New Sweden

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For other uses, see New Sweden (disambiguation).
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New Sweden, or Nya Sverige, was a small Swedish settlement along the Delaware River on the Mid-Atlantic coast of North America. It was centered at Fort Christina, now in Wilmington, Delaware, and included parts of the present-day American states of Delaware, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. The settlement was founded March 29, 1638, and was incorporated into Dutch New Netherland on September 15, 1655. Along with Swedes and Finns, a number of the settlers were Dutch. There were also some Germans who first came to the colony as soldiers in the Swedish army.

Contents

[edit] History

New Sweden ca. 1650.
New Sweden ca. 1650.
The Swedish flag and war ensign, version used until the mid-1600s.
The Swedish flag and war ensign, version used until the mid-1600s.

By the middle of the 17th century, the Realm of Sweden had reached its greatest territorial extent and was one of the great powers of Europe. Sweden then included Finland and Estonia along with parts of modern Russia, Poland, Germany and Latvia. The Swedes sought to expand their influence by creating an agricultural (tobacco) and fur-trading colony to bypass French and British merchants. The New Sweden Company was chartered and included Swedish, Dutch and German stockholders.

The first Swedish expedition to North America embarked from the port of Gothenburg in late 1637. It was organized and overseen by Clas Fleming, a Swedish Admiral from Finland. A Dutchman, Samuel Blommaert, assisted the fitting-out and appointed Peter Minuit to lead the expedition.

The members of the expedition, aboard the ships Fogel Grip and Kalmar Nyckel, sailed into Delaware Bay, which lay within the territory claimed by the Dutch, passing Cape May and Cape Henlopen in late March 1638[1], and anchored at a rocky point on the Minquas Kill that is known today as Swedes' Landing. They built a fort on the present site of the city of Wilmington, which they named Fort Christina, after Queen Christina of Sweden[2].

In the following years, 600 Swedes and Finns, mainly Forest Finns from central Sweden (and also a number of Dutchmen and Germans in Swedish service) settled in the area. The settlement constituted an invasion of New Netherland, since the river and the land in question had previously been explored and claimed for that colony.

Founding of Wilmington.
Founding of Wilmington.

Peter Minuit was to become the first governor of the newly established colony of New Sweden. Having been the Director of the Dutch West India Company, and the predecessor of then-Director William Kieft, Minuit knew the status of the lands on either side of the Delaware River at that time. He knew that the Dutch had established deeds for the lands east of the river (New Jersey), but not for the lands to the west (Maryland, Delaware, and Pennsylvania).

Minuit made good on his appointment by landing on the west bank of the river and gathered the sachems of the local Delawares tribe. Sachems of the Susquehannocks were also present. They held a conclave in his cabin on the Kalmar Nyckel, and persuaded the sachems to sign some deeds he had prepared for the purpose to solve any issue with the Dutch. This deed has not survived. The Swedes said the segment of land purchased included the land on the west side of the South River from just below the Schuylkill; in other words, today's Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, southeast Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Maryland. The Delaware sachem Mattahorn, who was one of the participants in the transaction stated that only as much land as was contained within "six trees" was purchased and the rest of the land occupied by the Swedes was stolen.[3]

Director Kieft objected to the landing of the Swedes, but Minuit ignored his missive because he knew that the Dutch were militarily impotent at the moment. Minuit finished Fort Christina during 1638, then departed to return to Stockholm for a second load, and made a side trip to the Caribbean to pick up a shipment of tobacco for resale in Europe to make the voyage profitable. Minuit died while on this voyage during a hurricane at St. Christopher in the Caribbean.

The official duties of the first governor of New Sweden were carried out by Lieutenant (then raised to the rank of Captain) Måns Nilsson Kling, until the next governor was chosen and brought in from the mainland Sweden, two years later. [4]

The relative location of the New Netherland and New Sweden in eastern North America.
The relative location of the New Netherland and New Sweden in eastern North America.

In 1643 the company expanded along the river from Fort Christina, and established Fort Nya Elfsborg on the south bank near present-day Salem, New Jersey. In 1644, New Sweden supported the Susquehannocks in their victory in a war against the English Province of Maryland.[5] In May 1654, the Dutch Fort Casimir was captured by soldiers from the New Sweden colony led by governor Johan Rising. The fort was taken without a fight because its garrison had no gunpowder, and the fort was renamed Fort Trinity.

As reprisal, the Dutch — led by governor Peter Stuyvesant — moved an army to the Delaware River in the late summer of 1655, leading to the immediate surrender of Fort Trinity and Fort Christina.

The Swedish and Finnish settlers continued to enjoy a degree of local autonomy, having their own militia, religion, court, and lands.

This status lasted officially until the English conquest of the New Netherland colony was launched on 1664-06-24 when the Duke of York sold the area that is today New Jersey to John Berkeley and George Carteret for a proprietary colony, separate from the projected New York. The actual invasion started on 1664-08-29 with the capture of New Amsterdam. The invasion continued, and was concluded with the capture of Fort Casimir (New Castle, Delaware) in October of 1664[6]. The invasion was one of the things that was contested in the start of the Second Anglo-Dutch War.

The status continued unofficially until the area was included in William Penn's charter for Pennsylvania, on 1682-08-24. During this later period some immigration and expansion continued. The first settlement and Fort Wicaco were built on the present site of Philadelphia in 1669.

[edit] Hoarkill, New Amstel, and Upland

The start of the Third Anglo-Dutch War resulted in - among other things - the recapture of New Netherlands by the Dutch in August of 1673. The Dutch restored the status that pre-existed the British invasion, and codified it in the establishment of three Counties in what had been New Sweden. They were Hoarkill County, which today is Sussex County, Delaware [7]; New Amstel County, which is today New Castle County, Delaware[7]; and Upland County, which was later partitioned between New Castle County, Delaware and the new Colony of Pennsylvania[7]. The three counties were created on 1673-09-12, the first two on the west shore of the Delaware River, and the third on both sides of the river.

The signing of the Treaty of Westminster of 1674 ended the Dutch effort, and forced them to hand back all of New Netherlands to the British, including the three counties they created. That handover took place on 1674-06-29 [8]

After taking stock, the British declared on 1674-11-06 that settlements on the west side of the Delaware River and Delaware Bay (in present day Delaware and Pennsylvania) to be dependent on the Colony of New York, including the three Counties[9]. This declaration was followed up on 1674-11-11 by a new declaration that renamed New Amstel as New Castle. The other counties retained their Dutch names for the duration[9].

The next step in the assimilation of New Sweden into New York was the extension of the Duke’s laws into the region. This took place on 1676-09-22 [10]. This was followed by the partitioning of the Counties to conform to the borders of Pennsylvania and Delaware.

The first move was to partition Upland between Delaware and Pennsylvania, with most of the Delaware portion going to New Castle County. This was accomplished on 1678-11-12 [11] The remainder of Upland continued in place under the same name.

On 1680-06-21, New Castle and Hoarkill Counties were partitioned to produce St. Jones County[12]

On 1681-03-04 What had been the Colony of New Sweden was formally partitioned into the colonies of Delaware and Pennsylvania. The border was established 12 Miles north of New Castle, and the northern limit of Pennsylvania was set at 42 Degrees, north latitude. The eastern limit was the current border with New Jersey at the Delaware River, while the western limit was unlimited[13]. Pennsylvania immediately started to reorganize the lands of the former New Sweden within the limits of Pennsylvania. In June of 1681, Upland ceased to exist as the result of the reorganization of the Colony of Pennsylvania, with the Upland government becoming the government of Chester County, Pennsylvania.

On 1682-08-24, the Duke of York transferred the western Delaware River region, including modern day Delaware to William Penn, thus transferring Deale, St. Jones from New York to Delaware. St. Jones County was renamed as Kent County; Deale County was renamed Sussex County; New Castle County retained its name[14].

[edit] Significance and Legacy

The historian H. Arnold Barton has suggested that the greatest significance of New Sweden was the strong and long-lasting interest in North America that the colony generated in Sweden.[15]

America was seen as the standard-bearer of enlightenment and freedom, and became the ideal of liberal Swedes. Admiration for America was combined with the notion of a past Swedish Golden Age, whose ancient Nordic ideals had supposedly been corrupted by foreign influences. Recovering the purity of these timeless values in the New World was a fundamental theme of Swedish, and later Swedish-American, discussion of America.

Since the imaginary Golden Age answered to shifting needs and ideals, the "timeless values" varied over time, and so did the Swedish idea of the new land. In the 17th and 18th centuries, North America stood for the rights of conscience and religious freedom.

In the political turmoil of 19th-century Europe, the focus of interest shifted to American respect for honest toil and to the virtues of republican government. In the early 20th century, the Swedish-American dream even embraced the Welfare State ideal of a society responsible for the well-being of all its citizens. By contrast, America became later in the 20th century the symbol and dream of ultimate individualism.

A massive Swedish immigration to the United States was not to emerge until 1870-1910, most notably to Minnesota, with a total of over a million Swedes moving. With the exceptions of Germany, Ireland and Norway, no other European country had a higher percentage of its population move to North America.

Traces of New Sweden persist in the Delaware Valley to this day, including Holy Trinity Church in Wilmington, Gloria Dei Church in Philadelphia, and Trinity Episcopal Church in Swedesboro, New Jersey, all commonly known as "Old Swedes' Church".

Perhaps the greatest contribution of New Sweden to the development of the New World is one that is not even thought of as Swedish. The colonists brought with them the log cabin, which became such an icon of the American frontier that it is thought of as an American structure.

[edit] List of governors

All Governors lived at Fort Christina, except Johan Björnsson Printz who lived at Fort New Gothenborg located in Tinicom Island.

[edit] Forts

[edit] Permanent settlements

[edit] Rivers and creeks

[edit] Footnotes

  1. ^ McCormick, p. 12; Munroe, Colonial Delaware, p. 16.
  2. ^ Thorne, Kathryn Ford, Compiler & Long, John H., Editor: New York Atlas of Historical County Boundaries;P. 005; The Newbury Library; 1993.
  3. ^ Jennings, p.117
  4. ^ Shorto, Russell, The Island at the Center of the World, Part II; Chapter 6; Pages 115-117.
  5. ^ Jennings, p. 120
  6. ^ Munroe, History of Delaware, pps. 30-31
  7. ^ a b c Documents Relative to the Colonial History of the State of New York; Vol. 12; pps. 507—508.
  8. ^ Parry, Clive, ed. ;Consolidated Treaty Series.; Vol. 13, P. 136; Dobbs Ferry, New York; Oceana Publications, 1969—1981.
  9. ^ a b Documents Relative to the Colonial History of the State of New York; Vol. 12; Page 515.
  10. ^ Documents Relative to the Colonial History of the State of New York; Volume 12; Pps. 561—563.
  11. ^ Armstrong, Edward (1860). Memoirs of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania: Volume 119;Record of the Court at Upland, in Pennsylvania, 1676 to 1681.. Pennsylvania: Historical Society of Pennsylvania, p. 198. 
  12. ^ Documents Relative to the Colonial History of the State of New York.; Vol. 12, Pps. 654, 664, 666—667.
  13. ^ Armstrong, Edward (1860). Memoirs of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania: Volume 119;Record of the Court at Upland, in Pennsylvania, 1676 to 1681.. Pennsylvania: Historical Society of Pennsylvania, p. 196. 
  14. ^ Pennsylvania Archives, 2nd series, Vol. 5: Pps. 739 — 744.
  15. ^ Barton, A Folk Divided, 5—7.
  16. ^ The Swedish Colonial Society website.
  17. ^ Trinity Episcopal "Old Swedes" Church: History.

[edit] References

  • Barton, H. Arnold (1994). A Folk Divided: Homeland Swedes and Swedish Americans, 1840—1940. Uppsala: Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis.
  • Jennings, Francis, The Ambiguous Iroquois, 1984, ISBN 0393017192
  • Johnson, Amandus (1927). The Swedes on the Delaware. International Printing Company, Philadelphia. 
  • Munroe, John A. (1977). Colonial Delaware. Delaware Heritage Press, Wilmington. 
  • Shorto, Russell (2004). The Island at the Center of the World. Doubleday, New York. ISBN 0-385-50349-0. 
  • Weslager, C.A. (1990). A Man and his Ship, Peter Minuet and the Kalmar Nyckel. Kalmar Nyckel Foundation, Wilmington. ISBN 0-9625563-1-9. 
  • Weslager, C. A. (1988). New Sweden on the Delaware 1638-1655. The Middle Atlantic Press, Wilmington. ISBN 0-912608-65-X. 
  • Weslager, C. A. (1987). The Swedes and Dutch at New Castle. The Middle Atlantic Press, Wilmington. ISBN 0-912608-50-1. 

[edit] See also

Philadelphia Portal

[edit] External links

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