Early Explorations of Delaware's coastline were made by the Spaniards and Portuguese in the sixteenth century, by Henry Hudson in 1609 under the auspices of the Dutch, by Samuel Argall in 1610, by Cornelius May in 1613, and by Cornelius Hendrickson in 1614. During a storm Argall was blown off course and sailed into a strange bay which he named in honor of his governor. It is doubtful that Lord De La Warr ever saw, or explored the bay, river, or state that bears his name. In 1631, 11 years after the landing of the English pilgrims at Plymouth, Massachusetts, the first white settlement was made on Delaware soil. A group of Dutch settlers formed a trading company for the purpose of enriching themselves from the New World. The expedition of about 30 people sailed from the town of Hoorn, and made their settlement called Zwaanendeal,(which means valley of the swans) near to modern day Lewes.

Arriving in the New World in 1632 to visit the colony, Captain de Vries found the settlers had been killed and their buildings burned by the Indians.

No further attempts were made at colonization on Delaware soil until 1638, when the swedes established their colony in present Wilmington, which was not only the first permanent settlement in Delaware, but in the whole Delaware River Valley and North America. The location of the first Swedish settlement was at "The Rocks" on the Christina River. A fort was built called Fort Christina after the young queen of Sweden.

In 1655, Peter Stuyvesant came from New Amsterdam with a Dutch fleet, subjugated the Swedish forts, and established the authority of the colony of New Netherlands throughout the area formerly controlled by the Colony of New Sweden. This marked the end of Swedish rule in Delaware.

Following the seizure of the colony of New Sweden the Dutch restored the name of Fort Casmir and made it the principle settlement. In a short time, the area within the fort was not large enough to accommodate all the settlers so that a town, named New Amstel (now New Castle), was laid out.

The tear 1681 marked the granting of the Province of Pennsylvania to William Penn by King Charles II and the arrival of Penn's agents on the Delaware River. They soon reported to the proprietor that the new province would be landlocked if the colonies on either side of the Delaware River or Bay were hostile. As a result of Penn's position to the Crown for the land west of the Delaware River and Bay below his province, the Duke of York in March 1682 conveyed, by deeds and leases, the land including the Counties of New Castle, St. Jones, and Deale. On October 27 of the same year, William Penn landed in America first at New Castle, and there took possession from the Duck of York's agents as Proprietor of the Lower Counties. On this occasion, the colonists subscribed an oath of allegiance to the new proprietor. The following year, the three Lower Colonies were annexed to the Province of Pennsylvania as territories with full privileges under Penn's famous "Frame of Government".

After 1682, a long dispute ensued between William Penn and Lord Baltimore of the Province of Maryland as to the exact dominion controlled by Penn on the lower Delaware.

The disputes continued between the heirs of Baltimore and Penn until almost the end of the colonial period. In 1776, Delaware not only declared itself free from the British Empire, but also established a state government entirely separate from Pennsylvania. Delaware's boundaries were surveyed in 1763-68 by the noted English scientists, Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon.

With the advent of the Revolution nearly 4,000 men enlisted for service in the small state. The colonial wars had built up a militia system and supplied a number of capable officers who led the troops of Delaware in all the principal engagements from the battle of Long Island to the siege of Yorktown. The only Revolutionary engagement fought on Delaware soil was the battle of Cooch's Bridge, near Newark, on September 3, 1777.

When the new Constitution was submitted to the states for ratification, Delaware was the first of the thirteen original states to ratify the Constitution of the United States. This unanimous ratification took place in a convention at Dover on December 7, 1787, whereby Delaware became "The First State" of the new Federal Union.

Source: State of Delaware.