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a brief history of a colony that never was

A Brief History of a Colony That Never Was

New Devon colony was founded on the north-west coast of the modern USA in the Delaware river 's valley . It was the Indians who had lived here before Europeans came . These were the Indians who spoke the language of Algonquian group . They called themselves Lenni Lenape that meant `progenitors` or `first people . Other Indian tribes called them `grandfathers ' and this fact also confirms that Lenni Lenape was the oldest tribe in this valley . The Indians hunted , fished , farmed cultivating cereals and legumes . Depending

on the season the Indians migrated from forests to the coast . At the beginning of 17th century about seven thousand people lived here

First European investigators of these lands were Dutch . However some seafarers investigated the North-West coast earlier : Englishman John Cabot (1497 , Frenchman Giovanni da Verrazano (1524 , Spaniard Estevan Gomez (1525 , Frenchman Jehan Allefonsce (1542 , Englishman Sir John Hawkins (1562 ) and others . In 1615 Dutch Johan Stuyvesant left his country for the north-west coast to find suitable place for trading . In June being not far from New Foundland the ship unfortunately took fire Stuyvesant had to land in order to repair the ship . After the examination of this place the captain became sure that lands are favorable for trade furriery and the river was full of fish . As a result of Stuyvesant voyage the Dutch post Hoek was founded here . Soon Englishmen learnt about these lands . They were very impressed with stories about fertile valley and in 1632 John Welsh visited this territory . He was enthusiastic about the prospects of these lands and confirmed everything the Dutch traders had told . So in 1635 the territory of New Devon was granted to the Earl of Worcester and Englishmen began to immigrate here . Those Dutchmen who to swore fidelity to King could own the lands they had settled before . The land settlement in 17th century required careful planning and leading . It was very expensive and risky business . The settlers had to sale more than four thousand miles , they needed food , arm , clothes , seed , implements . Only small group of rich immigrants could afford to pay for such voyage Others used special colonization agencies . These organization paid for the trip while settlers were bound to work off this debt in the colony as servants . After four - five years servants could even get a plot to farm

The relationship between the Indians and settlers of New Devon were not so troubled as we can think . William Penn and his Society of Friends or Quakers living in neighboring Pennsylvania influenced the situation greatly . To follow them New Devon concluded a treaty with the Indians in 1701 to keep the peace

As for economics of New Devon it prospered . The main business was agriculture . Many people however became employed as small fish processing or milling plants workers . Shipbuilding flourished . Cereals wood , dairy products were exported to the southern colonies , West India and Europe

Too busy with commerce residents of New Devon didn 't pay...

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