The History of New Jersey Trivia Quiz

Answer: Lenni Lenape

In New Jersey, the only real evidence of the Lenni Lenape (aka Delaware) comes in the form of the names of towns, rivers and lakes. In New Jersey, there are towns named Batsto, Rancocas, Ho-Ho-Kus, Hackensack, Mahwah, Hoptacong, Seacacus, Manahawkin, Mantua and Paramus.

Many rivers/creeks bear the same names of the towns--with some of the exceptions being Manmuskin River, Musconetcong River, Wanaque River and Assiscunk Creek.

Answer: 1498

In 1498, Italian explorer Giovanni Caboto (John Cabot) was the first to see the Jersey coast. If you thought that 1524 should be the correct answer, you were on the right track. In 1524 Giovanni da Verrazano was the first explorer to chart and explore the state. I suppose you could consider that a trick question. Cabot discovered it, Verrazano explored it.

Answer: 1609

In 1609, Henry Hudson and European sailors first came to New Jersey. In 1620, a trading post was set up in Bergen (now part of Jersey City). Other Dutch settlers established Fort Nassau on the Delaware River in 1623 and Jersey City in the early 1630s. Small Swedish settlements were planted in southern New Jersey, beginning with Fort Elfsborg (Salem--the town, not the county) in 1638.

Answer: New Netherland

The English had never recognized either Dutch or Swedish claims to New Jersey. England based its claim to New Jersey on Cabot's voyage and on the power of its navy. In 1664 the Dutch surrendered New Netherland to the English, who renamed the area west of the Hudson River New Jersey, for the island of Jersey in the English Channel.

Answer: False

12 battles were fought. In chronological order, they are as follows:
Battle of Trenton, 12/26/1776 and again 1/2/1776 (we'll count that twice), Battle of Princeton 1/3/1777, Battle of Millstone (aka Battle of Van Nest's Mills) 1/20/1777, Battle of Bound Brook 4/14/1777, Battle of Short Hills June 1777, Battle of Monmouth 6/28/1778, Battle of Red Bank 10/5 to 11/25/1777, Battle of Chestnut Neck 10/6/1778, Battle of Paulus Hook 8/19/1779, Battle of Connecticut Farm 6/7/1780 and Battle of Springfield 6/23/1780.

While there were hundreds, maybe even thousands of smaller skirmishes, these 12 battles epitomized what could be called the 12 most important battles to the state of New Jersey. There was also the Baylor Massacre in 1778 in River Vale, but since no actual fighting took place, I'm not counting it as an actual "battle". For the sake of space, I'm not going to list who won or lost these battles. It is known that America won the Revolutionary war and was freed from the British after all was over. It's interesting to note that New Jersey was the state with the most battles fought on its soil--hence the nickname mentioned in the question.

Answer: Princeton and Trenton

This is an interesting piece of trivia I wasn't aware of until I started doing the research for this quiz. From June 30, 1783 to November 4, 1783, Princeton served as the nation's capital. From November 1, 1784 until December 24, 1784, it was Trenton.

Answer: Perth Amboy, Elizabethtown (now Elizabeth) and Burlington

I could not word it as "state capitals" because New Jersey has not always been a unified state. Between 1674 and 1702, New Jersey was divided into East and West Jersey. At that time, there were two capitals (much the same as La Paz and Sucre are both capitals for Bolivia). Perth Amboy was the capital of East Jersey and Burlington was the capital for West Jersey. Prior to that, when New Jersey was a province, the capital was Elizabethtown.

Answer: No

New Jersey played practially no role in the abolition of slavery. In 1804, a law for the gradual emancipation of slaves was passed (NJ wass the last to pass the law), but not until 1846 was slavery permanently abolished. Basically, the slave issue in the south did not concern New Jersey.

The Underground Railroad WAS active in the state, but New Jersey officially obeyed the federal Fugitive Slave Laws, which required state officials to help return runaway slaves to their Southern masters. Also, as a side note, not one battle took place on New Jersey soil during the Civil War.

Answer: farming

New Jersey has always had a large immigrant population. My own great-grandparents came to the greater New Jersey area roughly about 20 years after the Civil war. By 1860, immigrants made up 1/5 of the population. Immigrants, always getting the short end of the stick when it comes to jobs, wound up as farm help.

The farmers themselves had quite a few demands on their shoulders. It became evident that farming had become so much a part of New Jersey's life. In 1864 the legislature had created the State College of Agriculture at Rutgers University.

Answer: Woodrow Wilson

Grover Cleveland (if you guessed him) was a New Jersey native, but served as governor of New York, not New Jersey. Woodrow Wilson, on the other hand, was NOT a New Jersey native. He was born in Virginia. He came to New Jersey in 1890 as a member of the Princeton University faculty. Woodrow Wilson became the governor of New Jersey in 1910 and did not leave office until he became president in 1913.

Answer: 1846

The first "officially recorded" baseball game was played on June 19, 1846 in Hoboken, New Jersey. The game was between the New York Knickerbockers and the New York Nine. The Knickerbockers lost 23-1 in four innings.

Answer: 1932

While Charles Lindbergh and his wife Anna were staying in their home in Hopewell, NJ, their son Charles III was kidnapped out of his bedroom on March 1, 1932. Two months later, on May 12, 1932, the decomposed corpse of a toddler was found in the woods about 4.5 miles from the Lindbergh house.

Answer: Horse

Yes, it's horses. The United States Equestrian Team is headquartered in Gladstone, NJ.

Answer: jaws

Various shark attacks occurred near Matawan and other places off the coast of the Jersey Shore.

Answer: Monopoly

Monopoly first came out in the 1930s and remains one of the most popular board games to date.