New Jersey. Ah, home sweet home, and what a great state it is–wait a minute. New Jersey? What is so new about Jersey? I (and I am sure many others) have grown up not really questioning the name of the state or what makes it new. But when you think about it, you realize there must be some other Jersey out there. As it turns out, there is another Jersey, far across the Atlantic.
The island of Jersey is a part of the Channel Islands, located on the strait between England and France. While the island is located much closer to France, and most people there can speak French, they have a much larger association with England; the place is known as a British Crown Dependency. Do not be mistaken–Jersey is its own country. It is true that the island is aligned with the British monarchs and are protected by the UK, but they have their own government, laws, culture, and three official languages: English, French, and Jèrriais (the last being a dialect of French unique to the island, which is sadly endangered in present times). Jersey is a parliamentary democracy, run by the Chief Minister–currently Lyndon Farnham–as well as a Council of Ministers, which are heads of specific departments.
So why did this British island become the forefather of an American state? The history goes that while the English Civil War (a fight between the British Parliament and the British Crown) was occurring, the island of Jersey remained loyal to the Crown. So, after the war, when Charles II became king, the land area of New Jersey (once Dutch, but annexed by the British) was given to Sir George Carteret, Jersey born, who helped the island fight for the British Crown. The land of New Jersey was given to Carteret by James Duke of York, Charles’ brother; he named the land New Jersey to honor Carteret’s Jersey heritage. Carteret’s son Phillip would become the first governor of New Jersey (and yes, the town of Carteret is named after both father and son).
Disregarding history, these two places are well aware of each other in the present day. In 2018, a new square was being created in Jersey’s capital St. Heilier. The Constable of the city, Simon Crowcraft, after being inspired by a visit to Trenton, decided to call it Trenton Square to connect the city to New Jersey. It opened in 2019, though the name ended up being controversial: not because it was named after New Jersey, but because Trenton itself is named after William Trent, a prominent slave trader. The name ended up being kept in the end, however. I would go into more detail about this situation and the dark parts of New Jersey’s history, but honestly, that probably deserves an article in itself.
On a more lighthearted note, in 2022, the Jersey external relations minister, Phillip Ozouf, who came to New Jersey to strengthen ties between Jersey and New Jersey, was interviewed by someone from News 12. He explained how Jersey people consider themselves British and call themselves “Jersey men” and “Jersey women”; he also preferred to refer to Jersey as “Original Jersey”, not “Old Jersey”, and saw New Jersey as the “cheeky chappy” child. So it seems relations continue to be cordial between the two places.
But enough with civilities. How about we pit these two places against each other in a bit of competition? First, land size. As expected, Jersey is pretty small, at only 45.5 sq. miles (117.8 sq. kilometers). Now, New Jersey is one of the smallest states in America. Is this a fair comparison after all? A small island vs. a small state must be fairly close—nope. Not even. New Jersey is 8,729 sq. miles (22,608 sq. kilometers), which is about 191 times larger! New Jersey also has an advantage with population, which should not be surprising. Jersey has a population of 103,267. New Jersey? 9.5 million. Most New Jersey cities have a higher population against the island; Woodbridge was the most comparable with a population of 103,914.
It seems like I am being biased against Jersey and have ulterior motives to express the superiority of my state, and perhaps that is the case. But I believe in fairness, and there are things Jersey has us beat. For example, I was very surprised to see the difference in population density. New Jersey, the most densely populated state in the nation, has a density of 1,291 people per sq. mile (499 per sq. kilometer). Jersey has a density of (2,225 per sq. mile/859 per sq. kilometer). This is about 1.75x the density of New Jersey! Then again, I should not be so surprised. Fitting that the population of a small island would be much denser. And Jersey is a country, which is arguably much cooler than a state.
Also, the island of Jersey is obviously older. This time there is no confusion as to which is the Doppelgänger (unlike the original article, which spent a lot of time pondering such a question). It is so nice to have such straight answers! In the case of Jersey, it officially pleaded allegiance to the British crown in 1204. But centuries beforehand, the island was still inhabited; it changed hands quite a few times from 800-1200 between Britain, France, and Normandy. 1204 is the date where it stopped doing that (besides in World War II, where the island was occupied by the Axis). New Jersey, while explored by Henry Hudson in 1609, was made an official territory in 1664, and became a state in 1787, centuries later than when Jersey became official.
But this is too simple. Why should things be simple, then they can be complicated? A new Doppelgänger debate arose when I wondered this: counts as the start of a place? The day it became an official country/state on the world stage? Is it the day it got its name? The day an explorer set foot on the land? What makes the explorer so special compared to the thousands of people who lived there before? After all, both places have pre-colonial history, so is it really right to say that a place began when it was conquered?
The island of Jersey has evidence of Neanderthal activity from 250,000 years ago. And 12,000 years ago, engravings were found from the Ice Age, further proving that humans were there. But during those thousands of years, Jersey was not an island. In actuality, it only became an island 6,000 years ago. After that, it was possibly conquered by Romans and definitely conquered by Vikings before the Normans came. By contrast, New Jersey was settled 13,000 years ago by Paleoindians (the first people to inhabit North America) after an ice sheet melted. In 1000, the Lenape tribe settled the area. So Jersey has evidence of human activity from much longer ago, but the actual land area of New Jersey existed for much longer; does Jersey’s older history count when it was not an island? Then again, this map proves that New Jersey’s shoreline, even subtly, has changed over time, so it is possible New Jersey settled by the Paleoindians or even the Lenape is very different to the New Jersey now. Then again, the island of Jersey is known for its very high tides, which means every day the island changes. So is there really a coherent Jersey? And if New Jersey keeps losing coastline, will there ever be a coherent New Jersey across time?
But a lot of these questions are very technical. Most people would say Jersey is older, and that is that, which is understandable; no matter how much I try to redefine how a place starts, it is hard to deny that the historical facts are in favor of Jersey. So I suppose, this time around, the doppelgänger refers to us. But while we may be stuck in Jersey’s shadow, they also live in ours. New Jersey has the best education in the country, is the global diner capital, is located next to two major cities (you know which ones), has a GDP that would rank 28th in the world (sandwiched between Argentina and Singapore), and is a leader of life sciences; this state home to top ranking pharmaceutical companies like Merck & Co., Johnson & Johnson, and Bristol Myers Squibb.
So it does not matter that we are New Jersey. We are associated with Jersey by history, but we have found our own way.
