Separate Paths: Lenapes and Colonists in West New Jersey

Lenape and Colonists in West New Jersey explores the first cross-cultural study of European colonization in the region south of the Falls of the Delaware River. Lenape men and women welcomed Swedes and Finns to escape English regimes, but Quaker men and women challenged this model with strategies to acquire all Lenape territory. Despite mutual commitment to peace, Quaker colonization had similar results to military conquests, but Lenape communities survived in areas outside the focus of English colonization.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 200 pages
Publication date: 30 August 2022
Publisher: Rutgers University Press

The Lenapes and Colonists in West New Jersey, a groundbreaking cross-cultural study of European colonization in the region south of the Falls of the Delaware River (now Trenton), delves into the complex dynamics between these two groups. Lenape men and women, seeking to escape more rigid English regimes on the west bank of the Delaware, welcomed their allies, the Swedes and Finns, offering them land to establish farms, share resources, and engage in trade. This model was challenged in the 1670s by Quaker men and women, who sought to acquire all Lenape territory for their own use and sell it as real estate to new immigrants. While the Lenapes remained sovereign and "old settlers" retained their Swedish Lutheran religion and ethnic autonomy, the West Jersey proprietors had considerable success in excluding Lenapes from their land. The Friends, influenced by their belief in God's favor and the epidemics of smallpox and other European diseases that devastated Lenape families and communities, introduced enslavement of imported Africans and Natives to a colony they had promoted with the liberal West New Jersey Concessions of 1676-77. This defied their prior experience of religious persecution and their principles of peaceful resolution of conflict, equality of everyone before God, and the golden rule to treat others as they wished to be treated. Despite their mutual commitment to peace, Quaker colonization had similar results to military conquests of Natives by English in Virginia and New England, Dutch in the Hudson Valley and northern New Jersey. However, in alliance with the old settlers, Lenape communities survived in areas outside the focus of English colonization, such as the Pine Barrens, upper reaches of streams, and Atlantic shore. This study sheds light on the complex and multifaceted relationship between the Lenapes, Colonists, and Quakers in West New Jersey, highlighting the challenges and complexities of cross-cultural encounters and the enduring impact of colonialism on indigenous societies.

Dimension: 229 x 152 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781978813113