New Jersey - The Third State (The Garden State-The Beginning)

The first European explorer in New Jersey was Henry Hudson in 1609.  His pioneering explorations opened the region to settlement, primarily by the Dutch.  The Dutch surrendered control of the region to the English in 1664.  King Charles II of England then granted the land to his brother, the Duke of York.  English, Scottish, and Irish settlers soon arrived, making New Jersey one of the most ethnically diverse colonies in the New World.  New Jersey’s central location between New York and Philadelphia meant that it saw considerable action during the American Revolution.  About 100 encounters took place in New Jersey, including significant battles at Trenton in 1776, Princeton in 1777, and Monmouth in 1778.  George Washington’s army spent about a quarter of the war in New Jersey. One of the defining moments in America’s fight for independence happened in New Jersey with George Washington’s daring crossing of the Delaware River to defeat the British in December 1776.  Prior to that maneuver, the outcome of the war was very much in doubt.  The Americans had suffered terribly at the hands of the British, and Washington was left with a disheveled and disheartened army of about 6,000 men, hardly enough to stop the British from advancing on the colonial capital of Philadelphia.  However, on Christmas night in 1776, Washington secretly ferried his troops across the treacherous and icy Delaware River from Pennsylvania into New Jersey.  After marching nine miles through the freezing, stormy night to Trenton, the Americans caught the British unprepared and forced the British to retreat to New York.  This heroic offensive gave Washington’s troops valuable time to prepare for the coming campaigns and saved Philadelphia from attack.  Following the war, two New Jersey cities served as temporary national capitals:  Princeton in 1783 and Trenton in 1784.  During the Constitutional Convention of 1787, New Jersey suggested a plan that led to the creation of the United States Senate:  a governing body with an equal number of representatives from each state, regardless of the state’s population.  This created an important balance with the House of Representatives, because it gave small states like New Jersey equal power with larger states.  On December 18, 1787, New Jersey became the third state to ratify the Constitution.