Toward the political questions that disturbed the American people immediately before the Civil War the attitude of the State was conservative, although a few vestiges of the slavery system remained until the adoption of the 13th amendment to the Federal Constitution. In 1852 the free-soil candidate for the presidency received only 35o votes in New Jersey; and in 1856 the Demo cratic candidate received a plurality of 18,605 votes, even though William L. Dayton, a citizen of the State, was the Republican nominee for the vice-presidency. In 186o three of the State's electoral votes were given to Douglas and four to Lincoln. Dur ing the Civil War New Jersey furnished 89,305 men for the Union cause and incurred extraordinary expenditures to the amount of $2,894,385. The State readily consented to the 13th and 14th amendments to the Federal Constitution, but in 1868 withdrew its consent to the latter. The 15th Amendment was rejected by one legislature, but was accepted by its successor, in which the Republican Party had obtained a majority.
Industrially the early part of the 19th century was marked in New Jersey by the construction of bridges and turnpikes, the utilization of water power for manufactures, and the introduc tion of steam motive power upon the navigable waters. The war of 1812 with England interrupted this material progress, and at its beginning was so unpopular, especially with the Quakers, that the Federalists carried the elections in the autumn of 1812. Material progress in New Jersey after the war is indicated by the construc tion of the Morris (1824-36) and the Delaware and Raritan (1826-38) canals, and the completion of its first railway, the Camden and Amboy, in In the years following the Civil War there was a bitter railway war. New Jersey, in order to encourage canals and railways, had granted monopolistic privileges to several of the earlier com panies; by consolidation they had virtually gained a monopoly over the route between New York and Philadelphia. In 1871 these entire properties were leased for 999 years to the Pennsyl vania Railway Company. This combination threatened to monop olize traffic, and it was opposed by several of the newer railways and by the general public; in 1873 the State passed a general railway law giving other railways than the Pennsylvania the right to connect New York and Philadelphia.
This same period was marked by great industrial development. Towards corporations the policy of New Jersey was very liberal; there was no limit fixed either to capitalization or to bonded in debtedness ; and the tax rate was lower for large than for small corporations. Under this liberal policy so many large combina tions of capital were incorporated under the laws of the State that it was sometimes called "the home of the trusts." This method
of encouraging corporations was reversed by the passage in 1913 of a series of acts widely known as the "Seven Sisters," the pur pose of which was the elimination of the power of trusts to create monopoly, limitation of production, price fixing and restraint of trade. In the meantime laws had been passed limiting public serv ice franchises to 20 years, unless extended to 4o years by the voters of the municipality concerned. The laws governing elec tions were radically changed in 1911 and subsequently, by pro visions extending the application of the direct primary law and providing the blanket ballot and safeguards against frauds. A pro posed amendment to the State Constitution in 1915 giving women full suffrage was defeated by over 5o,000 votes. By enlightened labour legislation, New Jersey has done much in promoting the safety and health of the State's large industrial population.
From the Civil War to 1910 the majority of governors elected were Democrats. From 1910 to 1937, except in 1916, 1928 and 1934, the Democrats also won the gubernatorial elections though normally the legislature was Republican. In the presidential elec tions after 1892 the State went Democratic only once, in 1912, before the election of 1932. In the election of 1932 and the suc ceeding one of 1936, Democrats won on the New Deal platform.
descriptive material see bibliographies in Butte tins No. 177 and 301 of the United States Geological Survey ; the Annual Reports and especially the Final Report of the New Jersey Geological Survey ; and the Annual Reports of the New Jersey State Museum. For population, occupations, etc., see the volumes of the Fourteenth U.S. Census; the biennial Census of Manufactures; and the Year Book of the U.S. department of agriculture. For administration see Fitzgerald's Legislative Manual and the Reports of the various State departments, boards and commissions, especially the Annual Report of the department of public instruction.
History.—The most important sources are: Documents Relating to the Colonial History of the State of New Jersey (Archives of the State of New Jersey, ist. series), edit. by W. A. Whitehead, F. W. Ricardo and W. Nelson (26 vol., 1880-1903) ; Documents Relating to the Revo lutionary History of the State of New Jersey (Archives of the State of New Jersey, 2nd series) ; 5 vol., 1901-17; Acts of the General Assembly of New Jersey from 1703-1761, reprinted by A. Leaming and J. Spicer (1880 ; and Minutes of the Provincial Congress and the Council of Safety of the State of New Jersey (1879).