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Originally published in 1939
Some of this information may no longer be current and in that case is presented for historical interest only.
Edited by GET NJ, COPYRIGHT 2002
To understand New Jersey in the twentieth century, it is necessary to
visualize the progressive transformation of the State from an agricultural
to a primarily industrial and urban region. In 1890 the urban population
was about 60 percent; by 11900 it was about 70 percent, and by 1930 it
was 82.6 percent.
While wealth and industry continued to increase, agriculture declined
in relative importance. The amount of improved farming land dropped
from 1,977,042 acres in 1899 to 1,305,528 acres in 1924, although the
total value of farm produce showed a gain, largely because of the concentrated poultry and dairy industries. On the other hand the value of industrial output multiplied six-fold from $611,748,000 in 1900 to $3,937, --
157,00 in 1930, and the number of wage earners rose from 241,582 to
442328.
The total population more than doubled between 1900 and 1930, rising from 1,883,669 to 4,041,334 The most spectacular growth was in the
five counties of the New York metropolitan area which reached a total of
2,496,558, about three-fifths of the State's population.
A large volume of immigration helped to push census figures upward
and to increase the diversification of population that began in Colonial
times. TO the Colonial settlers-Dutch, English, Scotch and smaller numbers of French, Germans, Swedes, Negroes and others-thousands of Irish
and Germans had been added by the middle of the nineteenth century.
In the latter part of the century large numbers of immigrants from southern and eastern Europe poured into New Jersey via New York.
The State's immigrant population was further increased between 1920
and 1930 (after the influx from Europe had been stemmed by Federal
legislation) through migration from other States. Although the foreign-born white population of the entire Nation increased by only 111,013 in
that decade and most States showed a decline, the figure for New Jersey
rose by 106,014 to a total of 844,442-almost double the number of
foreign-born whites in 11900.
The most rapid increase in the Negro population occurred in the large
cities, beginning when World War industries mustered man power. Many
hundreds of Negroes were also imported for, work as servants in the
homes of wealthy residents of Montclair and other suburban communities. By 1930 the Negro population was 208,828, almost treble the figure
in 1900.
The twentieth century politics of New Jersey has continued to be dominated -- after the interruption of Woodrow Wilson's term as Governor --
by the natural conservatism of the industrial and business interests. The
conservative forces have helped to defeat movements toward municipal
ownership of utilities, to hamper organization of labor, and to delay modernization of the archaic property tax system.
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