Editing Warren County, New Jersey (section)

===17th century===
{{Further|Quintipartite Deed}}
Problems developed in the early 17th century when the Little Ice Age began in [[North America]]. The late frost in May and June and early frosts in August or September, made the growing of crops difficult. Cold weather also made big and small game more difficult to hurt, as some game animals would hibernate. Also nut crops from oak, hickory, beech, walnut, butternut, and chestnut, failed at times; making the supply of these nuts scarce. Rivers froze early, and water became cold fast; so fishing became impossible. The Native populations had declined after epidemics of infectious diseases, for which they had no acquired [[immunity (medical)|immunity]]. 

Native American populations were separated from Europe for thousands of years and had no immunity to these diseases that the Europeans brought with them.{{Relevance inline|date=December 2020}} Many Native American populations were weakened from starvation due to the Little Ice Age, which was coldest during the 17th century. Their important corn, [[bean]] and [[squash (plant)|squash]] crops failed due to spring frosts and early frosts in autumn. As the Native American population declined, more land was available for European settlement. All these factors made the Native American populations decline dramatically.  
  
Europeans purchased{{Clarify|reason=|date=December 2020}} land known as land patents so Native Americans moved west to [[Ohio]] or [[Canada]]. The [[Dutch people|Dutch]] settled the [[Hudson River Valley]] and claimed all lands west of the [[Hudson River]] in the early 17th century. In the [[Quintipartite Deed]] of 1674 to 1702, the [[Province of New Jersey]] was divided by two lines, the [[Keith Line]] and the [[Coxe-Barclay line]], which created the border of eastern [[Sussex County, New Jersey|Sussex county]] from the headwaters of the [[Pequannock River]]. The western border was the [[Delaware River]].

Later, after the lands were taken over by the [[British colonization of the Americas|British]], colonial-era New Jersey was divided into two parts, [[East Jersey]] and [[West Jersey]]. In the 17th century, the area of present-day Warren County was part of [[Burlington County, New Jersey|Burlington County]], which emerged as one of the [[Thirteen Colonies]] in [[British America]] prior to the mid-18th century [[American Revolution]].