John Adams’ Journey Through Jersey, 1774

250 years ago even before the outbreak of the Revolutionary War “the whole of New Jersey” was a “campaign” for John Adams. The delegate from Massachusetts Bay for crossed New Jersey over four days from Friday, August 26 to Monday, August 29, 1774 on the way to the First Continental Congress at Carpenters Hall in Philadelphia.

A close reading of Mr. Adams’ diary for his first “Journey Through Jersey” offers a New Englander’s perspective of New Jersey on the eve of the American Revolution and insight into the coming together of colonists from across British North America ahead of the First Continental Congress.