Early Exploration and Settlement

Henry Hudson, an English explorer in the service of the Dutch West India Company, discovered the body of water that came to be called Delaware Bay in 1609, laying the basis for a claim to the area by the Netherlands. Delaware was named by Samuel Argall, an English sea captain, who sailed past the region on his way to Virginia in 1610. It was named for Sir Thomas West, Lord de la Warr, governor of Virginia. The first settlement in Delaware was made in 1631 by 28 Dutch settlers, who established a colony called Zwaanendael (Valley of the Swans) near present-day Lewes. The following year, the colonists were massacred by Indians.

No attempt was made to resettle the colony, but interest in the Delaware area continued. In 1638, a group of Swedish colonists, led by Peter Minuit, founded the first permanent settlement, at the site of what is now Wilmington. To defend the colony, called New Sweden, they built Fort Christina, named for the queen of Sweden. The Swedes, who had lived in log dwellings in their homeland, built log cabins in New Sweden, and the log cabin became the typical American pioneer dwelling. The colony grew slowly, never having more than 400 settlers. Relations with the Indians were good.

In 1651, the Dutch, who regarded the area as their possession, built Fort Casmir at what is now New Castle. The garrison was captured by the Swedes in 1654. In 1655, a naval force under Peter Stuyvesant, director general of the nearby Dutch colony of New Netherland, seized New Sweden for the Dutch.

Conflict between the Netherlands and England over trade and colonies led to war and the English seizure of New Netherland and the area that is now Delaware in 1664. The territory was given to the Duke of York (later King James II) by his brother, King Charles II. Delaware was administered as part of New York (the former New Netherland). In 1682, the duke granted Delaware, then called the Territories, to William Penn. Penn had been given the region that is now Pennsylvania the previous year.

Penn made his first trip to North America in October, 1682, landing near New Castle. A short time later, the Territories, now called the Three Lower Counties on the Delaware, were united with Pennsylvania. The counties—New Castle, Kent, and Sussex—were given a separate assembly in 1704 and, though subject to the authority of Pennsylvania's governor, developed a degree of self-government. In the early 18th century, farming was the principal occupation. Later, flour milling and shipbuilding also became important. There were some black inhabitants, most of them slaves.