Difference between revisions of "New Jersey"

Revision as of 03:05, September 13, 2018

New Jersey is one of the thirteen original colonies that formed the United States. It was the third state to enter into the Union. Its population has the highest overall density of any State, featuring 566 municipalities.^[1]

New Jersey is nicknamed "the Garden State," although a patch oil refineries along the New Jersey Turnpike is what many travelers remember most. New Jersey has 127 miles of coastline, including resort areas such as Atlantic City, Asbury Park, and Cape May, some with beautiful and historic Victorian architecture. Its capital city is Trenton.

Politically, New Jersey once benefited from conservative leadership, but RINOs and liberals took over beginning in the 1960s and have driven it into decline since. High union membership, a very liberal primary newspaper (the Newark Star-Ledger), and a small evangelical population result in a lack of conservative politicians. However, New Jersey remains one of the small number of states having completely unregulated homeschooling. New Jersey also has the lowest divorce rate in the nation.

New Jersey is home to two famous old universities: Princeton and Rutgers. They are both colonial colleges, the nine colleges chartered in the colonies before the American Revolution. Princeton traditionally claims 1740 as its year of founding, making it the fourth oldest university in the United States; Rutgers, founded in 1766, is the eighth oldest. Princeton is a member of the Ivy League. There are numerous other colleges and universities in the state.

Same-sex marriage was legalized in New Jersey by a Superior Court decision on September 27, 2013.^[2]

The state Constitution of New Jersey, like all of the other 50 states, acknowledges God or our Creator or the Sovereign Ruler of the Universe. It says:

We, the people of the State of New Jersey, grateful to Almighty God for the civil and religious liberty which He hath so long permitted us to enjoy, and looking to Him for a blessing upon our endeavors to secure and transmit the same unimpaired to succeeding generations, do ordain and establish this Constitution.

History

The colony was rural and was dominated by New York City to the east and Philadelphia to the west

Conservapedia

Conservapedia was founded in New Jersey on November 22, 2006. It was started by a class of 56 homeschooled children, ranging from 11 years old to 18, as a project for homework.

Politics

New Jersey is a mostly liberal state. It has consistently favored Democrats in presidential elections since 1992. It was last won by a Republican presidential candidate in 1988 when it favored George Herbert Walker Bush. For eight years before January 16, 2018, the state had a Republican governor, Chris Christie; the last Republican governor before him was Christine Todd Whitman, who left the office to serve as head of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency under President George W. Bush.

Elected Officials

Federal

• Sen. Cory Booker (D)
• Sen. Bob Menendez (D)
• Rep. Donald Norcross [D, NJ-01]
• Rep. Frank LoBiondo [R, NJ-02]
• Rep. Tom MacArthur [R, NJ-03]
• Rep. Chris Smith [R, NJ-04]
• Rep. Josh Gottheimer [D, NJ-05]
• Rep. Frank Pallone [D, NJ-06]
• Rep. Leonard Lance [R, NJ-07]
• Rep. Albio Sires [D, NJ-08]
• Rep. Bill Pascrell [D, NJ-09]
• Rep. Donald M. Payne, Jr. [D, NJ-10]
• Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen [R, NJ-11]
• Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman [D, NJ-12]

Statewide

• Governor Phil Murphy (D)
• Lt. Governor Sheila Oliver (D)

Notable New Jersey Natives

• Buzz Aldrin, astronaut, born in Glen Ridge
• Samuel Alito, U.S. Supreme Court justice, born in Trenton
• Count Basie, jazz musician, born in Red Bank
• Jon Bon Jovi, rock musician, born in Perth Amboy
• William Brennan, U.S. Supreme Court justice, born in Newark
• Aaron Burr, third vice president of the United States, born in Newark
• Grover Cleveland, 22nd and 24th president of the United States, born in Caldwell
• James Fenimore Cooper, author, born in Burlington
• Stephen Crane, author, born in Newark
• Danny DeVito, actor, born in Neptune Township
• Michael Douglas, actor, born in New Brunswick
• Steve Forbes, publishing executive, born in Morristown
• Barney Frank, former member of U.S. House of Representatives (for Massachusetts, born in Bayonne
• Whitney Houston, singer and actress, born in Newark
• Alfred Kinsey, zoologist and sex researcher, born in Hoboken
• Larry Kudlow, financial analyst, television personality, and current director of the U.S. National Economic Council, born in Englewood
• Jared Kushner, real estate developer and senior advisor to President Donald Trump, born in Livingston
• Jerry Lewis, actor and philanthropist, born in Newark
• Norman Mailer, author, born in Long Branch
• Ozzie Nelson, actor and band leader, born in Jersey City
• Jack Nicholson, actor, born in Neptune City
• Shaquille O'Neal, NBA player, born in Newark
• Paul Robeson, actor, singer, and activist, born in Princeton
• Philip Roth, author, born in Newark
• Antonin Scalia, U.S. Supreme Court justice, born in Trenton
• Norman Schwarzkopf, U.S. Army general, commander of coalition forces in the Persian Gulf War, born in Trenton
• Paul Simon, singer and songwriter, born in Newark
• Frank Sinatra, singer and actor, born in Hoboken
• Bruce Springsteen, singer and songwriter, born in Long Branch
• Martha Stewart, entrepreneur, writer, and TV personality, born in Jersey City
• Meryl Streep, actress, born in Summit
• John Travolta, actor, born in Englewood
• Sarah Vaughan, singer, born in Newark
• Paul Volcker, economist and former chairman of the Federal Reserve, born in Cape May
• William Carlos Williams, poet, born in Rutherford

References

1. ↑ http://www.nj.gov/nj/govinfo/county/localgov.html (list of municipalities, which links to each one).
2. ↑ http://www.nj.com/politics/index.ssf/2013/09/nj_superior_court_gay_marriage_ruling.html