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D E L A W A R E
(A brief history)
Delaware's history is a long and proud one. Early explorations of our coastline
were made by the Spaniards and Portuguese in the sixteenth century, by Henry
Hudson in 1609 under the auspices of the Dutch, by Samuel Argall in 1610, by
Cornelius May in 1613, and by Cornelius Hendricksen in 1614.
During a storm, Argall was blown off course and sailed into a strange bay which
he named in honor of his governor. It is doubtful that Lord De La Warr ever
saw, or explored, the bay, river, and state which today bears his name. In 1631,
11 years after the landing of the English pilgrims at Plymouth, Massachusetts,
the first white settlement was made on Delaware soil.
A group of Dutchmen formed a trading company headed by Captain David Pietersen
de Vries for the purpose of enriching themselves from the New World. The expedition
of about 30 individuals sailed from the town of Hoorn under the leadership of
Captain Peter Heyes in the ship De Walvis (The Whale). Their settlement, called
Zwaanendael, meaning valley of swans, was located near the present town of Lewes
on the west bank of the Lewes Creek, today the Lewes and Rehoboth Canal.
Arriving in the New World in 1632 to visit the colony, Captain de Vries found
the settlers had been killed and their buildings burned by the Indians.
This settlement is commemorated by the Zwaanendael Museum in Lewes.
No further attempts at colonization were made on Delaware soil until 1638,
when the Swedes established their colony in present Wilmington, which was not
only the first permanent settlement in Delaware, but in the whole Delaware River
Valley and North America. The first expedition, consisting of two ships, Kalmar
Nyckel (Key of Kalmar) and Vogel Grip (Griffen), under the leadership of Peter
Minuit, landed about March 29. The location of the first Swedish settlement
was at "The Rocks," on the Christina River, near the foot of Seventh Street.
A fort was built called Fort Christina after the young queen of Sweden, and
the river was likewise named for her.
The most important Swedish governor was Colonel Johan Printz, who ruled the
colony under Swedish law for ten years, from 1643 to 1653. He was succeeded
by Johan Rising, who upon his arrival in 1654, seized the Dutch post, Fort Casmir,
which the governor of the Colony of New Netherlands had built in 1651, on the
site of the present town of New Castle.
Rising governed the Swedish Colony from his headquarters at Fort Christina
until the autumn of 1655, when Peter Stuyvesant came from New Amsterdam with
a Dutch fleet, subjugated the Swedish forts, and established the authority of
the Colony of New Netherlands throughout the area formerly controlled by the
Colony of New Sweden. This marked the end of Swedish rule in Delaware, but the
cultural, social, and religious influence of these Swedish settlers has had
a lasting effect upon the cultural life of the people in this area and upon
subsequent westward migrations of many generations. Old Swedes (Holy Trinity)
Church built by the Swedes at Wilmington in 1698 was supplied by the Mother
Church with missionaries until after the Revolution. It is one of the oldest
Protestant Churches in North America.
Fort Christina State Park in Wilmington, with the fine monument created by
the noted sculptor, Carl Milles, and presented by the people of Sweden, perpetuates
the memory of these first settlers and preserves "The Rocks" where they first
landed.
Following the seizure of the colony of New Sweden, the Dutch restored the name
of Fort Casmir and made it the principal settlement of the Zuidt or South River
as contrasted with the North or Hudson River. In a short time the area within
the fort was not large enough to accommodate all the settlers so that a town,
named New Amstel (now New Castle), was laid out.
The year 1681 marked the granting of the Province of Pennsylvania to William
Penn by King Charles II and the arrival of Penn's agents on the Delaware River.
They soon reported to the proprietor that the new province would be landlocked
if the colonies on either side of the Delaware River or Bay were hostile. As
a result of Penn's petition to the Crown for the land on the west side of the
Delaware River and Bay below his province, the Duke of York in March 1682 conveyed,
by deeds and leases now exhibited by the Delaware State Archives in the Hall
of Records at Dover, the land included in the Counties of New Castle, St. Jones,
and Deale. On October 27 of the same year, William Penn landed in America first
at New Castle and there took possession from the Duke of York's agents as Proprietor
of the lower Counties. On this occasion, the colonists subscribed an oath of
allegiance to the new proprietor, and the first general assembly was held in
the colony. The following year the three Lower Counties were annexed to the
Province of Pennsylvania as territories with full privileges under Penn's famous
"Frame of Government."
Also in this year, the counties of St. Jones and Deale were renamed Kent and
Sussex Counties respectively.
After 1682, a long dispute ensued between William Penn and Lord Baltimore
of the Province of Maryland as to the exact dominion controlled by Penn on the
lower Delaware.
The dispute continued between the heirs of Baltimore and Penn until almost
the end of the colonial period. In 1776 at the time of the Declaration of Independence,
Delaware not only declared itself free from the British Empire, but also established
a state government entirely separate from Pennsylvania. Delaware's boundaries
were surveyed in 1763-68 by the noted English scientists, Charles Mason and
Jeremiah Dixon.
With the advent to the Revolution nearly 4,000 men enlisted for service from
the small state. The colonial wars had built up the militia system and supplied
a number of capable officers who led the troops of Delaware in all the principal
engagements from the battle of Long Island to the siege of Yorktown. The only
Revolutionary engagement fought on Delaware soil was the battle of Cooch's Bridge,
near Newark, on September 3, 1777.
An important stimulus to the recovery of the state's economy after the war
was the invention in 1785 by Oliver Evans of Newport, Delaware, of automatic
flour milling machinery, revolutionizing the industry.
In the following year, John Dickinson of Delaware presided over the Annapolis
Convention, which called for the Federal Constitutional Convention, that met
in Philadelphia the next year. When the new Constitution was submitted to the
states for ratification, Delaware was the first of the thirteen original states
to ratify the Constitution of the United States. This unanimous ratification
took place in a convention of Dover on December 7, 1787, whereby Delaware became
"The First State" of the new Federal Union. Proud of this heritage, Delawareans
continue to honor the traditions which made them the First State to ratify the
United States Constitution, the document that continues to protect our nation's
justice, strength, and liberty.
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 Angel Island, San Francisco, Chinese Immigration History - aiisf.org 09:12:47 01/20/03 (71)
Hartford's Chinese Community - Stephen Brown 13:02:07 12/24/02 (57)
El Paso's Chinatown - part II - Carry Beverly 11:27:52 12/24/02 (54)
El Paso's Chinatown - Carry Beverly 11:26:11 12/24/02 (53)
Chinatown Yellowpage - Add To
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