New Jersey History and Government Lessons

New Jersey is often the butt of jokes, but as Bruce Springsteen explains: Jerseyans “bear the coolness of the forever uncool. . . .This is not our curse. It is our blessing.” Stand proud, and put a little New Jersey in your classroom! We have so much history to be proud of in New Jersey and so much to learn from exploring it.

Since its creation in 1664, New Jersey has played an instrumental role in the establishment of our country, serving as the location of more military engagements than any other colony during the American Revolution, and becoming the first state to ratify the Bill of Rights. The Industrial Revolution had its roots in New Jersey, and our state has been the home of innovators such as John Stevens, Thomas Edison and Albert Einstein.

With support from the New Jersey Historical Commission, we celebrated the 350^th anniversary of the founding of New Jersey in 1664 by developing lessons about the history, government, people and historic sites in New Jersey for grades K-2, 3-5, 6-8 and 9-12. The lessons have been updated to correlate with the 2020 New Jersey Student Learning Standards and will continue to be updated and expanded—a celebration of our past and a legacy for our future.