New Jersey in the American Revolution

by Barbara J. Mitnick (Editor)

Overview

Barbara J. Mitnick has edited a remarkably comprehensive anthology, bringing new life to the rich and turbulent late eighteenth-century period in New Jersey. Originally conceived as a legacy of the state's 225th Anniversary of the Revolution Celebration Commission and sponsored by the Washington Association of New Jersey, the volume brings together contributions by twelve outstanding and recognized experts on New Jersey history.

Chapters explore topics including New Jersey as the "Crossroads of the Revolution," important military campaigns, the 1776 Constitution, and the significant contribution of blacks, Native Americans, and women. Reflecting the contemporary view that the war's impact extended beyond military engagements, original essays also discuss the fine and decorative arts, literature, architecture, archaeology, and social and economic conditions. The reader is presented with a picture of life in New Jersey both separate from as well as connected to the fight for American independence and the establishment of the nation.

Fresh and significant observations, including the fact that soldiers fought 238 battles on New Jersey soil (more than any other state) and that the social and political changes resulting from the war were more revolutionary than evolutionary make this accessibly written, beautifully illustrated volume appeal to the lay reader as well as scholars of New Jersey and Revolutionary War history.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780813540955
Publisher:	Rutgers University Press
Publication date:	03/12/2007
Series:	Rivergate Book Series
Pages:	288
Sales rank:	1,062,111
Product dimensions:	7.00(w) x 10.00(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Barbara J. Mitnick, editor of New Jersey in the American Revolution, received her Ph.D. in American painting, sculpture and architectural history from Rutgers University. She is an art historian and adjunct professor of American history painting at Drew University in Madison, New Jersey. Her exhibitions include Picturing History: American Painting 1770-1930, and George Washington: American Symbol, for which she served as general editor of the accompanying publication.

Table of Contents

Foreword by State Senator of Leonard Lance
Preface and Acknowledgments
Crossroads of the American Revolution 
"These were Troublesome Times Indeed": Social and Economic Conditions in Revolutionary New Jersey
New Jersey: Radical or Conservative in the Crisis Summer of 1776?
The "Cockpit" Reconsidered: Revolutionary New Jersey as a Military Theater
Picturing Revolutionary New Jersey: The Arts
New Jersey Architecture in the Revolutionary Era
Caught in the Middle: New Jersey's Indians and the American Revolution
Moving Toward Breaking the Chains: Black New Jerseyans and the American Revolution
"Troublesome Times A-Coming": The American Revolution and the New Jersey Women
The Surprising New Jersey Literature of Revolutionary Times, 1750-1800
The Historical Geography and Archeology of the Revolutionary War in New Jersey
Notes
Selected Bibliography
Notes on Contributors
Index