The Colony of Delaware
The colony of Delaware came into being in 1703 receiving its
name from Lord De la War, who was the Virginia Company’s first governor. The
actual first settlement was by Swedes and Finns, who arrived from Sweden in
1638. They were sponsored in the exploration by Gustavus Adolphus, King of
Sweden. Peter Minuits created the first community around Christiana Creek and
eventually the area was known as New Sweden. The area was subjected to claims
by both the English and the Dutch, becoming the present state of Delaware in
1682.It was part of the group along the north eastern seaboard known as the
Middle group. By 1775 Delaware was governed as a proprietary colony. The early
settlers found fertile land well suited to farming though the southern boundary
was bordered with over 30,000 acres of swamplands. Delaware was often
referred to as a breadbasket colony because it grew so many crops, especially
wheat. A typical farm was 50 to 150 acres consisting of a house, barn, yard and
fields. The colonial economy was overwhelmingly agricultural in character and
most settlers worked the land as landowners, tenants, servants, labourers or
slaves.
The early settlers were from a variety of religious backgrounds:
Lutherans, Calvinists and Quakers.
Life for these settlers was characterised by the same
features common to the early colonists: a great deal of manual labour,
extensive forest clearing, unfamiliar plants and survival from diseases.
There was interaction with indigenous Native Americans,
ranging from hostile exchanges, trade and exchange and guidance with surviving
frontier life.
Bigsby, C., Temperley, Howard, A New Introduction to American Studies,
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