New Jersey in the Past to

the Present
by Ethan

State Facts

Capital: Trenton1
Minimum Wage: 8.38 USD per hour (2015)1
Population: 8.938 million (2014)1
State bird: American Goldfinch1
Points of interest: Six Flags Great Adventure, Ellis Island, etc.1
Counties: Atlantic, Bergen, Burlington, Camden, etc. (21)
Neighboring states: Pennsylvania, New York, Delaware

Founding

Land discovered in 1524 by Italian explorer Giovanni da Verrazzano 5

Founded in 1664 by Lord Berkeley and Sir George Carteret2
The Duke of York James in 1664 obtained control of New Netherland, and
granted it to two of his friends, Lord Berkeley and Sir George Carteret and
attracted many new settlers by promise of representative government and
religious freedom, often a problem in Massachusetts2

Government in the Present: Executive Branch

Chief of the Executive branch is the governor, who officially resides in

Drumthwacket3
Governor must be at least 30 years old, a U.S. citizen for at least two decades,
and a NJ citizen for at least seven years3
Heads of NJ agencies are appointed by the governor and approved by the
Senate3
Officials include: Attorney General, Secretary of State, Department of
Agriculture and Commissioners of the Departments of Banking and
Insurance, etc.3

Legislative Branch

Made up of the Senate and General Assembly, each having 40 and 80

members3
The Legislatures job is to enact laws and propose laws3
The entire Legislative branch meets about 40 times a year3
The OLS (Office of Legislative Services) provides legal advice, research
support, as well as drafting bills and resolutions3

Judicial Branch

The governor appoints members of the Supreme and Superior with the
Senates approval3
The state Supreme Court is split into Appellate, Law, and Chancery divisions
The Law division hears cases in its Civil and Criminal Divisions 3
The Appellate division hears appeals of decisions from lower courts and state
agencies3
Chancery consists of a General Equity Division whose cases involve matters
like contracts, and Family Division which deals with family legal matters 3

Colonial Government

In 1665, the proprietors, who were Carteret and Berkeley could appoint the
governor; Carteret appointed his cousin Philip as the first NJ governor in
16653
Proprietors of NJ continued appointing the governor for 37 years until 1702,
in 1703 Queen Anne appointed Edward Hyde governor of NY and NJ, and
they shared a governor until 17383
William Franklin was the governor in 1763 and remained loyal to England
until 1776 when he was removed because America claimed independence
William Livingston became the first independent governor in 1776 3

Climate

December 2015 average: 47.87

December 2015 was the mildest winter on record compared to Dec. 2014
average of 38.9, a difference of 8.9 degrees7
2015 and 2014 were the hottest summers on record, averaging 70.5 to 75.5
(June, July, August, both years)7
January 1895 average temperature was 27.7, a difference of 11.2 from Jan.
20067

Significant Points in History: 1524-1776

1524Giovanni
da
Verrazano
discovered
New Jersey
land6

1609Henry
Hudson
claims New
Jersey for
Holland,
now New
Netherland
s6

1664-The
Dutch lost
control of
N.N.; the
English
named it
New
Jersey6

1664- The
Duke of
York grants
New
Netherland
to Lord
Berkeley
and Sir
Carteret6

1738Governors
hip of NJ
and NY
was split,
New
Jerseys
first
governor
was Lewis
Morris6

1776- New
Jersey
joined the
colonial
side of the
war6

Significant Points in History: 1787-1963

1787- NJ
was the 3rd
state to
ratify the
Constitutio
n, and the
1st to sign
the Bill of
Rights6

1790- New
Jerseys
official
capital
became
Trenton6

1850-New
Jersey was
prospering
and the
population
was nearly
half a
million6

1910Woodrow
Wilson
became
governor
and
became
President
in 19136

1919- The
first
passenger
flight in US
history was
flown on
May 3rd,
1919 in
Newark6

1963-NJ
had more
transit by
building
highways
and
expanding
Newark
Airport6

Credits/Sources
1

Google-https://www.google.com/#q=new+jersey

American History- http://americanhistory.about.

com/cs/colonialamerica/p/jerseycolony.htm
3

Official NJ Website-http://www.state.nj.us/nj/gov/understand/

NJ Colonial Government-http://www.state.nj.
us/hangout_nj/government_governors.html

Credits/Sources
5

Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia- https://en.wikipedia.

org/wiki/History_of_New_Jersey
6

Official Website of New Jersey- Short History- http://www.state.nj.

us/nj/about/history/short_history.html
7

Monthly Mean Temperatures in NJ- http://climate.rutgers.

edu/stateclim_v1/data/njhisttemp.html