When James II (the Duke of York) gave a large part of the land south of New York to Sir John Berkley and Sir George Carteret, the territory of New Jersey was created. However, when Carteret sold his half of New Jersey in 1674, the colony became divded into West Jersey and Easy Jersey. Finally, in 1702 the two halves were joined again as a royal colony, but the divisions still left their mark on the colony as a whole. New Jersey also had a weak colonial government, which could not control its split society.
New Jersey, like the other middle colonies, was a melting pot for religion and culture. It had a large ethnic diversity, consisting of people like the Dutch, French Huguenots, English, Scots, Irish, and more. It also had a wide range of religions, including Quakers, Baptists, Anglicans, and Calvinists. Religious freedom was a must in New Jersey, and it was what attracted many settlers towards the colony. New Jersey, like New York, did not have many fights with the Natives, and was relatively at peace with the local tribes. |
New Jersey's economy was fueled mainly by its rich soil and high lumber availability. Farms in New Jersey were common, as was hunting/trapping. The middle colonies were known as "the bread colonies" for their export of grain, and New Jersey produced precisely that. Farms grew wheats, oats, barley and rye, and also harvested fruits and vegetables. Unlike New England, which had little to no farms, and the South, which consisted mainly of large plantations, the middle colonies (and New Jersey in particular) contained many medium-sized farms dispersed throughout the colony.