146 DUTCH AND ENGLISH ON THE HUDSON

part of New York, or was it an independent prov-
ince? As usual the importance of the questions
was based on commercial considerations. If New
Jersey were a separate entity then it might trade
directly with England; if it were dependent on
New York it could trade only by permission of the
Duke's representative.

Philip Carteret, a kinsman of Sir George, whom
the latter had appointed Governor of his share of
New Jersey, and who went to America in the same
ship as Andros in 1674, determined to test the mat-
ter by declaring Elizabethtown a free port, while
Andros demanded that all ships bound to or from
any port in the original New Netherland must
enter and clear at New York. With equal per-
tinacity Andros asserted the Duke's authority in
West Jersey, haling Fenwick, one of the claim-
ants under the original grant of 1674, to court in
New York. Fenwick's land titles, however, were
sustained, and Andros then released him upon his
explicit promise that he would not meddle with
the government of West Jersey. Taking advan-
tage of the death of Sir George Carteret in 1680,
Andros next arrested and imprisoned Gover-
nor Philip Carteret on the ground that he now
had no authority, and then himself assumed the