Pictures of new jersey colony
Image Source: Wikipedia. New Jersey Colony history, facts, and timeline. Although the colony was divided between East Jersey and West Jersey until , it was one of the most diverse colonies in terms of ethnicity, culture, and religion. Cabot was followed by Giovanni da Verrazano in , who also explored the coast. In the s, the Dutch West India Company provided financial backing for the establishment of settlements in New Netherland, and a majority of European settlers preferred to settle in the Hudson Valley, which later became the English colony of New York.
Until the midth century, the Lenni Lenape Indians, an Algonquian-speaking tribe, were the main inhabitants of New Jersey. Initially, there was little conflict between the Lenape and Europeans. Dutch and Swedish colonists prioritized trade over land acquisition, and the Lenape desired European goods.
New jersey colony map
At the time the first Europeans arrived, it is estimated that approximately 10, Lenni Lenapes lived in New Jersey. Like many Woodlands Indians, the Lenni Lenape lived in riverside villages where they planted fields, hunted, fished, and engaged in trade with other tribes. By the s, disease, and conflicts with the Iroquois Confederacy of upstate New York had taken a toll on the population of the Lenni Lenape.
Because of those issues, many Lenni Lenapes chose to join other native nations and tribes in Pennsylvania and New York.