nection also helped New Jersey’s economy and made it feel protected between its two large and aggressive neighbors. Governor Franklin also played a role in creating a more favorable view of England when he announced that the king wanted to settle the dispute and, as proof, gave New Jersey permission to print 100,000 pounds of paper money.7Flemming also points out, though, that New Jersey did show signs of independence and that the fight for this was won more by force than persuasion. Early on when New Jersey had a proprietary government, they discovered that the people’s representatives could limit, if not control, the governor’s power by “pulling tight on the purse strings.” Sensing this trend towards independence, Governor Hunter traveled to London in 1719, informed the Parliament of this trend, and recommended that the crown should pay the governor’s salary so he would not be dependent on the assembly, yet he was ignored, a treatment that the colonies were growing used.8In 1728, Jerseyans once again showed frustration with their rulers. They felt that, in order to become a more prosperous colony, it was necessary to have their own governor instead of sharing one with New York. All of their governors, after all, spent most of their time in New York, and they were being neglected because of their larger neighbors booming economy and population. They petitioned the crown for a separate governor, and though ignored for ten years, Lewis Morris was appointed as New Jersey’s first separate royal governor.9When the time came to fight in the Revolutionary War, though, New Jersey’s citizens were often shoved onto the battle line instead of going by their own free will. Presbyterian revolutionists took control of this situation by exhibiting aggressive behavior towards all forms of opposition. Men who spoke out against the rebel government were fined, arrested, and required to post a bond...
