Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

established colonies in the Americas in the mid-17th century, including the colony of New Sweden (1638–1655) on the

Delaware River The Delaware River is a major river in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States and is the longest free-flowing (undammed) river in the Eastern United States. From the meeting of its branches in Hancock, New York, the river flows for a ...

in what is now

Delaware Delaware ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic and South Atlantic states, South Atlantic regions of the United States. It borders Maryland to its south and west, Pennsylvania to its north, New Jersey ...

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

, and

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

, as well as two possessions in the

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

during the 18th and 19th centuries.

North America

The colony of New Sweden was founded in 1638 by the first expedition of Swedish South Company, a consortium of Swedish, Dutch and German business interests formed in 1637. The colony was located along the

with settlements in modern

(e.g., Wilmington),

(e.g.,

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

) and

(e.g., New Stockholm and Swedesboro) along locations where Swedish and Dutch traders had been visiting for decades.See or copy American Heritage Book of Indian cites, Susquehannock peoples. At the time (until 1809)

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

was part of the Kingdom of Sweden, and some of the settlers of Sweden's colonies came from present-day Finland or were Finnish-speaking. The Swedes and Finns brought their log house design to America, where it became the typical

log cabin A log cabin is a small log house, especially a minimally finished or less architecturally sophisticated structure. Log cabins have an ancient history in Europe, and in America are often associated with first-generation home building by settl ...

of pioneers. The Swedish colonists established a trading relationship with the Susquehannock, and supported them in their successful war against

colonists.See text and cites of Province of Maryland#Relations with the Susquehannock While a Baltic naval power, the international power of the Swedish Empire was rooted in land-based military power, and when another general war engulfed northern Europe, the Royal Swedish Navy was incapable of protecting the colony. Subsequently, the young colony was eventually annexed by the Dutch, who perceived the presence of Swedish colonists in North America as a threat to their interests in the New Netherland colony.

Caribbean

The Swedish colony of Saint Barthélemy (1784–1878) was operated as a ''porto franco'' ( free port). The capital city of Gustavia retains its Swedish name.

Guadeloupe Guadeloupe is an Overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department and region of France in the Caribbean. It consists of six inhabited islands—Basse-Terre Island, Basse-Terre, Grande-Terre, Guadeloupe, Grande-Terre, Marie-Galant ...

(1813–1814) came into Swedish possession as a consequence of the

Napoleonic Wars {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Napoleonic Wars , partof = the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars , image = Napoleonic Wars (revision).jpg , caption = Left to right, top to bottom:Battl ...

. It gave rise to the Guadeloupe Fund. In addition to these the Swedes briefly attempted to settle

Tobago Tobago, officially the Ward of Tobago, is an List of islands of Trinidad and Tobago, island and Regions and municipalities of Trinidad and Tobago, ward within the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago. It is located northeast of the larger islan ...

in 1733, but were driven away by native tribes, and Tobago was eventually claimed by the British.

Esequibo

During the 18th century, the Swedes attempted to colonize the Essequibo region between the lower Orinoco and Barima rivers in

Guyana Guyana, officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern coast of South America, part of the historic British West Indies. entry "Guyana" Georgetown, Guyana, Georgetown is the capital of Guyana and is also the co ...

's present-day Barima-Waini region. The Swedes, settled in the area in July 1732, were expelled in 1737 by forces led by Major Sergeant Carlos Francisco Francois Sucre y Pardo (grandfather of Venezuelan independence leader Antonio José de Sucre).

Other settlements

Swedish emigrants continued to go to the Americas to settle within other countries or colonies. The mid-19th and early 20th centuries saw a large Swedish emigration to the United States. In 1841, a group composed of former Upsala University students and a couple of relatives established the first Swedish colony west of the Allegheny Mountains on the east shore of Pine Lake 30 miles west of Milwaukee and named their settlement, New Upsala. Approximately 1.3 million Swedes subsequently settled in the U.S., and there are currently about four million Swedish-Americans, as of 2008. Dom Pedro II, the second Emperor of

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

, encouraged immigration, resulting in a sizeable number of Swedes entering Brazil, settling mainly in the cities of

Joinville Joinville () is the largest city in Santa Catarina (state), Santa Catarina, in the Southern Brazil, Southern Region of Brazil. It is the third largest municipality in the southern region of Brazil, after the much larger state capitals of Curitib ...

and Ijuí. In the late 19th century,

Misiones Province Misiones (, ''Missions'') is one of the Provinces of Argentina, 23 provinces of Argentina, located in the northeastern corner of the country in the Mesopotamia, Argentina, Mesopotamia region. It is surrounded by Paraguay to the northwest, Brazil ...

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

was a major centre for Swedish immigration, and laid the foundations of a population of Swedish-Argentines. ''Svenska Föreningen Historia''
(Svenska Föreningen)

References

Other sources

* Barton, H. Arnold (1994) ''A Folk Divided: Homeland Swedes and Swedish Americans, 1840–1940.'' (Uppsala: Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis). * Benson, Adolph B. and Naboth Hedin, eds. (1938) ''Swedes in America, 1638–1938'' (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press) * Johnson, Amandus (1927) ''The Swedes on the Delaware'' (International Printing Company, Philadelphia)

External links

The New Sweden Centre
museum tours and reenactors.
Mémoire St Barth , History of St Barthélemy (archives & history of slavery, slave trade and their abolition)
Comité de Liaison et d'Application des Sources Historiques. {{DEFAULTSORT:Swedish Colonization Of The Americas

Americas The Americas, sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North America and South America.''Webster's New World College Dictionary'', 2010 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio. When viewed as a sing ...

European colonization of the Americas Sweden–United States relations Swedish-American history