The Land Called New Jersey

[Music] England June 2014 years of Cromwell are gone and the fastidiously dressed in the Whig gentlemen of the court are once again in power here are gathered today His Royal Highness James Duke of York brother of King Charles the second and two court favorites John Lord Berkley baron of Stratton and Sir George Carteret of silk rooms who as governor of the Isle of Jersey had sheltered the Duke Sir William Coventry secretary and advisor to the Duke is also present for this historic day this is a day when the eyes of Englishman are looking toward a new continent across the sea America [Music] before this day is over James will give to Berkeley and contract all the land lying between Manhattan Island and the Delaware Bay and River to the south and west recalling Carteret stout defense of the Isle of Jersey for King Charles the Duke also this day decreed that this gift of land should be called New Jersey [Music] [Applause] [Music] the land called New Jersey what was it who really knew surely no one in England knew what was to be found here for few explorers had ever gazed at its white sands and rolling dunes too that had were Giovanni da Verrazzano in 1524 and Henry Hudson in 16:9 inland virgin forests of pine stretched westward from the sea to the north the rolling hills mountains and tall hardwood forests were dotted with sparkling lakes everywhere rushing streams searched for outlets to the sea for some the search led to the Delaware River in the West for others flowing eastward the destination was the mighty Hudson it's wooded banks crowned by towering Palisades within the woodlands dwelled the Indians the Lenni Lenape whose name meant the original people friendly and peace-loving they lived along the riverbanks when this boy came of age this thick hair would be pulled to leave a Scout Block in the center for daily Neels the women cooked wild game or fish they grew squash and beans corn was dried and ground into meal although the original people are gone dioramas like this one in the State Museum at Trenton almost bring them back to life again and take us back to an earlier time in New Jersey history a time when the settlers came beginning with the Dutch to the north and the Swedes and Finn's to the south the early settlers traded text tools and trinkets axes knives and tools in exchange for furs food and land land on which the Dutch built sturdy homes like the Steuben house at River Edge or mark at all in Middletown both now preserved as historic museums land on which the Swedes and the Finns built America's first log cabins such as this cedar plank house at Hancock's bridge in Salem cocky after 1660 for the British proprietors divided the land into West New Jersey and East New Jersey the office of the proprietors of East New Jersey still stands here in Perth Amboy this office and the office of the proprietors of West New Jersey in Burlington our headquarters of the two oldest active corporations in the state preserved among the West New Jersey records is one of America's great documents of democracy the concessions and agreements of the proprietors freeholders and inhabitants of the province of West New Jersey in America this relatively little-known document provided for popular election of Representatives by secret ballot it guaranteed broad personal liberties including complete freedom of conscience and religion protection of the individual and trial by jury [Music] to East New Jersey came many settlers from New England their influence remains in the design of their houses in the restfulness of shaded village greens and in the lofty spires of colonial churches West New Jersey on the other hand was settled by the Quakers many of their meeting houses and homes of red brick still stand this historic Hancock house and others in Salem County are decorated in patterns of glazed brick [Music] here you'll find owners initials and dates of construction covering nearly a century of New Jersey history [Music] this was a century that it seemed growth and changes in the new world the two jerseys were united in 17 to under a royal governor and Jersey men found themselves literally in the middle of things [Music] lying between two great cities Philadelphia and New York this narrow corridor became a colonial pathway for travel and news within this belt with built roads and towns at Princetown McCulloh of New Jersey became notable and in 1776 Queens College was founded at New Brunswick giving little New Jersey to of only nine colleges in colonial America thriving ends at wayside corners served travelers of all opinions [Music] over New Jersey roads ran the swiftest transportation of the time carrying the mail the latest news and the discord now spreading through the colonies wherever travelers stopped eager ears listen to the facts and the rumors of the day news oft times disturbing for the liberties of Jersey men were beginning to be restricted by king george's insistence that there must be taxes taxes without representation ignited fiery protests [Music] this monument and the jersey town of green which honors local citizens who protested the tax on tea in december 1774 dressed as indians they seized a cargo of tea and set it afire the flames of unrest spread there were shots at Lexington the Liberty Bell ran out and Jersey man Joe and colonial brothers in arms' New Jersey became revolutions crossroad here would be fought five major battles and scores of skirmishes driven from New York by well-armed British regulars and Hessians General George Washington escaped across the Hudson with his men in November of 1776 pursued by the Redcoats Washington led his inexperienced volunteers of cross New Jersey all the way to the banks of the Delaware above Trenton [Music] here in early December commandeering every available boat the Americans escaped to the opposite shore leaving their pursuers no means of following with the British in possession of New Jersey and the bitter cold of winter coming on Washington decided on the war's boldest stroke he would attack on Christmas night of 1776 strong seamen from New England rolled the heavily loaded boats across the ice choke river [Applause] [Music] horses cannon and 2,400 men are braving an icy and treacherous river men with no illusions hungry and cold their retreat made them objects of ridicule now following a dauntless and determined leader fighting for the right to shape their own destinies these men are crossing from despair and defeat to hope and victory [Music] it was long past midnight before the crossing was completed with wind-driven sleet lashing of their faces the troops followed Washington nine miles southward to astound the Hessians at Trenton with a surprise attack [Music] famous paintings in the old barracks at Trenton and other New Jersey museums tell the story of the Trenton triumph Washington's army was often in New Jersey at the Battle of Monmouth in June 1778 General Lee retreated in panic under British attack but Washington arrived to rally the demoralized forces the now experienced Americans proved at Monmouth their ability to fight the British regulars on an open battlefield before this scorching Sunday at Monmouth was over a favorite American story would begin a story of molly Pitcher who carried water to the soldiers then took her husband's place in battle as he lay wounded beside his cannon [Music] in the bitter winter of 1779 1780 Washington made his winter headquarters at the Ford mansion in Morristown this tiny room was the general's office we know much about those Morristown days from Washington's own records personal as well as official he wrote that here in the great kitchen of the mansion eighteen members of his staff and the Ford family were huddled and in his own words scarce one able to speak for their Kohl's nearby in the deep woods of jockey Hollow soldiers barely survived the winter they're rude Hut's are gone but a reconstructed officers Hut provides visitors of good idea of the inadequate protection this reconstructed log-cabin hospital shows how jockey hollows ailing men were sheltered at long last spring came to Morristown and with it came Lafayette as shown in this diorama in the Morristown National Historical Park greeted by Washington Lafayette brings good news the French Navy has sailed to help the American cause news of final victory came in 1783 through the Continental Congress meeting in Nassau Hall at Princeton then capital of the newborn nation later at the Constitutional Convention New Jersey fought for small states to be equally represented in Congress the direct result was the United States Senate when the Constitution was amended to add the Bill of Rights it gave to all Americans many of the same rights provided by West New Jersey's concessions and agreements a century before New Jersey jointly ratified the Constitution being the third state to put its Great Seal in place swords and guns would be wrought into plowshares [Music] from the beginning agriculture had been the way of life a new jersey quickly became known as a breadbasket of the new nation for those who work the land days were long and full but crops were good and orchards heavy with fruit life on the farms was simple man was sufficient unto himself and to his brood inside the homes there was cooking candle making all the housekeeping skills that every young lady needed here in the dye mansion at totowa the colonial Deb's show how Johnny cake was baked over an open fire and demonstrate many of the domestic arts such as lace-making and spinning [Music] [Applause] in the towns industry had begun skilled New Jersey Potter's turned their Queens [Applause] blacksmiths met needs of builders and farmers alike and in many small factories in the Pinelands southern New Jersey glass became famed throughout the nation memories of those days live on here at Clayton where blowers using the methods of colonial times continue to make the old-time hand-blown glass almost every stream had its grist mill and the Millers wheel was soon joined by others for water could provide the needed energy for growing industry this is the sound of power the power of a Passaic River plunging 70 feet downward in a show of strength [Applause] beside these muddy Falls the city of Paterson was founded in 1791 as America's first planned industrial city destined in a century and a half to make everything from textures to locomotives to airplane engines growing industry needed iron and iron was made in many locations such as a lair in Monmouth County here the old d hives stack of the original furnace and the restored 19th century buildings are preserved in an unusual state park another state-owned momento of an iron heritage is the baronial mansion that Ringwood in Passaic County at batsto in the Pine Barrens of Burlington County is still another iron village preserved by the state New Jersey was on the moon but a growing land needed better transportation in 1786 John Fitch a Trenton gunsmith sailed America's first steamboat between Burlington and Philadelphia in the 1830s two important barge canals were built the Morris Canal climbed from Jersey City to Lake apat Cong 924 feet above sea level then descended toward the coal fields of Pennsylvania to the south the Delaware and Raritan canal connected Bordentown Trenton and New Brunswick a mural in Wharton Town Hall shows how Morris canal barges were lifted over the mountains by a system of locks and inclined planes today at the canals lake a pet condom children falling in water is no longer needed to float the barges the barges are gone too from the Delaware in Raritan canal but the placid waters remain the vital flow of Commerce on those canals is but a memory for waterways quickly gave way to railroads John Stevens built America's first locomotive which ran in Hoboken in 1825 after that first Stevens locomotive New Jersey took a leading spot in the railroad race railroads built industrial cities but they also brought change to the agricultural economy growth came to rural county seat such as Newton in the hills of Sussex Belvedere in Warren on the Delaware Flemington in Hunter dunes fertile fields Mount Holly on the edge of Burlington's pine forests mays landing in the backcountry of Atlantic County and to Cape May courthouse in the south in many of the courthouse towns much of the atmosphere of the 19th century lingers and here too can be learned much of New Jersey's role in the Civil War when eighty-eight thousand of her men and boys enrolled and six thousand never returned New Jersey was now two centuries old but stood on the threshold of its most fabulous years one Jersey man more than any other American would lead that march into the future Thomas a Edison his story lives on in the Edison National Monument in West Orange here is a model of his earlier laboratory at Menlo Park where on October 22nd 1879 his thousands of experiments finally produced the world's first practical incandescent plant using a filament of carbonized bread that lamp glowed for 40 hours then Edison stepped up a current to see how much it could take [Music] darkness but man could no longer live in darkness and soon Edison generators were coming everywhere producing light and power to revolutionize both industry and the home [Music] Edison also gave mankind the means to hear it South sing the museum has the original phonographs and the earliest recordings [Music] [Laughter] [Applause] movies came to from The Wizard of Menlo Park in the black Mariah a replica of the first movie studio visitors can see an Edison film the original Western made in New Jersey [Music] [Applause] [Music] even as the guns blazed in the first westerns a new and compelling sound was heard [Music] America became a nation on wheels and New Jersey factories turned out dozens of brands of cars including the famous Mercer and the simplex the automobile swiftly rolled New Jersey into the 20th century a century that is continued to accelerate to almost dizzying speed [Music] year by year the old trails have been replaced by the amazing complex of parkways and interchanges that characterize New Jersey today symbols of America's fastest moving half-century of history we now fly in a few minutes what once took days to travel from Newark founded in 1666 as a village of 30 families to Camden once a tiny ferry landing on the Delaware everywhere the sprawling Giants at heavy industry mingled with the trim beauty of suburbia shipyards harbours power plants and factories are attuned to a century which is known two world wars and an amazing population growth the Golden Dome of the State Capitol in downtown Trenton rises above the home of New Jersey's government and nearby this towering monument stands in memory of the Battle of Trenton in 1776 a symbol of freedom for which Jersey men have always fought old Queens College in New Brunswick is now Rutgers the State University and the College of New Jersey has become Princeton University these have been joined by more than 40 other universities and colleges Edison is gone but on this tower at Menlo Park a giant electric light bulb glows at night symbol of the billions of lights that burn today in industries in cities and in homes research pioneering continues in hundreds of New Jersey laboratories revolutionising the world of today and tomorrow in industry in medicine and electronics probing the newborn world of nuclear physics and chemistry carrying research and communications into the vast unknown of outer space [Music] the many Linate are gone but their colorful Indian names remain some of the deep woods the Indians knew are now state forests protected for all to enjoy the mountains and the lakes are playgrounds for all [Music] the seashores where Indians gathered for summer fishing now blossom with the color of summer gaiety and where they once set their wigwams hotels tower against the sky famous resorts Atlantic City has Berry Park and dozens more from Cape May to Sandy Hook but for those who would see the shore almost as Henry Hudson saw there are miles of sanctuary where nature is preserved motion continues to roll the same ocean that linked England and America three centuries ago when James Duke of York with a stroke of a pen gave all this part of the new world to his friends and with his gift decreed that henceforth and forevermore this should be a land called New Jersey [Music]