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1627 first settlement by the swedes
Fort Christina now part of Wilmington Delaware was the first settlement named after the reigning Swedish monarch the sole daughter of Gustavas Adolphus. Along with swedes and Finns a number of the settlers were Dutch. -
1631 New Netherlands and Dutch built fort Zwaanendael, lewes, sussex, and Delaware
The Dutch founded the first European settlement in Delaware at Lewes then called Zwaanendael in 1631. -
1638 New Sweden and Swedes and Finns begins setting in the fort Christina, Wilmington, New Castle, Delaware area.
After a 4-month voyage from Gothenburg Kalmar Nyckel arrives in the Delaware in March. Captain Peter Minuit purchases land on west bank from the Schuylkill River to Bombay Hook, builds Fort Christina at present Wilmington and leaves 24 men under the command of Lt. Måns Kling. -
1655 New Swedes was conquered by New Netherland
The Dutch Governor of New Amsterdam was Peter Stuyvesant. The colony of New Netherland expanded to land that is now the state of New Jersey. Then in 1655 New Netherland took control of New Sweden. -
1664 Delaware became a British colony as part of an Anglo-Dutch war.
The Dutch lost New Netherland to the English during the second Anglo-Dutch war in 1664 only a few years after the establishment of Wiltwyck. -
1681 William Penn was granted land from England witch included Delaware and called the land Pennsylvania.
When Penn was granted the land he split it in to three different colonies. Those colonies soon split and joined together to form Delaware. -
1682 James Duke of York gave control of Delaware colony to William Penn.
When Penn gained control of Delaware he made it part of Pennsylvania. as he did this the colonists didn’t like how he ran things so they protested and won and became a independent colony again. -
1698 Pirates, including Captain Kidd, sailed along Delaware
Captain Kidd sailed along the Delaware River in hope of some gold. When he hit a rock in the water it stopped his ship, as he was trying to move the rock he saw something yellow in the water at the shallow part. After he got close he saw that It was gold. After he got passed the rock he was rich of gold and sailed out back to the ocean. -
1701 Delaware region became known as Three Lower Counties, a separate legislature from Pennsylvania
In 1701, after years of dissatisfaction under Penn's rule, the residents of the Three Lower Counties petitioned for their right to have a separate government. -
1704 Penn granted three lower counties of Delaware.
All the countries later broke apart and formed Delaware. Penn was mad he tried to attack the colony of Delaware. When he attacked they were ready and Penn was defeated and Delaware was officially one of the thirteen colonies. -
1704 First assembly of Three Lower Counties Upon Delaware met in New Castle
The first Assembly of the " Lower Counties," as they were frequently styled, met in 1704, with annual sessions thereafter, until 1776, when a constitution, forming the state of Delaware, was adopted. -
1764 Charles Mason, Jeremiah Dixon surveyed western boundary of Delaware
Dixon's line was surveyed between 1763 and 1767 by Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon in the resolution of a border dispute involving Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Delaware in Colonial America. -
1774 Delaware sent Caesar Rodney, Thomas McKean, George Read to First Continental Congress.
Caesar Rodney, Thomas McKean, George Read represented Delaware in the first Continental congress. The first Continental Congress met in Carpenter's Hall in Philadelphia, from September 5, to October 26, 1774. -
1776 Delaware Assembly declared independence from England
On this day in 1776, the Assembly of the Lower Counties of Pennsylvania declares itself independent of British and Pennsylvanian authority, thereby creating the state of Delaware. -
1777 John McKinley became first governor of Delaware
John McKinley was governor from May 1 1780 to July 19 1852. He was elected by the people of Delaware. -
1778 Delaware Assembly ratified Articles of Confederation
On September 17, 1777, a majority of the delegates to the Constitutional Convention approved the documents over which they had labored since May. After a farewell banquet, delegates swiftly returned to their homes to organize support, most for but some against the proposed charter. -
1787 Delaware ratified U. S. Constitution; became nation's first state
The Delaware legislature became the first to ratify the Constitution by a vote of 30-0 on December 7, 1787. The ninth state New Hampshire ratified it on June 21, 1788, and the new Constitution went into effect on March 4, 1789. -
1792 Second state constitution adopted; name changed to State of Delaware
Delaware is known by this nickname due to the fact that on December 7, 1787, it became the first of the 13 original states to ratify the U.S. Constitution. “The First State” became the official State nickname on May 23, 2002. -
1812 War of 1812 took place
Much of the fighting during the War of 1812 took place in the north along the border between the United States and Britain's Canadian provinces, on the open ocean, or in the Chesapeake Bay. -
1814 Captain Thomas MacDonough of Delaware, defeated British on Lake Champlain
Thomas Macdonough. U.S. naval officer who won one of the most important victories in the War of 1812 at the Battle of Plattsburg (or Lake Champlain) against the British. -
1829 Delaware Canal opened; state legislature established public education system
The history of education in the United States, or Foundations of Education covers the trends in Boston Latin School was founded in 1635 and is both the first public school public school in North America, the Mather School, was opened in Particularly after white Democrats regained control of the state legislatures in. -
1832 Delaware adopted third state constitution; first peach orchard planted
Supported by the Delaware Railroad in the early nineteenth century, Delaware became the leading producer of peaches in the United States. Almost 6,000,000 baskets of peaches were shipped to market in 1832, Delaware's peak production year. Delaware became known as. -
1855 State-wide prohibition law enacted
The National Prohibition Act, also known as the Volstead Act, was enacted on October 18, 1919. Prohibition in the United States went into effect on January 17, 1955. With the passage of the Twenty-first Amendment on February 20 and its ratification on December 5. -
1857 Prohibition law repealed
In 1933 state conventions ratified the Twenty-first Amendment, which repealed Prohibition. The Amendment was fully ratified on December 5, 1933. Federal laws enforcing Prohibition were then repealed. -
1861 Civil War occurred; more than 12,000 troops from Delaware joined Union Army
The state’s geographic position and its north-south split between industrial and agricultural economies reflected the split in the country as a whole. Although there were Delawareans throughout the state who supported the president, northern New Castle County tended to be heavily pro-Union, while many southern Delawareans sympathized with the South. -
1861 Delaware rejected invitation to join Confederacy; troops from Philadelphia garrisoned at Fort Delaware
Congees sent a document to the colonies and wanted them to join together to form an army to defeat the British. Delaware did not accept it because they didn’t want their men dying for this. -
1862 Delaware troops distinguished themselves at Battle of Antietam
Shortly after routing the Union Army of Virginia under Maj. Gen. John Pope in the Second Battle of Bull run Second Battle of Manassas in August, 1862 Lee led his own Army of Northern Virginia across the Potomac into Maryland. -
1863 Emancipation Proclamation issued by President Lincoln; slaves not freed as Delaware fought for Union
Lincoln had only one reason to fight: to save the Union. In time, however, there was another reason to fight: to free the black people held as slaves in the South. -
1865 13th Amendment to U. S. Constitution abolished slavery; Delaware freed slaves
The 13th Amendment, which was ratified by the states on Dec. 6, 1865 abolished slavery declaring: Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States or any place subject to their jurisdiction.
