The New Sweden Colony in North

America 1638 - 1655 (1)

The first colonies in North America

During the 16th Century it was first of all Central and South America that was the subject by the colonial powers of that period, Spain and Portugal. North America was at that point outside the sphere of interest. The powers of the 1600’s, France, England and the Netherlands were competing for North America during this century. France settled in Maine in 1605 and two years later in Quebec which was the beginning of the colonization of Canada. In 1607 the first Englishmen arrived in Virginia and Jamestown. In the 1580’s England had already a colony in North Carolina for a period of time. In 1613 the Dutch was at least at the mouth of the Hudson River and had bought Manhattan. The area was called the New Netherlands and New York’s predecessor was New Amsterdam. New England was established through the pilgrimage crossing by Mayflower and in 1634 a group of persecuted Catholics settled in Maryland. It is during this era of colonization that Sweden enters the picture. This was a time when the Realm of Sweden by force expanded its borders in Europe. It most certainly was an achievement to be able to establish a colony in North America during those circumstances. The many ongoing wars did cost a fortune and many soldiers were needed in the army. More about these wars. The population of Sweden was small; in the middle of the 17th century Sweden only counted about 1,220,000 inhabitants. At this time Sweden had a system of involuntary conscription and the young men were either needed in the Army or for producing food farming . See a Map of Sweden - 17th Century, the Great Power Period.

Swedish West Indian Company

The Dutchman Willem Usselinx presented a proposal to found a Dutch West Indian Company in the 1620's. Such a company was also established in the Netherlands but Usselinx was outmaneuvered. He then tried to interest Denmark in his idea and later Sweden. Usselincx applied for permission of his plans in Sweden and received a commission to found a trading company, Söderkompaniet (The South Company) by the Swedish King Gustav II Adolf on December 21, 1624. The charter was signed on June 14, 1626 and on May 1, 1627 the company obtained the sole right of trading and colonization in other continents for 12 years after approval in the Parliament. However, after Sweden's entry in the 30 Years’ War in 1630 the trading project came to a halt. The lack of suitable ships in 1629 resulted in the establishment of Skeppskompaniet (The Ship Company). The two companies were consolidated into one company in 1631. After the Parliament meeting in 1636 the project was reopened by the Chancellor of the Realm Axel Oxenstierna and in 1637 the South Company was reconstructed into Nya Sverigekompaniet (The New Sweden Company). The funding of the new company was half Swedish and half Dutch. The aim of the company was to establish a Swedish colony in North America and to trade Swedish iron and copper for fur, tobacco, wine, exotic fruits, spices and other articles of value. The company’s five Swedish joint owners were the Counts and brothers Axel and Gabriel Gustafsson Oxenstierna, their first cousin Gabriel Bengtsson Oxenstierna, Clas Larsson Flemming and Peter Spiring. Further there were six Dutch joint owners, among them Samuel Blommaert. In 1640 the company decided to obtain new ships and shortly thereafter the new Svenska Västindiska Kompaniet (The Swedish West Indian Company) was established with The New Sweden Company and its ships was a joint owner. More about the Swedish joint partners in the company.

The First Expedition in 1637/38

At the end of November in 1637 the Swedish pinnaces Kalmare Nyckel and Fågel Grip embarked from the port of Göteborg (Gothenburg) with Delaware Bay, North America as their destination. The ships sailed through the English Channel, to the Canary Islands, the West Indies and finally to Delaware. The plan was to establish a Swedish colony by the Delaware Bay between the existing English and Dutch colonies. Head of the Swedish expedition was Peter Minuit (158? - 1638). He was German born but in Dutch service and a previous governor to the colony New Netherlands in North America. The naval officers and half of the crew on Kalmare Nyckel were Dutchmen since there was no existing Swedish experience in Trans-Atlantic crossing at this time. The captain of Kalmare Nyckel was Jan Hindriksen van der Water. Aboard were also fully 20 Swedish soldiers under the command of Army Lieutenant Måns Nilsson Kling plus a bookkeeper. The voyage took 4 months since they didn’t sail the shortest route to avoid disclosure. The two ships also ran into a violent storm in the North Sea and had to port in the Netherlands for repairs. The expedition didn’t arrive in Delaware until March 1638. The place where they first landed was of great natural beauty and they named it ”Paradise Point” which still is the name today. The ships then entered Delaware Bay and proceeded cautiously up the Delaware River and finally ported on March 23, 1638 at a rocky point known as “The Rocks” on the Minquas Kill near the Christina River. The Rocks were a natural rock formation that served as a natural loading dock. The image to the right shows the Kalmare Nyckel. A few days later representatives for the river area’s two Indian tribes, the Lenapes and the Minquas boarded the Kalmare Nyckel and an agreement was signed. The right to colonize of the land on the western side of the Delaware was officially and legally transferred to the New Sweden Company and its settlers. The land transferred to the Swedes stretched from Buck Creek in the south to the Schuylkill River (in today’s western Philadelphia) in the north and to “sunset” in the west. The agreement was signed on April 8 and the purchase-sum consisted of merchandise. Fort Christina in today’s Wilmington was built on a hill near the landing rock as protection for the trading station. The palisaded bastions were surrounded with an earthwork and armed with guns. The fort stood ready before fall and was named after the Swedish monarch, Queen Christina. Initially the purpose of the fort might have been to protect the Swedish colonists from unfriendly Indians. However, the Lenape and Minquas were friendly trading partners and agricultural advisers. Instead, the main function of this and other forts became to protect the Swedes from other Europeans, not from the Indians. Land was also broken for farming. The houses built were constructed with the Swedish X-joint log house technique, a new building technique in North America. The craft was quickly adopted by other colonists and settlers. The map to the right shows the New Sweden Colony by the Delaware River. Both ships probably set sail for Sweden before or during summer. Left in New Sweden was Lieutenant Månsson with 20 soldiers plus some administrators. Unfortunately, Peter Minuit was lost in a severe storm during the voyage back to Sweden. A new expedition was sent to New Sweden in September 1639; this time with more colonists. These colonists were not emigrating voluntarily, but convicted felons that had been offered a choice between imprisonment in Sweden or emigration to New Sweden where they had to stay for at least five years. The Kalmare Nyckel arrived at New Sweden in April 1640. Aboard was the new Governor to New Sweden, Peter Holländer Ridder, and the first Lutheran clergyman to North America, Torkel Reovius from the Östergötland province, Sweden. A church was built within the walls of Fort Christina and stood ready in 1642. Sweden was a Protestant nation with a Lutheran Church, Church of Sweden, so the church was a Lutheran Church. The settlers broke new land and the colony grew in size and new agreements were made with the Indians. In the south the colony now reached down to Cape Henlopen and in the north to Sanhikan Falls at present day Trenton. The colony also expanded to the New Jersey side of the river from Cape May in the south to the Narraticon River in the north.

Entirely a Swedish Company from 1641

The fur trading continued and the Swedish company grew in size and dominance. The Netherlands had their own colonization of North America with a Dutch West Indian Company and the Dutch joint owners in the Swedish company were accused of treason in the Netherlands. Sweden and the Netherlands were competitors in North America and these Dutchmen were considered helping the enemy. Therefore, they wished to be released from their engagement in the Swedish company and were bought off. From 1641 the New Sweden Company was a sole Swedish affair. Now New Sweden had to grow and therefore needed more colonists. The first commandant to Fort Christina, Lieutenant Måns Nilsson Kling, had returned to Sweden and during summer of 1640 he was used to recruit more colonists to the Swedish colony. On September 7, 1641 the Kalmare Nyckel and the Charitas arrived at Fort Christina. Aboard were fully 30 families with household possessions, livestock, horses, seed for sowing and commodities. Many of the families were so-called “svedje-finnar” Forest Finns from central west Sweden, primarily from the provinces Västmanland and Värmland. The term “svedje-finnar” comes from the technique of braking forest land into farmland through slash-and-burn, used by these Finns. The term in Swedish is "svedjebruk". More about Finland and the Finns. These families were the first “real” Swedish emigrants to North America. On January 12, 1641, the New Sweden Company was granted the sole rights of tobacco imports to Sweden through a charter signed by Chancellor Axel Oxenstierna. The settlement was extended and the village Finland was established about 20 km (12 miles) north of Fort Christina. With the Dutch out of the picture the first Swedish Governor to New Sweden was appointed. It was Johan Björnson from Bottnaryd, Småland province. He was born in 1592, son of a clergyman and had himself been studying theology in Germany. As a student he adopted the surname Printz. He totally changed his career joining the Swedish armed forces where he quickly advanced in rank. In 1630 he was appointed cavalry captain in the Finnish Cavalry and had good command of the Finnish language. He was later promoted to lieutenant colonel in Västgöta Cavalry Regiment. Due to insubordination in service he was stripped of rank and position. It was after this he accepted becoming Governor to New Sweden. He has jestingly been called “The Americas biggest Governor at all times” due to his roundness. His weight was 170 Kg (375 pounds). The image to the right shows Governor Johan Printz. Johan Printz arrived at Fort Christina in February 1643 aboard the Fama and the Svanen. With him there were 70 people, soldiers and colonists. In total there were now about 200 Swedes in the New Sweden Colony. On Printz initiative an artillery stronghold was constructed on the New Jersey shore called New Elfsborg, heavily armed with guns. Thereby the Swedes controlled traffic on the Delaware River from the south. Farther north the blockhouse New Gothenburg was established on the west side of the river. It was here Printz had his residence built, Printzhof, in a style similar to Swedish manors. The control of the river traffic was strengthened by New Korsholm, a stronghold constructed of logs even farther north. Now when the Swedish settlers broke new land and built homesteads, each village were provided with an armed blockhouse. The names used were from the homeland, Uppland, Mölndal, Vasa and Torne. However, the success of New Sweden was a source of conflicts with the other colonial powers, the English and the Dutch, but also with the Indians. There were hostilities during summer of 1644 and six Swedes were killed, but soon it went back to a normal state of conditions. The Swedish forts were strong and difficult to attack and had guns to their defense. The Dutch regarded the Swedes as intruders to their sphere of interest and a challenge to the Dutch old rights of trading and cultivation in North America. The Dutch Governor Willem Kieft made a complaint, in vain, to the Swedish Governor Printz and since Sweden and the Netherlands was in an alliance during the 30 Years’ War (1618 – 1648), they avoided an open conflict, at least in the beginning. Instead Printz successfully used the existing conflicts between the Dutch and the English and made both countries ask permission to sail upstream on the Delaware River. The Dutch colony, New Netherlands was located just north of New Sweden while the English colony, Colony of Virginia (today's Virginia) was southwest of New Sweden. The shipments of merchandise to Sweden were significant and included: pelts of beaver, marten, muskrat, cougar, otter and black bear in thousands. On the fields the settlers grew sweet corn and tobacco. The sole right of importing tobacco to Sweden was the financial backbone of the Swedish West Indian Company. The financial value of New Sweden was not that important at large. However, what they produced in the small size was impressive. The image to the right from Wikipedia shows the Swedish forts and settlements on both sides of the Delaware River. The interest for emigration to New Sweden was now growing. In Värmland in 1649 there were about 300 Forest Finns who were interested in emigrating. Two years later a further 200 Finns wanted to emigrate. Now however, there were no longer any connections to New Sweden. After Governor Printz's voyage to New Sweden in 1642/1643 there were only a few more expeditions sent to the colony. During the spring of 1644 the Fama and the Kalmare Nyckel arrived with a load of lime and bricks. In the fall of 1646 the Gyllene Hajen arrived and in early 1648 the Svanen. During the summer of 1649, the Katten set sail for New Sweden, however the ship was lost (wrecked) in the Caribbean Sea. The loss of the Katten was a financial drawback for the company. The next ship, the Örnen, didn’t arrive until 1654. At this time there were great plans for shipping 1,000 more colonists to New Sweden, but they were never carried through. In the colony the lack of merchandise from Sweden was a drawback and non-existing contacts with Sweden were noted by both the Indians and New Sweden’s rivals, the Dutch and the English.

The Company:

The South Company’s ability to import tobacco into Sweden was too weak and the profit too small, mostly due to the widespread smuggling of tobacco into Sweden. Because of this their sole rights to import tobacco were terminated by Queen Christina in 1649. After 1649 the company had very little business that eventually lead to its dissolution on October 20, 1680.

Problems with the Dutch

A new governor was appointed to the Dutch colony, New Netherlands, in 1647. It was the one- legged and obstinately hard-working Pieter Stuyvesant. Under his command the Dutch made several inroads into the Swedish colony. The Swedish Governor Printz responded immediately. He had a blockhouse, New Wasa, built very close to the new Dutch stronghold. He forced them to withdraw with arms and demolished their houses. The response from the Dutch was to block the river; however their first attempt failed since Printz set sail with his heavily armed yacht. Next time the Dutch sailed upriver with 11 ships and that was more than Printz could handle. On the western bank, about 5 km (3 miles) south of Fort Christina, the Dutch had constructed a fort, Fort Casimir, with a crew of 200 men. Two ships were left at the fort to patrol the river. Governor Printz now had to consolidate his forces. The new Dutch fort, Casimir, had made the Swedish fort New Elfsborg, farther downstream, worthless and other Swedish strongholds up north had to be withdrawn. The Swedish colonists up there had to abandon their settlements and move farther south, closer to Fort Christina and Fort New Gothenburg which still could offer protection. The autocratic rule of Governor Printz left many settlers dissatisfied and his private trading with the Indians was known to the settlers. They even wrote a petition of complaint to Sweden in which Governor Printz was accused of arbitrariness, brutality and fraudulence. Printz became furious in what he saw as an open mutiny and the settler’s spokesperson was hanged immediately. Other settlers only managed to avoid the same destiny by escaping. During the previous year Printz had sent his son Gustaf to Sweden to reestablish contacts there. It was above all the lack of contact with Sweden that caused the unsatisfactory state of things. After the attempt of mutiny Governor Printz gave up. In the fall of 1653 he handed over the command of the colony to his son-in-law, Captain Johan Papegoja, and returned to Sweden on a Dutch vessel. The Swedish National Board of Trade (Kommerskollegium) now had to take charge of the management of the colony and a Secretary of the Board Johan Classon Risingh, was appointed new Governor of New Sweden. The two ships, the Örnen and the Gyllene Hajen were made ready for a new expedition to the colony. Rumors about the expedition were soon spread all over Sweden and developed into a kind of “America fever” in the areas of the Forest Finns in central Sweden. Hundreds of the Finns sold all their belongings and headed for Gothenburg, the port of departure. About 300 to 400 emigrants arrived in Gothenburg willing to join the expedition. However, there was only room for about 250 colonists aboard the ships. Furthermore there were 50 soldiers aboard under the command of Captain Sven Skute. There were also two young clergymen plus the 21- year old Per Lindestöm, a mathematics and fortification student from Uppsala University. Lindestöm had been appointed the fortification officer of New Sweden. Thanks to his notes from the voyage and his time in New Sweden we know a lot about the life there. The Örnen set sail in February 1654 and set anchor after 107 days in New Sweden, May 20, 1654. The Gyllene Hajen departed Gothenburg in April 1654 but was captured by the Dutch on Hudson Bay. One of the first moves Governor Risingh took was to capture the Dutch Fort Casimir. When the news of this reached the Netherlands, Governor Stuyvesant was ordered to strike back. When the Gyllene Hajen arrived at Hudson Bay with about 100 Swedish colonists in September 1654 the Dutch struck back and captured the ship. The colonists were then forced to settle in Manhattan where later in the 1600’s they had their own church and congregation near today’s Wall Street in New York City. New Sweden flourished under the leadership of Johan Risingh. The population was rising and the colony now counted about 400 people. Circa 1/5 (22%) of the settlers were of Finnish origin, mostly from Värmland and Västmanland in mid-west Sweden. The number of homesteads had increased and north of Fort Christina a new town, Kristinehamn, had been staked out. The captured Dutch Fort Casimir was renamed Fort Trinity. Trading with the Indians was prosperous, not the least because the Crown’s monopoly on fur trading was abolished. A total of 11 expeditions were sent from Sweden to New Sweden. The expeditions. The tension between the Dutch and the Swedes escalates. Risingh tried to negotiate and was relaying on the state of peace between Sweden and the Netherlands. However, Stuyvesant considered the New Netherlands as being deprived land belonging to them. In the summer of 1655 his military unit was reinforced with soldiers from the the Netherlands. Other soldiers were enlisted and six armed ships were hired.

War with the Dutch in 1655

The Indians informed the Swedes about the Dutch armament and the Swedes immediately strengthened Fort Trinity. On August 31, 1655 the Dutch fleet was discovered in the Delaware Bay approaching Fort Trinity. Captain Sven Skute, commander of the fort, could not hold the fort against the five times larger Dutch force and surrendered negotiating for free withdrawal. Stuyvesant realized the Swedes weak position and therefore also besieged Fort Christina. Risingh soon understood the impossibility of defending the fort with his much smaller force and initiated negotiations with Stuyvesant. Risingh and New Sweden surrendered on September 14, 1655 and the fort was handed over to the Dutch the following day. Thereby all of New Sweden fell into the hands of the Dutch.

Sweden at war in Europe

It was no coincidence that the Dutch attacked New Sweden in the summer of 1655. In 1655 Sweden declared war with Poland and invaded the country in July 1655. This was of course known in the Netherlands. So, they used the fact that Sweden’s armed forces were engaged in a war in Europe. Two years later, in June 1657, Denmark declared war with Sweden, while the Swedish Army was involved in war with Poland. The Danes had been persuaded by the Netherlands and a few other countries to start a war with Sweden. On June 23, the Swedish King left Poland with a force of 6,000 soldiers. The destination was Denmark. The force was small, but this was probably the best and most experienced soldiers at the time. The majority of the Swedish soldiers had participated in more than 30 battles. In Swedish Pomerania more soldiers joined the force. The Danish Army mostly consisted of fresh recruits and they were now about to meet the most efficient army at the time. Soon Danish Jutland was occupied and Copenhagen besieged. In February 1658 the Danes were ready for peace talks. This war nearly became the end of Denmark and in the peace treaty the Danes lost a massive amount of territory to Sweden (about 1/3 of their territory). The Danish provinces on the Scandinavian Peninsula now became Swedish territory and Sweden got natural border lines on the southern parts of the peninsula, borderlines that still are the same today. Sweden, being engaged in war at the time of the Dutch attack on New Sweden, had no chance to intervene in North America. In the peace treaty of the 30 Years’ War in 1648 Sweden gained territory in Northern Germany, among them Swedish Pomerania. The customs receipts from these provinces were far more important than the revenue from New Sweden. So, Sweden had to prioritize its defense of the foreign provinces in Europe rather than the defense of New Sweden. See a Map of the Swedish Realm. Contemporary Swedish wars. A thorn in the eye for the Dutch was the Swedes better relationship with the Indians. When the Dutch were on war-footing in New Sweden the Indians made an attack on a Dutch settlement west of the Hudson River. The New Amsterdam Council then ordered Stuyvesant back to the New Netherlands for its defense. This pressured Stuyvesant and he was prepared to give the Swedes a better deal. Risingh was to keep a small territory with full independence. Risingh’s reply was that he could not agree to the terms without concession from Sweden since a considerable part of the colony would have ended up under Dutch sovereignty. He therefore surrendered the entire colony which became a Dutch free state. Risingh returned to Sweden after the surrender. However, Sweden tried to regain New Sweden or get damages through diplomatic channels without success.

The Colony under Dutch Rule

It turned out that Stuyvesant wanted to keep most of the Swedish settlement and promised the Swedish colonists full Lutheran religious liberty. They were also allowed to keep their blockhouses with a militia as protection. They were offered an independent court of law and to keep their own commissioners for the trade with the Indians. In reality this meant that the Swedish colonists obtained a greater freedom under the Dutch than under Printz arbitrary leadership. The Swedish colonization of North America didn’t end with New Sweden. The Swedish settlers were still there. It has been estimated that there were about 400 Swedes in the area in 1655 and 110 Swedish homesteads along the western bank of the Delaware River. The Swedish culture and traditions remained for another century and a half. Trading flourished, so did the cultivation. The Swedish experience of forestry was appreciated by the Dutch. A militia of 200 men was soon established for protection. Yet another church was built and the Reverend Lars Lokenius kept the Swedish Lutheran congregation together for another 40 years. He was the first Lutheran clergyman in North America. The remaining Swedish populations (including the Finns) were growing in number and kept their ethnic cultural heritage for a long time. Clergymen were sent from Sweden to the Swedish Lutheran congregations in North America for a period of 90 years (1696 – 1783) which contributed to keeping their cultural heritage. Even after the colony fell into Dutch hands, colonists kept coming from Sweden. During the summer of 1662 the temporally returned Orsa-Finn Israel Helminen recruited emigrants in Swedish Forest Finn areas all the way up to the Medelpad province. In the spring of 1663 he returned to the Delaware River with about 60 colonists. Later in the fall another 150 forest farmers arrived at the settlement. During the winter 1663/64 another 150 forest farmers emigrated through Amsterdam. However, they had to wait in Amsterdam until summer before they could continue to the colony. When the Swedish the authorities realized the extent of the emigration to the Dutch colony, it was stopped through a general prohibition of emigration and an increased surveillance. Sweden’s small population was needed in Sweden.

Under English rule from 1664

In 1664 a war broke out between the Netherlands and England and in August 1664 an English naval fleet arrived at New Amsterdam. The British conquest of the New Netherlands was commenced on August 29, 1664, when Stuyvesant and New Amsterdam was coerced to surrender, facing the cannons on British ships in the harbor. This conquest continued, and was completed in October 1664, when the British captured Fort Casimir. The Swedish colony now officially becomes the Delaware Colony under an English rule. The English continued to recognize the autonomy of the Swedes with the same independence and rights after they took over New Amsterdam from the Dutch until Pennsylvania was established in 1681. The life in the Swedish colony continued as before.

The Quakers and William Penn

On February 28, 1681, King Charles II of England granted a land charter to William Penn to repay a debt owed to William's father, Admiral William Penn. This was one of the largest land grants to an individual in history. It was called Pennsylvania. In 1682 the Quaker William Penn arrived at the Delaware Valley to possess the territory he had been granted through the charter. About 23 ships were sent with over 2,000 Quakers that had escaped religious persecution in England. This brought significant changes to the Swedes in the area. The new British emigrants were relatively unfamiliar with the life in the colony and got all the help they needed from the Swedish colonists. The fact that the Quakers survived at all in the harsh circumstances that existed in the new land was mostly due the Swedes self-sacrificing efforts. More Quakers arrived, tens of thousands, and this of course changed the position of the Swedish colonists to a minority. Even if Penn tried to keep the Swedes’ rights, the terms were changed. They were now to be blended with a large majority of Englishmen. Some Swedes also took advantage of the situation. The price of land around the Delaware River increased due to the great demand and many Swedes sold their land with great profit and moved out west to break new land. In the Manathanim Valley a new settled country arose with Delaware Swedes that had moved there. In 1730 Manathanim also had a Swedish church. Other Swedes, for example Israel Helminen, searched for new land in the vast New Jersey forests and founded New Stockholm, today’s Bridgeport by the Narraticon River. Another Swedish colonist, Erik Mullika, explored a river in the New Jersey forests; a river still today is called the Mullica River. He broke new land where the Batsto River flows out into the Mullica River. This River carries the name Batsto River after Erik Mullika’s sauna by the river. Sauna is “Bastu” in Swedish so his “bastu” gave name to the Batsto River (in English).

Swedish Churches

The Swedish colonists and their descendants had good contact with the homeland through the Church. After the death of Reverend Lokenius there was a break of Swedish clergymen in North America. However, in 1697 Bishop Jesper Svedberg sent three young clergymen from Sweden to Delaware. Two Swedish congregations were established which together counted 1,200 parishioners and in 1698 the Holy Trinity Church was inaugurated. The location of the church was near the Swedes first landing place The Rock in today’s Wilmington. The Holy Trinity Church is today USA's oldest kept Lutheran church. The second church, Gloria Dei, was inaugurated two years later in the Swedish village Vicacoa outside Philadelphia. This church also exists today but as Old Swedes Church. The Swedish customs lived on for a long time. In the 1720’s there were still julotta (early service on Christmas Day), Christmas games, the celebration of Midsummer and bastubad (sauna bath) etc. Until 1789 the two congregations were subordinated Church of Sweden. As long as Bishop Jesper Svedberg was alive, the North American congregations belonged to Skara Diocese, Västergötland, Sweden. After his death in 1735 they were inserted into the Archbishop's Diocese (The Archdiocese). The “Swedishness” among the Swedish descendants became blunter after the American War of Independence (1775 - 1783). The Swedish Lutheran congregations later became a part of the Anglican Church. The last Swedish clergyman returned to Sweden in 1791. The Lutherans in the Delaware area were thereafter headed by Isak Collin until 1831. When the Swedish Fredrika Bremer (1801 - 1865) made a visit to the Delaware area in 1850 she found no Swedish-speaking people.

Governors to New Sweden

The Governors to New Sweden were appointed by the Swedish monarch; enclosed with the appointment followed written instructions. New Sweden was administered by in total six governors: • Peter Minuit 1638 – 1638 (eg. 1640) • Måns Nilsson Kling 1638 - 1640 (substitute for Minuit) • Per Holländer Ridder 1640 – 1643 • Johan Björnsson Printz 1643 – 1653 • Johan Papegoja 1653 – 1654 • Johan Classon Risingh 1654 - 1655 Page 2 about New Sweden

Source References

• Känn ditt land, Nr 8 Utvandringen, Ralph Scander, STF • Wikipedia • Nationalencyklopedin, NE • När Sverige blev stormakt, Historien om Sverige, Herman Lindqvist, 1994 • Ofredsår, Peter Englund, 1993 Top of page