In 1776, the New Jersey Legislature convened for the first time in Nassau Hall, the ivy-covered building that is now the centerpiece of Princeton University’s campus.
It was wartime, but the new legislators kept busy: within months, they had adopted the state’s first constitution, elected the state’s first governor, and kick-started preparations to help the Continental Army fight British redcoats. The British eventually seized the building, before being kicked out again by George Washington’s army in the Battle of Princeton, but by then the legislators had moved on.
Two-hundred-fifty years later, as the United States prepares to celebrate the 250th anniversary of its independence, the New Jersey Assembly returned to Nassau Hall to celebrate its role in New Jersey’s revolutionary history.
“Today isn’t simply a change in venue for us,” Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin said. “It’s a return home, a return to our beginnings, to the place where our Legislature first met in 1776 at the dawn of a new and uncertain democracy.”
The Assembly approved a series of ceremonial resolutions honoring New Jersey’s role in the American Revolution, Princeton University’s 280th anniversary, the New Jersey National Guard, and battleships named for New Jersey, among others.
The celebrants included Lt. Gov. Dale Caldwell, Princeton University President Christopher Eisgruber, and British Consul General to New York Oliver Christian.
The New Jersey Legislature elected William Livingston the state’s first governor. On Sept. 13, 1776, about two weeks into his tenure, Livingston delivered the first speech to a joint meeting of the Legislature. In it, he called on the legislators to “turn our first attention to the operations of war,” including addressing payment to the militia and the need for horses.
Days after George Washington crossed the Delaware with the Continental Army on Christmas in 1776, Nassau Hall played a central role in the Battle of Princeton; Washington’s troops pushed the British from the hall, which was struck by cannonfire. Nassau Hall, completed in 1756, was the largest stone building in the American colonies upon its construction.
“May this return renew our commitment, may it strengthen our sense of duty, and may it ensure that 250 years from now, those who gather in this place can say that we too rose to meet the moment,” Coughlin said.