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New Sweden
New Sweden (Swedish: Nya Sverige) was a colony of the Swedish Empire between 1638 and 1655 along the lower reaches of the Delaware River in what is now Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. Established during the Thirty Years' War when Sweden was a great power, New Sweden formed part of the Swedish efforts to colonize the Americas.
Settlements were established on both sides of the Delaware River. Fort Christina, located in what is now Wilmington, Delaware, was the first settlement, named after Christina, Queen of Sweden. The settlers were Swedes, Finns, and a number of Dutch. New Sweden was conquered by the Dutch Republic in 1655 and incorporated into the Dutch colony of New Netherland.
By the middle of the 17th century, Sweden had reached its greatest territorial extent, encompassing Finland and Estonia, as well as parts of present-day Russia, Poland, Germany, Norway and Latvia. It was one of the great powers of Europe during the stormaktstiden ("Age of Greatness" or "Great Power Period"). At the same time, other European nations were establishing colonies in the New World and building successful trading empires. Sweden sought to expand its own influence by creating a tobacco plantation and fur-trading colony, aiming to bypass French, English and Dutch merchants.
The Swedish South Company (also known as the Company of New Sweden) was founded in 1626 with a mandate to establish colonies between Florida and Newfoundland for the purposes of trade, particularly along the Delaware River. Its charter included Swedish, Dutch, and German stockholders. The directors of the company included Flemish/Dutch merchant Samuel Blommaert. The company sponsored 11 expeditions in 14 separate voyages to Delaware between 1638 and 1655; two were lost.
The first Swedish expedition to America sailed from the port of Gothenburg in late 1637, organized and overseen by Clas Larsson Fleming, a Swedish admiral from Finland. Blommaert assisted the fitting-out and appointed Peter Minuit (the former Governor of New Netherland) to lead the expedition. The expedition sailed into Delaware Bay aboard the Fogel Grip and Kalmar Nyckel; territory that was claimed by the Dutch. They passed Cape May and Cape Henlopen in late March 1638 and anchored on March 29 at a rocky point on the Minquas Kill that is known today as Swedes' Landing. They built a fort at the confluence of the Christina River and Brandywine Creek which they named Fort Christina after their Queen.
In the following years, the area was settled by roughly 600 Swedes and Finns, a number of Dutchmen, a few Germans, a Dane, and at least one Estonian. Minuit served as the first governor of the colony of New Sweden. He had been the third Director of New Netherland, and he knew that the Dutch claimed the area surrounding the Delaware River and its bay. The Dutch West India Company, however, had withdrawn its settlers from the area in order to concentrate on the settlement on Manhattan Island, leaving Fort Nassau on the east side of the Delaware River as the only Dutch outpost on the Delaware River.
Minuit landed on the west bank of the river and met with the sachems of the Lenape and Susquehannock. They held a conclave in Minuit's cabin on the Kalmar Nyckel, and he persuaded the Lenape to sign deeds which he had prepared to resolve any issue with the Dutch. The Swedes claimed that the purchase included land on both sides of the South (Delaware) River from the Schuylkill River down to Delaware Bay in what is now Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland. Lenape sachem Mattahoon later claimed that the purchase only included as much land as was contained within an area marked by "six trees", and the rest of the land occupied by the Swedes was stolen.
The Director of New Netherland, Willem Kieft, objected to the Swedish presence, but Minuit ignored him since he knew that the Dutch were militarily weak at the moment. Minuit completed Fort Christina, then sailed for Stockholm to bring a second group of settlers. He made a detour to the Caribbean to pick up a shipment of tobacco to sell in Europe in order to make the voyage profitable; however, he died on this voyage during a hurricane at St. Christopher in the Caribbean. The official duties of the governor of New Sweden were carried out by Captain Måns Nilsson Kling, until a new governor was selected and arrived from Sweden two years later.
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New Sweden
New Sweden (Swedish: Nya Sverige) was a colony of the Swedish Empire between 1638 and 1655 along the lower reaches of the Delaware River in what is now Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. Established during the Thirty Years' War when Sweden was a great power, New Sweden formed part of the Swedish efforts to colonize the Americas.
Settlements were established on both sides of the Delaware River. Fort Christina, located in what is now Wilmington, Delaware, was the first settlement, named after Christina, Queen of Sweden. The settlers were Swedes, Finns, and a number of Dutch. New Sweden was conquered by the Dutch Republic in 1655 and incorporated into the Dutch colony of New Netherland.
By the middle of the 17th century, Sweden had reached its greatest territorial extent, encompassing Finland and Estonia, as well as parts of present-day Russia, Poland, Germany, Norway and Latvia. It was one of the great powers of Europe during the stormaktstiden ("Age of Greatness" or "Great Power Period"). At the same time, other European nations were establishing colonies in the New World and building successful trading empires. Sweden sought to expand its own influence by creating a tobacco plantation and fur-trading colony, aiming to bypass French, English and Dutch merchants.
The Swedish South Company (also known as the Company of New Sweden) was founded in 1626 with a mandate to establish colonies between Florida and Newfoundland for the purposes of trade, particularly along the Delaware River. Its charter included Swedish, Dutch, and German stockholders. The directors of the company included Flemish/Dutch merchant Samuel Blommaert. The company sponsored 11 expeditions in 14 separate voyages to Delaware between 1638 and 1655; two were lost.
The first Swedish expedition to America sailed from the port of Gothenburg in late 1637, organized and overseen by Clas Larsson Fleming, a Swedish admiral from Finland. Blommaert assisted the fitting-out and appointed Peter Minuit (the former Governor of New Netherland) to lead the expedition. The expedition sailed into Delaware Bay aboard the Fogel Grip and Kalmar Nyckel; territory that was claimed by the Dutch. They passed Cape May and Cape Henlopen in late March 1638 and anchored on March 29 at a rocky point on the Minquas Kill that is known today as Swedes' Landing. They built a fort at the confluence of the Christina River and Brandywine Creek which they named Fort Christina after their Queen.
In the following years, the area was settled by roughly 600 Swedes and Finns, a number of Dutchmen, a few Germans, a Dane, and at least one Estonian. Minuit served as the first governor of the colony of New Sweden. He had been the third Director of New Netherland, and he knew that the Dutch claimed the area surrounding the Delaware River and its bay. The Dutch West India Company, however, had withdrawn its settlers from the area in order to concentrate on the settlement on Manhattan Island, leaving Fort Nassau on the east side of the Delaware River as the only Dutch outpost on the Delaware River.
Minuit landed on the west bank of the river and met with the sachems of the Lenape and Susquehannock. They held a conclave in Minuit's cabin on the Kalmar Nyckel, and he persuaded the Lenape to sign deeds which he had prepared to resolve any issue with the Dutch. The Swedes claimed that the purchase included land on both sides of the South (Delaware) River from the Schuylkill River down to Delaware Bay in what is now Pennsylvania, Delaware and Maryland. Lenape sachem Mattahoon later claimed that the purchase only included as much land as was contained within an area marked by "six trees", and the rest of the land occupied by the Swedes was stolen.
The Director of New Netherland, Willem Kieft, objected to the Swedish presence, but Minuit ignored him since he knew that the Dutch were militarily weak at the moment. Minuit completed Fort Christina, then sailed for Stockholm to bring a second group of settlers. He made a detour to the Caribbean to pick up a shipment of tobacco to sell in Europe in order to make the voyage profitable; however, he died on this voyage during a hurricane at St. Christopher in the Caribbean. The official duties of the governor of New Sweden were carried out by Captain Måns Nilsson Kling, until a new governor was selected and arrived from Sweden two years later.