Native Americans First Populated Area
Judy Baehr
Staff Writer for The Daily Journal
But as settlers arrived, tribe eventually left. Now 70 Cultures are represented in County.
When the first Europeans landed on American shores, a tribe known as the Unalachtigo -- "people living near the ocean" -- had established a thriving culture of their own in what was to become Cumberland County.
But colonization, disease, and warfare soon decimated the tribe, and by the 1700s, most of those who remained had left the area.
The first white settlers of New Jersey shaped its institutions and culture, but a wide variety of people from every continent in the world have contributed to and enhanced it.
Cumberland County grew in population and prosperity because of the two rivers that cut through it, and its proximity to the Delaware Bay. With rich, fertile land and navigable waters, people from a variety of cultures were attracted to the area. Eventually, 70 cultures would be represented in the county.
Immigration form Europe to America began on a wide scale after 1830, spurred by population growth, crop failures, and political and religious conflicts.
There were really three great waves of immigrants.
Between 1830 and 1880, most came form Great Britain, Ireland, and Germany. Between 1880 and 1925, most came from Poland, Italy, Hungary, Greece, and other parts of the southern and eastern Europe. After 1960, most came from Latin America and Asia.
In colonial America, only Pennsylvania had a more diverse population than New Jersey, and in 1984, only four other states -- California, New York, Texas, and Florida -- were more ethnically diverse.
By 1700, New Jersey had a population of 15,000 people. Two thirds of these were English Quakers, who would soon outnumber the small population of Swedes, Finns, and Dutch.
In 1790, the very first national census was taken. That census recorded a New Jersey population of 184,000. Of that number, 70 percent could trace their origins to the British Isles. Dutch settlers accounted for 20 percent, and the remaining 10 percent were from Germany and Scandinavia.
An estimated 8,248 people lived in Cumberland County. About 258 of those were African-Americans. Freemen numbered 138; slaves 120.
Many Scots-Irish immigrants worked as indentured servants to gain passage to this country.
As soil was depleted by overfarming, people began to move west. The wave of immigrants slowed to a trickle, and the people who were here considered themselves more and more American. In spite of the westward movement and the slowdown in immigration, by 1840, New Jersey's population had jumped to 373,000 people.
In 1845, a fungus destroyed the potato crop in Ireland. Huge numbers of Irish left their native land to escape starvation and poverty. They found jobs in American cities as day laborers or members of construction gangs.
Most immigrants were still coming from the British Isles and Germany. While the Germans had a common language to unite them, attempts to unite the Irish around Gaelic failed. Instead, they flocked to the cause of ridding Ireland of the hated British military occupants.
By 1860, immigration to New Jersey was outstripping immigration to all of the other states. Of 115,000 immigrants arriving that year, 50 percent were Irish, 28 percent were German, and 16 percent were British.
As conditions in those countries slowly began to improve, fewer people came to America. The years from 1880 to 1920 saw a new wave of immigrants from Italy, Greece, Poland, Russia, and Austria-Hungary.
These immigrants left their countries because of the population growth. The rise of commercial agriculture forced some off their land. Jobs were hard to find in Europe. Many who came here during those years had the idea that they would make their fortune in America and them return to Europe to establish themselves even stronger.
One group, however, could never return. The Jews of Eastern Europe had left their homelands because of religious and political oppression, and returning would have meant giving up their lives. It is estimated that between 1880 and 1914, roughly one-third of all eastern European Jews left their homes.
Trans-Atlantic travel had become faster as steam replaced the said, and many immigrants booked steerage passage, which was little better than a bulk-rate packaging of human beings for delivery to America. With person after person crammed tight within the holds of the ships, many became sick.
At Ellis Island, they were questioned, processed, inspected for disease, and those who were fit were admitted into the country. Sometimes their original names were altered and Anglicized.
In 1881-82, the Hebrew Emigrant Aid Society established the communities of Carmel, Rosenhayn, Woodbine, Brotmanville, Alliance, Norma, and Broadway Station in Pittsgrove Township in southern New Jersey for arriving European Jews.
Huge numbers of immigrants came from Italy, particularly southern Italy and Sicily. They brought their village life to the new country, establishing churches and societies dedicated to their patron saints. Feasts and parades celebrating these saints were common, and church carnivals could last for days. Most in this group were unskilled laborers, and many found work on the railroads. By 1890, half of the men who maintained the tracks between Philadelphia and New York were Italian immigrants.
Like the Irish before them, the Italians encountered prejudice, and because their worship practices clashed with the practices of the Irish, they established their own parishes.
Other large groups came from Poland, Hungary, Russia, Austria, Greece, and Czechoslovakia. Here, there is lasting evidence of two of these groups in the distinctive onion domes of the Russian Orthodox Church and in the area's Greek cuisine.
Prejudice was beginning to grow with the spread of Darwinism and a interpretation which held that people from southern and eastern regions were somehow inferior to those from northern climates.
The post-Civil War years also saw a migration of African Americans from the rural South to the cities of the North. According to the 1920 census, New Jersey had a non-white population of 3.8 percent: 3.75 percent black, and a 0.05 percent Asian.
The outbreak of World War I and its aftermath brought so many immigrants to Ellis Island that the U.S. Congress established the first laws limiting immigration. An overall quota of 115,000 was set; Southeastern Europe was limited to 15 percent of that.
By 1930, 35 percent of the people in New Jersey could trace their origins to ethic immigrant parents.
After World War II came the great flights from the cities to the suburbs, and more immigrants settled in rural areas. The migration of African-Americans continued, and between 1940 and 1990, that population rose from 190,000 to 980,000.
In Cumberland County, much of the black population established itself in Bridgeton and neighboring communities. There, they set up churches and social organizations and became involved in educational and political issues.
Slowly, the face of immigration was changing along with population shifts.
The 1960s saw more immigrants coming from Spanish-speaking countries from Asia.
The first group to arrive was from Peurto Rico. Driven by economic upheaval, they were really migrants rather than immigrants. The United States had acquired the island from Spain in 1898 and granted its people citizenship in 1917.
Between 1950 and 1980, the population swelled from 10,000 to 240,000. Most were poorly educated, and with the language barrier against them, found only low-paying jobs. In 1970, 27 percent of the Puerto Ricans in New Jersey lived below the poverty level. Most of them lived in the northern cities.
In Cumberland County, Puerto Rican families eventually were able to prosper. Some worked in agriculture, but others established small businesses, including grocery, furniture, and various stores. As homeowners and citizens, they put down roots. Today, Peurto Ricans hold a variety of jobs, including municipal positions, and are increasingly active in local politics.
In 1965, Congress revised its immigration laws. More immigrants could come in, but preference was given to those with relatives here and those who possessed needed job skills. Illegal immigration became a problem as many people crossed U.S. borders without the necessary qualifications.
"Matrimonio de favor" -- a quick marriage to enter the country and an equally quick divorce once here -- became common.
The rise of dictator Fidel Castro in Cuba caused many Cubans to leave that island. Between 1960 and 1970, that population burgeoned from 5,500 to 59,000. In contrast to the Puerto Ricans, the Cubans were well educated, had good jobs, and became the most prosperous of the Hispanic groups.
About 20 percent of the new immigrants traced their background to Latin America. Although Mexicans comprised 60 percent of immigrants to America, only 3 percent were coming to New Jersey. More people came from Columbia and from the Dominican Republic. They found jobs in the hotel and restaurant industry.
Today, some Mexicans have located in the county. Originally attracted by farm work, they are beginning to open small businesses, including food stores offering ethnic fare.
The latest immigrant group to arrive is the Asians.
Between 1960 and 1980, the Asian population in New Jersey swelled from 15,000 to 96,000, and by 1990, it had reached 272,000.
The largest groups were from India, the Philippines, and Korea. They were very well educated: many had graduate training, and most had a good command of English. Many were professionals and found jobs in the medical industry.
In Cumberland County, they joined Japanese-Americans who located in the Seabrook area following World War II and who since have woven their culture into the local ethnic fabric through yearly festivals and religious celebrations.
Although immigration had continued for more than 250 years, issues such as jobs and language continue to divide people. Vineland grappled with which second language should be taught in its schools. An interracial couple in Laurel Lake were victims of hatred.
Taken from The Daily Journal;
Special Commemorative Section - 7/1/98