New Jersey was one of the thirteen colonies.
I have some information about it and I’m going to tell you about the
colony. This colony is interesting to learn about because it has much history.
This land belonged to Native American tribes.
People from Europe started coming in the 1600’s.
In 1609, Henry Hudson looked for a river that connected the Atlantic and
Pacific Oceans. He hoped it would be a way to get from Europe to Asia to buy
silks and spices. He didn’t find
the river he wanted but since he worked for a Dutch company, the Dutch claimed
the land and named it New Netherlands.
The Swedes wanted land in this area too.
They built a fort. The Dutch
governor ordered the Swedes to give up the fort. The Swedes left. In
the 1660’s King Charles II gave the land to his brother James.
The problem was that New Netherlands belonged to the Dutch.
James was the head of the English Navy.
He sent warships to New Netherlands.
The Swedes surrendered without a fight.
New Netherlands became an English colony and became New York.
James gave part of New York to two friends, Sir George Carteret and Lord
John Berkely. Since Sir Carteret
came from the Isle of Jersey in England, James named the new colony New Jersey.
In 1760 New Jersey had sixty towns.
Every town had fifty families. People
came to New Jersey so they could have religious freedom. Religious services provided New Jersey’s colonists a time
to practice religious beliefs and time to socialize.
The Revolutionary War started on April 19, 1775.
New Jersey sent five men to Philadelphia to the Second Continental
Congress. They signed the
Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776.
One of New Jersey’s most famous soldiers was “Molly Pitcher.”
She followed her husband to the battles so she could serve tired soldiers
water. She fired her husband’s
cannon after he was injured. George
Washington thanked her for giving water to the soldiers.
Almost one hundred battles were fought in New Jersey.
The war ended in 1781.
There were a lot of slaves in New Jersey. Some times slaves ran away to
search for freedom. Slave children
worked and didn’t go to school. Slaves
had no freedom and no future because they had to work most of their lives.
In 1790, there were 11,423 slaves in New Jersey out of the population of
170,000.
Men, women and children worked on farms in New Jersey. Women had hard
work on the farm and the farms would not have survived if the women weren’t
there. The women provided and
cooked food. Women also preserved
food for winter. People on farms
grew wheat, corn, and oats and raised chicken, pigs, cows, and sheep.
In order to vote people had to have 50 pounds, which is 7,000 dollars.
New Jersey was the only colony that let women vote.
New Jersey was the third state in 1787.
There were so many battles that took place in this area.
As I said before, there is a lot of history that took place on this land.
Retelling Resources:
Life in the Thirteen
Colonies, New Jersey by Sterngrass and Kachur
The Colony of New Jersey by
Susan Whitehurst
To the People
and Projects
Comments? Email Mrs. Gurwicz
Last Updated: 03/14/06