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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
At the Philadelphia convention New Jersey, long conditioned to fear
New York and Pennsylvania, became the chief spokesman for the small
States in their struggle against the Virginia or "large-State" plan for a
powerful national government with a Congress based on population. Although the Virginia plan was adopted for the House of Representatives,
the New Jersey plan of equal representation matured into the provision
for the balancing Senate. The small States' victory was the greater one,
since Congress could not act without the consent of a majority of the
States, regardless of population.
A further New Jersey contribution to the Constitution was the all-important clause which declares that the Constitution, laws, and treaties of
the United States shall be the supreme law of the land. From this clause,
together with the provision for a national judiciary empowered to determine all legal questions involving the Constitution, the United States Supreme Court later derived the power to harmonize Federal and State laws
with the Constitution by the process called judicial review.
Satisfaction with the document itself and with the opportunity for protection against New York and other neighboring States resulted in prompt
ratification. On December 18, 1787, New Jersey became the third State to
approve the Constitution.
Between 1790 and 1840 the foundations of the State's present industrial system were laid. In 1791 Alexander Hamilton founded the Society
for Establishing Useful Manufactures, selecting the Great Falls of Passaic
River as the site for an industrial city, Paterson. The first factory built at
Paterson began to operate in 1794, printing calico goods. As Newark's
leather and Trenton's pottery industries grew, businessmen developed important branches of commerce. Banks were chartered at Newark, Trenton,
and New Brunswick during the first decade of the nineteenth century, and
insurance began in the same period.
At Trenton, which had become the State capital in 1790, the legislature
sensed the power of trade. Many turnpike companies were chartered even
before the need for good roads was emphasized by the War of 1812. Scientists and inventors -- John Fitch and Colonel John Stevens with their
steamboats and, later, Seth Boyden with malleable iron and patent leather
-- accelerated the trend toward industrialization.
On this groundwork there rose, following the short depression at the
end of the Napoleonic Wars in 1815, a 20-year prosperity. By 1828 the
State had about 550 miles of gravel and dirt roads under 54 charters. Between 1810 and 1840 New Jersey ranked third as an iron producer in the
Nation. The value of iron products in 1830 was about $657,000; glass
and pottery, $490,000; and cotton products, $11,733,000. Encouraged by
the protective tariff of 1816, investors developed water power and mill
sites for textiles and flour. By 1830 Paterson had fulfilled its early promise
and had become a busy mill town, rich with profits and scarred with labor
exploitation.
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