Province of New Jersey

The Province of New Jersey was one of the Middle Colonies of British America and the direct predecessor of the state of New Jersey. Its territory had been settled by Europeans as part of New Netherland, but the surrender of Fort Amsterdam in September 1664 gave the English control of the Middle Atlantic region. Charles II granted the lands to his brother James, duke of York, who in turn passed the tract between the Hudson and Delaware rivers to two proprietors, Lord Berkeley and Sir George Carteret; the province was named after the island of Jersey, where Carteret had been governor. The Dutch briefly recovered the colony in 1673-1674, and afterwards it was divided into East Jersey and West Jersey, two proprietorships with separate capitals and legislatures. In 1702 the two halves were reunited as a royal colony, governed by a royal governor who usually also commanded New York. Settlement spread inland from the coast, and the original boundaries, which reached into what is now New York, were not finally settled until 1773. In July 1776 the province declared independence and became the state of New Jersey.