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2. New Jersey 1788 Legislative Council, Essex County
3. New Jersey 1788 Sheriff, Essex County
4. New Jersey 1789 Assembly, Gloucester County
5. New Jersey 1789 Coroner, Gloucester County
6. New Jersey 1789 Legislative Council, Gloucester County
7. New Jersey 1789 Sheriff, Gloucester County
8. New Jersey 1789 U.S. House of Representatives
9. New Jersey 1790 Assembly, Burlington County
10. New Jersey 1790 Assembly, Essex County
11. New Jersey 1790 Legislative Council, Burlington County
12. New Jersey 1790 Legislative Council, Essex County
13. New Jersey 1790 Sheriff, Burlington County
14. New Jersey 1791 Assembly, Burlington County
15. New Jersey 1791 Assembly, Essex County
16. New Jersey 1791 Assembly, Gloucester County
17. New Jersey 1791 Assembly, Monmouth County
18. New Jersey 1791 Assembly, Sussex County
19. New Jersey 1791 Coroner, Burlington County
20. New Jersey 1791 Coroner, Gloucester County
21. New Jersey 1791 Coroner, Monmouth County
22. New Jersey 1791 Coroner, Sussex County
23. New Jersey 1791 Legislative Council, Burlington County
24. New Jersey 1791 Legislative Council, Essex County
25. New Jersey 1791 Legislative Council, Gloucester County
26. New Jersey 1791 Legislative Council, Monmouth County
27. New Jersey 1791 Legislative Council, Sussex County
28. New Jersey 1791 Sheriff, Burlington County
29. New Jersey 1791 Sheriff, Essex County
30. New Jersey 1791 Sheriff, Gloucester County
31. New Jersey 1791 Sheriff, Monmouth County
32. New Jersey 1791 Sheriff, Sussex County
33. New Jersey 1791 U.S. House of Representatives
34. New Jersey 1792 Assembly, Bergen County
35. New Jersey 1792 Assembly, Gloucester County
36. New Jersey 1792 Assembly, Hunterdon County
37. New Jersey 1792 Assembly, Monmouth County
38. New Jersey 1792 Assembly, Sussex County
39. New Jersey 1792 Coroner, Bergen County
40. New Jersey 1792 Coroner, Gloucester County
41. New Jersey 1792 Coroner, Hunterdon County
42. New Jersey 1792 Coroner, Monmouth County
43. New Jersey 1792 Coroner, Sussex County
44. New Jersey 1792 Legislative Council, Bergen County
45. New Jersey 1792 Legislative Council, Gloucester County
46. New Jersey 1792 Legislative Council, Hunterdon County
47. New Jersey 1792 Legislative Council, Mommouth County
48. New Jersey 1792 Legislative Council, Sussex County
49. New Jersey 1792 Sheriff, Bergen County
50. New Jersey 1792 Sheriff, Gloucester County
51. New Jersey 1792 Sheriff, Hunterdon County
52. New Jersey 1792 Sheriff, Monmouth County
53. New Jersey 1792 Sheriff, Sussex County
54. New Jersey 1792 U.S. House of Representatives
55. New Jersey 1793 Assembly, Essex County
56. New Jersey 1793 Assembly, Gloucester County
57. New Jersey 1793 Assembly, Hunterdon County
58. New Jersey 1793 Assembly, Monmouth County
59. New Jersey 1793 Coroner, Gloucester County
60. New Jersey 1793 Coroner, Hunterdon County
61. New Jersey 1793 Coroner, Monmouth County
62. New Jersey 1793 Legislative Council, Essex County
63. New Jersey 1793 Legislative Council, Gloucester County
64. New Jersey 1793 Legislative Council, Hunterdon County
65. New Jersey 1793 Legislative Council, Monmouth County
66. New Jersey 1793 Sheriff, Essex County
67. New Jersey 1793 Sheriff, Gloucester County
68. New Jersey 1793 Sheriff, Hunterdon County
69. New Jersey 1793 Sheriff, Monmouth County
70. New Jersey 1794 Assembly, Essex County
71. New Jersey 1794 Assembly, Gloucester County
72. New Jersey 1794 Assembly, Gloucester County
73. New Jersey 1794 Assembly, Hunterdon County
74. New Jersey 1794 Assembly, Monmouth County
75. New Jersey 1794 Assembly, Sussex County
76. New Jersey 1794 Coroner, Hunterdon County
77. New Jersey 1794 Coroner, Monmouth County
78. New Jersey 1794 Coroner, Sussex County
79. New Jersey 1794 Legislative Council, Essex County
80. New Jersey 1794 Legislative Council, Gloucester County
81. New Jersey 1794 Legislative Council, Hunterdon County
82. New Jersey 1794 Legislative Council, Monmouth County
83. New Jersey 1794 Legislative Council, Sussex County
84. New Jersey 1794 Sheriff, Essex County
85. New Jersey 1794 Sheriff, Gloucester County
86. New Jersey 1794 Sheriff, Hunterdon County
87. New Jersey 1794 Sheriff, Monmouth County
88. New Jersey 1794 Sheriff, Sussex County
89. New Jersey 1795 Assembly, Essex County
90. New Jersey 1795 Assembly, Gloucester County
91. New Jersey 1795 Assembly, Hunterdon County
92. New Jersey 1795 Assembly, Middlesex County
93. New Jersey 1795 Assembly, Monmouth County
94. New Jersey 1795 Assembly, Sussex County
95. New Jersey 1795 Coroner, Gloucester County
96. New Jersey 1795 Coroner, Hunterdon County
97. New Jersey 1795 Coroner, Monmouth County
98. New Jersey 1795 Coroner, Sussex County
99. New Jersey 1795 Legislative Council, Essex County
100. New Jersey 1795 Legislative Council, Gloucester County
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Following orders from the Continental Congress, the New Jersey Provincial Congress devised a new framework of government for the state. Passed in July 1776, the new state constitution remained in force until 1844. Providing for annual elections, the constitution established an upper house called the Legislative Council and a lower house called the General Assembly. A joint meeting of the Council and the Assembly elected the governor. Essentially a figurehead, the governor lacked the power to veto laws passed by the legislature, could not pardon criminals, and did not have the authority to appoint individuals to state offices. These powers devolved on the legislature, which was thought to best represent the voice of the people. The governor and Legislative Council, meeting together, acted as the state's supreme court and court of appeals.
Different counties in New Jersey initially used different methods of voting, some favoring viva voce voting and others the paper ballot system. After 1797, however, all the counties shifted to the secret ballot. Representation was apportioned according to geographic units; each of the state's thirteen counties elected one councilor and three assemblymen to the legislature. The constitution included a provision that allowed the legislature to "add to or diminish the number or proportion" of representatives if "a majority of representatives" deemed it "equitable and proper." Although a few slight adjustments were made in 1804, 1815, and 1818, the state did not in this period fully accept the principle that representation should be proportionate to population. In addition, officeholders had to own a certain amount of property. Members of the lower house had to possess real or personal property of at least £500 in value, and members of the upper house had to own property valued at twice that much.
New Jersey's suffrage laws were unique. Under the 1776 constitution, any adult inhabitant who possessed real or personal property valued at £50 or more was entitled to vote. Laws passed in 1790 and 1797 made it clear that the legislators intended the constitution to enfranchise both unmarried women (single and widowed) and free blacks who met the property requirement. Although a few other states during this period did allow free blacks to vote, no other state allowed women to cast ballots. Ongoing hostility, however, resulted in the law's repeal. In 1807 the legislature eliminated all property qualifications for voting but confined the vote to white males. Thus the franchise was extended to all adult white male taxpayers at the same time that women and free blacks lost the right to vote.
The 1807 law represented a rare show of bipartisan cooperation between Federalists and Republicans. Long-standing differences between East Jersey, which was primarily Presbyterian in religion and looked to New York City for its cues, and West Jersey, which was predominantly Quaker in religion and took Philadelphia as it model, had persisted from the colonial era. After the factions united to ratify the United States Constitution on December 19, 1788, the old divisions between East and West Jersey resurfaced. Counties in the southern part of the state formed the West Jersey "Junto," which tended to support Federalist policies and candidates, while East Jersey increasingly gravitated toward the emerging Democratic-Republican Party.
Throughout the 1790s, the parties battled for control. In 1798 voters reacted against the Alien and Sedition Acts by electing three Republican members out of five to represent the state in the U.S. House of Representatives. Despite Federalists' subsequent attempts to gerrymander districts to their advantage, the Republican surge continued. After 1800, New Jersey Republicans gained control of the state legislature, the governorship, and the congressional delegation. With only a brief Federalist interlude during the War of 1812, the Republicans’ dominance continued unabated until the fracture of the Republican Party itself during the Jacksonian era.
Republican domination was enhanced by the state's method of electing members to Congress. Whereas most state legislatures divided their state into districts and allowed each district to select its own representative to Congress, after 1813 New Jersey chose to use the at-large method of electing congressmen. Voters throughout the state cast ballots for all the eligible candidates. The candidates with the highest totals were elected. As Republicans well knew, this system tended to result in the election of members from the majority party and to eliminate the possibility of representation for the Federalist minority. Thus both persuasion and procedural tactics enabled the New Jersey Republicans solidify their own power while eradicating the divisive legacy of the state’s colonial past.
Bibliography
- Fleming, Thomas.
New Jersey: A Bicentennial History (New York: Norton, 1977). - Fee, Walter R.
The Transition from Aristocracy to Democracy in New Jersey, 1789–1829. Somerville, NJ: Somerset Press, 1933. - Klinghoffer, Judith Apter and Lois Elkis.
"'The Petticoat Electors': Women's Suffrage in New Jersey, 1776–1807," Journal of the Early Republic, 12 (Summer 1992), 169–193. - Kruman, Marc W.
Between Authority and Liberty: State Constitution Making in Revolutionary America. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1997. - McCormick, Richard P.
Experiment in Independence: New Jersey in the Critical Period, 1781–1789. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1950). - Zagarri, Rosemarie.
The Politics of Size: Representation in the United States, 1776–1850. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1987).