A state of the east-central United States on the Atlantic Ocean. One of the original Thirteen Colonies, it was settled by Dutch and Swedish colonists in the 1620s and 1630s, was ceded to the English as part of New Netherland in 1664, and became a royal province in 1702. The colony was strategically important in the American Revolution and was the site of a number of major battles, including the engagements at Trenton, Princeton, and Monmouth. New Jersey ratified the United States Constitution in 1787. Trenton is the capital and Newark the largest city.