July 2, 1776 was a big day for New Jersey!

A little history and coming events

The New Jersey Archives tells us that on July 2, 1776, "New Jersey became the fourth American colony to adopt a constitution declaring independence from Great Britain. It was composed in five days and although the delegates considered it a temporary charter, it remained New Jersey's state constitution for sixty-eight years."(1)

Earlier in the year, New Jersey was divided on whether Independence was a good idea. After much wrangling, the loyalist Governor, William Franklin (Ben's son) was arrested and the five delegates he had appointed to represent the colony were replaced. The five new representatives appointed were: Abraham Clark of Rahway, Richard Stockton and John Witherspoon of Princeton, Francis Hopkinson of Bordentown, and of course our own John Hart of Hopewell Township. Thomas Jefferson had completed his first draft of the Declaration of Independence on June 28 and the first vote took place on July 2. After several more votes and a great deal of negotiation, the Continental Congress signed the Declaration on the afternoon of July 4, 1776 (2)

The Declaration of Independence was a radical document. People who 10 years earlier believed themselves to be English citizens declared that they had a right to abolish a government that was not, in their eyes, living up to the contract between the governors and the governed.

“...We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security....(3)

 Our Hopewell ancestors were so brave! It is hard to fathom what it took for the people of the Hopewell Valley to stop suffering in silence, to leave the farms that needed to be tended, to watch husbands and fathers go off to battle, and to live through the nightmare that was the occupation of Pennington in December 1776. Yet they stood up for what they believed was right with courage and fortitude, helping to turn the tide of the war and win independence. At the Hopewell Valley Historical Society, we strive to help you envision what that must have been like.

We heard from Maxine Lurie at our annual meeting last year about how the Revolution pitted family members against one another. Larry Kidder is at Howell Living History Farm every Saturday explaining what was going on with the local people 250 years ago and he treated us to an expanded version of that at our book party in May. Also this year Ian Burrow presented the view of contemporary British citizens during the Revolution and Nancy Kennedy described the role of women during the Revolution. Last week, we got a peek at a new musical that tells the story of regular people during the Revolution and how they dealt with the turmoil of the times.

We have much more to tell and show you as the Semiquincentennial year continues!

~ Next week on Wednesday – The story of James Ewing, a British soldier from Scotland who deserted and became a New Jersey pastor (featuring Revolutionary era music)

.

~ July 18 – learn about the experiences of African American people during the Revolution

~ Heritage Week, (sponsored this year by HVHS, the Hopewell Museum, and the Hopewell Public Library) will return starting September 12 with a theme of Revolutionary Hopewell, which includes great stuff like a talk about the Radicalism of the Revolution by the Chair of Rutgers-Camden’s quite wonderful history department, Andrew Shankman, and his former student, David Niescior, now senior historian at the Trenton Old Barracks museum. Across the Hopewell Valley we plan to have events for young and old from house tours to kid's crafts to a concert at Hopewell's Old School Baptist Church.

-Take a walk down Memory Lane at the HVHS Archive Committee's Bicentennial Memorabilia exhibition. Now until fall.

And we are planning more for the fall!

 

If you missed our notices about the 4th –  click here for the news about the Washington Crossing State Park events and fireworks and here for information about the Titusville Parade.

We also continue to our work on non-Revolution history so stay tuned to www.hopewellvalleyhistory.org for more.

Would you like to get involved and help the board members on our various committees and events? Email us at info@hopewellvalleyhistory.org.

Happy Independence Day everyone – stay hydrated!

(1) NJ Department of State https://www.nj.gov/state/archives/docconst76.html

(2) NJ Signers https://mrlocalhistory.org/newjerseysigners/

(3) Declaration of Independence https://www.archives.gov/founding-docs/declaration-transcript