Delaware was settled by the Swedes. Gustavus Adolphus, as early as 1626, had formed a plan of colo- nization, but was prevented from carrying it out by dif- ficulties at home, and the plan was put into execution by Oxenstiem, the Swedish minister. In the early part of 1G38 a company of Swedes arrived in Delaware Bay. Thej' purchased from the Indians the country lying to the west of the bay, from Cape Henlopen to Trenton Falls, and named it New Sweden. This territory com- prised the present state of Delaware and a part of Penn- sylvania. But the colony of New Sweden was of short duration. In 1655 the country was entirely subdued by the Dutch of New Netherlands.
The colony of Maryland was founded as a home for persecuted Catholics. Sir George Calvert, of York- shire, England, a man of liberal education, large expe- rience, and a devoted Catholic, was desirous of founding a colony which should afford a home for the persecuted Catholics of his own land, and should grant equal toler- ation to all creeds. About the year 1630 he obtained from king Charles I a charter for a new colony on the Chesapeake, but died before the colonization began. His son, Cecil Calvert, received the charter June 20, 1632, and named the new province Marjdand. His brother, Leonard, was sent out with the colon}' as gov- ernor. The provisions of the charter were the most liberal that had yet been granted. Christianity was the religion of the State, but no preference was ex- pressed I'or any creed. Free-trade was guaranteed, and arbitrary taxation forbidden. The power of making the laws of the colony was conceded to the colonists or their representatives. Under these liberal provisions, and the prudent conduct of the officers and the colonists themselves, the enterprise was very prosperous, and the colony grew very rapidly. Religious toleration and freedom of conscience were reiterated in the legislation of the colonial Assembly, and Maryland, along with
Rhode Island and Connecticut, went far beyond the other colonies in securing liberty of conscience. In 1691 the patent of the Baltimorcs was taken away by king William III. During the following year Sir Lionel Copley assumed the government of the province, and a revolution was speedily effected. The Episcopal Church was established by law, and supported by tax- ation; religious toleration was abolished, and the former liberal policy entirely swept away.
On April 10, 1606, king James I granted a patent to an association of nobles, gentlemen, and merchants re- siding in London, called the London Company, assign- ing to them all the region between the thirty-fourth and thirty-eighth degrees of north latitude. The af- fairs of the compan}' were intrusted to the management of a superior council, residing in England, and an infe- rior council, residing in the colony. To carry out the purpose for which the charter Avas granted, a fleet of three vessels was fitted out, to be under the command of Christopher Newport. On Dec. 9, 1606, the vessels set sail, and in May following landed on the banks of the James River, in Virginia, fifty miles from Ches- apeake Bay. Here they immediately laid the founda- tions of Jamestown, the oldest English settlement in America. The first settlers of Jamestown were idle, improvident, and dissolute. While a few were laborers and artisans, the great majority were enrolled as gen- tlemen. John Smith, the best and most energetic man of the colony, was accused of conspiracy and sedition, but was able to defend his name against the accusa- tions. The colony was organized by making known the names of the inferior council, and the election of Edward Wingfield as governor of Virginia. The new colony had a hard struggle for its existence. The idle- ness and dissolute habits of the settlers, the treachery of some of the leaders, and the civil dissensions which arose in the community threatened to break up the set- tlement in the very beginning. But, after various dis- asters and discouragements. Smith was elected presi- dent, and began a vigorous administration which add- ed new life to the enterprise. By the undaunted cour- age of the officers from this time onward, and the en- couragement given by the arrival of new accessions to their number from time to time, the colony was able to maintain its existence. The settlements were extend- ed, and the colony grew into a flourishing province. The Episcopal Church was established by law and sup- ported by taxation ; churches were built in various parts of the province, and remained for many j-ears. Along with the English revolution came religious in- tolerance in Virginia. In March, 1643, a law was en- acted by the Assembly declaring that no person who did not assent to the doctrines of the Established Church should be allowed to teach, or to preach the Gospel, within the limits of Virginia. Their persecution of the Puritans within their borders brought upon the Virgin- ians the distrust of the colonists of New England for many years.
The attempt to form settlements in the Carolinas was for a long time unsuccessful. In 1663 began the first colonial settlements in North Carolina on the Cho- wan River and Albemarle Sound. The colony passed through many vicissitudes of fortune, but the settlers remained in possession of the territory. In 170-1 an at- tempt was made by Robert Daniel to establish the Church of England. George Fox, the founder of the Quakers, at one time (1672) made a visit to the settle- ments of Carolina, and obtained many hearers to his in- structions. Other Quakers came from New England and Delaware, and made their homes in this colony. In 1707 a band of French Huguenots were added to the settlers; a hundred German families from the banks of the Rhine came to find a home on the banks of the Neuse; and a number of Swiss peasants founded New Berne, at the mouth of the River Trent. Little atten- tion was paid to questions of religion at first. There was no minister in the colony until 1703, and no church