This post reviews the history of the City of Lewes and Kent county, Delaware during the colonial period. In that area, the Dutch established the Zwaanendael settlement in 1631, and called it Blommaert’s Kill (Dutch for Creek) in honor of Samuel Blommaert, one of the directors of the Dutch West India Company. He had purchased … Read more
http://uplandpa.pt7.civic-cms.com/history/pages/1600s As discussed on other posts in this timeline, the lands around Delaware Bay, which eventually became the states of Delaware and Pennsylvania, were contested by the original settlers: the Swedes, the Dutch, and the British who eventually controlled everything. As noted in the above linked article and elsewhere in this timeline, the Swedes arrived … Read more
While the Swedes, Dutch and English were fighting it out in the Delaware Valley Region, there was a lot going on in New England. Although the focus of this timeline is the Mid-Atlantic Region, the activities of the British had a wide-ranging effect all over eastern North America. And thanks to the The Early History … Read more
In 1664, the Duke of York, James, was granted this land by King Charles II after the English Colonel Nichols captured New Amsterdam. One of the first acts by the Duke was to remove all the Dutch from the colony; the Dutch capital in Delaware Bay, New Amstel, was renamed New Castle. In 1672, the … Read more
Although primarily a European war between the English and the French against the Dutch, the 3rd Anglo Dutch war ( 7 April 1672 to 19 February 1674) did involve action in the colonies. The impetus of the war was the Secret Treaty of Dover (1670) when Charles II of England agreed to support an attack … Read more
The Treaty of Westminster
Treaty of Brenda signed which ends the second Anglo-Dutch war
New Amsterdam turned into NYC
Johan Risingh was the last Governor of New Sweden having only a one year term: 1654 to 1655. He was born in Sweden in 1617 and attended University in Uppsala, and Leyden (Holland). Before becoming Governor, he was a well regarded economist in Sweden. One of his first acts in New Sweden was to seize … Read more
As per other posts in this Timeline, the Dutch and the Swedes were in continuous competition for control of Fur trading in the Delaware River/Bay area. As part of this activity, the Dutch built a palisaded factorij, around 1633, near the confluence of the Schuykill and Delaware Rivers (the exact loction is unknown). It was placed … Read more