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New Jersey, a Middle Atlantic state located between New
York on the north and east and Pennsylvania and Delaware on the west,
occupies a peninsula bounded by the Delaware and Hudson rivers. The state's
northern border is its only artificial limit. The Atlantic Ocean to the
southeast provides an attractive and popular resort area. The "waistline"
of the state is the corridor between New York City and Philadelphia, which
has proved to be both a blessing and a curse. New Jersey's location has
provided both impetus and market for agriculture, commerce, industry,
and services, as well as cultural stimulation. The state has suffered
from a lack of identity, however, although that is changing now with growing
awareness of its key position in the Northeast Corridor.
New Jersey is the most densely populated state. Its large population has
brought on major problems of competitive land use, allocation and development
of new energy sources, conflict among levels of government, water pollution,
and the reduction of air quality.
Named for the island of Jersey, one of the Channel Islands, New Jersey
was the 3d of the 13 colonies to enter the Union. Its capital, Trenton,
was the site of Washington's first decisive victory of the American Revolution
in 1776.
LAND AND RESOURCES
New Jersey exhibits landform diversity unusual in so small a state. It
contains parts of the Atlantic Coastal Plain and the Appalachian Highlands,
two major North American landforms. These can be further divided into
five distinct sections, lying in parallel northeast-southwest bands.
The Outer Coastal Plain along the Atlantic, occupying about 46 percent
of the state's area, is fringed with barrier islands, lagoons, and tidal
marshes interrupted by estuarine rivers. The coastline undergoes constant
modification by wave action, longshore currents, and human activity. The
flat Pine Barrens cover about a third of the state inland from the coast.
The Inner Coastal Plain (about 13 percent of the state's area) is a strip
of land that averages 20 km (12 mi) in width and slopes toward the Delaware
River and Delaware Bay. Toward the northeastern end of this section are
the Navesink Highlands, the highest mainland point on the Atlantic Coast.
The three sections of the Appalachian Highlands are products of a complex
geologic past that resulted in a pattern of ridges and lowlands. The northern
portion, an area of glacial deposition, contains lakes, ancient lake beds,
and rock-abraded surfaces.
The Piedmont section, containing 20 percent of the land area and 70 percent
of the population, shows the effects of human habitation with spreading
suburbs, filled wetlands, and dense road networks found alongside primitive
swamplands and rugged geologic Watchung Mountains and the Palisades. Dinosaur
fossils have been found in Triassic deposits in several localities.
The Highlands (13 percent of the land) are characterized by narrow flat-topped
ridges separated by small valleys containing lakes, such as Hopatcong,
Mohawk, and Greenwood, that are used extensively for recreation. A large
variety of unusual minerals in this area makes it popular among mineral
collectors.
The Ridge and Valley section, occupying less than 10 percent of the land,
is dominated by flat-topped Kittatinny Mountain. At its northern end is
High Point and at the southwestern end is the spectacular Delaware Water
Gap. A fertile valley lies immediately to the east, part of a lowland
that extends from Georgia to the Saint Lawrence River.
Soils
The regionalization of soil types in New Jersey closely follows the state's
landform divisions. Unconsolidated sand, silt, and clay are dominant in
the coastal plain. Sandy loams have developed inland, and the highland
areas are dominated by soils formed from the breakdown of shale, sandstone,
and limestone.
Drainage
Northern New Jersey, once subjected to continental glaciation, exhibits
drainage characteristics common in depositional areas. Disturbed drainage
patterns have resulted in many lakes and erratic stream channels. The
major rivers within the state--the Hackensack, Passaic, and Raritan--are
located in the northern half of New Jersey. The Great Swamp National Wildlife
Refuge area is a remnant of ancient Lake Passaic. Following glaciation,
the channel of the Passaic River was diverted from the lake, and the river
now flows northeastward, climaxing in a 21-m (70-ft) drop at the Great
Falls of the Passaic River in Paterson, about 29 km (18 mi) northeast
of the Great Swamp.
Drainage in southern New Jersey is less efficient than in the north, and
extensive areas of porous sands in the Pine Barrens overlie a vast groundwater
reservoir. Much of this southern region drains toward Delaware Bay or
the Delaware River. Swamps and bogs are common.
Climate
Its location in eastern North America, within the belt of prevailing westerly
winds, has given New Jersey a climate characteristic of an inland location
rather than that of a coastal area. The July average temperature range
is 21 degrees to 24 degrees C (70 degrees to 76 degrees F), and the January
range is - 2 degrees to 3 degrees C (26 degrees to 37 degrees F). The
growing season decreases from more than 255 days in the south to less
than 100 in the northwest. The interaction of cold, dry air masses from
the northwest with warm, moist air masses from the south produces varied
weather patterns. Precipitation is evenly distributed through the year,
with a slight maximum in late summer; amounts range from more than 1,270
mm (50 in) in the higher elevations to less than 1,020 mm (40 in) near
the coast. Severe northeasterly storms in late winter and occasional hurricanes
in the warm months cause considerable coastal damage.
Vegetation
The Highlands as well as the Kittatinny and Watchung ridges are forested,
but the tree cover decreases yearly with urban encroachment. Oak-hickory
forests dominate this area. The Pine Barrens are covered by an often-dwarfed
pine-oak forest, dependent for its renewal on an ecological cycle in which
forest fires are frequent. The Kittatinny Valley, the lowland of the Piedmont,
and the Inner Coastal Plain are virtually devoid of tree cover.
Wildlife
Wildlife in New Jersey has been subjected to extensive human encroachment,
yet many species survive. Each year about 115 sq km (45 sq mi) of natural
wildlife habitat are cleared. White- tailed deer remain, monitored and
controlled by the state. Coyotes have returned, and beavers, muskrats,
and river otters are still present. Squirrels, raccoons, skunks, and opossums
are common in suburban areas. Coastal New Jersey is on the Atlantic Flyway,
and many migrating bird species can be seen near the ocean, particularly
in the Brigantine National Wildlife Refuge.
Resources
The Pine Barrens in the south contain deposits of limonite (bog iron),
sand, clay, and ilmenite (an ore of titanium). Greensand, used for water
filters and fertilizers, is found in the southern interior. The north
has deposits of sand, gravel, red sandstone, basalt, copper, magnetite
iron, zinc, limestone, and slate.
PEOPLE
New Jersey's population density is the highest of all the U.S. states.
County densities, however, range from more than 10 times the state average
in Hudson County to less than one- fourth in Sussex, Warren, Hunterdon,
and Salem counties. In 1880 the state had more urban residents than rural,
with a third of the population living in Jersey City, Newark, and Paterson.
Since that time, although urbanization has increased greatly, the population
has dispersed as New Jersey "suburbanized." At the center of the megalopolis,
the state has only four cities with populations of more than 100,000:
Newark, Jersey City, Paterson, and Elizabeth. The small-town aspect of
New Jersey's urbanization is shown by the presence of many communities
and municipalities with populations of less than 25,000.
Overall population growth averaged about 15 percent per decade until 1840,
after which it increased rapidly. The decade of greatest growth, 37.3
percent, took place between 1850 and 1860, but during the decade (1930-40)
of the Great Depression, growth of less than 3 percent occurred. The growth
rate rose again to 25.5 percent between 1950 and 1960, but by 1980 the
growth rate within the state again had slowed to about 3 percent. From
1980 to 1990 the rate of growth was 5 percent. Growth patterns for individual
counties vary considerably. For many decades Hudson County has decreased
in population, while Ocean County--attractive to both young families and
retirees-- has grown rapidly since the 1940s. Cape May County shows a
greater population increase than the counties around it and a top-heavy
age profile because of its popularity with retirees.
New Jersey has always had a diverse ethnic mixture. The population remained
predominantly of northern European origin until the late 1800s, when southern
and eastern Europeans made up most of the overseas arrivals. After the
Civil War a migration of blacks from the South to unskilled industrial
employment in the cities began; after 1890 the rate of increase of the
black population was higher than that of the white population. Federal
immigration restrictions, begun in 1924, resulted in an urban employment
gap, which, in turn, intensified the northward migration of blacks. Hispanics,
too, arrived in considerable numbers. In 1990, New Jersey's population
was 13.4 percent black and nearly 10 percent of Spanish origin. Both groups
were concentrated in the urban areas.
A recent migration flow into New Jersey has come from within the United
States and other North American countries and from the creation of subcommunities
of Vietnamese and Soviet Jews. By 1990 the Asian population represented
the fastest-growing ethnic group in the state. The state's slow growth
rate from 1970 to 1980 was attributed in part to out-migration, but during
the 1980s there was again migration into New Jersey. For those of foreign
stock (foreign-born or with one or both parents born outside the country),
some leading countries of origin are Italy, Germany, and Poland.
Roman Catholics form the largest religious group in the state. Urban areas
show greater percentages of Roman Catholics and Jews than the more rural
areas, where Protestants are dominant.
Education
Public education in New Jersey was established statewide in 1871. An 1875
constitutional amendment required the state to provide free public school
education for all children between the ages of 5 and 18. A notable feature
of modern New Jersey's public education is a high degree of home rule
in its administration. Local boards exercise a good deal of freedom in
organizing and maintaining their systems, and although this provides for
the unique needs of each community, it leads to divergent curricula and
varying inventories of educational materials from one community to another.
A state supreme court revision in 1973 ruled that local property taxes
could not serve as the primary source for school funding, so in 1976 a
state income tax was instituted to pay for public education. State-supported
higher education in New Jersey is supervised by the Department of Higher
Education (see New Jersey, state universities and colleges of). A system
of two-year county colleges is also in operation. The state's private
institutions include Drew University, Fairleigh Dickinson University,
Princeton University, Stevens Institute of Technology, and Seton Hall
University.
Culture
The Garden State Ballet, the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, and the New
Jersey State Opera--all headquartered in Newark--are examples of the many
performing arts units in New Jersey. The Papermill Playhouse--The State
Theatre of New Jersey--is located in Millburn. The McCarter Theatre of
Princeton University serves as a major regional repertory theater. Museums
in New Jersey include the New Jersey State Museum in Trenton, the Newark
Museum, the Paterson Museum, the Princeton University Art and Natural
History museums, reconstructed iron furnace villages at Allaire and Batsto,
and Waterloo Village on the Morris Canal.
Historical Sites
New Jersey has preserved many historical sites, particularly those of
the Revolutionary War periods. Morristown National Historical Park encompasses
the Ford Mansion, the Wick House, and Jockey Hollow. Battlefield monuments
have been erected at Monmouth, Princeton, Trenton, and Red Bank. Other
historic sites include the Edison National Historic Site in West Orange
and Walt Whitman's house in Camden.
Communications
New Jersey has its share of daily and Sunday newspapers; the Newark Star
Ledger has the largest circulation of any state daily. Philadelphia and
New York City newspapers are also widely read. Similarly, although New
Jersey has locally based radio and television stations, there are large
audiences in the state for broadcasts from neighboring New York and Pennsylvania.
ECONOMY
Diversity has long been a characteristic of New Jersey's economy. No single
source of income dominates. Since colonial times agriculture, commerce,
and manufacturing have been present, but in changing proportions. The
population, along with the large metropolitan markets nearby, has always
been the state's own best customer for services. New Jersey, considered
for good reason by many an industrial state, has an employment pattern
similar to that of the nation as a whole, although especially strong in
the service industries.
Agriculture
Agriculture is decreasing in both physical extent and as a source of income
in New Jersey, the traditional supplier of truck, dairy, and poultry products
for the urban markets of New York and Philadelphia. Competition for land
and labor have raised production costs while prices have remained low.
Several major agricultural processors have left New Jersey, and production
of most farm products has dropped. The once-giant poultry industry has
diminished drastically, but horse breeding has expanded. Truck crops remain
important, although there is a trend toward grain production--particularly
winter wheat--in an effort to minimize costs and lessen the need for migrant
labor. The state government has used tax incentives in an effort to slow
the trend of farmers' selling high-value farmland for development by industry
or for housing.
Forestry and Fishing
Forests in New Jersey support the limited production of wood for charcoal,
industrial pallets, and locally used agricultural produce baskets. Commercial
ocean fishing provides a variety of fish and shellfish, but coastal pollution
has resulted in fish kills and the closing of many of the state's best
shellfish beds.
Mining
Despite prolonged use and relative scarcity, New Jersey still has some
exploitable minerals. Zinc is produced in the northwest, titanium is recovered
from coastal sands, and magnesium is recovered from seawater off Cape
May. Most important in both volume and income are construction materials,
such as gravel, sand, clay, crushed stone, and limestone.
Manufacturing
New Jersey's tax structure is designed to promote industrial growth; manufacturing
provides about 25 percent of the gross state product. Chemicals and allied
products comprise by far the most important industrial sector. Food processing
and the manufacturing of electrical machinery and equipment also produce
very significant revenues. An important adjunct to the manufacturing aspect
of New Jersey's economy is industrial research, particularly in telecommunication
and pharmaceutical fields.
Tourism
Tourism is a leading source of income in New Jersey. Within the state
are portions of Gateway National Recreation Area, Delaware Water Gap National
Recreation Area, Palisades Interstate Park, and four national wildlife
refuges. The state- parks system maintains numerous parks, state forests,
wildlife protection areas, and state marinas. The Statue of Liberty and
Ellis Island are within the New Jersey waters of New York Bay. New Jersey's
shore resorts are famous. Casino gambling in Atlantic City has rejuvenated
this once-decaying resort, known for its boardwalk and the Miss America
Pageant. Old inland summer resorts, particularly around Lake Hopatcong
and Budd Lake, have become year-round residences for many inhabitants.
Winter sports, particularly skiing, are commercially important. The Meadowlands
Sports Complex is the home of professional football, ice hockey, and basketball
teams. It also contains a track for Thoroughbred and harness racing.
Transportation
New Jersey's transportation links reinforce its image as a corridor. Much
of the responsibility for port facilities is shared by neighboring states--involved
through the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey and the Delaware
River Port Authority of Pennsylvania and New Jersey. The ports of Newark
and Elizabeth provide container and bulk cargo facilities. Nearby is Newark
International Airport. The New York-Philadelphia corridor is served by
passenger and freight rail facilities. Ferry service connects New Jersey
with Delaware, and tunnels and bridges link New York and New Jersey. Internal
transportation is almost entirely by an extensive network of highways.
Commuter railroads cover about 800 km (497 mi).
Energy
New Jersey's electrical energy is derived principally from petroleum and
coal; nuclear power is also significant. A small proportion of electricity
is generated by pump storage, direct water flow, and gas. Most petroleum
is imported. Exploration in the Baltimore Canyon off the coast of New
Jersey was undertaken in hopes of locating recoverable petroleum or natural
gas.
GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS
New Jersey's third constitution, adopted in 1947, gives strong powers
to the governor, who is elected for a 4-year term. Senators in the bicameral
legislature serve 4-year terms and members of the General Assembly 2-year
terms. For representation in both houses the state is divided into 40
electoral districts. Each district elects 1 senator and 2 members of the
Assembly. Deadlocks between representatives of the rural south versus
the suburban north often result when dealing with urban problems and tax
issues. The judicial system consists of a supreme court; a superior court
comprising 3 divisions--chancery, law, and appellate; municipal courts;
and other lower courts subject to legislative alteration.
New Jersey's 21 counties, governed by elected boards of freeholders, have
no constitutional powers but are granted certain powers by the legislature.
The allocation of federal funds for various programs under the county
jurisdiction has added to the importance of New Jersey county governments.
Municipalities in New Jersey tend to be powerful, although they have no
constitutional power. Five types of municipal organization exist: cities,
boroughs, towns, townships, and villages--but the names give little indication
of size. Local interpretation of function and power varies. No state legislation
has been passed to prevent fragmentation of municipalities--a reflection
of strong home-rule sentiment. Peripheral areas have tended to break away
from urban centers, making New Jersey one of the most politically fragmented
states.
New Jersey's diversity is also evident in the voting habits of its citizens.
Historically, a near-equal number of Democrats and Republicans have been
voted into the governor's office. In 1993, New Jersey voters elected their
first woman governor, Republican Christine Todd Whitman, who quickly became
a national figure within her party.
HISTORY
The earliest inhabitants of the New Jersey area are believed to have lived
in the region as early as the 11th century BC. The inhabitants at the
time of European arrival were Lenni Lenape, or Delaware, Indians--farmers,
fishers, and hunters of the Algonquian language group. Three linguistic
groups lived in the area: the Munsee, the Unami, and the Unalachtigo.
By the time the Europeans arrived, the Indians had established permanent
villages. The major threat to those inhabitants, other than disease, came
from the Iroquois to the north.
The area was claimed by the English, French, and Dutch on the basis of
explorations (1524-1623) by Giovanni da Verrazano, Henry Hudson, and Cornelius
Mey and on earlier exploration (1497) by John Cabot. The Dutch established
New Netherland in what is now New York and New Jersey. The then-powerful
Swedes established small settlements on the Delaware River; it is there
that Swedish and Finnish settlers built what are thought to be the first
log cabins in North America (see New Sweden).
Cultural differences in trade and land-ownership practices created conflict,
and the earliest Dutch settlements in New Jersey were destroyed during
Indian attacks. In 1660, under the direction of Gov. Peter Stuyvesant,
the fortified village of Bergen--present-day Jersey City--became the first
permanent New Jersey settlement.
In 1664, England began to press colonial claims, and the name New Jersey
was first used in a deed that gave the area to John, Lord Berkeley, and
Sir George Carteret. Except for a brief return to Dutch rule in 1673,
New Jersey remained British until the American Revolution. In 1676 the
colony was divided from northwest to southeast into West New Jersey (Berkeley's
portion) and East New Jersey (Carteret's portion). The boundary line was
subsequently redrawn twice. Present-day county boundaries and private
property lines suggest the final demarcation. West New Jersey, purchased
by a group led by William Penn, served as a haven for persecuted English
Quakers. East New Jersey attracted many New Englanders. These people,
along with Dutch, Swedes, Scots, Irish, Germans, and French Huguenots,
gave New Jersey greater cultural diversity than any other area. This lack
of homogeneity contributed heavily--along with the initial division of
the colony--to New Jersey's persistent lack of cohesiveness and identity.
In 1702 the two proprietorships joined to form the royal colony of New
Jersey.
During the colonial period industry began to grow in the Pine Barrens
with the manufacture of iron and glass from local bog iron ores and sands.
Iron was also produced in the northwest from local ores. Commerce was
important, and New Jersey's highways were the best in the colonies because
of its location between New York and Philadelphia and between the northern
and southern colonies. Most of the people practiced subsistence agriculture,
but specialization in truck crops began early near the New York and Philadelphia
areas.
New Jersey's strategic location and cultural diversity created many hardships
during the American Revolution. Individual loyalties based on economy,
religion, and cultural heritages resulted in a bitter local civil war
within the larger conflict. Both British and colonial armies occupied,
plundered, and marched repeatedly across the region. The major battles
of Trenton and Monmouth, along with many skirmishes, were fought in New
Jersey. Washington's army spent two harsh winters at Morristown, protected
from the British by the Watchung ridges to the east. For four months in
1783, because of a mutinous disturbance in Philadelphia, Princeton was
the capital of the new country.
During the War of 1812 the need for rapid overland transport through the
state resulted in road improvements that later provided routeways for
railroads. Following the war large numbers of European immigrants arrived,
swelling the populations of the state's cities. Although commerce remained
the dominant economic sector until 1840, the state's industries expanded
with increased demand and a growing labor force.
The sentiment of New Jersey's population was divided during the Civil
War, with many people sympathetic to the Southern cause. The state did
not support Abraham Lincoln in his reelection bid for the presidency in
1864 but cast its votes for George B. McClellan, a New Jersey Democrat.
During the 19th century, New Jersey gained attention as the location for
significant inventions. John Stevens built the nation's first steam locomotive
and the world's first steam ferry line in Hoboken during the early 1800s.
Later in the century, Thomas Alva Edison set up his laboratory in New
Jersey at Menlo Park and later at West Orange for work on the lightbulb,
phonograph, and motion pictures. The state's research tradition has continued
into the present day, with such developments as the telecommunications
satellite in 1962 and the transistor in 1948.
Due to its industrialization and high population density, New Jersey has
enacted legislation to protect the environment--one of the first states
to do so. Special emphasis has been placed on maintaining air quality
and protecting coastal and wetlands areas.
Frank Kelland and Marilyn Kelland
Bibliography:
GENERAL: Bernard, A., and Sante, L., New Jersey (1986); Crew, S. R., Black
Life in Secondary Cities (1993); Cunningham, Barbara, ed., The New Jersey
Ethnic Experience (1977); Dubrovsky, G. W., The Land Was Theirs: Jewish
Farmers in the Garden State (1992); Federal Writers' Project, New Jersey,
rev. ed. (1977); Kelland, Frank S. and Marilyn C., New Jersey: Garden
or Suburb? (1978); Somerset Publishers Staff, Encyclopedia of New Jersey,
2d ed. (1994); Wacker, P. O., Land and People (1975); Westergaard, B.,
New Jersey (1987).
PHYSICAL FEATURES: Held, P. C., A Field Guide to New Jersey Nature Centers
(1988); McPhee, John A., The Pine Barrens (1968); Robichaud, Beryl, and
Buell, Murray F., Vegetation of New Jersey (1973); Wolfe, P. E., The Geology
and Landscape of New Jersey (1977).
ECONOMICS AND POLITICS: Clemens, P. G., The Uses of Abundance: A History
of New Jersey's Economy (1992); Espenshade, Thomas J., ed., A Stone's
Throw from Ellis Island: Economic Implications of Immigration to New Jersey
(1994); Pomper, Gerald M., ed., The Political State of New Jersey (1986);
Salmore, B. G. and S. A., New Jersey Politics and Government (1993); Schmidt,
Hubert G., Agriculture in New Jersey (1973).
HISTORY: Fleming, Thomas J., New Jersey (1977); Johnson, James, New Jersey:
A History of Ingenuity and Industry (1987); McCormick, Richard P., New
Jersey from Colony to State, 1609- 1789 (1964); Pomfret, John E., The
Province of East New Jersey, 1609-1702 (1962; repr. 1978) and The Province
of West New Jersey, 1609-1702 (1956).
(c) 1996 Grolier, Inc.
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