1775
Prior to the outbreak of war, New Jersey’s last Royal Governor, William Franklin (son of Benjamin Franklin), addressed the General Assembly on January 13, 1775. Franklin urged the legislature to seek a peaceful reconciliation with Great Britain rather than following the radical path set by the Continental Congress. His efforts were largely ignored, and the New Jersey Assembly eventually endorsed the actions of the Continental Congress later that month, further setting the stage for revolution.
1776
Admiral Molyneux Shuldham arrived in Boston Harbor replacing Admiral Graves as the Supreme Naval Commander for the British in North America.
1777
On this day, a military engagement occurred near New Brunswick as part of the “Forage Wars.” Following the American victories at Trenton and Princeton, British forces were consolidated in New Brunswick and Perth Amboy. Small skirmishes like the one on this day were common as American militia and Continental troops attempted to harass British foraging parties and limit their access to local supplies.
In one of the most significant early civil rights actions in American history, Prince Hall, a free Black man and abolitionist, presented a petition to the Massachusetts legislature on January 13, 1777. Hall and seven other African Americans used the language of the Declaration of Independence, arguing that they had a “natural and unalienable right to that freedom” which God had bestowed equally on all mankind. While this specific petition was not immediately successful, it set the legal and moral precedent that eventually led the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court to declare slavery unconstitutional in the state by 1783.