Chapter 4
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theNativeAmericans. The leaders’ goal was
tomakemoney trading goods for furs.
Now, how does geography fit into the
picture?Where is the best place to locate a
colony
? A colony is a location that is
settled by people. The English began
settlements along the eastern shore of the
Atlantic Ocean. In 1607, the English
founded Jamestown in Virginia. In 1620,
the English also founded Plymouth in
Massachusetts. Meanwhile, the Dutch had
begun a settlement where present day
New York
city is located. At this time,
there were no European settlements in
Pennsylvania. There was not even a place
named Pennsylvania!
TheDutch and the French exploredparts
of the land that is Pennsylvania in the early
1600s. During this time, the body of water
known today as the
Delaware Bay
was
explored. In 1616, Dutch explorers sailed
north on the
Delaware River
past where
Philadelphia is located. At first, theydidnot
see the river that empties into theDelaware.
So, they named it
Schuylkill River,
which inDutchmeans hidden river.
In 1638, Swedish settlers traveled north
along the Delaware Bay. They started a
colonynearWilmington, Delaware. The new
colony was not too far from where present
day Philadelphia is located. Soon after, the
Dutch began settlements across the river in
this area. Both groups wanted to trade with
theNativeAmericans. The Swedesweremore
interested in farming the land. However, the
Dutchwanted the fur trade.
In 1643, a new Swedish governor by the
name of Johan Printz was sent to run the
colony. He was a tall, huge man. He was
seven feet tall andweighed 400 pounds. He
decided tomove the settlement to Tinicum
Island, 20 miles from present-day
Philadelphia. This became the first
perma-
nent
settlement on Pennsylvania soil. A
place is permanent if it stays in one
location. Governor Printz ran the colony
very well. But, in 1652, there was a crop
failure. He returned to Sweden to get more
help for the colony.
It took several months to sail across the
Atlantic Ocean to Sweden and back to the
new colony. By 1654, a new governor with
350 Swedish settlers sailed into the
Delaware Bay. On their way to Tinicum
Island, they decided to capture a Dutch
