Migrants of New Jersey..........

New Jersey had a diverse amount of migrants that arrived in the 17th century to the 18th century. There was the intially the Dutch from New Amsterdam, Swedes from west of the Delaware River, and Puritans from New England and Long Island, also later on the Irish and Scottish. In East Jersey there was nine towns in which six of them were populated by migrants from New England and it was a Scots' colony when a various assortment of Scottish merchants devoted into East Jersey and helped provide for early settlers. The other towns were with the Dutch established Bergen, and Freehold were of Scottish. The West Jersey towns were dominated by the Quakers, besides the town of Burlington which had a high amount of Anglicans.

By 1760, New Jersey population grew to 100,000 with only 40% of English settlers occupying the colony. By 1776, the population was about 138,000, of which 7% were black slaves. There was also large settlements of Germans in Hunterdon and Newark by Congregationalists from Connecticut. It wasn't until the about the mid 1800s that New Jersey had fascinated migrants to come to this colony because of the industrial growth that developed. To have better control and organization over the immigrants Congress decided to make Ellis Island the immigration center from 1892 to 1954. Ellis Island, a combination of a natural and two synthetic islands which is joined by causeways between upper New York Bay and northeastern New Jersey and southeastern New York became the headquarters of a U.S. immigration. It's estimated that 12 million immigrants went through Ellis Island predominatly Irish, Jewish, and Italian. (Ellis Island, Microsoft Encarta Online Encyclopedia, 2008.)


Many Germans came to New Jersey because of the attractiveness of the mountainous country for ironmakers. They also came to farm fields in Hunterdon County or work in the iron mines in other counties because New Jersey had rich iron mines with fast running streams and plenty of forests. By 1870, Germans and Irish comprised of 37% of New Jersey City's population. By the late 1800s coming to the 1900s Eastern Europe migrants with Jewish and large amounts of Italians came also. 43% of Hudson County residents were foreign born by 1900. (New Jersey-Migration, Advameg, Inc. 2007).


Many of the migrants had different and diverse reasons why they left their homelands. Some came to seek more prosperous opportunities, while some came to evade persecution and some as far as death. There was others who came against their will because they were slaves and went with their masters when bought. Many migrants who came to New Jersey were looking for places that had mining and iron plantations, and self sufficient villages. New Jersey had very industrial base that attracted migrants due to its agricultural aspects with a powerful farming conditions, glassware production, iron and mines, and transportation. There was many immigrants that worked in the iron and mining plantations because when they arrived in Americas they had no work or means for money so they were all desperate and in need for stability with work and labor to get them by.

In 1730s, a governor of New Jersey, wrote this excerpt about the immigrants....

from Dane, from Hollander, and Swede,
from Wales, and from the north of Tweed
our first Supply's came o'er,
from france a band of refuguees,
and from fair Ireland rapparees,
came crowding to this Shore
a mungrell brood of canting Saints,
that filled all Europe with complaints
came here to fix their stakes.
(Becoming America, Harvard University Press, 2000.)

Sources:

Daniels, Jennifer. People and Settlements of the NY-NJ Highlands.
http://deathstar.rutgers.edu/advgeo/Daniels_webpage/hldweb2.htm

Lazzerini, Rickie. The History of New Jersey. Kindred Trails, Inc. 2006.

New Jersey-Migration. Advameg, Inc. 2007.
http://www.city-data.com/states/New-Jersey-Migration.html

"Ellis Island," Microsoft Encarta Online Encyclopedia, 2008.
http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761554612/ellis_island.html

Butler, Jon. Becoming America. Harvard University Press, 2000.

Slavery and Indentured Servants

The New Jersey colony had many indentured sevants and slaves in the 1660s. The colony of New Jersey was at a chronic shortage of free labor. Servants suffered at the hands of their masters, they legally controlled their actions. Above all, slaves suffered the most. The slaves that were murdered at the hands of their masters didn't experience any punishment. Unlike slaves, indentured servants could not marry. The Dutch brought Africans to New Jersey in the early 1600s to help build outposts. In 1629, the Dutch's version of the platation system was known as the Patroon System. Under this, each Dutch owner of land was promised 12 black men and women.

Unfortuneatly, slavery was encouraged in New Jersey under the proprietor’s "Concessions and Agreement," which offered 60 acres of land for every enslaved African imported in 1664. They were more aggressive in promoting African slavery than other colonies for opening up the land for agriculture and commerce. According to historian Clement A Price, "support for the institution was stronger in New Jersey than in any other northern colony."

By the 1690s, most of the colonists in Perth Amboy, main port, owned one or more African Americans. Slaves made up 12 percent of New Jersey's population up the the Revolution. Around the 1700s, New Jersey allowed duty free importation of African Americans. Nearly all other states imposed a tax on the importation of slaves from Africa to be used for labor. In 1713 to 1768, the colony established a separate court system to deal with slave crimes. Slaves were forbidden to carry firearms unless with their masters. If anyone who gave or lent a gun to a slave faced a fine of 20 shillings. Slaves were not allowed to be in the streets at night.

Slavery was extremely more severe than indentured servitude. This unimaginable life for these African Americans didn't completely end until 1846 but so many lives were lost and destroyed by that hopeful time.

Sources:

-Arnesen, Eric. "Encyclopedia of U.S. Labor and Working-class History" CRS Press, 2006

-Cohen, Stephen. "The Ramapo Mountain People" Rutgers University Press, 1994

-Harper, Douglas.

-Wright, Giles. "Afro-Americans in New Jersey" New Jersey Historical Commission Department of State, 1988

Douglas Harper. "Slavery in New Jersey" (2003). http://www.slavenorth.com/newjersey.htm

Conflicts......

Colonists spoke harshly about the Lenni Lenape Indians, "I find (the Lenape) entirely savage and wild, strangers to decency and stupid as garden poles, proficient in all wickedness and godlessness; devilish men." The other colonists said, "We (must) either convert these tawny serpents or annihilate them." (Indian King Tavern Museum, 1995-2001).

Although the colonists later spoke in this manner of the later named Delaware Indians soon before they were seeing them in a different light. They actually helped some of the Europeans survive because they were so unprepared and untrained. The Delaware Indians feed and taught the Europeans how to fish and treat wounds. Soon after, things changed drasticially showing thay when the Europeans first landed in 1600 in New Jersey there was 12,000 Lenape but by 1700 there were less than 2500. By 1664, the Lenni Lenape population in South New Jersey had decimated by diseases also numerous conflicts with the Swedes and Dutchmen.

A brutal war with great loss of life was when the Susquehannock (Minqua) attacked Lenni Lenape villages in Pennsylvania and drove them into New Jersey. The Lenape lost half of their lives and were forced to leave their villages west of Delaware River.

The Lenni Lenape declined when the Dutch arrived in the New York and New Jersey area in which created New Netherland. A slaughter at Pavonia in 1643 the Dutch had a suprise attack on the Wecquaesgeek villages killing many at Pavonia (New Jersey city) which also killed many Lenni Lenape, including women and children. This was triggered by the Dutch had restriction on the sale of firearms to the tribes but the Munsee could get guns from the Swedes and in winter of 1642 armed Mahican warriors came to their villages and killed 17 and captured women and children. After that the Dutch and the Wecquaesgeek didn't get along and had many confrontations. This occurence also triggered the Wappinger War (Kieft's War) which tribes like the Hackensack and Tappan joined with Wappinger in attackes againt the Dutch farms.

Many Lenni Lenape faced many hardships during this time so did many other tribes in the face of colonization. Many died from European diseases and other from the war. "The remaining Lenni Lenape sided with the French during the French and Indian War, but did not find much success." (Delaware Histories).

Sources:

-Bergbauer, Thomas. "Lenni Lenape were the first New Jersey settlers." Courier-Post. (2007).

-Indian King Tavern Museum. "The Lenni Lenape Indian Kings." (1995-2001).

http://www.levins.com/ik6.html

-Lazzerini, Rickie. "Native Americans of New Jersey: The Lenni-Lenape." KindredTrails.com (2006). http://www.kindredtrails.com/New-Jersey-History-1.html

-Sulzman, Lee. "Delaware History." Delaware Histories Site. http://tolatsga.org/dela.html