Effects of Land on Colonial Culture: New Jersey More often than not, the most successful people endured obstacles and difficulties. Even when they have the tools to succeed, outside forces impede and slow them down. Fertile land, access to water, and a location that was ideal for trade. These characteristics of New Jersey seem to be the perfect foundation for a booming colony. However, the advantages of these features were weighed down by disputes over possession, a lack of common currency, and many more problems that handicapped the growth of New Jersey. While the colony eventually reached success, many hardships and failures preceded. The combination of fertile land, location, and conflict defined the colony, and led to the development of
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The same can be said for the colonies of America. New Jersey was a middle colony; it bordered New York and Pennsylvania. Additionally, having been the third-to-last colony to be settled, they were able to examine and learn from previous colonies to develop their own set of rules. The New Jersey Plan (1787), were the plans for the establishment for the state and, “Although this plan accepted a number of features that the Virginia Plan had already introduced, it clearly was closer in spirit to the existing Articles of Confederation than the Virginia Plan.” While this was established after 1776, it reveals how New Jersey adopted the features of other colonies to create refined guidelines. Its neighboring colonies, New York and Pennsylvania, were major trade centers in the colonies. The culture of the surrounding area began to influence New Jersians. Even today, New Jersey is stereotypically viewed as having the same rude and loud culture as New York. New Jersey was able to take features of other colonies that worked and applied them to itself while avoiding the downfalls of its peers and predecessors. Being between the two, paired with the thriving agriculture, New Jersey should have also been a hotspot for trade. However, conflict ravaged the colony and undercut its …show more content…
The people of New Jersey did not hope. Their environment conditioned them to persevere. They relied on themselves to survive. They adapted to the conflicts amongst them. They worked hard to ensure that the benefits they were given did not go to waste. New Jersian colonists were laborers. They were Quakers who sought a place to practice freely. These characteristics were built through the land, the conflict, and the location. While their initial hand seemed to be one to bet on, they had formidable opponents, both situational and political. Had it not been for these aspects of the colony, New Jersey would have turned a drastically different place, possibly not even a state. Out of the land and conflict emerged New Jersey, a diverse population of hard-working people who fought for what they believed
The same can be said for the colonies of America. New Jersey was a middle colony; it bordered New York and Pennsylvania. Additionally, having been the third-to-last colony to be settled, they were able to examine and learn from previous colonies to develop their own set of rules. The New Jersey Plan (1787), were the plans for the establishment for the state and, “Although this plan accepted a number of features that the Virginia Plan had already introduced, it clearly was closer in spirit to the existing Articles of Confederation than the Virginia Plan.” While this was established after 1776, it reveals how New Jersey adopted the features of other colonies to create refined guidelines. Its neighboring colonies, New York and Pennsylvania, were major trade centers in the colonies. The culture of the surrounding area began to influence New Jersians. Even today, New Jersey is stereotypically viewed as having the same rude and loud culture as New York. New Jersey was able to take features of other colonies that worked and applied them to itself while avoiding the downfalls of its peers and predecessors. Being between the two, paired with the thriving agriculture, New Jersey should have also been a hotspot for trade. However, conflict ravaged the colony and undercut its …show more content…
The people of New Jersey did not hope. Their environment conditioned them to persevere. They relied on themselves to survive. They adapted to the conflicts amongst them. They worked hard to ensure that the benefits they were given did not go to waste. New Jersian colonists were laborers. They were Quakers who sought a place to practice freely. These characteristics were built through the land, the conflict, and the location. While their initial hand seemed to be one to bet on, they had formidable opponents, both situational and political. Had it not been for these aspects of the colony, New Jersey would have turned a drastically different place, possibly not even a state. Out of the land and conflict emerged New Jersey, a diverse population of hard-working people who fought for what they believed