New+Jersey

=New Jersey= Geography The Colony of New Jersey is located in the middle colonies. It borders Pennsylvania, New York and Delaware. The Delaware and Hudson River’s are main rivers that settlers benefitted from. The Delaware Bay separates New Jersey from Delaware the state. Another main body of water is the Atlantic Ocean. New Jersey is a peninsula and it shares a land border with New York. The Kittatinny Mountains and the Appalachian Trail are two main mountain rages in the colony. The farming conditions were helpful when it came to mining because it produced copper, iron, lumber, leather and glass. In the whole colony of New Jersey, agricultural land took up almost one million acres of land. There was always a huge production in all garden vegetables, cranberries, blueberries, peaches, poultry, dairy products and seafood as well. The geography affected the colony development because since they had rivers and the Atlantic Ocean, it made it easier and convenient to trade. The Kittatinny Mountain range was a barrier, which didn’t allow them to expand effortlessly.

History The colony of New Jersey was colonized in 1664. The English came soon after and settled in. The Dutch also came and settled along the Hudson and Delaware River. They mostly came from the western part of Europe. These people came to settle in this colony because of its warm climate, which was good for growing cash crops and other goods. The great geographic features made it excellent to trade their products. It also had an assembly that made local laws and it set tax rates. New Jersey was economic in which it was the third state to ratify the Constitution of the United States. The population dramatically increased because of the economic expansion. There were many political struggles. The state voted Democratic from the Civil War until 1896. The colony religious because they had the right to practice any religion they wanted to which was a significant factor of the reasoning for the settlement made. There were also many churches. The Native Americans that were living in the region were the Lenni-Lappe. They were part of the Algonquin Nation and they were known for their easygoing nature. They were also known as the Delaware Indians. They were separated into three clans known as the Wolf, Turkey, and Turtle clans. All the tribes were nomadic and they traveled in seasons because of the different resources around them. They strongly believed in their religion, which made it easy to settle in the colony of New Jersey because of the religious rights.

Social The languages spoken in the colony were English, Dutch, German, Swedish, Welsh, and French. People who settled here also had Scottish or Irish accents. The religions were very diverse but the main religions in the region were Christianity, Anglican, Puritan, Quaker and Calvinist. Woman lacked intellectual and social growth. Since they weren’t much educated, they created important positions for themselves in the society. One woman who stood out for her idea of creating the first all-girls school in the colonial time period was Emma Willard. ** Economics ** Settlers in New Jersey built log homes. The log homes were not very nice, they filled the spaces between the logs with mud, oiled paper covered window openings and thin shingles covered the roofs. Some people lived on large farms while others lived in villages in small houses. In Eastern Jersey many people lived in towns while the people in western Jersey had few towns. Quakers built homes on farmland were they would grow vegetables, hunt animals and catch fish. Aside from the vegetables, animals and fish they would also eat oats, wheat and corn. Many people raised cows, sheep and chickens which would provide them with milk, wool, meat and eggs. When it came to clothing, deer skin would be made into leather pants and jackets while women would make some other clothing out of cotton and wool. They also use spinning wheels to make yarn. New Jersey also had slavery. When the British took over New Jersey was known to be one of the more aggressive states when it came to slavery. They offered 60 acres of land per man who imported a slave. There were about 3,568 slaves in 1830 about more than two-thirds were in New Jersey. The number of slaves was rapidly decreasing but it wasn’t until 1846 that the slaves were permanently gone. Political New Jersey was a proprietry charter from the years 1664-1702.

===New Jersey is known as the crossroads of the American Revolution. This is because it held an important geographical position at the center o the new nation, armies were in or crossing it throughout the war. New Jersey was now heavily involved in the fighting. New Jersey had more engangements than any other state during the war. John Witherspoon was one of the most important people of the Revolution. John Witherspoon had represented New Jersey in the Continental Congress from 1776 to 1782. He signed the Declaration of Independence an served more tan 100 committees. The governor Wlliam Franklin was a loyalist who supported the Stamp Act. New Jersey had many representatives in the Declaration of Independence. For example Richard Stockton, Francis Hopkinson, John Hart, an Abraham Clark. New Jersey was very involved in the American Revolution, they were depended on for man things, they helped, and were part of many battles.===
 * Revolution**