New Jersey
Subtitle: a history of the Garden State
By: edited by Maxine N. Lurie and Richard Veit
Publisher: Rutgers University Press
Published: 2012
Place of publication: New Brunswick, N.J
Language: eng
Number of pages: 319
ISBN-13: 9780813554099; 9780813554105
Subjects: History
Description: "Presents a fresh, comprehensive overview of New Jersey's history from the prehistoric era to the present. The findings of archaeologists, political, social, and economic historians provide a new look at how the Garden State has evolved. The state has a rich Native American heritage and complex colonial history. It played a pivotal role in the American Revolution, early industrialization, and technological developments in transportation, including turnpikes, canals, and railroads. The nineteenth century saw major debates over slavery. While no Civil War battles were fought in New Jersey, most residents supported it while questioning the policies of the federal government. Next, the contributors turn to industry, urbanization, and the growth of shore communities. A destination for immigrants, New Jersey continued to be one of the most diverse states in the nation. Many of these changes created a host of social problems that reformers tried to minimize during the Progressive Era.^

Settlement houses were established, educational institutions grew, and utopian communities were founded. Most notably, women gained the right to vote in 1920. In the decades leading up to World War II, New Jersey benefited from back-to-work projects, but the rise of the local Ku Klux Klan and the German American Bund were sad episodes during this period. The story then moves to the rise of suburbs, the concomitant decline of the state's cities, growing population density, and changing patterns of wealth. Deep-seated racial inequities led to urban unrest as well as political change, including such landmark legislation as the Mount Laurel decision. Today, immigration continues to shape the state, as does the tension between the needs of the suburbs, cities, and modest amounts of remaining farmland. Well-known personalities, such as Jonathan Edwards, George Washington, Woodrow Wilson, Dorothea Dix, Thomas Edison, Frank Hague, and Albert Einstein appear in the narrative.^

Contributors also mine new and existing sources to incorporate fully scholarship on women, minorities, and immigrants. All chapters are set in the context of the history of the United States as a whole, illustrating how New Jersey is often a bellwether for the nation"--Publisher description.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: Introduction: New Perspectives on New Jersey History / Marc Mappen; title: Setting the Stage : Archaeology and the Delaware Indians, a 10,000 Year Odyssey / Richard Veit; title: Colonial Period : The Complex and Contradictory Beginnings of a Mid-Atlantic Province / Maxine N. Lurie; title: Revolution and Confederation Period : New Jersey at the Cross Roads / John Fea; title: New Jersey in the Early Republic / Graham Russell Gao Hodges; title: New Jersey in the Jacksonian Era, 1820-1850 / Michael Birkner; title: Civil War and Reconstruction : State and Nation Divided / Larry Greene; title: The Garden State Becomes an Industrial Power : New Jersey in the Late Nineteenth Century / Paul Israel; title: The Progressive Era / Brian Greenberg; title: Depression and War / G. Kurt Piehler; title: Suburbanization and Decline of the Cities : Toward an Uncertain Future / Howard Gillette, Jr.