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New Jersey played a crucial role in the American Revolution. Positioned between the new nation's capital in Philadelphia and the British stronghold in New York, no place in New Jersey was spared the ravages of war. During six years of conflict, General George Washington and the Continental Army spent more days in New Jersey than any other state. By the time victory was won, the fight for American independence touched every community in New Jersey. More than just a crossroads on the map, New Jersey became the crossroads in the birth of a nation.

For the British, central New Jersey offered a direct overland route connecting New York with Philadelphia and the southern colonies. But for the Continental forces, New Jersey was an unassailable fortress, with the Watchung Mountains providing an extended natural rampart shielding it from surveillance and offering a safe route linking New England with states to the south.

The National Park Service's American Battlefield Protection Program lists 296 significant military engagements within the state, in addition to hundreds more skirmishes from 1775 through 1783.

Key events that determined the course of the war occurred here:

the Battles of Trenton and Princeton, which changed the British strategy from offense to defense;

the Battle of Monmouth, which demonstrated the Continental army's ability to stand toe to toe with the British army as an equal;

the Middlebrook Encampments,which provided a strategic, protected position that ultimately contributed to the army's success; and

the terrible winters at Morristown, which tested the army's ability to survive.

Here in New Jersey, the fledgling Continental army teetered on the brink of disaster, but somehow emerged stronger. And it was in New Jersey that the mighty British army's vulnerabilities were revealed.

Just as it is today, what happened in New Jersey was a microcosm of the national experience. For the residents of New Jersey, the fight for American Independence meant eight years of civil war. Both armies vied for the food, forage, wood, and other resources that the countryside could provide and launched disruptive forays against each other.

New Jersey's population was culturally diverse, dispersed and primarily agrarian. The ravages of occupation forced a reluctant population to take sides. Bitter divisions developed within communities. Ad hoc militias waged unconventional warfare. Neighbor turned upon neighbor and allegiances shifted with the fortunes of war. Here, through endurance and survival, a nation was born.

New Jersey's Revolutionary experience is not one of glory and easy triumph. It is an authentic experience represented by significant victories and small tragedies; of heroism on the battlefield and conflict in communities across the state. It is characterized by controversy, endurance, and survival. The story of the Crossroads of the American Revolution lives on in the places and people of New Jersey.

Then, as now, New Jersey straddled roads connecting north and south. In 1775 and 1776, state regiments marched north. During November and December 1776, the remnants of the main Continental Army fled south across New Jersey, pursued by a British army. Just a month later, they retraced part of their route to defeat German and British detachments in Trenton and Princeton and march on to Morristown. This was the first of three winters that the Continental Army spent in New Jersey.

From July 1776 until November 1783, a British, German and Loyalist army occupied Staten Island, western Long Island and Manhattan, launching expeditions to collect supplies, probe local defenses and attack the Continental Army. Between January and June of 1777, skirmishes were fought up and down the Raritan River, as Continentals sought to limit British foraging and the British attempted to lure the Continentals from the safety of the Watchung Mountains. When Washington eluded them, the British withdrew from the Raritan Valley to attack Philadelphia.

The September 1777, British occupation of Philadelphia brought the war to southern New Jersey. Fierce battles were fought for control of the Delaware River and surrounding countryside. On June 18, 1778, the British army evacuated Philadelphia and began marching toward New York, as Washington led the Continental Army eastward from Valley Forge. The resulting Battle of Monmouth was the last time the two armies met in New Jersey. In 1780, the British moved offensive operations to the south.

The war was not over for New Jersey even then. In June 1780, the New York garrison launched two large probes to test the Continentals at Morristown-probes that resulted in the burning of Springfield and Connecticut Farms. Along the coast, small British and Loyalist units continued pinpoint attacks. One of the American Revolution's last skirmishes was fought December 27, 1782, at Cedar Bridge, Ocean County.

In August 1781, the French and Continental armies marched across New Jersey toward Yorktown and victory. Two years later, after a peace treaty was signed in Paris, word reached the Continental Congress, assembled in Princeton, on November 1, 1783.

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New Jersey and the Revolution - Crossroads of the American Revolution

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New Jersey played a crucial role in the American Revolution. Positioned between the new nation's capital in Philadelphia and the British stronghold in New York, no place in New Jersey was spared the ravages of war. During six years of conflict, General George Washington and the Continental Army spent more days in New Jersey than ...

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American Revolution: The Continental Congress

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Kids learn about The Continental Congress meetings; major events in the American Revolutionary War.

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the world book web site offers an encyclopedia

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and curriculum guides. world book is publisher of the world book encyclopedia.

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The World Book web site offers an encyclopedia, dictionary, atlas, homework help, study aids, and curriculum guides. World Book is publisher of the World Book Encyclopedia.

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The Second Continental Congress | Road to the Revolution

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The area on the eastern seaboard of America that became the English colony and then the state of New Jersey encompasses a landscape of mountain ridges, fertile valleys and fields, pine forests, salt marshes, and long white beaches stretching from the mouth of the Hudson River and the Atlantic to the Delaware River and Bay. This land attracted European colonists.

The earliest inhabitants of the Northeast, including New Jersey, are believed to have settled the area between 12,000 and 15,000 years ago-at the end of the most recent Ice Age. By the time European colonists began arriving, the inhabitants of the area were the Lenni Lenape, or Delaware, Indians. It is not known exactly how many Delaware lived in the region when European colonists started arriving. Estimates range from between 6,000 and 20,000 people.The Delaware spoke Algonquian languages and were primarily farmers. They supplemented their crops of corn, squash, and beans with fish, wild game, berries, nuts, herbs, and roots. They used ashes from their fires, fish bones, and shells as fertilizer in their gardens.

The arrival of European colonists began the decline of these native inhabitants. Many died of diseases introduced by the settlers. The remainder were forced from their homes by the Europeans' desire for land. As the areas where they could live and hunt shrank, different groups of Delaware migrated, eventually settling in several sites ranging from southern Ontario, Canada, to Oklahoma. Although an attempt was made in 1758 to provide the remnants of the Delaware with a reservation at Brotherton (now Indian Mills), New Jersey, most of the remaining Delaware left New Jersey around 1800.

The New Jersey area claimed by the English, French, and Dutch was on the basis of explorations from 1524 to 1623 by John Cabot, Henry Hudson, Giovanni da Verrazano, and Cornelius Mey. Some of the first Europeans to set foot in New Jersey were sailors from the Dutch-owned ship Half Moon, commanded by English explorer Henry Hudson, in 1609. The Dutch established New Netherland in what is now New York and New Jersey. Dutch adventurers, fur trappers, and traders followed. People from Sweden established small settlements on the Delaware River in southern New Jersey, beginning with Fort Elfsborg in 1638. It was there that Swedish and Finnish settlers built likely the first log cabins in North America.

Cultural differences in trade and land ownership practices created conflict, and the earliest Dutch settlements in New Jersey were destroyed during conflicts with American Indians. In 1655 the colonial governor, Peter Stuyvesant, expelled the Swedish. In 1660, under Stuyvesant's direction, the fortified village of Bergen-present-day Jersey City-became the first permanent New Jersey settlement. Other Dutch settlers established Fort Nassau on the Delaware River in 1623 and Jersey City at the mouth of the Hudson River in the early 1630s.

In 1664, England began to press its colonial claims. The English had never recognized Dutch or Swedish claims to New Jersey, basing its right to the area on Cabot's voyage and on the power of its navy. In 1664 the Dutch surrendered New Netherland to the English, who renamed the area west of the Hudson River New Jersey, for the island of Jersey in the English Channel.

King Charles II of England granted all of the captured Dutch colony to his brother, James, Duke of York. The name "New Jersey" was first used in a deed in which James granted proprietorship over the area to Lord John Berkeley and Sir George Carteret. Unaware of this transaction, the royal governor of New York parceled out tracts of land in Monmouth County and at Elizabethtown (now Elizabeth) to Puritans from New England and Long Island. Philip Carteret, a brother of one of the new proprietors, received a commission as Governor of New Jersey, and landed at Elizabeth in August 1665.

Almost immediately, conflict arose between the proprietors and the Puritans over land claims and the right to establish a government. Political and religious differences intensified the friction; the proprietors were Anglicans and loyal to the king, while the Puritans were dissenting Protestants. Sporadic riots broke out over the demands of the proprietors that landholders pay them rent. However, the colony continued to grow. Except for a brief return to Dutch rule in 1674, New Jersey remained British until the American Revolution.

The two proprietors, Berkeley and Cateret, were also involved in the Carolinas and did little to advance their new possessions. In 1674, Berkeley sold his share of the colony to two Quakers, Edward Byllinge and John Fenwick. When a dispute over the terms arose, William Penn was called in as arbitrator. He gave one-tenth of the province and a considerable sum of money to Fenwick and gave the remainder of the territory to Byllinge. When Byllinge went bankrupt in 1676, his creditors, which included Penn, took control of his share under a deed which divided the colony in half - West New Jersey (Berkeley's portion, now owned by Penn and his fellow Quakers) and East New Jersey (Carteret's portion). Carteret retained control of the eastern half until 1682 when Penn and 11 other prominent Quakers jointly purchased East New Jersey. In that very transaction lay another problem: With so many proprietors, confusion was inevitable. There were long-lasting boundary disputes and enduring political, economic, and social differences between the two Jerseys.

Settlements were sparse and scattered, yet New Jersey's highways were the best in the colonies due to the area's location between New York and Philadelphia, and between the northern and southern colonies. West New Jersey served as a haven for persecuted English, Irish, Welsh, and Scottish Quakers. The company shareholders became the board of proprietors, who acted as landlords and the government of the colony. They allowed settlers to spread across the countryside in farms of more than 600 acres. East New Jersey, largely owned by the Scottish partners of Carteret's heirs, set up huge estates, imported several hundred indentured servants, and refused to sell land to independent farmers. Many New Englanders were attracted to the area. The Dutch brought the first African slaves into Bergen County in East Jersey. All of these people, along with Swedes, Scots, Irish, Germans, and French Huguenots, gave New Jersey greater cultural diversity than any other area, although this diversity contributed to New Jersey's persistent lack of cohesiveness and identity.

Under the original two proprietors, the charter for the government of New Jersey was the Concessions and Agreements of the Lords Proprietors, which provided for religious freedom, trial by jury, and a representative assembly. In 1677 Penn wrote a second charter for West Jersey called the Concessions and Agreements, which guaranteed freedom of religion and personal liberty, and provided for the annual election by secret ballot of a representative assembly with limited powers of taxation. By the time the two New Jersey proprietorships were united as a royal colony, a tradition of self-government had been established.

In 1702 the boards of proprietors in both sections of New Jersey turned their governing authority over to Queen Anne, who united the two into a single royal colony. Queen Anne appointed Lord Cornbury to be Governor of New York and New Jersey, but each region continued to have a separate assembly. In 1738 New Jersey petitioned for a distinct administration, and Lewis Morris was appointed governor. The population was then about 40,000. The last royal governor was William Franklin, the natural son of Benjamin Franklin. However, the two proprietary organizations continued to act as landlords, holding title to all unclaimed land in New Jersey.

Under the royal government, local self-rule was curtailed and the colony was bound more closely to England. Despite political unification, each section insisted on maintaining its own capital. The assembly, which shared colonial rule with the royal governor, was forced to hold its sessions in each capital in alternating years. Differences between the two sections remained, but they united to present a common front against the royal governor. In trying to restore harmony and obedience to royal authority, the governors were forced until 1738 to divide their attention between New Jersey and New York, and many of the crown's representatives were incompetent. This enabled the colonists to exercise a greater amount of self-government than the monarchy desired. Especially important was the assembly's power to collect taxes for the governor's salary. Governors who remained responsible to the king and opposed the interests of the colonists often went unpaid.
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The area on the eastern seaboard of America that became the English colony and then the state of New Jersey encompasses a landscape of mountain ridges, fertile valleys and fields, pine forests, salt marshes, and long white beaches stretching from the mouth of the Hudson River and the Atlantic to the Delaware River and Bay.

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Continental Congress, in the period of the American Revolution, the body of delegates who spoke and acted collectively for the people of the colony-states that later became the United States of America. The term most specifically refers to the bodies that met in 1774 and 1775-81 and respectively designated as the First Continental Congress and the Second Continental Congress.

In the spring of 1774 the British Parliament's passage of the Intolerable (Coercive) Acts, including the closing of the port of Boston, provoked keen resentment in the colonies. The First Continental Congress, convened in response to the Acts by the colonial Committees of Correspondence, met in Philadelphia on September 5, 1774. Fifty-six deputies represented all the colonies except Georgia. Peyton Randolph of Virginia was unanimously elected president, thus establishing usage of that term as well as "Congress." Charles Thomson of Pennsylvania was elected secretary and served in that office during the 15-year life of the Congress.

To provide unity, delegates gave one vote to each state regardless of its size. The First Continental Congress included Patrick Henry, George Washington, John and Samuel Adams, John Jay, and John Dickinson. Meeting in secret session, the body rejected a plan for reconciling British authority with colonial freedom. Instead, it adopted a declaration of personal rights, including life, liberty, property, assembly, and trial by jury. The declaration also denounced taxation without representation and the maintenance of the British army in the colonies without their consent. Parliamentary regulation of American commerce, however, was willingly accepted.

In October 1774 the Congress petitioned the crown for a redress of grievances accumulated since 1763. In an effort to force compliance, it called for a general boycott of British goods and eventual nonexportation of American products, except rice, to Britain or the British West Indies. Its last act was to set a date for another Congress to meet on May 10, 1775, to consider further steps.

Before that Second Continental Congress assembled in the Pennsylvania State House, hostilities had already broken out between Americans and British troops at Lexington and Concord, Massachusetts. New members of the Second Congress included Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson. John Hancock and John Jay were among those who served as president. The Congress "adopted" the New England military forces that had converged upon Boston and appointed Washington commander in chief of the American army on June 15, 1775. It also acted as the provisional government of the 13 colony-states, issuing and borrowing money, establishing a postal service, and creating a navy. Although the Congress for some months maintained that the Americans were struggling for their rights within the British Empire, it gradually cut tie after tie with Britain until separation was complete. On July 2, 1776, with New York abstaining, the Congress "unanimously" resolved that "these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent states." Two days later it solemnly approved this Declaration of Independence. The Congress also prepared the Articles of Confederation, which, after being sanctioned by all the states, became the first U.S. constitution in March 1781.

The Articles placed Congress on a constitutional basis, legalizing the powers it had exercised since 1775. To underline this distinction, the Congress that met under the Articles of Confederation is often referred to as the Congress of the Confederation, or the Confederation Congress. This Congress continued to function until the new Congress, elected under the present Constitution, met in 1789.

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Continental Congress | History, Members, & Significance

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Continental Congress, in the period of the American Revolution, the body of delegates who spoke and acted collectively for the people of the colony-states that later became the United States of America. The term most specifically refers to the bodies that met in 1774 and 1775-81 and respectively designated as the First Continental Congress and the Second Continental Congress.

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We are a globally renowned resource that provides assistance with English to students, teachers, professionals, and organizations across the world. Our goal is to assist clients in their development as writers - no matter their skill level.

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Purdue OWL® - Purdue OWL® - Purdue University

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We are a globally renowned resource that provides assistance with English to students, teachers, professionals, and organizations across the world. Our goal is to assist clients in their development as writers - no matter their skill level.

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The Middle Colonies included Pennsylvania, Delaware, New York, and New Jersey. The geography of this region featured a warmer climate with fertile soil, flat land, easily-navigable rivers, and wide valleys making it perfect for farming and growing crops. Wealthy farmers grew cash crops and raised livestock. Mining and trading were also important aspects of the economy here. Over time, cities grew and urban merchants sold and traded goods with people throughout the other colonies. Compared to other regions, the people of the middle colonies supported religious freedom and tolerance and had a diverse population with settlers arriving from many areas in Europe.

The Southern Colonies included the first English colony of Virginia, and grew to include Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. The geography included rich, fertile soil with broad coastal plains that made it possible for large plantations to grow tobacco, rice, and indigo. The majority of these plantations featured a labor force of enslaved Black people. These enslaved men, women, and children had few, if any, rights and often saw their families torn apart at the whim of the plantation owner. Enslaved children were even put to work as young as age three, weeding fields, carrying drinking water, or helping in the home.

Smaller farms owned by subsistence farmers also existed across the Southern Colonies. Often, the people working these would grow crops for their families with little left over to sell or trade. Indentured servants also arrived in the South who would work for 5-7 years in exchange for their passage to North America.

The Church of England (also known as the Anglican Church) was the dominant religion in the region. Most settlers to the South did not come for religious freedom like they did in the northern colonies. Therefore, they often maintained their allegiance to the established Church of England.

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Comparing the New England, Middle, and Southern Colonies

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A brief comparison of the similarities and differences between the three regions in early North America: the New England, Middle, and Southern Colonies.

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The Second Continental Congress (article) | Khan Academy

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Learn for free about math, art, computer programming, economics, physics, chemistry, biology, medicine, finance, history, and more. Khan Academy is a nonprofit with the mission of providing a free, world-class education for anyone, anywhere.

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Comparing Patriots, Loyalist, and Neutral Colonists

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Comparing Patriots, Loyalist, and Neutral Colonists

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Loyalists, often called Tories, were loyal to the crown for several reasons. They were mostly upper class and lived in cities and wanted to keep their wealth and land. Many had valuable ties with the British and jobs in the government. Loyalists believed in peaceful reconciliation but were met with insults and mistrust because they did not believe in the Patriots' cause.

Most Patriots resisted enlisting African Americans to the cause, but the British had no such compunctions. The Dunmore Proclamation of 1775, named for the governor of Virginia, the Earl of Dunmore, promised freedom to any enslaved man that volunteered to serve the King. Within a month of the issuing the decree, as many as 800 formerly enslaved men joined the Tories from Virginia alone. Tens of thousands more would follow from Georgia, Virginia and the Carolinas. Historians have pointed out that the policy was in fact the first widespread emancipation of the enslaved in American history.

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Patriots, Loyalists, and Neutral to Revolution

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Loyalists, often called Tories, were loyal to the crown for several reasons. They were mostly upper class and lived in cities and wanted to keep their wealth and land. Many had valuable ties with the British and jobs in the government.

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2nd Continental Congress and the Declaration of Independence

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2nd Continental Congress and the Declaration of Independence

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The Second Continental Congress and the Declaration of Independence - Independence National Historical Park (U.S. National Park Service)

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The Second Continental Congress met inside Independence Hall beginning in May 1775. It was just a month after shots had been fired at Lexington and Concord in Massachusetts, and the Congress was preparing for war. They established a Continental army and elected George Washington as Commander-in-Chie…

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Google Docs How To Add Citations and Bibliography Update Tutorial 2021  (MLA, APA, Chicago)

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British Acts Anger the Colonies

By the 1760's, European colonists had been settled in North America for over 150 years and the American colonies were thriving. Britain's Parliament passed a series of acts between 1760 and 1775 that would create and/or increase taxes on goods, commerce, and trade in the colonies.

Much of this tax would be used to pay for the British debt after the long and costly French and Indian War. The American colonists felt this was unfair because they were not able to vote in parliamentary elections and therefore had no voice in the matter. This led to the famous motto, "No taxation without representation".

The Stamp Act, Sugar Act, Townshend Acts, and Intolerable Acts are four acts that contributed to the tension and unrest among colonists that ultimately led to the American Revolution.

The first act was the Sugar Act, which was passed in 1764. This placed a tax on sugar and molasses imported into the colonies.

This was a huge disruption to the Boston and New England economies because they used sugar and molasses to make rum, a main export in their trade with other countries. This act prompted many New England colonists to boycott British imports and led to the need for colonists to become more self-sufficient and rely less on British goods.

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British Acts That Angered the American Colonists

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British Acts Anger the Colonies By the 1760's, European colonists had been settled in North America for over 150 years and the American colonies were thriving. Britain's Parliament passed a series of acts between 1760 and 1775 that would create and/or increase taxes on goods, commerce, and trade in the colonies.