Hello and welcome to a history of the United States.

Episode 40, Dutch Conquests.

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In our last episode, we explored the history of the New Sweden colony

along the Delaware River. After brief enthusiasm for the venture, it found itself stranded and a very

long way away from home. New Sweden struggled for funding and for settlers. The governor, John Prince, a disgraced army officer,

was trying his hardest to hold everything together, but his authoritarian stance alienated a great

deal of the population. Foreign affairs were not going much better, the Swedes had decided with the

Dutch against the English, but that relationship was beginning to strain. This is where we

left things last time in 1653. The Director General of New Netherland at this point was Peter Stavacent.

It was a position he gained in 1647 and he would hold it until 1664.

He was just as large a personality as Prince and his arrival in New Amsterdam changed the nature

of the Dutch-Swedish relationship, as it developed into something more hostile.

Stavacent started making noises that the Delaware was Dutch rather than Swedish.

Prince objected to this strongly, which really annoyed Stavacent.

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