德拉瓦州小档案：
人口：约80万
面积：约5294平方公里，排名第49位
州府：多佛Dover
德拉瓦州是因弗吉尼亚首任总督之名Lord De La Warre而得名。他在1610年驶入德拉华湾。这个海湾的名、河的名，印第安人的族名及本州的州名，全用他的名字。
1638年瑞典人开始殖民。1655年，改属荷兰。1664年又属于英国。1787年12月7日首先批准宪法，成为美国旧13州中之第1州。因此，它的别名叫做“第1州”First State。以桃花作为州花。本州箴言为“自由与独立”Liberty and Independence。
州府多佛Dover，位于本州中部。大都市维明顿在本州北部，市内尼龙工业极盛，所制造的尼龙长袜，世界著名。
本州特征有三：第一，面积列第二小州，州内工厂极多。公司有7万多家。本州北部之维明顿Wilmington久有世界化学工业首都的雅号。第二，本州资源不富，但位置优越。它接近纽约、费城、巴尔的摩及首都华盛顿。工商业得以充分发展。第三，本州是美国境内平均高度最低之州。除本州北境微高外，其余全是低地。本州南部尚有120平方公里的沼泽地。
Introduction简介
Two groups of Native Americans lived in the Delaware region when European explorers first visited the area．The Lenape（德拉瓦族，德拉瓦人［语］）lived along the Delaware River．The Nanticoke lived along the Nanticoke River in the southwestern part of the state．
Early explorations of our coastline were made by the Spaniards and Portuguese in the sixteenth century，by Henry Hudson in 1609under the auspices（由……主办及赞助）of the Dutch，by Samuel Argall in 1610，by Cornelius May in 1613，and by Cornelius Hendricksen 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，and state which today bears his name．In 1631，11years after the landing of the English pilgrims at Plymouth［普利茅斯（英国港市）］，Massachusetts，the first white settlement was made on Delaware soil．
A group of Dutchmen formed a trading company headed by Captain David Pietersen de Vries for the purpose of enriching themselves from the New World．The expedition of about 30individuals sailed from the town of Hoorn under the leadership of Captain Peter Heyes in the ship De Walvis（The Whale）．Their settlement，called Zwaanendael，meaning valley of swans，was located near the present town of Lewes on the west bank of the Lewes Creek，today the Lewes and Rehoboth Canal．
Arriving in the New World in 1632to visit the colony，Captain de Vries found the settlers had been killed and their buildings burned by the Indians．
This settlement is commemorated（纪念）by the Zwaanendael Museum in Lewes．
No further attempts at colonization were made 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．In 1637，a colonial charter was granted under the Swedish child queen，Christina，encouraging trade，settlement and the spreading of the gospel（〈俗〉信仰，真理）．In November of that year，Captain Peter Minuit sailed from the town of Gothenburg，Sweden with two ships，Kalmar Nyckel（Key of Kalmar）and Vogel Grip（Griffen），landed about March 29，1938．The location of the first Swedish settlement was at “The Rocks”，on the Christina River，near the foot of Seventh Street．The fort（堡垒，边界上的贸易站）constructed by the settlers was named for Queen Christina：the village，Christinahamn．The fort served not only as a safe dwelling，but also as the center of cultural life in what they called “New Sweden”．Perhaps most importantly，the fort was crucial economically，protecting the Christina River trade and a communication link connecting the colonies of New England，New Amsterdam，and New Sweden with the Maryland and Virginia colonies．
On water，the Kalmar Nyckel made four successive（连续的）trips from Sweden，and returned to solidify the settlement in 1640and 1641．That is a record unchallenged by any other colonial vessel．Later，she served the Swedish Navy in the Swedish－Danish War，then became a merchant ship，and finally was lost off the City of Kalmar in the late 17th Century．New Sweden became known as Willingtown（after local merchant Thomas Willing）in 1731，and ultimately named Wilmington in 1739．
The most important Swedish governor was Colonel（陆军上校，团长）Johan Printz，who ruled the colony under Swedish law for ten years，from 1643to 1653．He was succeeded by Johan Rising，who upon his arrival in 1654，seized the Dutch post，Fort Casmir，which the governor of the Colony of New Netherlands had built in 1651，on the site of the present town of New Castle．
Rising governed the Swedish Colony from his headquarters at Fort Christina until the autumn of 1655，when Peter Stuyvesant came from New Amsterdam［阿姆斯特丹（荷兰首都）］with a Dutch fleet，subjugated（使屈服，征服）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，but the cultural，social，and religious influence of these Swedish settlers has had a lasting effect upon the cultural life of the people in this area and upon subsequent westward migrations of many generations．Old Swedes（Holy Trinity）Church built by the Swedes at Wilmington in 1698was supplied by the Mother Church with missionaries（传教士）until after the Revolution．It is one of the oldest Protestant Churches in North America．
Fort Christina State Park in Wilmington，with the fine monument（纪念碑）created by the noted sculptor（雕刻家），Carl Milles，and presented by the people of Sweden，perpetuates（使永存，使不朽）the memory of these first settlers and preserves “The Rocks”where they first landed．
Following the seizure of the colony of New Sweden，the Dutch restored the name of Fort Casmir and made it the principal settlement of the Zuidt or South River as contrasted with the North or Hudson River．In a short time the area within the fort was not large enough to accommodate（向……提供，容纳）all the settlers so that a town，named New Amstel（now New Castle），was laid out（设计）．