New Jersey in the American Revolution, 1763-1783: A Documentary History edited by Larry R. Gerlach and published by the New Jersey Historical Commission is a compilation of primary sources relating to the American Revolution in New Jersey.
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Table of Contents
Introduction, Preface and Abbreviations
I. Reform and Resistance
- Daniel Coxe to Joseph Reed, April 12, 1764 [5]
- The New Jersey Committee of Correspondents to Joseph Sherwood, September 10, 1764 [7]
- Robert Ogden to Samuel White, June 20, 1765 [9]
- “Caesariensis” on Stamp Collectors and the Stamp Act Congress, September 3, 1765 [10]
- Richard Stockton to Robert Ogden, September 13, 1765 [12]
- “A. Lawyer” [Elias Boudinot] on the Suspension of Legal Proceedings, October 1765 [14]
- Cortlandt Skinner to Thomas Boone, October 5, 1765 [16]
- The Essex County Stamp Act Resolves, October 25, 1765 [18]
- “The Effigy of a Wretch” Hanged in New Brunswick, October 29, 1765 [19]
- Copy of a Letter from Trenton in New Jersey, November 5, 1765 [20]
- The Stamp Act Resolves of the New Jersey Assembly, November 30, 1765 [22]
- “A Lover of Liberty” to the Woodbridge Sons of Liberty, February 1766 [24]
- The Resolutions of the Woodbridge Sons of Liberty, February 26, 1766 [27]
- Richard Smith to the Committee of Correspondence of the New York City Sons of Liberty, March 15, 1766 [28]
- Woodbridge Celebrates the Repeal of the Stamp Act, June 5, 1766 [30]
II. Taxes and Troops
- Richard Stockton to Samuel Smith, March 21, 1767 [34]
- British Soldiers Riot in Elizabethtown, July 27, 1767 [38]
- Samuel Allinson to David Cooper, January 1, 1768 [40]
- The Petition of the New Jersey Assembly to George III, May 6, 1768 [42]
- Governor William Franklin to Lord Hillsborough, November 23, 1768 [44]
- Residents of Gloucester County to Robert Friend Price and John Hinchman, October 3, 1769 [46]
- The Resoultion of the New Jersey Assembly Supporting the Boycott to Oppose Townshend
- Duties, October 18, 1769 [48]
- The Address of the Magistrates, Freeholders, and Inhabitants of New Brunswick to Major
- Charles Preston, May 14, 1770 [49]
- The Essex County Nonimportation Resolves, June 5, 1770 [50]
- Protest Activities at the College of New Jersey, July, 1770 [52]
- Public Coercion of Importers in Middlesex County, August, 1770 [53]
- The Mansfield Township Resistance Resolutions, August 13, 1770 [55]
- “Cethegus” on Nonimportation, September 25, 1770 [57]
- Hunterdon County Freeholders to John Hart and Samuel Tucker, May 1771 [59]
- Aaron Leaming to his Cape May Constituents, May 26, 1771 [61]
III. The Common Cause
- The Committee of Correspondence of the New Jersey Assembly to the Boston Committee of Correspondence,May 31, 1774 [67]
- The Essex County Resolves on the Boston Port Act, June 11, 1774 [69]
- James Kinsey to Elias Boudinot, June 14 and July 2, 1774 [73]
- The Resolves of the New Brunswick Convention, July 23, 1774 [76]
- “B.N.” on the Continental Congress, July 25, 1774 [78]
- “Z” on the Nature of the Imperial Controversy, July 29, 1774 [82]
- The Reverend John Witherspoon, “Thoughts on American Liberty,” August 1774 [85]
- Samuel Allinson to Patrick Henry, October 17, 1774 [87]
- The Essex County Grand Jury to Chief Justice Frederick Smyth, November 1, 1774 [89]
- “Z” on the Continental Congress, November 19, 1774 [91]
- The Call for the Election of Essex County Committees of Observation, November 28, 1774 [95]
- The Elizabethtown Association Resolutions, December 6, 1774 [97]
- Governor William Franklin to Lord Dartmouth, December 6, 1774 [99]
- The Cumberland County Committee Proceedings on the Greenwhich Tea Party, December 22-23, 1774 [100]
- “A Freeholder” to the Essex County Committee, January 5, 1775 [102]
IV. The Die is Cast
- “Y” to “Z” on Political Apostasy, January 5, 1775 [106]
- Governor William Franklin to the General Assembly, January 13, 1775 [109]
- The Testimony of the People Called Quakers, January 24, 1775 [111]
- The New Jersey Assembly’s Endorsement of the Action of the Continental Congress, January 24, 1775 [113]
- “A Jersey Farmer” Proposes a Loyalist Association, January 26, 1775 [114]
- The Nottingham Petition to the Legislature, January 30, 1775 [115]
- The New Jersey Assembly’s Petition of Grievances to George III, February 13, 1775 [117]
- John Hatton, Jr., to Thomas Hatton, February 17, 1775 [120]
- “Essex” to “D.C.” on Intercolonial Unity, March 25, 1775 [125]
- Chief Justice Frederick Smyth to the Middlesex County Grand Jury, April 4, 1775 [127]
- Elias Boudinot to the Morris County Committee, April 30, 1775 [132]
- Jemina Condict on the Outbreak of Warfare, October 1, 1774-May 1, 1775 [134]
- Jonathan Elmer, Address to the Inhabitants of Cumberland County, May 1775 [135]
- The Bergen County Association, May 12, 1775 [139]
- Charles Clinton Beatty to Elizabeth Beattly, May 28, 1775 [140]
V. From Resistance to Rebellion
- The New Jersey Provincial Association, May 31, 1775 [143]
- “A Jersey Farmer” on Securing the Rights of Englishmen, June 14, 1775 [145]
- Minutes of the Shrewsbury Township Committee, June 19, 1775-February 29, 1776 [147]
- Daniel Coxe to Cortlandt Skinner, July 4, 1775 [151]
- Richard Cayford Proclaimed “An Enemy to the Rights of America” July 22, 1775 [153]
- John Conway to the Provincial Congress, July 31, 1775 [153]
- Governor William Franklin to Lord Dartmouth, August 2, 1775 [155]
- Charles Pettit to Joseph Reed, August 10, 1775 [156]
- Enforcement of the Association in Sussex County, August 10-11, 1775 [158]
- A Burlington County Petition to the Legislature on Reconciliation, November 1775 [160]
- John De Hart to the General Assembly, November 13, 1775 [161]
- The Reverend Philip Vickers Fithian Describes the Martial State of South Jersey, November 13, 1775 [163]
- The New Jersey Assembly Resolves Against Independence, November 28, 1775 [164]
- Cortlandt Skinner to William Skinner, December 1775 [165]
- “Lycurgus” on Independence, December 4, 1775 [167]
- Thomas Randolph Tarred and Feathered, December 6, 1775 [169]
- The Recantation of Ezekiel Beach, December 23, 1775 [170]
- A Tory Roundup in Sussex County, December 26, 1775 [171]
VI. Empire or Independence
- The “Plain Dealer” on Political Divisions, January 2, 1776 [174]
- The Political Creed of “Shary O’Brion,” January 22, 1776 [175]
- The Salem County Petition to the Provincial Congress on Suffrage Reform, February 1776 [178]
- Joseph Brearley to David Brearley, March 7, 1776 [179]
- Charles Pettit to Joseph Reed, March 25, 1776 [181]
- [Ebenezer Elmer?], Valedictory Address to Captain Joseph Bloomfield’s
- Company of Continental Forces, March 26, 1776 [183]
- Chief Justice Frederick Smyth to the Middlesex County Grand Jury, April 1776 [186]
- The Middlesex County Grand Jury to Chief Justice Frederick Smyth, April 1776 [190]
- “Cimon” on the Necessity of Independence, April 1776 [192]
- Elias Boudinot versus John Witherspoon on Independence, April 18, 1776 [195]
- The Reverend John Witherspoon, “On the Controversy About Independence,” April-May 1776 [198]
VII. From Colony to State
- John Stevens to Governor William Franklin, June 1776 [202]
- A Loyalist Petition to the Provincial Congress Against Independence, June 1776 [203]
- Elias Boudinot, “Thoughts on the present State of American Affairs, “June 11, 1776 [205]
- The Provincial Congress Orders the Arrest of Governor William Franklin, June 14-15, 1776 [209]
- The Instructions for the New Jersey Delegates in the Continental Congress to Vote for Independence,
- June 22, 1776 [210]
- The Constitution of the State of New Jersey, July 2, 1776 [212]
- Abraham Clark to Elias Dayton, July 4, 1776 [218]
- Princeton and Trenton Celebrate American Independence, July 8-10, 1776 [219] <
- Joseph Barton to Henry Wisner, July 9, 1776 [221]
- An Ordinance for Punishing Treason and Counterfeiting, July 18, 1776 [222]
- Abraham Clark to Elias Dayton, August 6, 1776 [223]
- Jonathan Elmer, Adress to the Residents of Cumberland County, August 7, 1776 [225]
- Governor William Livingston to the New Jersey State Legislature, September 11, 1776 [228]
VIII. The Loyalist Opposition
- James Moody, The Making of a Loyalist, 1774-1777 [234]
- The Reverend Thomas Bradbury Chandler, Flight into Exile, May 15-25, 1775 [237]
- “A Mechanic” to Bernardus La Grange, June 1776 [239]
- The Reverend Jonathan Odell to the Reverend Thomas Bradbury Chandler, January 7, 1777 [242]
- Tory Prisoners Describe Conditions in the Morris County Jail, July 1777 [246]
- Joseph Hedden, Jr., to Governor William Livingston, July 9, 1777 [248]
- William Franklin to Governor Jonathan Trumbull, September 15, 1777 [249]
- Robert Lawrence to the Legislature on Martial Law, October 7, 1777 [252]
- Robert Morris to Gouverneur Morris, December 11, 1777 [254]
- John Cleves Symmes to Governor William Livingston, January 7, 1779 [256]
- A Writ Ordering the Sale of Confiscated Property in Monmouth County, April 29, 1779 [259]
- Samuel Ryerse to George Ryerse, May 19, 1781 [260] <
- Governor William Livingston to Robert Livingston, April 22, 1782 [263]
- John Rutherfurd to A Member of the Legislature, May 17, 1783 [265]
- Hunterdon County Residents Petition to the Legislature to Banish Loyalists, 1783 [268]
- The Monmouth County Association to Oppose the Return of Loyalists, 1783 [270]
- Bernardus La Grange, A Loyalist Testimonial, November 1783 [272]
- Cortlandt Skinner, The Odyssey of a Loyalist, March 25, 1784 [275]
IX. War and Peace
- Margaret Morris, A Woman’s View of the War, December 6, 1776-January 11, 1777 [282]
- An Aide-de-camp to General Washington Recounts the Battle of Trenton, December 22-27, 1776 [287]
- An Octogenarian Jerseyman Recalls the Battle of Princeton, January 1-3, 1777 [291]
- The Reverend Alexander MacWhorter on British Brutality, March 12, 1777 [296]
- Ebenezer Hazard, Journey Through Warton New Jersey, August 5-14, 1777 [298]
- The Reverend Nicholas Collin on the Ravages of War, February-June 1778 [302]
- General George Washington Recounts the Battle of Monmouth Court House, July 4, 1778 [306]
- Colonel Sylvanus Seeley Describes the Battles of Connecticut Farms and Springfield, June 7-23, 1780 [309]
- The Killing of Hannah Caldwell, June 7, 1780 [312]
- “A British Officer” on Guerilla Warfare, June 20, 1780 [313] Residents of Trenton Celebrate the Victory at Yorktown, October 31, 1781 [314]
- Residents of Princeton Celebrate the End of the War, April 21, 1783 [317]
- William Peartree Smith to Elias Boudinot, April 1783 [319]
- David Bonnel, Sr., Inventory of Property Losses, May 25, 1789 [322]
X. Citizen Soldiers
- Philip Vickers Fithian to Elizabeth Fithian, July 19, 1776 [326]
- Andrew Hunter, Jr., The Life of an Army Chaplain, August 6-September 1, 1776 [329]
- [William Churchill Houston?], The Campaign Journal of a Militiaman, November 29, 1776-June 30, 1777 [332]
- Governor William Livingston to Brigadier General Philemon Dickinson, January 14, 1777 [336]
- A Woman in Arms, March 20?, 1777 [337]
- Colonel Elijah Hand to Colonel Charles Mawhood, March 22, 1778 [337]
- Colonel Joseph Ellis to Governor William Livingston, March 23, 1778 [339]
- “Belinda” Encourages Women to Reject Reconciliation and Support the War, May 6, 1778 [340]
- Lieutenant Shepard Kollock to Colonel John Lamb, May 15, 1778 [342]
- “Molly Pitcher” at the Battle of Monmouth Court House, June 28, 1778 [343]
- Memorial of the Officers of the New Jersey Brigade to the Legislature, April 17, 1779 [344]
- Dr. James Thacher Describes the Hardships of the Winter Encampment at Morristown, December 1779-March 1780 [345]
- Formation of Women’s Relief Society, July 4, 1780 [348]
- Lieutenant Colonel Francis Barber to Colonel Jonathan Dayton, February 28, 1781 [350]
- John C. Post, Pension Petition to the Legislature, [undated] [352]
- Samuel Sutphen, Wartime Experience of a New Jersey Slave, ca. 1834 [354]
XI. Government at War
- New Jersey State Loyalty Oath, September 19, 1776 [363]
- John Bray to Andrew Bray, December 17, 1776 [364]
- A Bergen County Oath of Allegiance, January 28, 1777 [365]
- General George Washington to the New Jersey Legislature, January 31, 1777 [366]
- Governor William Livingston, Speech to the Legislature on the State of the State, February 25, 1777 [368]
- Thomas Powell on Inflation, August 15, 1777 [373]
- Governor William Livingston to John Hancock, October 4, 1777 [374]
- The Magistrates of Trenton to General George Washington, January 2, 1778 [375]
- Residents of Cape May to Governor William Livingston, March 10, 1778 [377]
- Samuel Allinson to Governor William Livingston, July 13, 1778 [379]
- Governor William Livingston to Samuel Allinson, July 25, 1778 [384]
- General George Washington to Governor William Livingston, March 3, 1779 [387]
- Colonel John Taylor to Governor William Livingston, September 25, 1779 [389]
- Abraham Skinner to Governor William Livingston, September 9, 1780 [391]
- Essex County Residents to the General Assembly on Tory Raiders, 1781? [393]
- Residents of Monmouth County to the General Assembly on the State of the Economy, May 12, 1781 [395]
- Residents of Monmouth County to the General Assembly on Vigilantism, December 1781 [397]
- Residents of Essex County to the General Assembly on Trade with the Enemy, [undated] [399]
XII. An Imperfect Union
- John Witherspoon, Speech in the Continental Congress on the Necessity of Confederation, July 30, 1776 [404]
- New Jersey Legislature, Proposed Amendments to the Articles of Confederation, June 15-16, 1778 [407]
- Nathaniel Scudder to John Hart, July 13, 1778 [412]
- New Jersey Legislature, Ratification of the Articles of Confederation, November 20, 1778 [415]
- John Fell to Governor William Livingston, March 25, 1779 [416]
- “A True Patriot” on Increased National Authority, February 8, 1781 [418]
XIII. The Spirit of ’76
- Isaac Collins Announces the First Newspaper in New Jersey, December 5, 1777 [423]
- “Cato” on the Characteristics of Representatives, January 7, 1778 [425]
- “Cato” on the “Importance of a Liberal Education to Civil Society,” January 14, 1778 [427]
- “An Elector” Compares the British and American Systems of Government, March 4, 1778 [429]
- “Hortentius” [William Livingston] Satirizes the British Political System, September 9, 1778 [431]
- John Cooper Advocates the Abolition of Slavery, September 20, 1780 [437]
- “A Freeman” on the Electoral Process as a Safeguard of Liberty, October 4, 1780 [440]
- “A Whig” Opposes the Manumission of Slaves, October 4, 1780 [442]
- “A Friend to Justice” Supports the Manumission of Slaves, November 8, 1780 [445]
- “Homo Sum” Advocates Gradual Emancipation Rather than Immediate Abolition, March 21, 1781 [448]
- The Reverend John Witherspoon on the Relationship Between Religion and Civil Society, April 1783 [452]
- Governor William Livingston on the Republican Challenge, May 19, 1783 [455]
- Ashbel Green, Sr., to Ashbel Green, Jr., June 26, 1840 [456]