Delaware: The Breadbasket Colony

Delaware, also known as the “breadbasket colony” for its mass production of wheat, was founded in 1636 by Peter Minuit and the New Sweden Company. Named after the Delaware River, whose roots derived from Sir Thomas West, Virginia Company’s first governor, the colony of Delaware was originally named New Sweden as an unsuccessful attempt by the Swedes to found a brand new colony in the New World. From the very start of its colonization, New Sweden was lacking manpower in a mere 10 years, but slowly developed into an agricultural hotspot. A multitude of natural resources such as timber, furs, coal, and iron ore, which were usually exported back to England for a trade, were plentiful in the colony and an important aspect of the Delaware economy.

Delaware was to be included in the twelve colonies out of thirteen joined together during the American Revolution and was one of the first colonies to become an official state of the U.S.
Identified as one of the Middle Colonies, known for their thriving agricultural advances, Delaware was also affluent in the production of iron tools and utilities such as plows, kettles, locks, and nails, which were then exported to England. Most Middle Colonies, Delaware included, consisted of agriculturally suitable climates such as warm summers and mild winters. A typical farm lasted about 50 to 150 acres of land, each holding its own house as a living space, a barn for cattle and other animals, an open yard, and lots of expansive fields for an assortment of crops. Grains, rice, and wheat were all grown, with wheat being the most economically sustainable crop.
Delaware had no enforced religion from the very beginning of its foundation, which led to a rich diversity of religious freedom. Quakers, Catholics, Lutherans, Jews, and many other varieties of religions resided in Delaware peacefully. This goes for a myriad of settlers in other colonies. For some, the begrudgingly dangerous 3,000 mile trip from Europe to North America was a search for religious freedom. However, this was not the idea of the Puritans, who did not tolerate other forms of religion and were only looking for escape from prosecution in their home country.
Being a Proprietary Colony, proprietors were given governmental powers over a territory of land via the English Crown.

Unlike the other two popular systems of government during the time, the Charter Colonies in which charters were granted to the colonists instead of the proprietors, and the Royal colonies which were directly ruled under English monarchy, the Proprietary Colonies stood somewhere in between. The Proprietary Colonies were originally founded in order to repay certain debts and favors and give leadership to those who were most trustworthy. Other Proprietary Colonies include colonial New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and the Carolinas. Proprietors, the governors of the lands, were given immense powers in order to create profitable enterprises in their given land. Some of these powers include the establishment of churches, towns, ports, and other public buildings, the creation of courts and laws, the ability to collect yearly land fees from those who had settled and purchased land in the colony, and much

more.
The original inhabitants, members of the the Lenape and the Nanticoke tribes, were some of the first two native groups to come into contact with the European settlers.

The settlers of Delaware immediately turned to Native American slaves in order to secure their stability with such a low population, though this strife was proven to be inefficient after the realization that disease and westward migration had already deserted the many regions of native tribes. The first black slave brought to the colony was named Anthony, who had been brought from the West Indies in 1639. However, African American slavery was not too widespread in Delaware until the Dutch overtook the land and immediately began shipping slaves over the Atlantic to graze Delaware. Only a decade before the revolution, 20 - 25% of the entire population of Delaware was enslaved after the rigorous tobacco and corn economy expanded. However, the use of slaves quickly became ineffective after the American Revolution disrupted the economy and a state law banned the sale of slaves to other specific colonies. Soon, the boom of cash crops such as wheat, which was non-strenuous and required significantly less slave labor, was brought to the table. Delaware was renowned to have the largest free black population by the mid

1800’s.