New Sweden

Nye Sverige (Riksmål)
Nya Swerige (Swenska)
New Sweden (English)

Subdivision of:	North American League, Scandinavian Realm
Cities:
Capital:	Christinasborg
Largest:	Nya Elfsborg
Other:	Casimir
Languages:
Official:	Riksmål
Others:	Swenska, English
Established:	March 29, 1638, New Sweden Company
Admission to NAL:	1848 (28th)

New Sweden, or Nya Swerige, was a Swedish colony and is now part of the North American League and also the Scandinavian Realm. There were also settlements elsewhere, such as New Stockholm (now Bridgeport) and Swedesboro in Kent, as well as others in Pennsylvaania and Ter Mair. The colony was founded on March 29, 1638.

History

Founding of Christinasborg

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By the middle of the 17th century, the Realm of Sweden had reached its greatest territorial extent and was on the verge of becoming one of the great powers of Europe. Sweden then included Finland along with parts of modern Russia, Poland, Germany, Estonia, and Latvia. They sought to extend their influence by creating an agricultural (tobacco) and fur trading colony to bypass French and British merchants. The New Sweden Company was chartered and included Swedish, Dutch and German stockholders.

The first Swedish expedition to North America was launched from the port of Gothenburg in late 1637. Samuel Blommaert assisted with the fitting-out and appointed Peter Minuit to lead the expedition. Minuit was formerly the governor of the Dutch colony of New Netherlands. The members of the expedition, traveling aboard the ships Fogel Grip and Kalmar Nyckel, arrived in Delaware Bay, a location within the territory claimed by the Dutch, in late March 1638. They built a fort on the present-day location of the city of Wilmington which they named Fort Christina, after Queen Christina of Sweden. In the following years, some 600 Swedes and Finns settled in the area.

In 1643, the company expanded along the river from Fort Christina and established Fort Nya Elfsborg on the north bank near present-day Salem, Kent. In May 1654, the Dutch Fort Casimir was conquered by the New Sweden colony, led by Governor Johan Rising. The fort was taken without force because no gunpowder was present and was renamed Fort Trinity. In reprisal, the Dutch, led by Governor Peter Stuyvesant, moved an army to the Delaware River in the late summer of 1655, leading to the immediate surrender of Fort Trinity and Fort Christina.

The Swedish and Finnish settlers continued to enjoy a degree of local autonomy, having the right to their own militia, religion, court, and lands. This status lasted officially until the Kemrese conquest of the New Netherland colony, in October 1664, and continued unofficially until the area was included in William Penn's charter for Pennsylvania, in 1682. During this later period some immigration and expansion continued. The first settlement and Fort Wicaco were built on the present site of Philadelphia in 1669. Swedish immigration to the NAL did not begin in large numbers until the late 19th century. With the exception of Ireland, no other country had a higher percentage of its population go to the NAL.

Geography

Borders

New Sweden is bordered by:

North: Pennsylvaania.
Southwest: Ter Mair.
East: Atlantic Ocean.

Economy

Because of provinicial tax laws, New Sweden is often a preferred location for the banking industry, and many of the banking firms of the NAL have their "official" headquarters located in Nya Elfsborg or Christinasborg to help their corporate "bottom-line."

As such, banking is one of the primary industries of New Sweden.