The Province of New Jersey was one of the Middle Colonies of Colonial America and became the U.S. state of New Jersey in 1776. The province had originally been settled by Europeans as part of New Netherland but came under English rule after the surrender of Fort Amsterdam in 1664, becoming a proprietary colony. The English renamed the province after the island of Jersey in the English Channel. The Dutch Republic reasserted control for a brief period in 1673–1674. After that it consisted of two political divisions, East Jersey and West Jersey, until they were united as a royal colony in 1702. The original boundaries of the province were slightly larger than the current state, extending into a part of the present state of New York, until the border was finalized in 1773.

Background

The Province of New Jersey was originally settled in the 1610s as part of the colony of New Netherland. The surrender of Fort Amsterdam in September 1664 gave control over the entire Mid-Atlantic region to the English as part of the Second Anglo-Dutch War. The English justified the seizure by claiming that John Cabot, an Italian under the sponsorship of the English King Henry VII, had been the first to discover the place, but it was probably to assert control over the profitable North Atlantic trade. Director-General of New Netherland Peter Stuyvesant, unable to rouse a military defense, relinquished control of the colony and was able in the articles of transfer to secure guarantees for property rights, laws of inheritance, and freedom of religion. After the surrender, Richard Nicolls took the position as deputy-governor of New Amsterdam and the rest of New Netherland, including those settlements on the west side of the North River (Hudson River) known as Bergen and those along the Delaware River that had been New Sweden.

Proprietary government

In March 1664, King Charles II granted his brother, James, the Duke of York, a Royal colony that covered New Netherlands and present-day Maine. This charter also included parts of present-day Massachusetts, which conflicted with that colony's charter. The charter allowed James traditional propriety rights and imposed few restrictions upon his powers. In general terms, the charter was equivalent to a conveyance of land conferring on him the right of possession, control, and government, subject only to the limitation that the government must be consistent with the laws of England. The Duke of York never visited his colony and exercised little direct control of it. He elected to administer his government through governors, councils, and other officers appointed by himself. No provision was made for an elected assembly.

Later in 1664, the Duke of York gave the part of his new possessions between the Hudson River and the Delaware River to Sir George Carteret in exchange for settlement of a debt. The territory was named after the island of Jersey, Carteret's ancestral home. The other section of New Jersey was sold to Lord Berkeley of Stratton, who was a close friend of the Duke. As a result, Carteret and Berkeley became the two English lords proprietors of New Jersey. The two proprietors of New Jersey attempted to attract more settlers to move to the province by granting sections of lands to settlers and by passing the Concession and Agreement, a 1665 document that granted religious freedom to all inhabitants of New Jersey; under the British government, there was no such religious freedom as the Church of England was the state church. In return for the land, the settlers were supposed to pay annual fees known as quit-rents.

In 1665, Philip Carteret became the first governor of New Jersey, appointed by the two proprietors. He selected Elizabeth as the capital of New Jersey. Immediately, Carteret issued several additional grants of land to landowners. Towns were started and charters granted to Newark (1666), Piscataway (1666), Bergen (1668), Middletown (1693), Woodbridge (1669), and Shrewsbury.

The idea of quit-rents became increasingly difficult because many of the settlers refused to pay them. Most of them claimed that they owed nothing to the proprietors because they received land from Richard Nicolls, governor of New York.  This forced Berkeley to sell West Jersey to John Fenwick and Edward Byllynge, two English Quakers. Many more Quakers made their homes in New Jersey, seeking religious freedom from English (Church of England) rule.

Meanwhile, conflicts began rising in New Jersey. Edmund Andros, governor of New York, attempted to gain authority over East Jersey after the death of Sir George Carteret in 1680. However, he was unable to remove the position of governorship from Governor Phillip Carteret and subsequently moved to attack him and brought him to trial in New York. Carteret was later acquitted. In addition, quarrels occurred between Eastern and Western New Jerseyans, between Native Americans and New Jerseyans, and between different religious groups.

East and West Jerseys
From 1674 to 1702, the Province of New Jersey was divided into East Jersey and West Jersey, each with its own governor. Each had its own constitution: the West Jersey Constitution (1681) and the East Jersey Constitution (1683).

The exact border between West and East Jersey was often disputed. The border between the two sides reached the Atlantic Ocean to the north of present-day Atlantic City. The border line was created by George Keith and can still be seen in the county boundaries between Burlington and Ocean counties, and between Hunterdon and Somerset counties. The Keith line runs north-northwest from the southern part of Little Egg Harbor Township, passing just north of Tuckerton, and reaching upward to a point on the Delaware River which is just north of the Delaware Water Gap. Later, the 1676 Quintipartite Deed helped to lessen the disputes. More accurate surveys and maps were made to resolve property disputes. This resulted in the Thornton Line, drawn around 1696, and the Lawrence Line, drawn around 1743, which was adopted as the final line for legal purposes.

Dominion of New England
The Dominion of New England was a short-lived administrative union. On May 7, 1688, the Province of New York, the Province of East Jersey, and the Province of West Jersey were added to the Dominion.  The capital was located in Boston, but because of its size, New York, East Jersey, and West Jersey were run by the lieutenant governor from New York City. After news of the overthrow of James II by William of Orange in the Glorious Revolution of 1688 reached Boston, the colonists rose up in rebellion, and the Dominion was dissolved in 1689.

Royal colony

On April 17, 1702, under the rule of Queen Anne, the two sections of the proprietary colony were united, and New Jersey became a royal colony. Edward Hyde, Lord Cornbury, became the first governor of the colony as a royal colony. However, he was an ineffective and corrupt ruler, taking bribes and speculating on land. In 1708, Lord Cornbury was recalled to England. New Jersey was then again ruled by the governors of New York, but this infuriated the settlers of New Jersey, accusing those governors of favoritism to New York. Judge Lewis Morris led the case for a separate governor and was appointed governor by King George II in 1738.

New York–New Jersey Line War
The New York – New Jersey Line War was a series of skirmishes and raids that took place for over half a century between 1701 and 1765 at the disputed border between the two American colonies the Province of New York and the Province of New Jersey. Border wars were not unusual in the early days of settlements of the colonies and originated in conflicting land claims. Because of ignorance, willful disregard, and legal ambiguities, such conflicts arose involving local settlers until a final settlement was reached. In the largest of these squabbles some  of land were at stake between New York and New Jersey. The conflict was eventually settled by royal commission in 1769.

Provincial Congress

The Provincial Congress of New Jersey was a transitional governing body of the Province of New Jersey in the early part of the American Revolution. It first met in 1775 with representatives from all New Jersey's thirteen counties, to supersede the royal governor.

First state constitution
New Jersey's first state constitution was adopted on July 2, 1776. The American Revolutionary War was underway, and General George Washington recently had been defeated in New York, putting the state in danger of invasion. The 1776, the New Jersey State Constitution was drafted in five days and ratified within the next two days to establish a temporary government, thereby preventing New Jersey from collapsing and descending into anarchy. Among other provisions, it granted unmarried women and blacks who met property requirements the right to vote.

Judiciary
The Supreme Court was established in 1704, to sit alternately at Perth Amboy and Burlington, consisting of a chief justice, a second judge and several associate judges.
Chief justices

See also
Elizabethtown Tract
Horseneck Tract
English Neighborhood
Colonial government in the Thirteen Colonies (Council and Assembly)
Robert Treat
List of the oldest buildings in New Jersey

References

Further reading
 Cunningham, John T. Colonial New Jersey (1971) 160pp
 Doyle, John Andrew. English Colonies in America: Volume IV The Middle Colonies (1907)  online ch 7–8
 McCormick, Richard P. New Jersey from Colony to State, 1609–1789 (1964)  191pp
 Pomfret, John Edwin. Colonial New Jersey: a history (1973), the standard modern history

External links 

 Colonial Charters, Grants and Related Documents (at "New Jersey").

 
Province of New Jersey
Thirteen Colonies
Former British colonies and protectorates in the Americas
Former English colonies
1776 disestablishments in the British Empire
Colonial United States (British)
1664 establishments in the British Empire
Middle Colonies
뉴저지 식민지(Province of New Jersey)는 1674년에서 1702년까지 현재 미국 뉴저지주 지역에 존재했던 영국령 식민지이다. 당초 식민지 영역은 현재보다 약간 크고, 현재 뉴욕의 일부까지 뻗어 있었다.

개요 
네덜란드는 뉴네덜란드 식민지에서 영국의 북미 식민지의 대서양 무역을 방해하고 있었다. 이 식민지의 토지는 1664년 9월 리처드 니콜스가 점령한 이후, 영국이 네덜란드에서 획득한 뉴네덜란드 식민지의 일부였다. 영국인 존 캐벗이 이곳을 처음 발견했기 때문에 영국은 점령을 정당화했다. 이 식민지 점령 후 니콜스는 뉴암스테르담과 뉴네덜란드의 나머지 지역의 부지사가 되었다. 니콜스는 재산권, 상속법 및 종교의 자유를 보장했다.

영국 정부는 이 영토를 뉴욕 식민지의 일부로 요크 공 제임스에게 전달했다. 뉴욕 식민지 중, 허드슨 강 및 델라웨어 강 사이의 지역을 부채를 상쇄하는 대가로 요크 공이 조지 카트렛 경에게 주었다. 이 새로운 식민지는 카트렛의 조상의 땅인 ‘저지 섬’(Island of Jersey)을 따서 ‘뉴저지’로 이름을 붙였다. 뉴저지의 다른 부분은 요크 공의 친한 친구였던 스트래튼의 버클리 남작에게 매각됐다. 이 결과 카트렛과 버클리 두 사람이 뉴저지의 영주가 되었다.

그리하여 뉴저지는 이스트 저지와 웨스트 저지로 갈라지게 되었다. 동서 저지의 정확한 경계는 많은 논란의 대상이 되었다. 두 개의 식민지의 경계는 대서양에서 북쪽으로 오늘날의 애틀랜틱 시티에 뻗어 있었다. 이 경계선은 조지 키이스에 의해 만들어져 현재에도 벌링턴 카운티와 오션 카운티의 경계, 그리고 헌터 돈 카운티와 서머셋 카운티의 경계가 되고 있다. 키이스 선은 리틀 에그 하버 타운십의 남부에서 북북서로 뻗어, 터커 톤의 북쪽을 지나 델라웨어 협곡의 북쪽에 있는 델라웨어 강이 있는 지점에 도달한다. 이후 1676년, 퀸티파타이트 증서로 분쟁이 줄었다. 자산 분재을 해결하기 위해 더 정확한 측량과 지도가 만들어졌다. 이것이 1696년 무렵에 그려진 손튼 라인으로, 1743년 무렵에는 로렌스 라인이 법적 용도로 최종 경계선으로 채용되었다.

뉴저지의 2명의 영주는 개척민들에게 토지의 일부를 허가하고, 뉴저지의 모든 주민에게 종교의 자유를 인정했으며, 이권 협정을 성립시킴으로써 더 많은 개척자를 식민지로 끌어 들어려고 했다. 영국 성공회가 국교인 영국 정부에서 그런 종교적 자유는 없었다. 대신 개척민들은 큇 렌트(Quit-Rent)라고 불리는 세를 해마다 지불했다.

1665년 필립 카트렛이 2명의 영주에게 지명을 받아 뉴저지 초대 주지사가 되었다. 카트렛은 뉴저지의 주도로 엘리자베스를 선택했다. 카트렛은 즉시 토지 소유자들에게 추가 인증을 발행했다. 그리하여 버겐(1668), 우드 브릿지(1669), 피스캐터타웨이(1666), 스루즈베리와 미들 타운(1693)과 뉴웍(1666) 등의 마을이 차례로 생겨났다. 개척자의 주거 형태는 대부분 통나무집이었다. 통나무집의 개념은 초기 스웨덴인과 독일인의 개척자가 가져온 것이었다. 뉴저지 해안에 접해 있는 이상적인 위치에 있었기 때문에, 개척민들은 농업, 어업 및 바다의 무역에 종사했다.

큇 렌트(Quit-Rent)의 개념은 많은 개척민들이 지불을 거부했기 때문에 점차 어려워졌다. 개척자의 대부분은 뉴욕 식민지 주지사 리처드 니콜스로부터 토지를 얻었기 때문에, 현 영주들에게는 아무것도 줄 것이 없다고 주장했다. 이러한 논란 때문에 버클리는 웨스트 저지를 2명의 영국인 퀘이커 교도(존 펜윅과 에드워드 빌린지)에게 팔 수 밖에 없었다. 점점 더 많은 퀘이커 교도들이 영국 국교회의 지배와 탄압을 피해 종교의 자유를 찾아 뉴저지를 고향으로 삼는 사례가 점점 더 많아져다.

한편, 뉴저지에는 갈등이 불거지기 시작했다. 뉴욕 식민지 주지사 에드먼드 안도로스가 1680년에 영주 조지 카트렛이 죽은 후 이스트 저지에 대한 권리를 얻으려 했기 때문이다. 그러나 안도로스는 필립 카트렛 지사를 그 자리에서 쫓아 낼 수 없었기 때문에, 그 카트렛을 공격하여, 뉴욕 식민지의 재판에 회부했다. 카트렛은 그 무죄를 선고 받았다. 또한 동서 저지와 원주민과 뉴저지 주민들 사이에, 다른 종교 종파들 사이에서도 갈등이 표출되었다. 이러한 갈등의 가장 큰 원인은 약 21만 에이커(850 km2)의 토지가 뉴욕과 뉴저지 사이에서 문제가 되었다. 이 논쟁은 1769년 왕립위원회를 통해 해결되었다.

1702년 4월 15일, 앤 여왕의 통치하에 두 영주 식민지를 통합하고, 뉴저지는 왕실령 식민지가 되었다. 콘베리 경 에드워드 하이드가 왕실령 식민지의 초대 총독이 되었다. 하지만 하이드는 뇌물을 받고, 땅투기를 하는 무능력하고, 부패한 통치자였다. 1708년, 콘 베리 경은 영국에 되돌아갔다. 뉴저지는 이후 다시 뉴욕 식민지 주지사가 통치를 했지만, 이것이 뉴저지 주민을 격앙시켜 주지사가 뉴욕 식민지를 편애한다고 비난했다. 루이스 모리스 판사가 별도의 지사가 수용하도록 결정하고, 1738년에 영국 왕 조지 2세에 의해 주지사로 지명되었다.

1746년, 뉴저지 대학(현재 프린스턴 대학교)가 조나단 디킨슨, 아론바 시니어 및 피터 반 블러프 리빙스톤을 포함한 "뉴라이터즈"의 집단에 의해 엘리자베스 타운에 설립되었다. 1756년 이 대학은 프린스턴으로 옮겨졌다.

1766년, 퀸즈 대학(현재의 럿거스 대학교)이 조지 3세의 칙허를 받은 네덜란드 개혁 목사의 손으로 뉴브런즈윅에 설립되었다. 이 대학은 왕비 샬롯을 따서 명명되었다가 이후, 1825년 독립 전쟁의 영웅인 헨리 럿거스 대령의 이름을 따서 개명되었다.

외부 링크 
 Colonial Charters, Grants and Related Documents

뉴저지주의 역사
13개 식민지
식민지 시대 뉴저지주
식민지 시대 미국 (영국령)
아메리카의 옛 영국 식민지와 보호국