<P> The second version of the New Jersey State Constitution was written in 1844 . The constitution provided suffrage only to white males, removing it from all women and from people of other races . Suffrage had been awarded to those groups under the original New Jersey State Constitution of 1776 . Some important components of the second State Constitution include the separation of the powers of the executive, legislative, and judicial branches . The new constitution also provided a bill of rights . Underneath the constitution, the people had the right to elect the governor . </P> <P> The famous inventor Thomas Edison was born in 1847 . Edison worked in Menlo Park, and was known as "the Wizard of Menlo Park" for his many inventions; over the course of his life, he was granted 1,093 patents . His most famous inventions included the phonograph, the kinetoscope, the stock ticker, the Dictaphone and the tattoo gun . He also is credited with improving the designs of the incandescent light bulb, radio, the telegraph, and the telephone . He started the Motion Picture Patents Company . One of his famous sayings was, "Genius is one percent inspiration and 99% perspiration", as his efforts consisted of research and testing . </P> <P> The agricultural products from New Jersey usually were transported to larger markets in New York City and Philadelphia, requiring better transportation . The first ocean - going steamboat went from Hoboken, New Jersey, sailed around southern New Jersey, and ended in Philadelphia . Later, systems of canals were built, the first of which is called the Morris Canal and ran from Phillipsburg, New Jersey, on the Delaware River to Jersey City, New Jersey, on the Hudson River . The Delaware and Raritan canal ran from New Brunswick, New Jersey, on the Raritan River, to Bordentown, New Jersey, on the Delaware River . Locomotion was also improved; Hoboken - born inventor John Stevens built a 10 - ton locomotive and his son Robert L. Stevens started constructing iron railroads . By 1833, The Camden & Amboy Railroad had been completed, allowing a 7 - hour passage between Philadelphia and New York City . Through the 1800s, over a dozen companies were operating railroad lines . </P> <P> During the Mexican--American War, a battalion of volunteers from New Jersey, in four companies, was active from September 1847 to July 1848 . Philip Kearny, an officer who led a cavalry unit, followed General Winfield Scott and fought in the Battle of Contreras and Battle of Churubusco . After the war, Kearny made his home in the state of New Jersey . </P>

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