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Place Name
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New Sweden
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Place Status (Type)
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former state
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Location
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Delaware, United States, North America
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Latitude
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unknown
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Longitude
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unknown
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New Sweden
, Swed. colony (1638-1855), on the Delaware R.;
included parts of what are now Pa., N.J., and Del. With the support of
statesman Axel Oxenstierna (a Swede), Admiral Klas Fleming (a Finn),
and Peter Minuit (a Dutchman), the New Sweden Company was organized in
Sweden in 1633. The Kalmar Nyckel and the Fogel Grip,
2 ships commanded by Minuit, reached the Delaware R. in March 1638.
Minuit immediately bought land from the Native Americans and founded
Fort Christina, where Wilmington, Del., stands. In 1643, Tinicum Isl.
(at Philadelphia) became the colony's capital. About
½ of the colonists were Finns. Peter Stuyvesant, with
a Du. force larger than the pop. of New Sweden, took the little colony
in 1655.
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