USA > New Jersey > The history of New Jersey from its earliest settlement to the present time > Part 14
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16
France, however, still maintained her insulting and injurious policy. At length, during the ad- ministration of the elder Adams, who energeti- cally, but with little avail, endeavoured to obtain redress, the prospect of a war with that country became well-nigh certain. It was on this occa- sion that the celebrated Alien and Sedition laws were passed, for the avowed purpose of sustain- ing the policy of the administration. The arbi- trary nature of these laws at once brought upon them the obloquy of a considerable majority of the American people, and the Federal party, with which they originated, immediately began to de- cline. In 1800-but two years after their passage-Thomas Jefferson, the Democratic can- didate, was elected to the presidency over Mr. Adams.
Hitherto New Jersey had been strongly Fede- ral, so strongly indeed, that the majority of that party in the legislature, adopted, previous to the
1
245
DEPARTURE OF INDIANS.
1802.]
election in January, 1801, a general-ticket sys- tem of choosing representatives to Congress. They were confident of securing by this means a delegation wholly federal. But the event was contrary to expectation ; the Democratic party triumphing with from five hundred to a thousand majority. The state election, in the following October, also resulted favourably to the Demo- crats. Having obtained a majority in both branches of the legislature, they were enabled. to elect their candidate for governor-the hu- mane and popular Joseph Bloomfield.
During the year 1802, the last feeble remnant of the New Jersey Indians, between seventy and eighty in number, removed from the state. While quietly settled at Brotherton, as their little tract in Burlington county was called, a message came from the Stockbridge Indians, dwelling upon the shores of Oneida Lake, in New York, invit- ing them " to come and eat of their dish, which was large enough for both." " We have stretch- ed our necks," continued the characteristically worded message of the simple red men, "in looking toward the fire-side of our grandfathers, until they are as long as cranes." Accepting this invitation, the Brotherton Indians, having obtained permission to sell their lands, took a final departure from the hunting-grounds of their ancestors.
There being no choice for governor at the 21*
246
HISTORY OF NEW JERSEY. [1803.
election in October, John Lambert, vice-president of the upper legislative house, performed the duties of that office during the ensuing guber- natorial year. In 1803, however, Bloomfield was again chosen.
1
CHAPTER XX.
Re-election of Bloomfield-Act for the gradual abolition of slavery-Aaron Burr-Sketch of his life-Origin of his quarrel with Hamilton-He kills Hamilton in a duel-Is in- dicted for murder by a New Jersey grand jury-His journeys to the West-His arrest, trial, and acquittal-His subsequent career and death-Is buried in the Princeton grave-yard- Difficulties between the United States, England, and France -British orders in council-Napoleon's retaliatory decrees -American Embargo Act-Continued aggressions of Eng- land-Affair of the Chesapeake-Hostilities declared-Ex- emption of New Jersey from invasion-Naval victories of Bainbridge and Lawrence-Death of the latter-American successes-Peace-Governors Aaron Ogden, William S. Pennington, Mahlon Dickerson-School fund created-Isaac H. Williamson governor-Act to expedite the extinction of slavery-Common schools established-Peter D. Vroom go- vernor-Jacksonian and Whig parties-Governors Samuel S. Southard, Elias P. Seeley, Philemon Dickerson-Finan- cial embarrassments-Triumph of the Whigs-Williamn Pennington governor - Constitutional convention - New constitution ratified by the people-Governors Dan. Haines, Charles C. Stratton, George F. Fort-Present condition and prospects of the state-Conclusion.
FROM the period of Bloomfield's second elec- tion until the War of 1812, the history of New Jersey affords but few points of interest, as con-
247
AARON BURR.
1804.]
nected with the public action of the state. The political aspect of affairs was decidedly favoura- ble to the Democrats, Bloomfield being re-chosen every year until the opening of hostilities.
Much to the gratification of the governor, who had been from the first an ardent advocate of the abolition of slavery in his own state, on the 15th of February, 1804, an act was passed, with scarcely a dissenting vote, declaring that all per- sons, the children of slave parents, born after the fourth of July, in that year, should become free-the males, when twenty-five years old, and the females on arriving at the age of twenty-one. Thus New Jersey, the seventh, and, notwith- standing the character of her population, the last of the original thirteen to do so, became virtually one of the circle of free states.
It was during this year that the fatal duel be- tween Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton, took place at Weehawken, on the Jersey shore, opposite New York city.
Burr was a native of Newark, and a graduate of Princeton College, of which his father was the first president. Leaving college with the highest academic honours, at the early age of sixteen, he entered upon the study of the law; but the War of Independence breaking out, he joined the American army, in which he rose to the rank of colonel. Having served through two active campaigns, during one of which he
248
HISTORY OF NEW JERSEY. [1804.
took part in the Battle of Monmouth, he grew dissatisfied, threw up his commission, and re- turned to his legal studies. Daringly ambitious, he had recourse to politics as the speediest and most certain avenue to distinction. His un- doubted talents and genius for intrigue, united with polished manners and a singularly fascinat- ing address, brought him rapidly into notice, and he soon became one of the most prominent and popular democratic leaders. In 1801 he was elected Vice-President of the United States.
From the elevation he had attained, Burr fell
suddenly. Charged with intriguing against Jef- ferson, in order to secure his own election to the office of president, he was abandoned by most of his party, which would nominate him neither for re-election to the vice-presidency, nor as a candidate for the executive chair of New York. For the latter station, however, he determined to run independently, expecting to obtain the votes of the Federalists, whose shattered condi- tion rendered hopeless the election of a candi- date of their own. But Hamilton, the great leader of the Federal party, though not active against Burr, refused to give him his support, and he was defeated.
Chagrined and disappointed, Burr at once turned upon Hamilton, to whom he attributed his defeat, with the malignant and studied de- termination of forcing him into a duel. After
249
BURR INDICTED.
1805.]
endeavouring, in every honourable way, to avoid what both his reason and his conscience abhorred, Hamilton at length accepted a challenge from Burr. Early on the morning of the 11th of July, the parties met. At the first fire, Hamil- ton fell mortally wounded, unconsciously dis- charging his pistol as he sunk to the ground. For twenty-four hours he lingered in extreme agony, and then calmly expired.
A perfect storm of indignation broke over the surviving principal in this lamentable affair. Public opinion regarded him as but little better than a cold-blooded murderer ; and, as such, he was presently indicted by a New Jersey grand jury. Efforts were made to stay prosecution on this indictment, but though he had been a per- sonal friend of Burr, Governor Bloomfield steadily refused to interfere for that purpose. No other course was left to Burr, therefore, than to avoid entering the state.
Ruined in reputation, and with his ambitious hopes forever blasted, the wretched Burr, having served out his unexpired term as vice-president, presently crossed the Alleghanics, and sailed down the Ohio and Mississippi to New Orleans, stopping, very mysteriously, at various points on his route. Returning to Philadelphia in the winter of 1805, he remained there until the fol- lowing summer, when he again set out for the West. It having at length become evident that
250
HISTORY OF NEW JERSEY. [1806.
his designs were of a treasonable character, his arrest was determined upon, and a reward offer- ed for his apprehension. On the 19th of Feb- ruary, 1807, he was captured, while travelling with a single companion, through the Tombigbee country, in Eastern Mississippi. He was pre- sently tried on the charge of treason against the United States. His guilt could scarcely be doubted, but the evidence against him was in- formal, and he was acquitted. Indictments for treason were also hanging over several of his associates, among whom was Jonathan Dayton, of New Jersey. These, of course, were now abandoned.
After standing his trial on certain other charges, of which he was likewise acquitted, Burr embarked for Europe, where, for four years, he lived an object of suspicion, and a wretched, restless wanderer. Returning in 1812 to New York, he there resumed the practice of law. His death, at the age of eighty-four, took place on the 14th of September, 1836. His re- mains were carried to Princeton, and there buried, with the honours of war, beside the grave where repose those of his father.
While Burr was yet engaged in his treason- able plot, the foreign relations of the Union had assumed a troubled aspect.
During the bloody war which succeeded the French Revolution, and up to the year 1806,
251
1806.] BRITISH AGGRESSIONS.
the United States had enjoyed a prosperous, though not entirely uninterrupted trade with Europe. Various assumptions of exclusive naval authority were, however, from time to time set up by the British government. Among these were the right of search, and the right of im- pressment, which, at this period, England, at- tempted to enforce, greatly to the injury of our seamen, native-born as well as adopted citizens. At the same time, that government issued a formal Order in Council, the effect of which was to destroy completely the commercial relations existing between France and America. In- censed by these invasions of the individual rights of their citizens, and of their own commercial rights as a neutral confederacy, the United States energetically remonstrated, through their com- missioners, Messrs. Monroe and Pinckney. Eng- land, however, continued to insist upon her as- sumed right to impress American mariners on the high seas, and to force American vessels, engaged in commerce with other nations, to sail under the license of a British admiral, or be subject to capture and confiscation.
Meanwhile, in imitation of his more powerful maritime rival, Napoleon, now Emperor of the French, issued his retaliatory Berlin and Milan decrees ; which rendered all neutral vessels trad- ing in English merchandise, or under British licenses, liable to seizure and confiscation by the
252
HISTORY OF NEW JERSEY. [1812.
cruisers of France ; just as the British Orders in Council had previously subjected American vessels found trading with French property on board, to capture and confiscation by the navy of England.
Under these irritating circumstances, it was at first thought prudent to withdraw our commercial marine from the ocean altogether. In accord- ance, therefore, with the recommendation of President Jefferson, Congress, in 1807, passed an act enforcing an embargo on American ves- sels. This measure was followed by others of a similar character, including the act of non-inter- course ; but, contrary to anticipation, they wrought no favourable change in the conduct, either of France or England. On the contrary, the latter nation, especially, seemed to grow more determined in her insolence and in her acts of aggression. Among these last was the wanton attack made by one of her cruisers, the Leopard, upon the American frigate Chesapeake, under the pretence of recovering certain men, claimed as deserters from the British service.
From this period, until 1812, various efforts were made to settle, by amicable negotiations, the irritating questions in dispute between the two countries. But all these efforts having failed, Congress, finding that hostilities could no longer be honourably avoided, formally declared
253
NAVAL TRIUMPHS.
1814.]
war against Great Britain, on the 18th of June, 1812.
Confined mostly to the frontiers and the ocean, the contest that followed this declaration caused no injury to New Jersey from actual inva- sion. In other respects she sustained her share of the sufferings and expenses, consequent upon hostilities. In the maritime successes, by which, alone, during the early part of the war, the arms of America were preserved from disgrace, two of her sons gloriously participated ; winning names that will not soon be blotted from the list of our country's naval heroes. Of these, one was William Bainbridge, a native of Princeton, and commander of the Constitution, when she made a prize of the British frigate Java, on the 29th of December, 1812. The other was the heroic Lawrence, of Burlington, the captor of the Peacock brig-of-war. But Lawrence's career, which had opened so brilliantly, was suddenly brought to a close on the 1st of June, 1813 ; he being on that day mortally wounded, during an engagement in which his vessel, the Chesapeake, after a brief but most sanguinary struggle, was compelled to yield to the British frigate Shannon.
It was not until the opening of 1814, that the military arm of our national defence began to recover permanently from its early disasters. During that year, however, it achieved a series of important triumphs in the north-west, on the
22
254
HISTORY OF NEW JERSEY. [1817.
Canadian frontier, and in the south. On the 8th of February, 1815, hostilities were finally terminated by the celebrated victory of General Jackson, over the enemy, at New Orleans. Two weeks previous, a treaty of peace had been signed at Ghent; and on the 17th of the following month, it was ratified by the President and Senate. /
Meanwhile several slight political changes had occurred in New Jersey. At the state elections in 1812, the Federal or Peace party carried the legislature, secured a majority of the congres- sional delegation, and elected Aaron Ogden go- vernor. In the following year, however, the Democrats recovered their lost ascendancy, and William S. Pennington was chosen to fill the ex- ecutive chair.
Pennington was succeeded, in 1815, by Mah- lon Dickerson, who remained in office two years. It was during his administration that the first step was taken toward creating a permanent fund for the establishment and support of a sys- tem of common schools.
In 1817, Isaac H. Williamson was elected go- vernor, to which office he was annually chosen until 1829. While Williamson occupied the chair of state, two important public measures were adopted. The first of these was an act, passed in 1820, embracing and extending the principles of the abolition bill of 1804. By its
255
PARTY ORGANIZATIONS.
1832.]
operation the extinction of slavery has been greatly hastened. Indeed, at the present time, there are no slaves in the state, though about two hundred persons, the children of slave pa- rents, are still held to labour as " apprentices," under the provisions of the act of 1820.
The second measure above alluded to, was adopted in February, 1829. By it the first com- mon schools in the state were established. For their support, provision was made for an annual appropriation of twenty thousand dollars, to be taken from the income of the fund created in 1816. By the liberality of the legislature, that fund had already been increased to a respectable sum.
In 1829, Peter D. Vroom, Esq., was chosen to succeed Governor Williamson. He was a member of the new Democratic or Jackson party, which had sprung up since the dissolution of the two old partisan organizations in 1827.
For a period of nearly fourteen years after the first election of Vroom, the history of New Jersey affords but few points of interest to the general reader. In 1832, the National Repub- lican or Whig party, organized in opposition to the Jacksonian Democrats, succeeded in carrying the state. Samuel L. Southard, formerly Secre- tary of the Navy under Presidents Monroe and Adams, was elected to the office of governor ; but, he being presently chosen to the United
256
HISTORY OF NEW JERSEY. [1837.
States Senate, Elias P. Seely, likewise a Whig, was selected to fill the vacancy thus occasioned. In the following year, however, the Democrats again triumphed; Governor Vroom being once more chosen to occupy the executive chair. He remained in office until 1836, when he was suc- ceeded by Philemon Dickinson, a member of the Democratic party.
During this year events occurred which, for a time, materially changed the condition of . parties. Financial difficulties of the most dis- tressing character arose, causing the bankruptcy of a large number of mercantile houses, and the complete prostration of almost every branch of
employment. By the Whigs it was alleged that these difficulties sprung from President Jackson's opposition to the rechartering of the Bank of the United States; from his removal of the treasury deposits ; and from his circular of 1836, ordering all moneys due the government to be paid in specie. Whether these allegations were true or not, as the distress in the country had grown up under a democratic administration, it led to a reaction highly favourable to the Whigs. During the state canvass of 1837, the latter party elected William Pennington as governor, to which office he was annually re-chosen until 1843.
Meanwhile, in the nation at large, the Whigs continued to augment their strength until, in
257
CONSTITUTION AMENDED.
1844.]
1840, they elected General Harrison to the pre- sidency with an overwhelming majority. Harri- son's death, one month after his inauguration, by placing Vice-President Tyler in the executive chair, caused a vacancy in the speakership of the National Senate, to which the distinguished Southard, of New Jersey, was presently elevated. He thus became, by virtue of his office, Vice- president of the United States.
Though formed hastily during a troubled and stormy period, the constitution of the state had hitherto afforded general satisfaction. Du- ring the year 1843, however, there were de- cided manifestations that some modification of it was desired by the people. Adopted at a time when the colonies had not fully resolved upon independence, it still retained a provision for renewing the colonial connection with Great Britain. This provision was now, of course, a matter of slight importance, yet it appeared singular and out of place, and was offensive to many. But the principal objection to the old plan of government was based upon the fact that it contained, in far too small a degree, those popular elements which, in the constitutions of most of the other states, had been more freely and fully developed.
After some hesitation on the part of the legislature, in February, 1844, a convention of delegates, chosen by the people, was sum- 22*
258
HISTORY OF NEW JERSEY. [1844.
moned to meet, on the 14th of May then fol- lowing, in order " to frame a constitution of the state, to be submitted to the people thereof, for ratification or rejection."
On the day appointed for the convention, fifty-eight delegates assembled. After some dis- cussion, it was determined to frame a constitution entirely new. Entering upon its work in a liberal and intelligent spirit, the convention presently submitted to the people an instru- ment which, while it remained free from the extremes of an excessive zeal for reform, exhi- bited the full acquaintance of its framers with the advanced political science of the age. Ample security was given for the rights of the people ; the different departments of govern- ment were made independent of each other; the governor, hitherto chosen by the legislature annually, was now rendered elective by the people every three years ; the judiciary was established on a new and more permanent foot- ing; the property qualifications formerly re- quired of the members of the legislature, was entirely removed, and the right of suffrage, re- stricted by the old constitution to freeholders, was now extended to all free white males above the age of twenty-one years.
Such, in its more important features of im- provement, was the new plan of government, as ratified by the almost unanimous voice of the
1850.7
PROGRESS OF THE STATE. 259
people, on the second Tuesday in August, 1844. From the period of its adoption, until the pre- sent time, the history of the state presents few points for the consideration of the historian.
The last governor under the old constitution was Daniel Haines, a member of the Democratic party, and elected in 1843. He was succeeded in 1844 by Charles C. Stratton, a prominent Whig. At the subsequent canvass in 1847, the Democrats were again triumphant, re-electing ex-governor Haines. Since that period the state has remained in the hands of the Demo- cratic party : Governor Fort, the present execu- tive, being a member of that organization.
Having thus brought the history of New Jer- sey to a close, little remains to be said beyond a brief notice of the present condition and prospects of the state. By the census of 1840, the number of her inhabitants was three hundred and seventy-three thousand, eight hundred and twenty-three. The census of 1850 exhibits a population of four hundred and eighty-nine thousand, five hundred and fifty-five; the ratio of increase during the decade having been thirty-one per cent. Being more than double the average of that of all previous decades since the Revolution, this ratio of increase affords cheering evidence that, as far as regards popu- lation, a new and fresh impetus has been given to the advancement of the state.
1
260
HISTORY OF NEW JERSEY. [1850.
But it is not in this particular alone that New Jersey exhibits tokens of a vigorous existence. Debarred from foreign commerce, her people have turned their attention to agriculture and manufactures, for which, by the diversity of her soil, and by the number of her mines and water- courses, the state possesses many and rare ad- vantages. In both pursuits her citizens have prospered abundantly, and every year is adding to the wealth and importance which they derive from them.
Since the establishment of the common-school system, the cause of education has been pro- gressing with a rapidity greater even than could have been expected. Though establish little more than twenty years, there are already in the state no less than one thousand five hun- dred public schools, with an average attendance of eighty thousand children. In addition to these, three first-class colleges, and two theolo- gical seminaries, which are attended by between six and seven hundred pupils. Still further, we find two hundred and thirty private acade- mies, attended by more than ten thousand scho- lars. The number of libraries, public and private, in the state amounts to four hundred and fifty-nine, containing two hundred and sixty- one thousand volumes.
1
No state in the American Union presents to the consideration of the historian a purer po-
261
CONCLUSION.
1850.]
litical character than New Jersey. Her soil was obtained from the original proprietors with- out fraud or oppression in any instance ; while in arranging the future government of the pro- vince, the wisdom of her early rulers led them to adopt such simple and inexpensive regula- tions as were best calculated to meet the wants of the people, and to establish firmly among them the principles of peace, justice, and equity.
THE END.
STEREOTYPED BY L. JOHNSON & CO. PHILADELPHIA.
7
-
CATALOGUE OF
VALUABLE BOOKS,
PUBLISHED BY
J. B. LIPPINCOTT & CO., (LATE LIPPINCOTT, GRAMBO & CO.)
No. 20 NORTH FOURTH STREET, PHILADELPHIA; CONSISTING OF A LARGE ASSORTMENT OF
BIBLES, PRAYER-BOOKS, COMMENTARIES, STANDARD POETS,
MEDICAL, THEOLOGICAL, AND MISCELLANEOUS WORKS, ETC. PARTICULARLY SUITABLE FOR PUBLIC AND PRIVATE LIBRARIES;
For Sale by Booksellers and Country Merchants generally throughout the United States.
THE BEST AND MOST COMPLETE FAMILY COMMENTARY.
The Comprehensive Commentary on the Holy Bible; CONTAINING THE TEXT ACCORDING TO THE AUTHORIZED VERSION, SCOTT'S MARGINAL REFERENCES; MATTHEW HENRY'S COMMEN- TARY, CONDENSED, BUT CONTAINING EVERY USEFUL THOUGHT; THE PRACTICAL OBSERVATIONS OF REV. THOMAS SCOTT, D.D .; WITH EXTENSIVE
EXPLANATORY, CRITICAL, AND PHILOLOGICAL NOTES,
Selected from Scott, Doddridge, Gill, Adam Clarke, Patrick, Poole, Lowth, Burder, Harmer, Calmet, Rosenmueller, Bloomfield, Stuart, Bush, Dwight, and many other writers on the Scriptures.
The whole designed to be a digest and combination of the advantages of the best Bible Commentaries, and embracing nearly all that is valuable in
HENRY, SCOTT, AND DODDRIGE. EDITED BY REV. WILLIAM JENKS, D.D., PASTOR OF GREEN STREET CHURCH, BOSTON.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.