East Jersey
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East Jersey, together with West Jersey, was a distinct, separately governed Province of New Jersey that existed for 28 years, between 1674 and 1702. Its capital was located at Perth Amboy.
Determination of an exact location for a West Jersey/East Jersey borderline was often a matter of dispute, but the old provinces correspond roughly with South Jersey and North Jersey today.
Where West Jersey involved a fairly focused group of people interested in establishing a Quaker colony, East Jersey felt the influence of a variety of cultures early on. There had been Dutch settlement prior to the English conquest in 1664 but the Dutch had mostly abandoned the west side of the Hudson River after conflicts with the native people.
The Delaware Valley had been inhabited by the Lenape (or Delaware) Native Americans prior to exploration and settlement starting around 1609 by the Dutch, Swedish and English. Settlement of the West Jersey area by Europeans was thin until the English conquest in 1664.
The Dutch had established one or two Delaware River settlements, but by the late 1620s had moved most of their inhabitants to Manhattan which became the center of New Netherland.
The development of the colony of New Sweden in the lower Delaware began in 1638. A fort was built near present-day Wilmington, Delaware at the mouth of the Christina River (named for Sweden's Queen Christina). Most of the Swedish population was on the west side of the Delaware, but after the New Netherland's Fort Nassau was re-established to challenge the Swedes, Fort Nya Elfsborg was established near present-day Salem, New Jersey. The Dutch defeated New Sweden in 1655.
Beginning in the late 1670's Quakers settled in great numbers first near Salem and then in Burlington which became the capital of West Jersey.
In 1675, East Jersey was partitioned into four counties for administrative purposes: Bergen County, Essex County, Middlesex County and Monmouth County.
