Delaware Colony

Delaware Colony in the North American Middle Colonies consisted of land on the west bank of the Delaware River Bay. In the early 17th century the area was inhabited by Lenape and possibly the Assateague tribes of Native Americans. The first European settlers in the area were Swedes, who were Lutheran Protestants, and the Dutch, who practiced Protestant Calvinism. The English took control in 1664, after defeating the Dutch in New Netherland .

William Penn, the Quaker leader of the Province of Pennsylvania, was given the deed to what was then called "the Lower Counties on the Delaware" by the Duke of York. This was separate from his deed for Pennsylvania. Delaware was governed as part of Pennsylvania from 1682 until 1701. It was dominated by Quakers and Protestants but had no established religion. At that time, the Lower Counties petitioned for and were granted an independent colonial legislature; the two colonies shared the same governor until 1776. With the start of the American Revolutionary War, that year Delaware's assembly voted to break all ties with both Great Britain and Pennsylvania, forming the state of Delaware.

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