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Colonial Delaware

Named For Virginia Governor Lord De La Warr

Jul 23, 2006 Mary Trotter Kion

Henry Hudson discovers the Delaware River. Samuel Argall names the area Delaware for Virginia Governor Lord De La Warr. New Sweden is established.

Henry Hudson Locates the Delaware River

The first known European to visit Delaware was Henry Hudson, an English explorer. In 1609, he located the Delaware River and claimed the land for his employers, the Dutch East India Company. Hudson described Delaware as "a white sandy shore and within it an abundance of green trees." What Hudson observed was the "low level plain" along the banks of Delaware Bay and the Delaware River.

Captain Argall Names Delaware

The following year, adventurer Captain Samuel Argall entered the bay and named the area after the governor of Virginia , Lord De La Warr. Between 1614 and 1620, after a glowing report that resulted from a more extensive exploration, the Dutch West India Company sent a small colony to an island in the upper Delaware River. But it would be another twenty-eight years before the first permanent settlement would be established.

Swedes Establish First Settlement

Some of the Dutch joined forces with the New Sweden Company, whose expedition under Peter Minuit, the man who had purchased Manhattan Island for $24, led to the founding, in 1638, of Fort Christina, which is present-day Wilmington, Delaware. The fort began with two log buildings being built to house the garrison and to hold supplies. Around them a square fort of palisades and earth was constructed.

Indians of Delaware Sell Land

These Europeans then made an agreement with some Indians residing in the area, which was later contested by the natives, to purchase some land. Furs were also bought from the Indians for shipment back to Europe.

Life at Fort Christina

The population of this little colony of Fort Christina consisted of one commander, one commissary, twenty-three soldiers, and a Negro slave. The men cleared some land and then planted barley, corn, and wheat. Although they did accomplish the building and planting as well as some fishing and hunting, none of these newcomers possessed the skills necessary in conquering a wilderness, such as the New World presented.

Surely they would have perished had they been left to their own wits and devices of survival. But they were not. During the next seventeen years, a total of thirteen expeditions were sent to the New Sweden colony.

Colonial America Series continues with:

New Sweden.

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The copyright of the article Colonial Delaware in American History is owned by Mary Trotter Kion. Permission to republish Colonial Delaware in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.