New Jersey gave the world both football and baseball, as well as Thomas Nast's Democratic donkey, the Republican elephant, and Santa Claus. It was the home to at least three of the most important inventors in American history.
It was here that Thomas A. Edison invented the electric light bulb, Samuel F. B. Morse the electric telegraph, and John P. Holland the submarine.
Washington's famed crossing of the Delaware brought his forces to the Jersey shore. The state became the "pathway of the Revolution" and suffered through four major battles. New Jersey leads the nation in many areas of manufacture and science and has long proven it is more than a convenient route from North to South. Here is the brif history of the state:
Claims greatest variety of manufactured products.
Major glass manufacturing center.
Leader in flag manufacture.
Chemistry industry leader.
The national jewelry center-Newark.
World's first four-lane highway, constructed between Elizabeth and Newark.
First U.S. charter for a railroad.
Explorers John Cabot in 1497 and Giovanni de Verrizano in 1524 sailed past what is now the Jersey shore.
The first record of a European on New Jersey soil belongs to Henry Hudson, in 1609.
By 1618 the Dutch had set up a trading post at Bergen.
New Sweden was organized on the lower Delaware in 1638.
Federal Writers' Project, New Jersey
Johan Printz ("Big Tub"), a 7-foot giant of 400 pounds, took control of the Swedish settlement in 1643.
In 1664, England took over the colony and the city of Elizabeth was founded.
New Jersey became a crown colony in 1702, under the governor of New York.
In 1738, New Jersey got its own government.
William Franklin, son of Benjamin Franklin, became governor in 1763.
Dissatisfaction with the crown led to the little-known New Jersey "tea party" on December 22, 1774.
After the Declaration of Independence, a provincial Congress took control and arrested Governor Franklin.
After the Revolution reached New Jersey, the state endured four major battles and 90 minor skirmishes, becoming known as the .pathway of the Revolution."
General George Washington and his armies crossed and re-crossed New Jersey flour times.
Washington made his famed crossing of the Delaware River to the Jersey shore, and his victory at the Battle of Trenton at Christmas time, 1776, gave hope to the American cause.
By the close of the Revolution, 17,000 New Jersey men had fought for the new country, and New Jersey became known as the Garden State for supplying war provisions.
In 1783, Princeton was the temporary capital of the new country.
New Jersey became the third state on December 18, 1787.
The new state constitution of 1844 granted many new rights, and slaves gained a degree of freedom in 1846.
The nation's first intercollegiate football game was played at New Brunswick in 1869 between Rutgers and Princeton. Rutgers won.
Opposition to the power of big business brought reforms in the period 1911-1913, under Governor Woodrow Wilson.
Spurred by the inventions of Thomas Edison in New Jersey, the state reigned as motion picture capital of the world until about 1916.
During World War I, the state led in shipbuilding and production of artillery shells, and Hoboken became the major embarkation point of the war.
The Miss America contest began at Atlantic City in 1921.
The great George Washington Bridge was opened in 1931, and Bergen County became "the bedroom of New York.
The days of the passenger dirigible came to an end at Lakehurst with the spectacular destruction of the Hindenburg in 1937.
In World War 11, New Jersey was predominant in production of airplane engines and warships, among other war material; and Camp Gilmer was a major debarkation center.
During the 1940s and 1950s, a series of hurricanes -induding Diane, Donna, and Hazel-took many lives and destroyed hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of property.
The great Meadowlands development opened in 1976 with games of major league teams.
The 1980s were notable for the resumption of large-scale gambling at Atlantic City.
In 1991, New Jersey terminated ocean dumping.
There are alot of other interesting and exciting states of America but as there is a limint of place we explored just a few of them.
Списоклитературы
A Pioneer's Search for an Ideal Home, Judson, Phoebe Goodell,
Understanding USA, Jack Williams
History USA, Daniel Boorstin