# 2338 - 1987 22c Bicentenary Statehood: New Jersey

U.S. #2338
1987 22¢ New Jersey
Bicentenary Statehood

• 3^rd stamp in Bicentenary Statehood Series
• First stamp to honor New Jersey statehood
• Pictures a farmer carrying a basket of produce

Stamp Category:  Commemorative
Series:  Bicentenary Statehood
Value:  22¢, first-class rate
First Day of Issue:  September 11, 1987
First Day City:  Trenton, New Jersey
Quantity Issued:  184,325,000
Printed by:  American Bank Note Company
Printing Method:  Lithographed, engraved, & photogravure
Format:  Panes of 50 in sheets of 200
Perforations:  11

Why the stamp was issued:  As part of a series honoring the 200^th statehood anniversaries of the first 13 US states.

About the stamp design:  First-time stamp designer Jim Lamb mocked up a few other designs for this stamp, including colonial hats in the air celebrating statehood and a political discussion outside of a pub.  The final approved design featured an agrarian scene of a farmer carrying a basket of fresh produce.  Lamb posed for a photo to taken by his wife to serve as the model for his painting.  The stamp also shows a flock of ducks flying overhead, signifying the marshes that provide an important flyway for many waterfowl.

Special design details:  After the stamp was released, there was some criticism that it pictured tomatoes, which many thought were poison before the 1800s.  Lamb said he was aware of that, but knew that the state was famous for its “Jersey tomatoes.”

First Day City:  The First Day Ceremony for this stamp was held at the State Museum Auditorium in Trenton, the New Jersey state capital.

Unusual fact about this stamp:  A very rare error exists with the black engraving omitted.  To date, only four are known. 

About the Bicentenary Statehood Series:  The 1935 Michigan Centenary stamp is often considered America’s first statehood stamp.  However, that stamp actually used the wrong date – Michigan ratified its constitution in 1837, but wasn’t granted statehood until 1837.  The first correct statehood stamp marked the 100^th anniversary of Arkansas in 1936.  In the years since, many other statehood stamps were issued.  However, among all these statehood stamps, 13 were missing – the first 13 states that formed our nation.  With this series, the USPS planned to honor those state as they deserved.

From 1987-1990, the Bicentenary Statehood Series commemorated the signing of the Constitution by representatives of the first 13 Colonies.  The stamps were issued in the 200th year after each state approved the Constitution.  They were issued in the order each colony became a state, though not always on the exact date of ratification.  Each stamp shows traditional symbols or scenes from the state.

History the stamp represents:  On December 18, 1787, New Jersey became the third state to ratify the Constitution and join the Union.

New Jersey’s first inhabitants were Native Americans who belonged to the Delaware tribe of the Algonquian family. Experts estimate that about 8,000 Indians lived in the region when European settlers first arrived. In 1524, Giovanni da Verrazano, an Italian navigator serving France, became the first European to explore the New Jersey coast.

In 1630, the Dutch formed an outpost in Pavonia (now part of Jersey City). However, Indian attacks prevented the establishment of a permanent settlement until 1660, when the Dutch built the fortified town of Bergen (also part of modern-day Jersey City). Bergen was New Jersey’s first permanent European settlement.

In 1664, English forces won control over New Jersey. King Charles II gave New Jersey to his brother, James, the Duke of York, who in turn gave it to two of his friends, Lord John Berkeley and Sir George Carteret. In fact, James named the area New Jersey after Carteret, who had served as the governor of Jersey, an island in the English Channel.

Berkeley and Carteret attracted settlers to New Jersey by selling land at low prices and promising political and religious freedom. In 1674, a group of Quakers led by Edward Byllynge purchased Berkeley’s share of New Jersey. They divided this land into two sections, West Jersey and East Jersey. West Jersey became the first Quaker colony in America. Carteret owned his portion of New Jersey until his death in 1680, when it was purchased by another group of Quakers called the Twenty-Four Proprietors. In 1702, England formed New Jersey into a single royal colony.

As in most of England’s American colonies, the people of New Jersey were divided on the issue of independence or loyalty to Britain. In 1774, a group of colonists dressed as Indians burned a supply of British tea stored on a ship in Greenwich. The Greenwich Tea Burning, as it came to be known, was a protest against British taxation policies, similar to the much more famous Boston Tea Party.

When the Revolutionary War began in Massachusetts in 1775, large numbers of New Jersey colonists joined on both sides. The colony’s location between the cities of New York and Philadelphia made it a major battleground. Nearly one hundred military engagements were fought on New Jersey soil. The most important of these were the battles of Trenton in 1776, Princeton in 1777, and Monmouth in 1778. Before the Battle of Trenton, General George Washington made his legendary crossing of the Delaware River on Christmas night.

During the Revolution, two New Jersey cities served as the temporary national capital. Princeton was the national capital from June 30, 1783, until November 4, 1783, and Trenton from November 1, 1784, until December 24, 1784.

On July 2, 1776, New Jersey declared its independence from Great Britain and adopted its first constitution. It ratified the Articles of Confederation (the forerunner to the US Constitution) on November 26, 1778. On December 18, 1787, New Jersey ratified the United States Constitution, and became the third state to join the Union.

New Jersey was one of the first great industrial states in America. The city of Paterson was known as a center for textile production as early as 1792. Paterson eventually became known for production of locomotives and silk. Trenton specialized in clay products, iron, and steel. During the 1800s, the cities of Camden, Elizabeth, Jersey City, Newark, and Passaic all became major industrial centers. Huge improvements in transportation accompanied this industrial growth. Railroads and canals were built to connect New Jersey with markets like Philadelphia and New York City.

A booming US economy attracted many European immigrants during the first half of the 1800s. At first, most came from Germany and Ireland, but more and more started coming from Italy and Eastern Europe. By 1910, more than half of the state’s population was born outside of the United States. Between 1900 and 1930, New Jersey’s population more than doubled. During the 1960s, many cities faced the problem of spreading slums. In July of 1967, riots erupted in minority neighborhoods in several cities. The worst occurred in Newark, where 26 people were killed and more than 1,000 were injured.

Since World War II, New Jersey has continued its rapid modernization, quickly expanding its electronics, chemical, pharmaceutical, and food-processing industries. It also remains a major rail center, despite the decline in railroad travel nationally. One of the nation’s busiest highways, the New Jersey Turnpike, which links Philadelphia and New York City, opened in 1952. As the population has expanded, extensive home construction has sprung up in rural areas.

In an effort to raise tax dollars, New Jersey legalized gambling in Atlantic City in 1976. The first casino opened in 1978. Also in 1978, New Jersey opened the first state-level energy department in the US – the Department of Energy of the State of New Jersey. As the 20th century drew to a close, the biggest problems facing New Jersey were the high cost of government and the disposal of toxic waste.