. New Jersey as a colony and as a state : one of the original thirteen. irteensemi-independent States, had adopted a constitu-tion, had passed through the bitter personalantagonisms incident to the formation of nationalpolitical parties, and had received recognition asthe worlds greatest republic. But in the stupen-dous metamorphosis there had been but little out-ward change from the habits and customs of colo-nial times, and as little alteration in the State ofNew Jersey as elsewhere in the Union. The close of the eighteenth century found sociallines in New Jersey clearly defined. Familiesdom
. New Jersey as a colony and as a state : one of the original thirteen. irteensemi-independent States, had adopted a constitu-tion, had passed through the bitter personalantagonisms incident to the formation of nationalpolitical parties, and had received recognition asthe worlds greatest republic. But in the stupen-dous metamorphosis there had been but little out-ward change from the habits and customs of colo-nial times, and as little alteration in the State ofNew Jersey as elsewhere in the Union. The close of the eighteenth century found sociallines in New Jersey clearly defined. Familiesdominant in the colonial life of the State, in themi«:rocosms of politics, conventional society,theology, or the law, had their representatives ofequal prominence in 1800. A family name wasstill potent, a family influence still gained promptrecognition. Not even the taint of Toryism, andthe fact that cousins were beginning life anew asrefugees in Nova Scotia or New Brunswick,altered the respect paid to the head or scions ofa distinguished house. Caste distinctions were. 448 NEW JERSEY AS A OOL well defined and the colonial demarcations wereprojected until well into the nineteenth came the families whose sons were membersof the bar and clergy, and from which most ofthe State officials, members of Council, and a por-tion of the House of Assembly were usuallyselected. In West Jersey, as in the Southerncolonies, the members of the Society of Friends,with their large plantation interests, formed adignified landed aristocracy, which had a coun-terpart in East Jersey in the descendants of theDutch settlers who retained ancestral holdingsalong the valleys of the rivers emptying into NewYork Bay. These may be termed the countrygentry. A large portion of the population form-ing another group was composed of small farm-ers, store keepers, and artisans. Day laborers andapprentices composed another element, whileslaves and half-breed Indians were at the base ofthe social structu
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, bookidnewjerseyasc, bookyear1902
