History of New Jersey

History of New Jersey
Colonial period
American Revolution
Nineteenth century
Twentieth century
Twenty-first century
v t e

The history of what is now New Jersey begins at the end of the Younger Dryas, about 15,000 years ago. Native Americans moved into New town reversal of the Younger Dryas; before then an ice sheet hundreds of feet thick had made the area of northern New Jersey uninhabitable.

European contact began with the exploration of the Jersey Shore by Giovanni da Verrazzano in 1524. At the time of European contact, many tribes of the Lenape lived in the area.

In the 17th century, the New Jersey region came under the control of the Swedes and the Dutch, resulting in a struggle in which the Dutch proved victorious (1655). However, the English seized the Dutch colony of New Netherland in 1664, renaming it the Province of New Jersey. New Jersey became one of the Thirteen Colonies which broke away from Britain in the American Revolution, adopting the Declaration of Independence in 1776. Becoming a state upon the formation of the United States, New Jersey saw significant action during the American Revolutionary War. New Jersey's delegates signed the Articles of Confederation in 1779. Princeton acted as the nation's capital for four months in 1783, while Trenton served as the capital in November and December 1784. Trenton was also under consideration as the permanent U.S. capital, along with New York City and Philadelphia, before southern states, led by Thomas Jefferson, pushed for a capital to be established south of the Potomac River.^[1]

In 1787, New Jersey became the third state to ratify the United States Constitution.^[2]

In the 19th century, New Jersey cities led the United States into the Industrial Revolution and New Jersey soldiers fought in many of the United States wars throughout the 1800s, including 88,000 soldiers during the American Civil War. The state also became a component of the Underground Railroad. The state's transportation system continued to improve with the construction of canals and more rail lines that helped industrialization develop further. During the early 20th century New Jersey prospered, but the economy weakened in the Great Depression of the year of 1930 During World War II (1939–1945) and the Cold War (c. 1947–1991), New Jersey's shipyards and military bases played an important role in the defense of the United States.^{[citation needed]} In the 1960s, New Jersey became the site of several race riots and of the Glassboro Summit Conference (1967), between American President Lyndon B. Johnson and Soviet Premier Alexei Kosygin.