New Jersey

was one of the original thirteen States. The Dutch made a small settlement in the south, and in 1655, under Governor Stuyvesant, erected Fort Na au on the Delaware River, and forced the Swedes, who had made a settlement in 1638, to acknowledge their rule. When the Duke of York secured the country in 1664, he granted the territory between the Delaware and the Hudson to Lord Berkeley and: Sir George Carteret, and gave it its present name in honor of Carteret, who had held the island of Jersey for Charles II, during the Great Rebellion. In 1665 some English emigrants settled Elizabeth town. New England ers founded Middle town and Newark in 1666. Berkeley finally sold his share to certain Quakers, who sold it to a party headed by William Penn (1676). A boundary line was agreed upon, running from Little Egg Harvor northwest to the Delaware at 41° 4o’ north latitude. 400 Quakers settled in West New Jersey in 1677. William Penn and his a ociates purchased East New Jersey in 1682. In 1686 writs of guo warran to were i ued against the governments of both Jerseys, but the proprietary rights were undisturbed. The two colonies were united in a royal colony in 1702. New Jersey was a principal theater of fights in 1777 and 1778. First Constitution 1776 (present 1844). New Jersey ratified the National Constitution December 18, 1787. A property qualification of £50 for voting existed until 1820. The political parties have always been nearly equal, and have experienced few changes in strength. During the war the State was strongly Democratic. Since the war the State has cast its votes for Democratic Presidential candidates with the exception of 1872 and 1896; but the State Legislature has usually been in the hands of the Republicans. The population of the State in 1790 was 184,139; in 18go it was 1,444,933. 29