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502. New Jersey 1805 Assembly, Morris County, Special
503. New Jersey 1805 Assembly, Salem County
504. New Jersey 1805 Assembly, Somerset County
505. New Jersey 1805 Assembly, Sussex County
506. New Jersey 1805 Clerk, Burlington County
507. New Jersey 1805 Clerk, Gloucester County
508. New Jersey 1805 Clerk, Morris County
509. New Jersey 1805 Clerk, Sussex County
510. New Jersey 1805 Coroner, Cumberland County
511. New Jersey 1805 Coroner, Essex County
512. New Jersey 1805 Coroner, Gloucester County
513. New Jersey 1805 Coroner, Hunterdon County
514. New Jersey 1805 Coroner, Middlesex County
515. New Jersey 1805 Coroner, Monmouth County
516. New Jersey 1805 Coroner, Morris County
517. New Jersey 1805 Coroner, Salem County
518. New Jersey 1805 Coroner, Somerset County
519. New Jersey 1805 Coroner, Sussex County
520. New Jersey 1805 Governor
521. New Jersey 1805 Legislative Council, Bergen County
522. New Jersey 1805 Legislative Council, Burlington County
523. New Jersey 1805 Legislative Council, Cumberland County
524. New Jersey 1805 Legislative Council, Essex County
525. New Jersey 1805 Legislative Council, Gloucester County
526. New Jersey 1805 Legislative Council, Hunterdon County
527. New Jersey 1805 Legislative Council, Hunterdon County, Special
528. New Jersey 1805 Legislative Council, Middlesex County
529. New Jersey 1805 Legislative Council, Monmouth County
530. New Jersey 1805 Legislative Council, Morris County
531. New Jersey 1805 Legislative Council, Salem County
532. New Jersey 1805 Legislative Council, Somerset County
533. New Jersey 1805 Legislative Council, Sussex County
534. New Jersey 1805 Secretary of State
535. New Jersey 1805 Sheriff, Cumberland County
536. New Jersey 1805 Sheriff, Essex County
537. New Jersey 1805 Sheriff, Gloucester County
538. New Jersey 1805 Sheriff, Hunterdon County
539. New Jersey 1805 Sheriff, Middlesex County
540. New Jersey 1805 Sheriff, Monmouth County
541. New Jersey 1805 Sheriff, Morris County
542. New Jersey 1805 Sheriff, Salem County
543. New Jersey 1805 Sheriff, Somerset County
544. New Jersey 1805 Sheriff, Sussex County
545. New Jersey 1806 Assembly, Bergen County
546. New Jersey 1806 Assembly, Burlington County
547. New Jersey 1806 Assembly, Cape May County
548. New Jersey 1806 Assembly, Cumberland County
549. New Jersey 1806 Assembly, Essex County
550. New Jersey 1806 Assembly, Gloucester County
551. New Jersey 1806 Assembly, Hunterdon County
552. New Jersey 1806 Assembly, Middlesex County
553. New Jersey 1806 Assembly, Monmouth County
554. New Jersey 1806 Assembly, Morris County
555. New Jersey 1806 Assembly, Salem County
556. New Jersey 1806 Assembly, Somerset County
557. New Jersey 1806 Assembly, Sussex County
558. New Jersey 1806 Attorney General
559. New Jersey 1806 Clerk of the Assembly
560. New Jersey 1806 Coroner, Cape May County
561. New Jersey 1806 Coroner, Cumberland County
562. New Jersey 1806 Coroner, Essex County
563. New Jersey 1806 Coroner, Gloucester County
564. New Jersey 1806 Coroner, Hunterdon County
565. New Jersey 1806 Coroner, Middlesex County
566. New Jersey 1806 Coroner, Monmouth County
567. New Jersey 1806 Coroner, Morris County
568. New Jersey 1806 Coroner, Salem County
569. New Jersey 1806 Coroner, Sussex County
570. New Jersey 1806 Governor
571. New Jersey 1806 Legislative Council, Bergen County
572. New Jersey 1806 Legislative Council, Burlington County
573. New Jersey 1806 Legislative Council, Cape May County
574. New Jersey 1806 Legislative Council, Cumberland County
575. New Jersey 1806 Legislative Council, Essex County
576. New Jersey 1806 Legislative Council, Gloucester County
577. New Jersey 1806 Legislative Council, Hunterdon County
578. New Jersey 1806 Legislative Council, Middlesex County
579. New Jersey 1806 Legislative Council, Monmouth County
580. New Jersey 1806 Legislative Council, Morris County
581. New Jersey 1806 Legislative Council, Salem County
582. New Jersey 1806 Legislative Council, Somerset County
583. New Jersey 1806 Legislative Council, Sussex County
584. New Jersey 1806 Sheriff, Cape May County
585. New Jersey 1806 Sheriff, Cumberland County
586. New Jersey 1806 Sheriff, Essex County
587. New Jersey 1806 Sheriff, Gloucester County
588. New Jersey 1806 Sheriff, Hunterdon County
589. New Jersey 1806 Sheriff, Middlesex County
590. New Jersey 1806 Sheriff, Monmouth County
591. New Jersey 1806 Sheriff, Morris County
592. New Jersey 1806 Sheriff, Salem County
593. New Jersey 1806 Sheriff, Sussex County
594. New Jersey 1806 Speaker of the Assembly
595. New Jersey 1806 U.S. House of Representatives
596. New Jersey 1807 Assembly, Bergen County
597. New Jersey 1807 Assembly, Burlington County
598. New Jersey 1807 Assembly, Cape May County
599. New Jersey 1807 Assembly, Cumberland County
600. New Jersey 1807 Assembly, Essex 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).