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The Geography of New Jersey

Chapter 3: EARLY HISTORY
By Henry Snyder
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About This Book

The text surveys the physical and human geography of New Jersey, opening with early settlement history and progressing through maps of position, size, and topography. It describes four physiographic provinces - the Appalachian zone with Kittatinny Mountain and valley, the Highlands, the Piedmont Plateau, and the Coastal Plain - treating relief, climate, drainage, soils, vegetation, and wildlife. Later sections discuss agricultural practices, mineral resources, transportation and travel, recreational areas and health resorts, population distribution, and civic institutions such as government and education, with tables and illustrative maps to support classroom use.

EARLY HISTORY

The original inhabitants of New Jersey H were Indians of the Delaware tribe, which belonged to the Algonquin family. The early white settlers were of different nationalities,—Dutch, Swedes, English, and French. The geographical names of the state are interesting reminders of the various occupants.

Trenton Battle Monument

The first exploration of the state was made by Henry Hudson, who, in the employ of the Dutch East India Company, sailed for a week in 1609 on the waters of Delaware Bay and Delaware River, which the Dutch called South River, in search of a northwest passage to India. Failing to find it, he sailed north and entered New York Bay and Hudson River, or North River, as it is still called. In 1614 the Dutch founded New Amsterdam, afterwards New York, and, about the same time, established a trading post in what is now Hudson County. Later the Swedes attempted settlements in the southwestern part of the state, but were expelled by the Dutch. The Dutch made settlements at various places, some of which proved to be only temporary. The first permanent settlement in New Jersey was at Bergen, now a part of Jersey City, to which was granted a town form of government, separate from that of New Amsterdam, in 1660.

In 1664 the English took possession of New Netherland—the Dutch Colony including New York and New Jersey, King Charles II granted it to his brother, the Duke of York, who in turn granted that part of it lying between the Hudson and Delaware rivers to Lord John Berkeley and Sir George Carteret. The latter had been governor of the Isle of Jersey, and their new grant was named New Jersey in his honor. Disagreements between Carteret and Berkeley led the latter to sell his interest to other proprietors,
among whom afterwards was William Penn. In 1676 the colony was divided into East Jersey and West Jersey by a line running from Little Egg Harbor to the Delaware in the northern part of the state. It is because of this division that the state is still often referred to as "the Jerseys." In 1702 the proprietors surrendered their proprietary rights to the crown. From that time to its independence the whole of New Jersey was under royal government.

Five representatives from New Jersey signed the Declaration of Independence. The position of the state made it "The War Path of the Revolution." Paulus Hook, Springfield, Morristown, Monmouth, Princeton, and Trenton are famous names in Revolutionary history. The troops of the state were in every conflict. In the army of General Wayne, which punished the Indians after the Wyoming massacre, one third were New Jersey soldiers under General Maxwell.