New Sweden
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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 the Dutch New Netherlands on September 15, 1655. Along with Swedes, a large number of the settlers were Finnish and Dutch.
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[edit] History
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 along with parts of modern Russia, Poland, Germany, Estonia, Latvia, and Norway. They sought to extend 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 was launched from the port of Gothenburg in late 1637. The expedition was organized and overseen by Admiral Klaus Fleming, a Swedish-speaking Finn. A Dutchman, Samuel Blommaert, assisted the fitting-out and appointed Peter Minuit to lead the expedition.
The members of the expedition, traveling aboard the ships Fogel Grip and Kalmar Nyckel, arrived in Delaware Bay, a location within the territory claimed by the Dutch, sailing past Cape May and Cape Henlopen in late March 1638, and anchored at a rocky point on the Minquas Kill that is known today as Swedes' Landing. They built a fort on the present-day location of the city of Wilmington which they named Fort Christina, after Queen Christina of Sweden. In the following years, some 600 Swedes and Finns settled in the area. The settlement actually represented an invasion of New Netherland, since the river and the land in question had previously been explored and claimed for the New Netherlands colony.
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 the then-current 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 on the east side of the river (New Jersey), but not for the lands on the west side (Maryland, Delaware, and Pennsylvania). Minuit made good on his appointment by landing on the west side of the river, gathered the Chiefs of the local Native American Tribes, held a conclave in his cabin on the Kalmar Nyckel, and got them to sign some deeds he had prepared for the purpose to solve any issue with the Dutch. The segment of land he purchased from the Chiefs 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.
Director Kieft protested 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. Thus, the official duties of the first governor of New Sweden were carried out by Lieutenant (then raised to the rank of Captain) Mauno Kling, a Finn, until the next governor was chosen and brought in from the mainland Sweden, two years later. [1]
In 1643 the company expanded along the river from Fort Christina, and established Fort Nya Elfsborg on the north bank near present-day Salem, New Jersey. In May 1654, the Dutch Fort Casimir was conquered by the New Sweden colony, led by governor Johan Rising. The fort was taken without force because no gunpowder was present, and the fort 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, in October 1664, and continued unofficially until the area was included in William Penn's charter for Pennsylvania, in 1682. 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.
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 Ireland and Norway, no other European country has had a higher percentage of its population go to the United States.
[edit] List of governors
All Governors lived at Fort Christina, except Johan Björnsson Printz who lived at Fort New Gothenborg.
- Peter Minuit, Director (March 29, 1638-June 15, 1638)
- Måns Nilsson Kling, Commander (June 15, 1638-April 1640)
- Peter Hollander Ridder, Commander (April 1640-February 1643)
- Johan Björnsson Printz (February 1643-October 1653)
- Johan Papegoya (October 1653-May 1654)
- Johan Classon Rising (May 1654-September 15, 1655)
[edit] Forts
- Fort Christina, now Wilmington, Delaware 1638-1655
- Fort New Gothenborg (Nya Göteborg), now Essington, Pennsylvania 1643-1655
- Fort New Korsholm, now Southwest Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 1647-1653
- Fort New Elfsborg, now near Salem, New Jersey 1643-1651
- Fort Trinity (Trefaldigheten), now New Castle, Delaware 1654-1655
[edit] Permanent settlements
- Christina, now Wilmington, Delaware 1638
- Finland (Chamassungh), now Trainer, Pennsylvania 1641
- Upland, now Chester, Pennsylvania 1641
- Printztorp, now Chester, Pennsylvania 1643
- Tequirassy, now Eddystone, Pennsylvania 1643
- Tinicum Township, Delaware County, Pennsylvania 1643
- Province (Manaiping) Island, in the Schuylkill River, now Southwest Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 1643
- Minqua's Island, now Southwest Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 1643
- Kingsessing (Nya Vasa), now Southwest Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 1644
- Mölndal, now Yeadon, Pennsylvania 1645
- Torne (Aronameck), now West Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 1647
- The Sidoland, now Wilmington, Delaware 1654
- Timber Island, now Wilmington, Delaware 1654
- Strandviken, now Wilmington, Delaware 1654
- Ammansland, now Darby, Pennsylvania 1654
[edit] Rivers and creeks
- Swenskes Revier, Nya Sweriges Rivier (Delaware River)
- Schuylen Kyl (Schuylkill River)
- Minquas Kyl (Christina River)
- Fiske Kyl (Brandywine Creek)
[edit] References
- Weslager, C.A. (1990). A Man and his Ship, Peter Minuet and the Kalmar Nyckel. Kalmar Nyckel Foundation, Wilmington. ISBN 0-9625563-1-9.
- Shorto, Russell (2004). The Island at the Center of the World. Doubleday, New York. ISBN 0-385-50349-0.
- 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.
- Munroe, John A. (1977). Colonial Delaware. Delaware Heritage Press, Wilmington.
- Johnson, Amandus (1927). The Swedes on the Delaware. International Printing Company, Philadelphia.
- ^ Shorto, Russell, The Island at the Center of the World, Part II; Chapter 6; Pages 115-117.
[edit] See also
- European colonization of the Americas
- Possessions of Sweden
- Swedish American
- Finnish American
- American Swedish Historical Museum
[edit] External links
- American Swedish Historical Museum. website.
- The Swedish Colonial Society. History of New Sweden in America
- The New Sweden Centre. website
- The Kalmar Nyckel Foundation & Tall Ship Kalmar Nyckel. website and reservations
 Swedish empire
American colonies: in North America : New Sweden | Antillian: Saint Barthelemy and Guadeloupe (1813-1814; returned to France) | |
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| Dutch empire |
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| Former colonies |
| Africa: Arguin Island - Cape Colony - Lydsaamheid fort & factory in Delagoa Bay - Dutch Gold Coast - Gorée - Mauritius |
| The Americas: Berbice - New Holland (in Brazil) (part), Dutch Brazil - Dutch Guiana - Demerara - Essequibo annex Pomeroon New Netherland (New Amsterdam, New Sweden) - Tobago - Virgin Islands (part) |
| Asia & Oceania: Ceylon - Dutch India (Dutch Bengal - Coromandel Coast - Malabar Coast) - Deshima island, Japan - Dutch East Indies - Malacca - Netherlands New Guinea - Taiwan |
| Artic: Smeerenburg on Amsterdam island |
| See also: Dutch East India Company - Dutch West India Company |
| Present colonies |
| Kingdom of the Netherlands: Netherlands Antilles - Aruba |
