New+Jersey

=The New Jersey Colony=


 * New Jersey was founded in 1664 by Lord Berkley and Sir George Carteret. The area was claimed by the Dutch by Henry Hudson, who claimed the land on behalf of the Netherlands. The Dutch colonies were later claimed by Great Britain in 1664 for trading and farming. Lord Berkeley and George Carteret were given grants by the government. Governmental powers were retained by the royal governor of New York, over New Jersey. Later, in 1738, New Jersey was granted its own government under the royal governor, Lewis Morris. It was declared a separate state in June, 1776, and its statehood became official on December 18, 1787. **


 * The colony was founded as a royal settlement. A royal colony has a governor named by the king, to be chief executive and a council made to advise the governor, eventually becoming the highest court. **


 * The first permanent settlement was a trading post at Bergen, New Jersey. It was a white settlement established by the Dutch in 1620 **.


 * The colony attracted many people due to advertisement of religious freedom by the colony's two founders. The west was mostly Quaker, while the East had Anglicans and Calvinists. **

Economic Activity

 * The colony's major economic activities were ironworks, farming (tomatoes and corn), and shipbuilding. **

[[image:1stLordBerkeley.jpg]]

 * John Berkeley, was born the fifth and youngest son of Sir Maurice Berkely in 1602. He was an English royalist soldier who has a commission in the army against the Scots in 1638. He had three sons and one daughter. His wife was Christiana Riccard. Berkeley had a friendship with Charles II and the Duke of York, who granted him the New Jersey colony. In 1665, he was one of the drafters of the Concession and Agreement, a document that provided religious freedom for New Jersey. Because of difficulties in political disputes, he sold his share to a group of Quakers **.