Colonial New Jersey
Religion in the New Jersey Colony was a pluralism during Colonial Times due to the fact that many people fled to the New World from Europe, and although New England was popular, some were dissatisfied with the government, and therefore moved to the Middle Colonies. The majority religion was Presbyterian, alongside with Quakers, Dutch Reformed, Baptists, members of the Church of England, Dutch Lutherans, German Reformed, Seventh Day Baptists, and others. It is also noted that families frequently practiced religion at home, and this was because of the limited number of religious leader and of the inability of many families to afford church dues.
Government in the New Jersey Colony was of proprietary type. This meant that the colony was charted to one person or several whom were entitled to rule the land with utmost authority. In this case, the first proprietors were Berkeley and Carteret, and with both endowed with full governmental powers of the colony, they allowed the settlers to own pieces of land at low, affordable prices, as well as well as to practice the politics and religion of their choice without censure.
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In the New Jersey colony, clothing varied from men, women, and children, and although those who were rich could wear clothes from Europe, most wore what was made at home by the women.
Typically, men wore linen or wool shirts, overcoats, breeches, and boots. In warmer weather, linen was worn, whilst in colder weather, wool was worn, as well as an option of leather breeches and overcoats. Women's fashion consisted of long, linen or wool dresses, petticoats, aprons, white caps, cloaks, and leather shoes. Similarly to the men, linen was mostly used for warm weather, and wool and hooded cloaks for the winter. Children, for the most part, wore simple gowns or shifts, as well as slippers until around the age of 7, whereas their clothing was designed like that of their parents. Houses of Dutch culture in areas of the New Jersey Colony, tended to be built in the style of late medieval and Renaissance building hailing from Netherland and Low Country tradition. These houses, also known as Dutch-American houses, were built to have steep pitched single-gable roofs, leaded glass casement windows, and exterior doors in each room that were split at the center - in which the upper half could be opened to let air in, and the lower half could be kept closed as to keep children inside the house, and unwanted vermin out. Also found in these houses, and of Dutch origin, is the jambless fireplace, which, instead of the brick side walls forming a box shape found typically in English-style fireplaces, had wide, open earths made of red terracotta tiles that extended well out into a room, and a massive hood that directed smoke upward into a chimney which rested on the anchor beams above.
Houses in central New Jersey were built of H-shaped wooden frames, arranged to make one of two first-floor rooms , and spaces were filled with brick noggin to protect against air infiltration. Walls wee covered in wide, sawn weatherboards, or a veneer of kiln-fired brick for more elaborate homes. Northern Colonial New Jersey homes were built of similar fashion, but instead with thick, masonry walls or locally sourced red sandstone and limestone. In Colonial New Jersey, daily life was based around the family business, which was most commonly farming. Alongside farming, different members of the family had different jobs, and these included persons were the father, mother, sons, and daughters.
The father's job was to keep business whether at town, sea, or in the working industry, which included whaling in the southern coast, working at the mills, ironworks, lumber yards, and inn keeping. While boys in the colony helped in the fields or any of the other occupational businesses, girls usually were to help their mothers with housework and gardening. Lastly, the women, or mothers took to the job of growing food, sewing clothing, and cooking meals, although if finances allowed for servants, it wasn't a job done alone. Relatively, those in the colony also had entertainment alongside work. Villages had commons-better known as parks- in which children played, families gathered to discuss the news of that day, and tutors instructed students. Children, not necessarily having toys, either made their own, or played outdoor games such as tag, hide-and-seek, hopscotch, marbles, and more, to accommodate for this. There were a variety of jobs in the New Jersey Colony, whether they were held in town, or by sea, even though the majority of people made their living working on the farm. Also noted, those living in smaller towns took to more than two jobs, while those in larger towns focused on one job because of more business.
Jobs held in the town were to be tradesmen, coopers, merchants, weavers, carpenter, blacksmiths, wheel-rights, seamstresses, shoemakers, and printers. Other jobs were to be a town clerk, a minister, apothecary, or even a school teacher. The most common jobs held for those working in the sea were to be fishermen, sailors, and shipbuilders. Another job taken by the sea was to specialize in selling the seafood caught. Some examples of the seafood sold are : oysters, herring, clams, sturgeon, and shad. Farming was common in the New Jersey colony due to mild climate and rich soil, opposite of their neighboring New England Colony counterpart. Warm-weather crops and grains, such as oats, barley, flax, rice, and wheat were the principal crops grown, as corn and hemp farms were also grown. Alongside farming, colonists in the New Jersey Colony were also able to raise livestock such as pigs and cattle. The New Jersey Colony was first colonized by the Dutch around 1613, and first went by the name of the New Netherland, along with parts of modern-day New York, and was colonized to have a representative government, as well as for the colonists to have religious freedom. The first established town in the New Jersey part of New Netherland was Bergen, in 1660. By the year 1664, the British had driven the Dutch out, and New Netherland became New Jersey. Although New Jersey was to be given to Duke of York, King Charles had decided to split the land between the Hudson and Delaware River to Sir George Carteret and Lord Berkeley of Stratton. Berkeley and Carteret attracted people to the lands by offering religious freedom and also offering land. Upon the sale of the land to the Quakers in 1673, New Jersey split into West and East Jersey up until 1702, when the two were united into the royal colony of New Jersey.
The New Jersey colony, or Colonial New Jersey, a part of the 13 colonies, was a part of the middle colony region - this also included New York, Pennsylvania, and Delaware. This region of colonies also hosted a vast diversity of European ethnic groups as well such as the Irish, Dutch, French, and Scottish. |