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.
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