By Matt Rooney
As Americans prepare to celebrate our 250th Independence Day, it’s worth remembering that New Jersey’s final break with Great Britain began before the Declaration of Independence was famously adopted in nearby Philadelphia.
June 1776 proved to be a critical month in Garden State history, transforming New Jersey from a British colony into an emerging American state.
At the center of the drama was William Franklin, New Jersey’s last royal governor and the son of Founding Father Benjamin Franklin. Unlike his famous father, William remained loyal to the British Crown as revolutionary sentiment spread throughout the colonies.
On June 15, 1776, New Jersey’s Provincial Congress formally ordered the arrest and removal from office of the younger Franklin, effectively ending the Crown’s functional civil authority in the colony. Franklin was taken into custody in Perth Amboy, New Jersey and eventually landed in Connecticut before being released two years later in a prisoner exhange.
The arrest signaled that New Jersey’s revolutionary leaders were no longer seeking compromise or accommodation with London after years of heightened tension. This dramatic political realignment accelerated in the days that followed. New Jersey’s delegates to the Continental Congress had previously been instructed by colonisl lrsfrtd to pursue reconciliation with Britain. But after Franklin’s removal, the colony selected new representatives who supported independence.
On June 21, New Jersey formally authorized its delegates to join other colonies in declaring independence from Great Britain, clearing the way for New Jersey’s support of what would become the Declaration of Independence less than two weeks later.
At the same time, local leaders were actively preparing for war. Militia units were being organized throughout the colony as officials anticipated that New Jersey’s key position between New York and Philadelphia would make it a pivotal battleground in the conflict.
Those predictions soon proved accurate. Over the next several years, the future Garden State witnessed more military engagements than any other British colony, earning its eventual reputation as the “Crossroads of the Revolution” through blood and sacrifice.
The events of June 1776 likewise paved the way for New Jersey’s first state constitution, adopted on July 2, 1776, just days before the Declaration of Independence was finalized.
While July 4th is remembered as the birth of the United States, many of the decisions that committed New Jersey to the cause of independence were made during the dramatic month of June, when the colony decisively chose revolution over loyalty to the Crown.
