COLONIAL NEW JERSEY

by John T. Cunningham ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 1, 1971

Set between the important cities of New York and Philadelphia, New Jersey was both a pathway and a melting pot; a colony of shifting loyalties and conflicting real estate claims; a stepchild without its own governor until 1738 but with an independent temperament that led to scattered episodes of rebellion for over 100 years before the Revolution. Such themes are stated here but often obscured by the details of the dry chronological account of settlements, land claims, and legislation, deeds, deals, and incorporations, and an unending string of officials. Though brief later sections cover transportation, taverns, glass making, ironworks, churches, and slavery, the facts and flavors of daily life are ignored; even the section on churches is characteristically devoted to listing denominations and ministers and sites of original meeting houses, with one flat anecdote about a Presbyterian split but no attention to the place of religion in colonial life. Unlike Cook's New Jersey Colony (1969), in which the issues and ideas and personalities give direction and lift to the facts, this study will be used exclusively for school research -- and students will have to process the extensive information themselves.

Pub Date: June 1, 1971

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Nelson

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 1971

Categories: NONFICTION