Delaware Colony

The Lower Counties on the Delaware, commonly called Delaware Colony, were a semi-autonomous region on the west bank of the Delaware River and Bay in North America. The area was inhabited by Lenape peoples before Swedish settlers founded New Sweden at Fort Christina in 1638. The Dutch seized the colony in 1655 and attached it to New Netherland, and England took control from the Dutch in 1664. In 1682 William Penn, proprietor of Pennsylvania, leased the three lower counties from James, Duke of York, and governed them as part of Pennsylvania. The counties retained their own assembly, and in 1701 they were granted a separate legislature while continuing to share a governor with Pennsylvania. Their economy rested on grain farming, milling and trade through New Castle, which served as the colonial capital and a major port of entry for Ulster immigrants. The counties declared independence from Britain in 1776 and became the state of Delaware, the first state to ratify the federal Constitution in 1787.