laware but worse at New
Amsterdam, which had characterized the rule of the Dutch.

The Duke of York, to whom Delaware was given, introduced trial by jury,
settled private titles, and left undisturbed the religion and local
customs of the people. But the political rule of the Duke was absolute
as became a Stuart. He arbitrarily taxed exports and imports. Executive,
judicial, and legislative powers were all vested in his deputy governor
at New York or in creatures appointed and controlled by him. It was the
sort of government the Duke hoped to impose upon all Great Britain when
he should come to the throne, and he was trying his 'prentice hand in
the colonies. A political rebellion against this despotism was started
on the Delaware by a man named Konigsmarke, or the Long Finn, aided by
an Englishman, Henry Coleman. They were captured and tried for treason,
their property was confiscated, and the Long Finn branded with the
letter R, and sold as a slave in the Barbados. They might be called the
first martyrs to foreshadow the English Revolution of 1688 which ended
forever the despotic reign of the Stuarts.

The Swedes continued to form the main body of people on the Delaware
under the regime of the Duke of York, and at the time when William Penn
took possession of the country in 1682 their settlements extended from
New Castle up through Christina, Marcus Hook, Upland (now Chester),
Tinicum, Kingsessing in the modern West Philadelphia, Passyunk, Wicaco,
both in modern Philadelphia, and as far up the river as Frankford and
Pennypack. They had their churches at Christina, Tinicum, Kingsessing,
and Wicaco. The last, when absorbed by Philadelphia, was a pretty little
hamlet on the river shore, its farms belonging to a Swedish family
called Swanson whose name is now borne by one of the city's streets.
Across the river in New Jersey, opposite Chester, the Swedes had
settlements on Raccoon Creek and round Swedesboro. These river
settlements constituted an interesting and from all accounts a very
attractive Scandinavian community. Their strongest bond of union seems
to have been their interest in their Lutheran churches on the river.
They spread very little into the interior, made few roads, and lived
almost exclusively on the river or on its navigable tributaries. One
reason they gave for this preference was that it was easier to reach the
different churches by boat.

There were only about a thousand Swedes along the Delaware and