New Jersey, one of the thirteen original states of the American Union, is bounded on the N. by the state of New York; E. by the Hudson River, Staten Island Sound, Raritan Bay, and the Atlantic; SW. by Delaware Bay; and W. by the Delaware River, which separates it from Pennsylvania. Its greatest length is 167 miles; its width varies from 32 to 59 miles. It has an area of 7577 sq. m.; it is the smallest of all the states save three, but it ranks eighteenth in population.
In the north-west part of the state there are two portions of the Appalachian system. The Blue or Kittatinny Mountains extend along the Delaware from the Water Gap up, attaining a height of 1400 to 1800 feet. The highlands south and east of these consist of many ridges, their greatest height 1488 feet. In this part of the state are many small lakes. The Palisades, the Orange Mountains, and other hills are in the red sandstone region, which extends from the north-east to the central part of New Jersey. The Navesink highlands, south of Sandy Hook, reach a height of 282 feet, support two lighthouses, and are the only considerable elevation on the Atlantic coast south of New England. The central portion of the state is generally level and fertile; the southern part is in large measure sandy, covered with pine-woods, and marshy near the coast. The state is abundantly watered; its chief rivers, the Passaic, Raritan, Little and Great Egg Harbor, flow south-east into bays. The coast from Sandy Hook to Cape May is generally protected by peninsula or island beaches; the only considerable exception to this rule being the strip of mainland, about 18 miles long, between Monmouth and Squan beaches.
In agriculture the state occupies a prominent position in proportion to its area. The farms comprise some 3,000,000 acres, more than three-fourths under tillage; the value of farm lands approaches 200,000,000, and that of farm products is about 30,000,000 annually. The chief products are maize, oats, wheat, rye, hay, potatoes and sweet potatoes, cattle, butter, and milk. The leading mineral products are iron ore, limestone of various kinds, zinc, and slate. Glass, pottery, machinery, leather, silk, and sugar are among the chief manufactures.
New Jersey returns seven members to congress. The state legislature meets at the capital, Trenton, in January; a senator is chosen from each of the twenty-one counties (one-third each year) for three years; the assembly has about sixty members, who serve one year. The annual taxes are about $3,000,000, of which full half is devoted to education. There are (besides seven county asylums) two large lunatic asylums near Trenton and Morristown, the latter accounted a model; an institution for the deaf and dumb, an industrial school for girls, and a large state-prison, at or near Trenton; a reform school for boys near Jamesburg; and a home for disabled soldiers at Newark. There are 1400 school districts. In the cities over 100,000 pupils are enrolled, and some 240,000 in the rural districts. The state normal school is at Trenton, and its preparatory school at Beverley; and the state agricultural and scientific school is connected with Rutgers College, at New Brunswick. The College of New Jersey, founded in 1746 at Princeton (q.v.), is the most famous institution in the state.
New Jersey has two canals, the Morris and the Raritan, and some fifty railroads, with nearly 3000 miles of length. The position of the state, between the two great eastern cities and bordering upon both, has powerfully stimulated travel, industry, and population. Its south-west portion has Philadelphia for a market; its north-east section, including its two largest towns, is a suburb of New York. Its coast from Navesink to Squan is covered with villas, cottages, and hotels. Cape May and Long Branch for half a century, and Atlantic City for twenty years or more, have been noted seaside resorts. Asbury Park, Ocean Grove, Seabright, &c. are now growing places, crowded in summer. Newark and Jersey City are by far the largest cities; next come Paterson, Camden, Hoboken, Trenton, Elizabeth, New Brunswick, and Orange. Pop. (1800) 211,149; (1840) 373,306; (1880) 1,131,116; (1890) 1,444,933.
History.—In 1617 the Dutch settled at Bergen, near New York. In 1623 Cornelius May ascended the Delaware and built a fort four miles below the site of Camden. Some English colonists in that region were driven away in 1638 by the Swedes, who were conquered in 1655 by Peter Stuyvesant. In 1664 the territory was granted by Charles II. to the Duke of York, and by him to Lord John Berkeley and Sir George Carteret, with full power of government to them and their assignees. There was no trouble with the Indians, whose titles were peacefully purchased. The proprietors soon divided the territory into East and West Jersey. In 1674 Berkeley sold West Jersey to two Quakers, who settled Salem and Burlington; and in 1682 a society under Penn bought the Carteret rights in East Jersey. In 1702 the proprietors surrendered their power of government to the crown, and the two provinces were reunited; and from 1738 New Jersey had its own royal governors, always at issue with the assembly and the people. New Jersey bore its part in the colonial wars, contributed 10,726 men to the Continental army, besides militia, and spent over $5,000,000 in the cause of liberty. It suffered heavily during the revolution, and was the scene of several important campaigns and battles. The state sent nearly 7000 men to the war of 1812, and for the civil war thirty-seven regiments of infantry, three of cavalry, and five batteries. See the History of New Jersey, by Raum (1880).