New Jersey – A Place of Diversity

Located at the center of the Northeast megalopolis, new jersey is the most densely populated state in the United States. It’s shaped like a letter S and bordered on the north and east by New York City, on the west by Pennsylvania across the Delaware River, and on the south and southeast by the Atlantic Ocean.

Throughout its history, new jersey has been a place of diversity. Early Dutch and English colonists established a diverse society that incorporated European faiths alongside Native American and enslaved African peoples. During the American Revolution, the ideas of equality and freedom spread across the state and the country. Nevertheless, New Jersey’s colonial legacy of religious and ethnic diversity was tempered by economic inequality, discriminatory laws, and racial and ethnic tensions.

In the 1800s, the state’s agrarian economy began to shift to industrialization. As New Jersey became more urbanized, its racially and culturally diverse population continued to grow. The state’s first constitution allowed property owners to vote, including single women and free black men. However, access to the ballot box was limited by restrictive laws that redefined voters as property-owning white male citizens. It would be more than a century before African Americans would gain full voting rights in New Jersey.

The Great Depression and World War II brought prosperity for many, and new opportunities to work in New Jersey’s booming industries. During this time, new laws prohibited racial discrimination in employment. However, racial segregation persisted in schools and public buildings, especially in suburban neighborhoods. New Jerseyans served in all branches of the armed forces during World War II, and some 200 companies won the coveted Army-Navy “E” Award for excellence in manufacturing wartime supplies.

Today, New Jersey hosts the nation’s largest communities of people with varying faiths and ethnicities, including Jewish Americans, Muslims, Puerto Ricans, Dominicans, South Asians, Chinese, Filipinos, and other immigrants from around the globe. New Jersey’s diverse culture is woven together through common threads of religious customs, languages, and foodways that endure to this day. Whether you’re a resident with longstanding family ties to the state or a recent transplant looking for opportunity, you’ll find an authentic connection here. New Jersey is home to some of the most distinguished universities and corporations in the world, and its people are the foundation of the state’s success.