West Jersey

Province of West Jersey
Colony of England
1674–1702
Capital		Burlington
Languages		English
Government		Constitutional monarchy
History
•	Established	1674
•	Disestablished	1702
Currency		Pound sterling
Preceded by Succeeded by New Netherland Province of New Jersey
Today part of		Countries today United States

The original provinces of West and East Jersey are shown in yellow and green respectively. The Keith Line is shown in red, and the Coxe and Barclay line is shown in orange

1698 map showing West Jersey and Pennsylvania

West Jersey and East Jersey were two distinct parts of the Province of New Jersey. The political division existed for 28 years, between 1674 and 1702. Determination of an exact location for a border between West Jersey and East Jersey was often a matter of dispute.

Background

The Delaware Valley had been inhabited by the Lenape (or Delaware) Indians prior to exploration and settlement starting around 1609 by the Dutch, Swedish and English. The Dutch West India Company had established one or two Delaware River settlements but by the late 1620s had moved most of their inhabitants to Manhattan which became the center of New Netherlands.

The development of the colony of New Sweden in the lower Delaware began in 1638. Most of the Swedish population was on the west side of the Delaware, but after the New Netherlands' Fort Nassau was re-established to challenge the Swedes, Fort Nya Elfsborg was established in present-day Salem County. Fort Nya Elfsborg was located between present day Salem and Alloway Creek. The New Sweden colony established two primary settlements in New Jersey: Sveaborg, now Swedesboro and Nya Stockholm, now Bridgeport. Trinity Church, located in Swedesboro, was the site of the Church of Sweden for the area.

The Dutch defeated New Sweden in 1655. Settlement of the West Jersey area by Europeans was thin until the English conquest in 1664. Beginning in the late 1670s Quakers settled in great numbers first in present-day Salem County and then in Burlington which became the capital of West Jersey.

Before 1674 land surveyors for New Jersey considered it as a hundred and partitioned it into Tenths. West Jersey comprised five of the tenths. But demarcation of the boundaries awaited settlement, the quitrents the settlers would pay, and the land surveying the money would purchase. Thus it took years and multiple surveys to settle boundary disputes. Burlington County was formed on 17 May 1694 by combining "the first and second Tenths." But at least three expensive surveys occurred to define just its northern extent. Richard Tindall was surveyor-general of Fenwick's Colony, the fifth Tenth.

Constitution

See: History of the New Jersey State Constitution#West Jersey Constitution

See also

• Border between West Jersey and East Jersey
• Colonial history of New Jersey
• Concession and Agreement
• Lords Proprietor (1665–1703)
• List of colonial governors of New Jersey#Governors under the Proprietors (1665–1674)
• Newton Colony
• Province of New York
• Dominion of New England
• West Jersey and Seashore Railroad

Other sources

• Weslager, C. A. Dutch Explorers, Traders, and Settlers in the Delaware Valley, 1609-1644. (Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania Press, 1961).
• Johnson, Amandus The Swedish Settlements on the Delaware Volume I: Their History and Relation to the Indians, Dutch and English, 1638-1664 (Philadelphia: Swedish Colonial Society. 1911)

External links

• West Jersey History Project
• Quaker West New Jersey: Democracy in 1677
• 1677 Charter
• 1681 Regulations
• Where was the West Jersey/East Jersey line?
• Colonial Charters, Grants and Related Documents (at "New Jersey"). The Avalon Project: Documents in Law, History and Diplomacy. Lillian Goldman Law Library (Yale Law School). Retrieved 2010-03-14.