In 1638, Sweden established the first permanent settlement in
the region near what is nowWilmington, Delaware. New Sweden
began to flourish under its new governor, Johan Printz. The
governor set up his capital at Tinicum Island along the Delaware
River near present day Philadelphia. This settlement was begun
44 years beforeWilliamPenn set up his colony in Pennsylvania.
Soon after 1638, the Dutch began to build trading posts
and forts in this same region. In 1654, Printz returned to
Sweden. The Swedish settlers became ambitious. They
captured a small Dutch fort on the Delaware River. This greatly
annoyed the Dutch government in Europe, which
retaliated
by
sending a fleet of ships and army to conquer the Swedes. The
Swedes lost their colony but chose to live under Dutch rule.
Johan Printz, the governor of theNewSweden
colony, was rumored to be seven feet tall and
weighedmore than 400 pounds.
JohanCampanius was the second Lutheranminister of New
Sweden. Canpanius was noted formany things, including
translating Lutheran texts into the Lenape language, andmay
have been our country’s first weatherman. The woodcut belowwas
created by his grandson, Tomas Campanius, who never visited the
colony. There aremany inaccuracies, including palm trees and
circular headdresses, whichwere not found in this new colony.
Also, while fighting inEurope was often point blank and out in
the open, this kind of warfare was not common forNative
Americans.
28
Understanding Pennsylvania
