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History and Evolution:
By William E. Steinman:
Part 127, Colonies Five:
August 29, 2005:
Another of the first 13 colonies was New Jersey. Before the Europeans came, this area was controlled by the Delaware Indians. In 1524 the Italian explorer Giovanni da Verrazzano, was the first European to reach New Jersey, but that was only a visit. Henry Hudson a British explorer and navigator actually explored Sandy Hook Bay in 1609. After that a settlement was founded by the Dutch at Bergen in 1660. That lasted until 1664 when the English gained control by seizing the colony. Bergen is now called Jersey City. When the British seized the colony half of it went to Sir George Carteret and the other half went to John Berkeley, 1st Baron Berkeley of Stratton.
In 1674 a snorting contest ensued over money and Berkeley sold out to a bunch of Quakers. The Quakers thus took over West Jersey and by agreement Carteret remained as the British proprietor of East Jersey. That division lasted until 1702 when the crown took over the whole show and made it a royal colony. Until 1738 there was not much in the way of royal rule in the colony. The entire area of New York and New Jersey were under a single governor. Then Lewis Morris took the governorship of New Jersey alone.
Now we can get to South Carolina. South Carolina had a bit of a struggle getting itself set up as a separate colony. Around 1520 or so, there were attempts by the Santo Domingo Spaniards to colonize the area which failed. Later some French Protestants made another try to secure a base around what is now Port Royal. That also came a cropper. Later still, in 1566, the Spaniards returned and secured a base at Santa Elena Island which they maintained around 25 years. That island is now called Paris Island.
In 1665 Charles II gave a charter to eight nobles including the I st Earl of Clarendon, Edward Hyde. This was to establish the colony of Carolina and included one heck of a big area. The colony was actually founded on the Ashley River at Albemarle Point in 1670. Later, around 1680 the whole colony moved to the site which is now Charleston on the peninsula between the two rivers, Ashley and Cooper. These folks stayed close to the coast and the colony grew slowly. By 1720 the population was a tiny 19,000 souls. The main business was trade with Indians and export of deer hides.
For sure, there were snorting contest between and the proprietary rule was overthrown in 1719. As a result the colony was divided into two provinces called North and South Carolina. Then part of South Carolina was again cut out to form Georgia in 1731. After the big separation, South Carolina did well and Charleston became the place to be as the cultural center of the colonies. There was still a lot of snorting going on. This was mainly the argument between the costal regions and the hill regions that went on and on and on. It became a part of the revolution as South Carolina Loyalists fought South Carolina patriots.
In that struggle, the British helped the Loyalists by occupying Charleston in 1780. It came to naught because the patriots won two vital victories at the battle of Cowpens and Kings Mountain. A lot of British troops we killed, wounded, and captured at Cowpens. In the Kings Mountain contest, a Loyalist force of 1,100 under Major Patrick Ferguson was surrounded by about 2000 colonials. The Loyalists took a beating and the entire force were captured or killed in the struggle. This was the first of that kind of debacle in a long struggle which ended with the final bitter pill for the British at Yorktown. We'll get to more on the revolution later.
Pennsylvania, another of the thirteen colonies, was a region controlled by the Dutch until 1664. It was first settled by Swedes when the capitol of New Sweden was planted on Tinicum Island in 1643. The Dutch also established trading posts early on. Of course, there was rivalry with its concomitant fighting until the Dutch governor of New Netherland seized New Sweden. That all came to naught when the British sailed into the harbor at New Amsterdam in 1664 and took over the whole show. As we said previously, New Amsterdam became New York and so remained.
In 1681, Charles II gave a charter to William Penn for the whole region. For the record, Penn- sylvania means Penn Woodlands. Penn, a Quaker, established the colony as a religious sanctuary where he intended tolerance to prevail. He actually sent his cousin, William Markham to claim the land and lay out what later became Philadelphia. In 1682 Penn himself arrived and called an assembly to set up the first government and establish what was called the Great Law. This law was intended to guarantee freedom of conscience for all residents. It all worked out and by 1684 the principles of tolerance and popular government were well established in the colony.
All of Pennsylvania is heavy with American and English history. Students of history will know of the dramatic events of the revolution which played out in Philadelphia. Let us note, the First and Second Continental Congresses (1774 and 1775-1776). Also we should not forget the Declaration of Independence which was signed in 1776 in Independence Hall. Later this fated city became the nation capital from 1777 to 1800. And, of course, Philadelphia was the home of the very famous Benjamin Franklin.
In addition, Pennsylvania was involved in much of the struggle that lead up to the revolution. The French had claimed a large part of the area and a great deal of fighting resulted. There were Indians involved on both sides of the fight. George Washington essentially began his military career by going from Pennsylvania to the Ohio Valley where he accidentally engaged the French and hastened the French and Indian wars that followed. Pennsylvania was also the place where the English General Braddock was beaten and killed by the combined French and Indian forces. That happened in Fort Duquesne which is now Pittsburgh.
Much of this struggle had a negative impact on the settlers
and caused considerable anti English sentiment. They particularly
resented the English imposed limits on westward expansion and
they kept expanding in spite of the limits. Strange as it seems,
this bastion of Quakerism and pacifism became the center of military
and political activity as the revolution became inevitable.
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