History Of Delaware

Evidence shows that early explorations of Delaware's coastline were in the sixteenth century by the Spaniards and Portuguese. Henry Hudson explored Delaware's coastline 1609; Samuel Argall in 1610; Cornelius Mary in 1613 and Cornelius Hendricksen in 1614.

However, it was Argall who named the state in the honor of his governor, Lord De La Warr. It was in 1631 that the first white settlement was established in Delaware, and this was nearly 11 years after the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth in Massachusetts.

A Dutch trading company was formed with the intention of bringing back wealth and other important products and items back to Europe. This company was headed by Captain David Pietersen de Vries. He arrived in Delaware in 1632 only to find the settlers killed and their homes burned by the Indians.

The first permanent European settlement in Delaware was established in 1638 by the Swedes near present-day Wilmington. The place were the settlement was established was named The Rocks and a fort was built called Fort Christina after the queen of Sweden. The river where the settlement was established was also named Christina River.

In 1654, the Swede settlers captured the Dutch post, Fort Casmir, which was built in 1651. This is the site of present-day town of New Castle. However, in 1655, the Dutch recaptured all the Swedish settlements and this marked the end of Swedish rule in Delaware. The Dutch restored the name of Fort Casmir and it became their main settlement. However, Fort Casmir could not accommodate all the settlers so a new town, named New Amstel, was established. This is the located of present-day New Castle.

The Dutch remained in control for nearly a decade until the British came and overthrew them. In 1861, the Province of Pennsylvania was given to William Penn by King Charles II. However, Penn was not satisfied as he was worried that his province would get landlocked if the neighboring colonies became hostile. He petitioned the King and he was given the lower counties of Delaware.

When the Declaration of Independence took place in 1776, Delaware broke away from the British and was established into a state with a government independent of Pennsylvania. The state of Delaware became the first state to ratify the US Constitution after the end of the American Revolution.

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