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102. New Jersey 1798 Legislative Council, Burlington County
103. New Jersey 1798 Legislative Council, Cumberland County
104. New Jersey 1798 Legislative Council, Essex County
105. New Jersey 1798 Legislative Council, Gloucester County
106. New Jersey 1798 Legislative Council, Hunterdon County
107. New Jersey 1798 Legislative Council, Monmouth County
108. New Jersey 1798 Legislative Council, Morris County
109. New Jersey 1798 Legislative Council, Somerset County
110. New Jersey 1798 Legislative Council, Sussex County
111. New Jersey 1799 Assembly, Burlington County
112. New Jersey 1799 Assembly, Cumberland County
113. New Jersey 1799 Assembly, Essex County
114. New Jersey 1799 Assembly, Gloucester County
115. New Jersey 1799 Assembly, Hunterdon County
116. New Jersey 1799 Assembly, Monmouth County
117. New Jersey 1799 Assembly, Morris County
118. New Jersey 1799 Assembly, Somerset County
119. New Jersey 1799 Assembly, Sussex County
120. New Jersey 1799 Governor
121. New Jersey 1799 Legislative Council, Burlington County
122. New Jersey 1799 Legislative Council, Cumberland County
123. New Jersey 1799 Legislative Council, Essex County
124. New Jersey 1799 Legislative Council, Gloucester County
125. New Jersey 1799 Legislative Council, Hunterdon County
126. New Jersey 1799 Legislative Council, Monmouth County
127. New Jersey 1799 Legislative Council, Morris County
128. New Jersey 1799 Legislative Council, Somerset County
129. New Jersey 1799 Legislative Council, Sussex County
130. New Jersey 1799 Treasurer
131. New Jersey 1799 Treasurer
132. New Jersey 1799 Treasurer
133. New Jersey 1800 Assembly, Bergen County
134. New Jersey 1800 Assembly, Cumberland County
135. New Jersey 1800 Assembly, Essex County
136. New Jersey 1800 Assembly, Gloucester County
137. New Jersey 1800 Assembly, Hunterdon County
138. New Jersey 1800 Assembly, Middlesex County
139. New Jersey 1800 Assembly, Monmouth County
140. New Jersey 1800 Assembly, Morris County
141. New Jersey 1800 Assembly, Salem County
142. New Jersey 1800 Assembly, Somerset County
143. New Jersey 1800 Assembly, Sussex County
144. New Jersey 1800 Governor
145. New Jersey 1800 Legislative Council, Bergen County
146. New Jersey 1800 Legislative Council, Burlington County
147. New Jersey 1800 Legislative Council, Cumberland County
148. New Jersey 1800 Legislative Council, Essex County
149. New Jersey 1800 Legislative Council, Gloucester County
150. New Jersey 1800 Legislative Council, Hunterdon County
151. New Jersey 1800 Legislative Council, Middlesex County
152. New Jersey 1800 Legislative Council, Monmouth County
153. New Jersey 1800 Legislative Council, Morris County
154. New Jersey 1800 Legislative Council, Salem County
155. New Jersey 1800 Legislative Council, Somerset County
156. New Jersey 1800 Legislative Council, Sussex County
157. New Jersey 1800 Secretary of State
158. New Jersey 1801 Assembly, Bergen County
159. New Jersey 1801 Assembly, Burlington County
160. New Jersey 1801 Assembly, Cumberland County
161. New Jersey 1801 Assembly, Essex County
162. New Jersey 1801 Assembly, Gloucester County
163. New Jersey 1801 Assembly, Hunterdon County
164. New Jersey 1801 Assembly, Middlesex County
165. New Jersey 1801 Assembly, Monmouth County
166. New Jersey 1801 Assembly, Morris County
167. New Jersey 1801 Assembly, Morris County, Special
168. New Jersey 1801 Assembly, Somerset County
169. New Jersey 1801 Assembly, Sussex County
170. New Jersey 1801 Governor
171. New Jersey 1801 Legislative Council, Bergen County
172. New Jersey 1801 Legislative Council, Cumberland County
173. New Jersey 1801 Legislative Council, Essex County
174. New Jersey 1801 Legislative Council, Gloucester County
175. New Jersey 1801 Legislative Council, Hunterdon County
176. New Jersey 1801 Legislative Council, Middlesex County
177. New Jersey 1801 Legislative Council, Monmouth County
178. New Jersey 1801 Legislative Council, Morris County
179. New Jersey 1801 Legislative Council, Somerset County
180. New Jersey 1801 Legislative Council, Sussex County
181. New Jersey 1801 Speaker of the Assembly
182. New Jersey 1802 Assembly, Bergen County
183. New Jersey 1802 Assembly, Burlington County
184. New Jersey 1802 Assembly, Cape May County
185. New Jersey 1802 Assembly, Cumberland County
186. New Jersey 1802 Assembly, Essex County
187. New Jersey 1802 Assembly, Gloucester County
188. New Jersey 1802 Assembly, Hunterdon County
189. New Jersey 1802 Assembly, Middlesex County
190. New Jersey 1802 Assembly, Monmouth County
191. New Jersey 1802 Assembly, Morris County
192. New Jersey 1802 Assembly, Salem County
193. New Jersey 1802 Assembly, Somerset County
194. New Jersey 1802 Assembly, Sussex County
195. New Jersey 1802 Clerk of the Supreme Court
196. New Jersey 1802 Governor
197. New Jersey 1802 Governor, Ballot 2
198. New Jersey 1802 Legislative Council, Bergen County
199. New Jersey 1802 Legislative Council, Burlington County
200. New Jersey 1802 Legislative Council, Cape May 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).