The territory which would later become the state of New Jersey was settled by Dutch and Swedish colonists in the early seventeenth century. In 1664, at the onset of the Second Anglo-Dutch War, English forces under Richard Nicolls ousted the Dutch from control of New Netherland (present-day New York, New Jersey, and Delaware), and the territory was divided into several newly defined English colonies. Despite one brief year when the Dutch retook the colony (1673–74), New Jersey would remain an English possession until the American colonies declared independence in 1776.
In 1664, James, Duke of York (later King James II) divided New Jersey, granting a portion to two men, Sir George Carteret and John Berkeley, 1st Baron Berkeley of Stratton, who supported the monarchy's cause during the English Civil War (1642–49) and Interregnum (1649–60).Firth, C.H.; Knighton, C. S. (revised). "Carteret, Sir George, first baronet (1610?–80), naval officer and administrator" Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, January 2008).Hayton, D. W. "Berkeley, John, first Baron Berkeley of Stratton (bap. 1607, d. 1678), royalist army officer and courtier" Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, January 2008)."The Duke of York's Release to John Lord Berkeley, and Sir George Carteret, 24th of June, 1664" from Leaming, Aaron and Spicer, Jacob. The Grants, Concessions, and Original Constitutions of the Province of New-Jersey. The acts passed during the proprietary governments, and other material transactions before the surrender thereof to Queen Anne. The instrument of surrender, and her formal acceptance thereof, Lord Cornbury's Commission and Introduction consequent thereon. (2nd Edition. Philadelphia: William Bradford, 1758), 8–11. Published online at the Avalon Project: Documents in Law, History and Diplomacy, Yale Law School, Lillian Goldman Law Library. Retrieved 5 April 2013. Carteret and Berkeley subsequently sold their interests to two groups of proprietors, thus creating two provinces: East Jersey and the West Jersey."Quintipartite Deed of Revision, Between E. and W Jersey: July 1st, 1676" from Thorpe, Francis Newton (editor). The Federal and State Constitutions Colonial Charters, and Other Organic Laws of the States, Territories, and Colonies Now or Heretofore Forming the United States of America Volume IV. (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office, 1909). Published online at the Avalon Project: Documents in Law, History and Diplomacy, Yale Law School, Lillian Goldman Law Library. Retrieved 5 April 2013. The exact location of the border between West Jersey and East Jersey was often a matter of dispute.Gordon, Thomas Francis. The history of New Jersey: from its discovery by Europeans, to the adoption of the Federal Constitution. (Trenton, New Jersey: Daniel Fenton, 1834), 73. The two provinces would be distinct political divisions from 1674 to 1702.
West Jersey was largely a Quaker colony due to the influence of Pennsylvania founder William Penn and its prominent Quaker investors. Many of its early settlers were Quakers who came directly from England, Scotland, and Ireland to escape religious persecution.Pomfret, John Edwin. The Province of West New Jersey, 1609–1702: A History of the Origins of an American Colony. (New York: Octagon Books, 1956). Although a number of the East Jersey proprietors in England were Quakers and First Governor Robert Barclay of Aberdeenshire Scotland (Ury served by proxy) was a leading Quaker theologian, the Quaker influence on the East Jersey government was insignificant. Many of East Jersey's early settlers came from other colonies in the Western Hemisphere, especially New England, Long Island, and the West Indies. Elizabethtown and Newark in particular had a strong Puritan character.Whitehead, William A. East Jersey Under the Proprietary Governments: A Narrative of Events connected with the Settlement and Progress of the Province, until the Surrender of the Government to the Crown in 1703. (Newark, New Jersey: New Jersey Historical Society, 1875).Pomfret, John E. The Province of East New Jersey, 1609–1702: The Rebellious Proprietary. (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1962). East Jersey's Monmouth Tract, south of the Raritan River, was developed primarily by Quakers from Long Island.Salter, Edwin. A History of Monmouth and Ocean Counties: Embracing a Genealogical Record of Earliest Settlers in Monmouth and Ocean Counties and Their Descendants. (Bayonne, New Jersey: E Gardner & Son, 1890), 24.Steen, James. New Aberdeen: Or the Scotch Settlement of Monmouth County, New Jersey. (Matawan, NJ: Journal Steam Print, 1899), 5.
In 1702, both divisions of New Jersey were reunited as one royal colony by Queen Anne with a royal governor appointed by the Crown."Surrender from the Proprietors of East and West New Jersey, of Their Pretended Right of Government to Her Majesty; 1702" from Leaming, Aaron and Spicer, Jacob. The Grants, Concessions, and Original Constitutions of the Province of New-Jersey. The acts passed during the proprietary governments, and other material trnasactions before the surrender thereof to Queen Ann. The instrument of surrender, and her formal acceptance thereof, Lord Cornbury's Commission and Introduction consequent thereon. (2nd Edition. Philadelphia: William Bradford, 1758) 600–618. Published online at the Avalon Project: Documents in Law, History and Diplomacy, Yale Law School, Lillian Goldman Law Library. Retrieved 5 April 2013. Until 1738, this Province of New Jersey shared its royal governor with the neighboring Province of New York. The Province of New Jersey was governed by appointed governors until 1776. William Franklin, the province's last royal governor before the American Revolution (1775–83), was marginalized in the last year of his tenure, as the province was run de facto by the Provincial Congress of New Jersey. In June 1776, the Provincial Congress formally deposed Franklin and had him arrested, adopted a state constitution, and reorganized the province into an independent state. The constitution granted the vote to all inhabitants who had a certain level of wealth, including single women and blacks (until 1807). The newly formed State of New Jersey elected William Livingston as its first governor on 31 August 1776—a position to which he would be reelected until his death in 1790.Wright, Robert K., Jr., MacGregor, Morris J., Jr. "William Livingston" in Soldier-Statesmen of the Constitution. (CMH Publication 71-25) (Washington D.C.: United States Army Center of Military History, 1987), 103–105.United States Congress. "Livingston, William (1723–90)" in Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1774 to present citing Klein, Milton M. The American Whig: William Livingston of New York. (New York: Garland Publishers, 1990/1993). New Jersey was one of the original Thirteen Colonies, and was the third colony to ratify the constitution forming the United States of America. It thereby was admitted into the new federation as a state on 18 December 1787. On 20 November 1789 New Jersey became the first state to ratify the Bill of Rights.
Before English control
Directors of New Netherland (1624–64)
New Netherland (Dutch: Nieuw-Nederland) was the seventeenth-century colonial province of the Republic of the Seven United Netherlands and the Dutch West India Company. It claimed territories along the eastern coast of North America from the Delmarva Peninsula to southwestern Cape Cod. Settled areas of New Netherland now constitute the states of New York, New Jersey, Delaware, and Connecticut as well as parts of Pennsylvania and Rhode Island."Grant of Exclusive Trade to New Netherland by the States-General of the United Netherlands; October 11, 1614" from Documentary History of the State of Maine (Portland: Maine Historical Society / Bailey and Noyes, 1869–1916). Published online at the Avalon Project: Documents in Law, History and Diplomacy, Yale Law School, Lillian Goldman Law Library. Retrieved 6 April 2013.Jacobs, Jaap. New Netherland: A Dutch Colony in Seventeenth-Century America. (Leiden: Brill, 2005), 35. The provincial capital New Amsterdam was located at the southern tip of the island of Manhattan at Upper New York Bay.van der Sijs, Nicoline. Cookies, Coleslaw and Stoops: The Influence of Dutch on the North American Languages. (Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press blacks , 2009), 21.
New Netherland was conceived as a private business venture to exploit the North American fur trade.Dolin, Eric Jay. Fur, Fortune, and Empire: The Epic History of the Fur Trade in America. (New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2011) passim. By the 1650s, the colony experienced dramatic growth and became a major port for trade in the North Atlantic. The leader of the Dutch colony was known by the title Director or Director-General. On 27 August 1664, four English frigates commanded by Richard Nicolls sailed into New Amsterdam's harbor and demanded the surrender of New Netherland.World Digital Library. Articles about the Transfer of New Netherland on the 27th of August, Old Style, Anno 1664. Retrieved 21 March 2013Versteer, Dingman (editor). "New Amsterdam Becomes New York" in The New Netherland Register. Volume 1 No. 4 and 5 (April/May 1911): 49–64. This event sparked the Second Anglo-Dutch War, which led to the transfer of the territory to England per the Treaty of Breda.Farnham, Mary Frances (compiler). "Farnham Papers (1603–88)" in Volumes 7 and 8 of Documentary History of the State of Maine. (Portland, Maine: Collections of the Maine Historical Society, 2nd Series. 1901–02), 7:311–314.Parry, Clive (editor). Consolidated Treaty Series 231 Volumes. (Dobbs Ferry, New York: Oceana Publications, 1969–81), 10:231.
PortraitDirector or Director-GeneralTook officeLeft officeNotes — Cornelius Jacobsen May (fl. 1600s) 1624 1625 Explored Delaware Bay, New York Bay, North River (Hudson River)Shorto, Russell. The Island at the Center of the World: The Epic Story of Dutch Manhattan and the Forgotten Colony that Shaped America. (New York City: Vintage Books, 2004). Planted settlements at Nut Island (Noten Eylant)—now Governor's Island in New York Harbor—and High Island (Hooghe Eylant) on Delaware RiverGehring, Charles T. "Hodie Mihi, Cras Tibi" in Hoffecker, Carol E., et al. (editors) New Sweden in America: Swedish-Dutch Relations in the Delaware Valley (Newark, Delaware: University of Delaware Press, 1995), 69–89. Llewellyn, Louisa W. (editor), et al. "Chapter Two: English and Irish Quakers Arrive at Gloucester" in First Settlement on the Delaware River: A History of Gloucester City, New Jersey. (Gloucester City, New Jersey: Gloucester City American Revolution Bicentennial Committee, 1976), 17–33. Retrieved 8 June 2013. Cape May was named in his honor — Willem Verhulst(or van der Hulst)(fl. 1600s) 1625 1626 Initiated construction of Fort Amsterdam on southern tip of Manhattan Island, and Fort Wilhelmus on the Delaware River Unpopular with the colonists, he was quickly replaced Peter Minuit (1580–1638) 1626 1631 Purchased the island of Manhattan from Native Americans on 24 May 1626 Burrows, Edwin G., and Wallace, Mike. Gotham: A History of New York City to 1898 (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998), xivff. Initiated construction of Fort Nassau on Delaware — Sebastiaen Jansen Krol(also known as Bastian Krol)(1595–1674) 1632 1633 — Wouter van Twiller (1606–54) 1633 1638 Previously a Dutch West India Company warehouse clerk, used family connections to the Rensselaer family to gain appointment purchased Nut Island (Noten Eylant)—now Governor's Island—from Canarsee tribe for two axeheads, a string of beads, and iron nails Lost the colony's claim of the Connecticut River valley to New England settlers