New Sweden Nya Sverige (Swedish) | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1638–1655 | |||||||||||
.svg) | |||||||||||
 Map of New Sweden,c. 1650 byAmandus Johnson | |||||||||||
| Status | Swedish colony | ||||||||||
| Capital | Fort Christina | ||||||||||
| Common languages | Swedish,Finnish,Munsee,Unami | ||||||||||
| Religion | |||||||||||
| Monarch of Sweden | |||||||||||
• 1632–1654 | Christina | ||||||||||
• 1654–1660 | Charles X Gustav | ||||||||||
| Governor | |||||||||||
• 1638 | Peter Minuit | ||||||||||
• 1638–1640 | Måns Nilsson Kling | ||||||||||
• 1640–1643 | Peter Hollander Ridder | ||||||||||
• 1643–1653 | Johan Björnsson Printz | ||||||||||
• 1653–1654 | Johan Papegoja | ||||||||||
• 1654–1655 | Johan Risingh | ||||||||||
| Historical era | Colonial period | ||||||||||
• Established | 1638 | ||||||||||
| 1655 | |||||||||||
| Currency | Swedish riksdaler | ||||||||||
| |||||||||||
| Today part of | United States | ||||||||||
New Sweden (Swedish:Nya Sverige) was a colony of theSwedish Empire between 1638 and 1655 along the lower reaches of theDelaware River in what is nowDelaware,Maryland,New Jersey, andPennsylvania. Established during theThirty Years' War when Sweden was agreat power, New Sweden formed part of the Swedish efforts tocolonize the Americas.
Settlements were established on both sides of the Delaware River.Fort Christina, located in what is nowWilmington, Delaware, was the first settlement, named afterChristina, Queen of Sweden. The settlers wereSwedes,Finns, and a number ofDutch. New Sweden was conquered by theDutch Republic in 1655 and incorporated into the Dutch colony ofNew Netherland.
By the middle of the 17th century,Sweden had reached its greatest territorial extent, encompassingFinland andEstonia, as well as parts of present-dayRussia,Poland,Germany,Norway andLatvia. It was one of the great powers of Europe during thestormaktstiden ("Age of Greatness" or "Great Power Period").[1] At the same time, other European nations were establishing colonies in theNew World and building successful trading empires. Sweden sought to expand its own influence by creating atobacco plantation and fur-trading colony, aiming to bypass French, English and Dutch merchants.[2]
TheSwedish South Company (also known as the Company of New Sweden) was founded in 1626 with a mandate to establish colonies betweenFlorida 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 merchantSamuel Blommaert.[3][4] The company sponsored 11 expeditions in 14 separate voyages to Delaware between 1638 and 1655; two were lost.[5]
The first Swedish expedition to America sailed from theport ofGothenburg in late 1637, organized and overseen byClas Larsson Fleming, a Swedish admiral from Finland. Blommaert assisted the fitting-out and appointedPeter Minuit (the former Governor ofNew Netherland) to lead the expedition. The expedition sailed intoDelaware Bay aboard theFogel Grip andKalmar Nyckel; territory that was claimed by the Dutch. They passedCape May andCape Henlopen in late March 1638[6] and anchored on March 29 at a rocky point on the Minquas Kill that is known today asSwedes' Landing. They built a fort at the confluence of theChristina River andBrandywine Creek which they namedFort Christina after their Queen.[7]
In the following years, the area was settled by roughly 600 Swedes andFinns, a number of Dutchmen, a few Germans, a Dane, and at least oneEstonian.[8] 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. TheDutch West India Company, however, had withdrawn its settlers from the area in order to concentrate on the settlement onManhattan Island, leavingFort Nassau on the east side of the Delaware River as the only Dutch outpost on the Delaware River.[9]
Minuit landed on the west bank of the river and met with thesachems of theLenape andSusquehannock. They held a conclave in Minuit's cabin on theKalmar 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 theSchuylkill 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.[10]
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 forStockholm 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 atSt. Christopher in the Caribbean. The official duties of the governor of New Sweden were carried out by CaptainMåns Nilsson Kling, until a new governor was selected and arrived from Sweden two years later.[9]
The colony expanded along the river under the leadership ofJohan Björnsson Printz, governor from 1643 to 1653. They establishedFort Nya Elfsborg on the east bank of the Delaware near what is nowSalem, New Jersey, and Fort Nya Gothenborg onTinicum Island. Printz built his manor house,The Printzhof, at Fort Nya Gothenborg, and the Swedish colony prospered for a time. New Sweden established a strong trading relationship with theSusquehannock and supported them in their war againstMaryland colonists.[10]
In 1651, the Dutch West India Company abandoned Fort Nassau and establishedFort Casimir on the west side of the Delaware River a few miles south of Fort Christina. In May 1654, soldiers from New Sweden led by GovernorJohan Risingh captured Fort Casimir and renamed it Fort Trinity (Trefaldigheten in Swedish).[2] In November 1654, the directors of the Dutch West India Company ordered the Director-General of New Netherland,Peter Stuyvesant, to "drive" the Swedes from the river.[11]
In the summer of 1655, Stuyvesant sailed fromNew Amsterdam to Delaware Bay with 7 ships and 317 soldiers and quickly retook Fort Casimir (Fort Trinity). Stuyvesant then proceeded to besiege Fort Christina which surrendered on September 15, 1655. During the siege, the Dutch plundered houses and killed livestock in the vicinity of the fort.[2] New Sweden was formally incorporated into New Netherland although the Swedish and Finnish settlers were allowed local autonomy. They retained their own militia, religion, court, and lands.[12] This lasted until the English conquest of New Netherland in 1664 at the beginning of theSecond Anglo-Dutch War. The conquest began on August 29, 1664, with the capture of New Amsterdam and ended with the capture of Fort Casimir in October.[13]
In 1669, New Sweden was under English rule, but most of the population was still Swedish. A man named Marcus Jacobsson, posing as a member of the Königsmarck family, attempted to instigate a rebellion against the English to return New Sweden to Swedish rule.[14] The rebellion, known as theRevolt of the Long Swede due to Jacobsson's height, failed. Jacobsson was sold into indentured servitude inBarbados and the families that had supported him were fined for their participation in the revolt.[15]
New Sweden continued to exist unofficially, and some immigration and expansion continued. The first settlement at Wicaco began with a Swedish log blockhouse located onSociety Hill in Philadelphia in 1669. It was later used as a church until about 1700, whenGloria Dei (Old Swedes') Church of Philadelphia was built on the site.[16]
On September 12, 1673, following the Dutch recapture of the Delaware region from theThird Anglo-Dutch War,Governor Anthony Colve's council erected three territorial courts—Hoarkill, New Amstel, and Upland—whose jurisdictions correspond to the modern counties ofSussex,New Castle and the extinct Upland (later partitioned between Pennsylvania and Delaware).[17]
TheTreaty of Westminster of 1674 ended the second period of Dutch control and required them to return all of New Netherland to the English on June 29, including the three counties which they created.[18] After taking stock, the English declared on November 11 that settlements on the west side of the Delaware River and Delaware Bay were to be dependent on theProvince of New York, including the three Counties.[19] This declaration was followed by a declaration that renamed New Amstel as New Castle. The other counties retained their Dutch names.[19]
The next step in the assimilation of New Sweden into New York was the extension of the Duke's laws into the region on September 22, 1676.[20] This was followed by the partition of some Upland Counties to conform to the borders of Pennsylvania and Delaware, with most of the Delaware portion going to New Castle County on November 12, 1678.[21] The remainder of Upland continued in place under the same name. On June 21, 1680, New Castle and Hoarkill Counties were partitioned to produce St. Jones County.[22]
On March 4, 1681, 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 at42 degrees north latitude. The eastern limit was the border with New Jersey at the Delaware River, while the western limit was undefined.[23] In 1682, 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.[24]
On August 24, 1682, the Duke of York transferred the western Delaware River region to William Penn, including Delaware, thus transferring Deale County and St. Jones County from New York to Delaware. St. Jones County was renamedKent County, Deale County was renamedSussex County, and New Castle County retained its name.[25]
Swedish explorer and botanistPehr Kalm visited the descendants of the early Swedish immigrants to New Sweden in the mid-18th century and documented their experiences with the Native American Indians who resided in those parts, in a book entitledTravels into North America.[26]
HistorianH. Arnold Barton has suggested that the greatest significance of New Sweden was the strong and lasting interest in America that the colony generated in Sweden,[27] although major Swedish immigration did not occur until the late 19th century. From 1870 to 1910, more than one million Swedes arrived in America, settling particularly inMinnesota and other states of theUpper Midwest.
Traces of New Sweden persist in the lower Delaware valley, includingHoly Trinity Church inWilmington, Delaware,Gloria Dei Church andSt. James Kingsessing Church in Philadelphia,Trinity Episcopal Church inSwedesboro, New Jersey, and Christ Church inSwedesburg, Pennsylvania. All of those churches are commonly known as "Old Swedes' Church".[28] The town ofKristina (now Christiana, Delaware), named after the Swedish queenKristina, is one of the few settlements in the area retaining a Swedish name, and the town of Uppland survives asUpland, Pennsylvania. Swedesford Road is still found inChester andMontgomery Counties, Pennsylvania, although Swedesford has long since becomeNorristown.Swedeland, Pennsylvania, is part ofUpper Merion Township inMontgomery County. TheAmerican Swedish Historical Museum inSouth Philadelphia houses many exhibits, documents, and artifacts from the New Sweden colony.[29]
Perhaps the greatest contribution of New Sweden to the development of the New World is the log house building technique. The colonists of New Sweden brought with them thelog cabin, which became such an icon of the American frontier that it is commonly thought of as an American structure.[30][31] TheC. A. Nothnagle Log House on Swedesboro-Paulsboro Road inGibbstown, New Jersey, is one of the oldest surviving log houses in the United States.[32][33] Cabin floor plans, such as thedogtrot can be traced to Finnish colonists in New Sweden, as cansplit-rail fences.[34]
The settlers came from all over the Swedish realm. The percentage of Finns in New Sweden grew especially towards the end of the period of colonization.[35] Finns composed 22 percent of the population during Swedish rule, and rose to about 50 percent after the colony came under Dutch rule.[36] A contingent of 140 Finns arrived in 1664. The shipMercurius sailed to the colony in 1665, and 92 of the 106 passengers were listed as Finns. Memory of the early Finnish settlement lived on in place names near the Delaware River such as Finland (Marcus Hook), Torne, Lapland,Finns Point, Mullica Hill, and Mullica River.[37]
Encouraging Forest Finns to move from Savonia to uninhabited forested areas in Sweden, especiallyVärmland and neighboring provinces, became Crown policy during the reigns ofCharles IX of Sweden andGustavus Adolphus. Most of the migration occurred between 1600 and 1620. Over 10,000 Finns moved to central Sweden during this time. The areas where they settled were calledFinnskogen ("Finn forests") in Swedish. These formed an almost continuous belt fromÅngermanland andJämtland to the lake area of central Sweden, especially Värmland.[38] The Finns in Savonia traditionally farmed with aslash-and-burn method[39] which was also used by the local IndigenousLenape Indians.[40]
In 1641, some English families, (probably emigrants from New Haven, Conn.,) embracing about 60 persons, settled on Ferken's creek (now Salem.) About this period, the Swedes bought of the Indians the whole district from Cape May to Raccoon creek; and, in order to unite these English with the Swedes, the Swedish governor, Printz, who arrived from Sweden the year after, (1642,) was to 'act kindly and faithfully toward them; and as these English expected soon, by further arrivals, to increase their numbers to several hundreds, and seemed also willing to be subjects of the Swedish government, he was to receive them under allegiance, though not without endeavoring to effect their removal.'
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