volume 12.

_G. B. Keen, New Sweden (Narrative and Critical History of America, volume 4, chapter 9)._

_J. F. Jameson, Willem Usselinx (Papers of the American Historical Association., volume 2, number 3)._

DELAWARE: A. D. 1640-1643. Intrusions of the English from New Haven.

See NEW JERSEY: A. D. 1640-1655.

DELAWARE. A. D. 1640-1656. The struggle between the Swedes and the Dutch and the final victory of the latter.

"The [Swedish] colony grew to such importance that John Printz, a lieutenant-colonel of cavalry, was sent out in 1642 as governor, with orders for developing industry and trade. He took pains to command the mouth of the river, although the Dutch had established Fort Nassau on its eastern bank, and the Swedish settlements were on the western bank exclusively. {656} Collisions arose between the Dutch and the Swedes, and when the former put up the arms of the States General on the completion of a purchase of lands from the Indians, Printz in a passion ordered them to be torn down. The Swedes gained in strength while the Dutch lost ground in the vicinity. In 1648 the Dutch attempted to build a trading post on the Schuylkill, when they were repulsed by force by the Swedes. Individuals seeking to erect houses were treated in the same way. The Swedes in turn set up a stockade on the disputed ground. Director Stuyvesant found it necessary in 1651 to go to confer with Printz with a view to holding the country against the aggressive English. The Indians were called into council and confirmed the Dutch title, allowing the Swedes little more than the site of Fort Christina. Fort Casimir was erected lower down the river, to protect Dutch interests. The two rulers agreed to be friends and allies, and so continued for three years. The distress of the Swedish colony led to appeals for aid from the home country whither Governor Printz had returned. In 1654 help was given, and a new governor, John Claude Rysingh, marked his coming by the capture of Fort Casimir, pretending that the Dutch West India Company authorized the act. The only revenge the Dutch could take was the seizure of a Swedish vessel which by mistake ran into Manhattan Bay. But the next year orders came from Holland exposing the fraud of Rysingh, and directing the expulsion of the Swedes from the South River. A fleet was organized and Director Stuyvesant recovered Fort Casimir without firing a gun. After some parley Fort Christina was also surrendered. Such Swedes as would not take the oath of allegiance to the Dutch authorities were sent to the home country. Only twenty persons accepted the oath, and of three clergymen two were expelled, and the third escaped like treatment by the sudden outbreak of Indian troubles. In 1656 the States General and Sweden made these transactions [a] matter of international discussion. The Swedes presented a protest against the action of the Dutch, and it was talked over, but the matter was finally dropped. In the same year the West India Company sold its interests on the South River to the city of Amsterdam, and the colony of New Amstel was erected, so that the authority of New Netherland was extinguished."

_E. H. Roberts, New York, volume 1, chapter 7._

ALSO IN: _E. Armstrong, Introduction to the Record of Upland (Historical Society of Pennsylvania Memoirs, volume 7)._

_B. Ferris, History of the Original Settlements on the Delaware, part 1, chapter 6-7._

_S. Hazard, Annals of Pennsylvania, pages 62-228._

_Report of the Amsterdam Chamber of the W. I. Co. (Documents relative to Colonial History of New York,