jersey is referred to as the
"Crossroads of the Revolution" because of the crucial battles that were
fought there during the American Revolution. On December 25, 1776,
George Washington and his army made the famous crossing of the Delaware
River in to New Jersey to fight what has been called the Battle of
Trenton. The Battle of Princeton was fought on January 3, 1777, where
the British were forced to surrender.
In 1783, Princeton was the
capitol of the new nation for four months. During this time, the
American Revolutionary War ended with the signing of the Treaty of
Paris on September 3, 1783.
In the 1800’s, Paterson, New
Jersey, became a key player during the Industrial Revolution with its
energy producing Great Falls of the Passaic River, also known as the
“Cradle of American Industry”. The city became home to various
industries including, textile, firearms, silk, and railroad locomotive
manufacturing. The city was nicknamed “Silk City” because of its high
production of Silk.
Thomas Edison began his
inventing career in Newark, New Jersey. In 1876, he set up shop on the
site of an unsuccessful real estate development called Menlo Park in
Raritan Township, where he invented the phonograph and electric light
bulb. The name of Raritan Township was later changed to Edison in his
honor. In 1886, Edison moved his home and lab to West Orange, New
Jersey.
|
