| Book Review | The Journal of American History, 87.2

You have not been recognized as a subscriber to JAH online. About 201 words from this article are provided below; about 353 words remain.

If you are a individual member of the Organization of American Historians, you may:: • login here if you have already registered for online access.; • Or if you're already logged in register your subscription.
• Set up your online account for the first time.
If you are not a member of the Organization of American Historians, you can:: • Join the OAH and receive many member benefits including print and electronic issues of the Journal of American History.
• Purchase a research pass to gain two-hour access to the entire History Cooperative web site. You will have full access to current issues of the Journal of American History (86.1-present). Note: the Research Pass does not provide access to JSTOR's holdings of the Journal of American History.
Instititutions can:: • Subscribe to this journal and receive print and electronic issues.
• Activate your existing subscription so that we recognize your IP number ranges.

| Book Review | The Journal of American History, 87.2 | The History Cooperative

Book Review

These Daring Disturbers of the Public Peace: The Struggle for Property and Power in Early New Jersey. By Brendan McConville. (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1999. xvi, 318 pp. $45.00, isbn 0-8014-3389-4.)

This book examines land disputes in New Jersey in the colonial period. These disputes arose out of several related issues. Many combatants disagreed over the legitimacy and boundaries of grants given by Col. Richard Nicholls in the seventeenth century and questioned grants given by subsequent officials to some of that same land. Some participants doubted the validity of paying quitrents, while others challenged the location of the line that divided East and West Jersey because the borders of estates often depended on the position of the line. Others negated questions of European constructions of space by claiming land via titles obtained from Native Americans. Last, some farmers simply disregarded official pretenses and squatted on land. The subsequent violence that emerged out of these conflicting claims to land in New Jersey was multiethnic, multicultural, and multiracial, and it shaped New Jersey on the eve of the American Revolution. Although it extends into the revolutionary period, Brendan McConville's coherent examination of these issues remains rooted in the colonial period. . . .

There are about 353 more words in this article. Please log in (or, if you are not yet an authorized user, please go to the User Setup page) to gain full access rights. Or if you're already logged in register your subscription.