Already in 1663, before this grant to Berkeley and Carteret was known, several puritan families from Long Island had purchased a considerable tract of country from the Indians and formed a settlement on Newark Bay. A few Swedish farmers also remained scattered here and there, besides old Dutch settlers, all considering themselves legalised possessors of their land. When, therefore, two years afterwards, Sir Philip Carteret arrived as proprietary governor, he found sturdy settlers ready and resolved to oppose his claims to their portion of the soil; hence much discord and difficulty arose.
The only Indian inhabitants of New Jersey were tribes of the Delaware, the most peaceful of all the aborigines, and who readily conceded their claims to the country on very easy terms to the settlers. As regards this Delaware portion of the Indian people, so different in character to all the other tribes, we must be allowed a moment’s interruption to relate how, according to their own tradition, this difference arose. It appears that, in old times, long and grievous wars were carried on between the Iroquois and the Delawares, until both nations were in danger of annihilation. On this the Iroquois sent to the Delawares, saying, “it is not profitable that all nations should be at war with each other, or this will at length cause the ruin of the whole Indian race. We have, therefore, considered a remedy. One nation shall be the WOMAN. She shall make no war, but she shall speak words of peace, to heal the disputes of those who are walking in foolish ways. The men then shall hear and obey the woman.” The Delawares consented to this remedy. A council was called, and again the Iroquois spoke: “We dress you in the woman’s long habit; we give you oil and medicines, and a plant of Indian corn, with a hoe. To your care we commit the great belt of peace and chain of friendship.”
But even if this tradition may be fiction, it nevertheless is well known that the Delawares were greatly respected and honoured by many tribes, and that the term “grandfather” was applied to them, though grandmother, one would think, would have been more appropriate. This assumed relationship, however, may have reference to the good Delaware sagamore, Tamenend, who lived in their tradition as King Arthur in ours.
Philip Carteret landed at the settlement on Newark Bay, to which the name of Elizabethtown, in honour of Lady Carteret, the wife of the proprietary, was given, and which was established as the seat of government. Wishing to attract steady settlers from the New England colonies, Carteret announced that “puritan liberties were warranted a shelter on the Raritan;” and an association of church-members from New Haven emigrated thither immediately. “With one heart they resolved to carry on their spiritual and town affairs according to godly government,” and proceeded to elect officers among themselves, excluding all from political rights who could not claim church-membership. This, though not in accordance with the intentions of the proprietary, was not interfered with. Emigrants were attracted, not only from New England, but from Great Britain. The climate was mild and salubrious; the soil fertile; and the vicinity of the older settlements prevented the danger of distress to which earlier settlers were exposed; besides which, no hostility was to be feared from the peaceful natives. A combination of circumstances thus rendered New Jersey especially promising for colonisation.
All went well till 1670, when the demand for quit-rent would commence. The first settlers claimed exemption on the plea of having purchased their lands prior to the Duke of York’s grant, from the natives, whose right to the soil was stronger than that of any English monarch whatever. So urged the earlier settlers, and many of the later ones set up the same plea, and the payment of quit-rent was refused. Disorder and disaffection prevailed, and that to so great an extent that, in 1672, Philip Carteret was deposed, and James Carteret, a frivolous young man, the natural son of the proprietary, was elected in his place.
Opposition was vain. Governor Carteret hastened to London, leaving John Berry as his deputy. The proprietaries determined to bring the colony to order, remodelled their “concessions,” and abridged the power of the people. The Duke of York expressed his dissatisfaction, and the king fixed a time within which the quit-rent should be paid. But other changes were at hand, which now for the moment turn our attention again to New York.
The settlers of New Netherlands had very willingly placed themselves under British rule, in the hope of advantages which would thence accrue, but the new government conceded very little to the province. The governor, and the council of his own appointment, were possessed of the executive and higher judicial power; of popular rights there were none. Once only an assembly was held at Hempstead, on Long Island; but the governor, finding that “factious republicans” abounded, held no second.
In 1667, Nichols retired from office, and was succeeded as governor by Lord Lovelace. If Nichols’ administration had been unsatisfactory, that of his successor was still more so. The very Swedes and Finns, said to be the most patient of all emigrants, were roused to resistance. Lord Lovelace’s system of government may be comprised in his own words: “the method for keeping the people in order is severity, and laying on such taxes as may give them liberty for no thought but how to discharge them.” An arbitrary tax was therefore imposed of ten per cent. on all exports and imports. This roused the colony, which, by its now eight established towns, protested against the imposition of taxes by the governor and council, they themselves having no voice whatever in the matter; but their protest was called “scandalous, illegal, and seditious,” and ordered to be burnt by the common hangman before the town-house of New York.
The government of the Duke of York was hated for its despotism, and the contempt and disregard which it ever showed towards the popular interest; when, therefore, in 1673, war broke out again between England and Holland, the first opportunity was taken to surrender to its former possessors. Lovelace, who was absent at the time of the surrender, was sent to England in the Dutch fleet. “The colonists for the most part,” says Hildreth, “were not greatly dissatisfied with the change. The local magistrates on Long Island mostly swore allegiance to the Dutch. The people of New Jersey, where a government could hardly yet be said to exist, were prompt to follow the example, as were also the settlements on the Delaware. For a moment the province of New Netherlands revived.” But only, as it were, for a moment; in fifteen months the re-establishment of peace restored the possession of New York to the English.
The duke, having obtained from his brother a new grant, sent out Major Edmund Andros as governor; and the Dutch authorities quietly surrendered the province once more. The inhabitants prayed to have an assembly, but their prayer was not granted, though some concessions were allowed. Nor was the desire of the three eastern towns of Long Island to be permitted still to remain attached to Connecticut, indulged. They were severed from that province, and a claim was put forth by New York for the whole territory as far as Connecticut River. This, however, was so stoutly resisted by the troops sent out under Captain Bull, at Saybrook, when Andros appeared there with several sloops of war, intending to enforce his purpose, that he finally abandoned the attempt, remarking jocularly, that such a Bull as had there met him deserved to have his horns tipped with gold. But though defeated in this instance, he was more successful with regard to the territory lying between the Kennebec and the Penobscot, which, during the Dutch supremacy, had been held by Massachusetts, and now was reclaimed by Andros. “Exclusive of this district of Sagadahoc, and of the settlements west of the Delaware, consisting of two Dutch and two Swedish villages, and the islands of Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard, now called Duke’s County, the province of New York contained twenty-four towns and villages, of which the sixteen on Long Island were arranged in three counties. The city of New York, at that time far inferior to Boston, had about 350 houses, and some 3,000 inhabitants. The very centre of the present city was a farm, which had been the company’s and was now the duke’s. The entire population of the province amounted perhaps to 12,000 or 15,000. The value of the annual exports was about £50,000. The exports were wheat, tobacco, beef, pork, horses, lumber, and peltry. The mercantile fleet counted three ships, eight sloops, and seven boats. Even on the island of Manhattan agriculture was the chief occupation. The manners of the people were simple. There were few servants, and very few slaves; yet the distinction of ranks, especially among the Dutch, was very marked. There was no good will between the Dutch inhabitants and the immigrants from New England; and the English towns on Long Island still cherished the hope of being restored to Connecticut, in whose popular institutions they longed to share.”[[8]]