Part 1 - The storm dies
August 5, 1638 - The storm was like nothing he had ever seen. The wind was tearing the sails to peices. Deep green waves were breaking over the bow, and knocking men off their feet. Two poor souls had already been swept over board. It wasn't a big ship, maybe a 100 feet long with high narrow castle in the stern, and Peter Minuit was convinced it was going to be his coffin.[1]
Comming to the Caribbean had been a mistake. Better to have head directly back to Sweden with news of the colony. But the tobacco profits were too tempting to resist, now he was paying the price. The man who had bought Manhattan for the Dutch was going to drown somewhere off St. Kitts.
For two days the ship was battered by the hurricane. They lost the foremast and three more sailors, but somehow the ship refused to sink. By the evening of the second day the winds began to die, and by the next morning the sun rose over clear skies with some choppy seas the only evidence of the previous days' great storm. They had survived. Peter Minuit wasn't going to die today.
February 17, 1639 - The second fleet had arrived. Three ships full of trade goods, tools, news and most importantly colonists. Captain Mans Nilsson Kling was at the landing stage as his boss was rowed ashore at Fort Christina. Minuit jumped ashore relieved to see the colony survived, not only was it still there, it was propsering.
Kling brought Minuit up to speed on the news of New Sweden's first fall and winter. Then Governor Minuit's brought the news from Europe, and from the court in Stockholm. He had met with Chancellor Oxenstierna, who effectively ran the country on behalf of the 12-year old "Girl King." He told Oxenstierna about the success of New Sweden, but also of the dangers of continuing growth of the English and Dutch colonies nearby. A strong start to the colony would make all the difference for Sweden's chances in the new world. He persuaded Oxenstierna to get the government of Sweden more involved in the colony and to provide more ships and colonists. That is why we had returned with three ships, with about 200 more settlers. And another fleet would be coming in a few months. [2]
June 29, 1643 - It was time for Minuit to leave New Sweden. Christiana was more than just a fort now, with three or four hundred people living around the wooden pallisades. It controlled all trade on what people were now calling the Christina River - to Minuit, it was still the Zyudt River from his days as Governor of New Netherland. No ships could pass without and enter the rich fur trapping areas beyond without the permission of New Sweden.
One last time before he left he met with the new Governor sent out to replace him, Johan Björnsson Printz. "If I have one peice of advice for you Governor Printz it is to avoid conflict with the Dutch. I was once the governor of New Netherland, and I know them well. They see all of New Sweden as theirs, but if we avoid needlessly provoking them New Sweden can grow until it is strong enough to defend itself. The Dutch has issued deeds for all the lands to the east of the Christina River, so even though the shores are empty, claiming them will give them cause to hate us. The future of this colony lies to the west, not the east. We have good relations with the Indians and the English are far to the south. Do not compete with the Dutch over a few square miles of marsh when there is a whole continent ahead of us."
Printz agreed that it was the best policy. Minuit departed promissing to encourage the government to send more colonists.[3]
April 2, 1655 - To Olavi Termonen the new world looked quite a lot like the old one. Same trees, same burnt forests, same log cabins, same people. Termonen has just arrived from Sweden with 120 fellow Forest Fins. He spoke the Finnish of eastern Finland nearest Russia, but had never been there. He had grown up in northern Sweden, living the life like his ancestors. Building cabins, clearing the land by slashing and burning.
In Sweden the traditional life of the Forest Finns was now under assault. In 1647 a law had been passed that forbade the burning of forests, because the wood was now needed for charcoal for iron production. Of course some Forest Finns farther north kept slashing and burning, but had Termonen lived bit too close to royal authority. A cousin of his had left for New Sweden a year before, and with nothing else to lose he decided to give it a shot as well.
The voyage had been dreadful, and now he was in a new land, much like the old one. The Swedes were still in charge, and the Finns did all the hard work. All around the fort at Christina log cabins in the traditional Finnish style had been built, and many people were speaking Finnish as well. Of course it was not the only language. The Swedes were there too, but so were Germans, Walloons from the Low Countries and even some Dutch. The Dutch were natural traders and had already established some commercial relationships with their fellow countrymen on the eastern shore of the Christina River. Fort Nassau was across from Fort Nya Gothenborg, home of the Printzhof, built by Governor Printz and now owned by his son-in-law Johan Papegoja.
More and more settlers were moving north and south along the river. To the north was rolling country rich in trade with the Minquas, our native allies. To the south was good farmland and some small tobacco plantations were springing up. Some slaves from the Swedish Gold Coast had been brought to work the plantations. Termonen was going to head north and west and find some land near Nya Gothenborg to work.
August 9, 1655 - When word had arrived of renewed war in Europe most people got worried. War was bad for trade, and New Amsterdam was about nothing if not trade. But for Peter Stuyvesant war meant opportunity.
Sweden was distracted invading the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Now could be an opportunity to get rid of those Swedish interlopers on the Zyudt River. He didn't have the men or resources for a long campaign and he didn't want to provoke a general war with Sweden. But if a quick coup de main could be pulled off...
It would have to be quick, since there had only been peace with the English for a year, and becoming too embroiled with New Sweden would give opportunities to the English settlers in Connecticut and Long Island.
Could it be done quickly? New Netherland had been growing fast - there was now around 3,500 Dutch settlers spread across 230 miles from Fort Orange down to south of Staaten Eylandt. No one was sure how many people lived in New Sweden, but it was at least 2,500 - in a much more concentrated area. And they had the Minquas as allies. Many Dutch farms and settlements to the west of the North River were exposed to Minquas raids. Stuyvesant was pretty sure he could win, but he wasn't sure he could win quickly. Every day he was at war with the Swedes would be another day of burnt farms and refugess streaming into New Amsterdam. He decided against it, the risk was too great. There would be other opportunities. In the meantime, better to prepare so when the time came New Netherland would be ready.
**********************
[1] In OTL Minuit died when his ship was lost in the hurricane. This is the POD.
[2] In OTL immigration was far slower, I am assuming a capable "man with a plan" like Minuit could have persuaded the government to be more aggressive.
[3] This is the other impact of Minuit living. In OTL Printz founded Fort Nya Elfsborg on the east side of the river. Thus when Peter Stuyvesant became Director-General of New Netherland in 1648 he took action as part of a sort of "arms race" on the Delaware. He built Fort Beversreede on the Swedish side in 1848 near what is now Philadelphia, and then in 1851 built Fort Casimir (now New Castle, Delaware) only a few miles downriver from Fort Christina (now Wilmington). In 1654 Swedish militia took Fort Casimir. The Dutch took it back in the fall of 1655, and captured the rest of New Sweden while they were at it. In our OTL this was the end of New Sweden. But in TTL...
August 5, 1638 - The storm was like nothing he had ever seen. The wind was tearing the sails to peices. Deep green waves were breaking over the bow, and knocking men off their feet. Two poor souls had already been swept over board. It wasn't a big ship, maybe a 100 feet long with high narrow castle in the stern, and Peter Minuit was convinced it was going to be his coffin.[1]
Comming to the Caribbean had been a mistake. Better to have head directly back to Sweden with news of the colony. But the tobacco profits were too tempting to resist, now he was paying the price. The man who had bought Manhattan for the Dutch was going to drown somewhere off St. Kitts.
For two days the ship was battered by the hurricane. They lost the foremast and three more sailors, but somehow the ship refused to sink. By the evening of the second day the winds began to die, and by the next morning the sun rose over clear skies with some choppy seas the only evidence of the previous days' great storm. They had survived. Peter Minuit wasn't going to die today.
February 17, 1639 - The second fleet had arrived. Three ships full of trade goods, tools, news and most importantly colonists. Captain Mans Nilsson Kling was at the landing stage as his boss was rowed ashore at Fort Christina. Minuit jumped ashore relieved to see the colony survived, not only was it still there, it was propsering.
Kling brought Minuit up to speed on the news of New Sweden's first fall and winter. Then Governor Minuit's brought the news from Europe, and from the court in Stockholm. He had met with Chancellor Oxenstierna, who effectively ran the country on behalf of the 12-year old "Girl King." He told Oxenstierna about the success of New Sweden, but also of the dangers of continuing growth of the English and Dutch colonies nearby. A strong start to the colony would make all the difference for Sweden's chances in the new world. He persuaded Oxenstierna to get the government of Sweden more involved in the colony and to provide more ships and colonists. That is why we had returned with three ships, with about 200 more settlers. And another fleet would be coming in a few months. [2]
June 29, 1643 - It was time for Minuit to leave New Sweden. Christiana was more than just a fort now, with three or four hundred people living around the wooden pallisades. It controlled all trade on what people were now calling the Christina River - to Minuit, it was still the Zyudt River from his days as Governor of New Netherland. No ships could pass without and enter the rich fur trapping areas beyond without the permission of New Sweden.
One last time before he left he met with the new Governor sent out to replace him, Johan Björnsson Printz. "If I have one peice of advice for you Governor Printz it is to avoid conflict with the Dutch. I was once the governor of New Netherland, and I know them well. They see all of New Sweden as theirs, but if we avoid needlessly provoking them New Sweden can grow until it is strong enough to defend itself. The Dutch has issued deeds for all the lands to the east of the Christina River, so even though the shores are empty, claiming them will give them cause to hate us. The future of this colony lies to the west, not the east. We have good relations with the Indians and the English are far to the south. Do not compete with the Dutch over a few square miles of marsh when there is a whole continent ahead of us."
Printz agreed that it was the best policy. Minuit departed promissing to encourage the government to send more colonists.[3]
April 2, 1655 - To Olavi Termonen the new world looked quite a lot like the old one. Same trees, same burnt forests, same log cabins, same people. Termonen has just arrived from Sweden with 120 fellow Forest Fins. He spoke the Finnish of eastern Finland nearest Russia, but had never been there. He had grown up in northern Sweden, living the life like his ancestors. Building cabins, clearing the land by slashing and burning.
In Sweden the traditional life of the Forest Finns was now under assault. In 1647 a law had been passed that forbade the burning of forests, because the wood was now needed for charcoal for iron production. Of course some Forest Finns farther north kept slashing and burning, but had Termonen lived bit too close to royal authority. A cousin of his had left for New Sweden a year before, and with nothing else to lose he decided to give it a shot as well.
The voyage had been dreadful, and now he was in a new land, much like the old one. The Swedes were still in charge, and the Finns did all the hard work. All around the fort at Christina log cabins in the traditional Finnish style had been built, and many people were speaking Finnish as well. Of course it was not the only language. The Swedes were there too, but so were Germans, Walloons from the Low Countries and even some Dutch. The Dutch were natural traders and had already established some commercial relationships with their fellow countrymen on the eastern shore of the Christina River. Fort Nassau was across from Fort Nya Gothenborg, home of the Printzhof, built by Governor Printz and now owned by his son-in-law Johan Papegoja.
More and more settlers were moving north and south along the river. To the north was rolling country rich in trade with the Minquas, our native allies. To the south was good farmland and some small tobacco plantations were springing up. Some slaves from the Swedish Gold Coast had been brought to work the plantations. Termonen was going to head north and west and find some land near Nya Gothenborg to work.
August 9, 1655 - When word had arrived of renewed war in Europe most people got worried. War was bad for trade, and New Amsterdam was about nothing if not trade. But for Peter Stuyvesant war meant opportunity.
Sweden was distracted invading the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Now could be an opportunity to get rid of those Swedish interlopers on the Zyudt River. He didn't have the men or resources for a long campaign and he didn't want to provoke a general war with Sweden. But if a quick coup de main could be pulled off...
It would have to be quick, since there had only been peace with the English for a year, and becoming too embroiled with New Sweden would give opportunities to the English settlers in Connecticut and Long Island.
Could it be done quickly? New Netherland had been growing fast - there was now around 3,500 Dutch settlers spread across 230 miles from Fort Orange down to south of Staaten Eylandt. No one was sure how many people lived in New Sweden, but it was at least 2,500 - in a much more concentrated area. And they had the Minquas as allies. Many Dutch farms and settlements to the west of the North River were exposed to Minquas raids. Stuyvesant was pretty sure he could win, but he wasn't sure he could win quickly. Every day he was at war with the Swedes would be another day of burnt farms and refugess streaming into New Amsterdam. He decided against it, the risk was too great. There would be other opportunities. In the meantime, better to prepare so when the time came New Netherland would be ready.
**********************
[1] In OTL Minuit died when his ship was lost in the hurricane. This is the POD.
[2] In OTL immigration was far slower, I am assuming a capable "man with a plan" like Minuit could have persuaded the government to be more aggressive.
[3] This is the other impact of Minuit living. In OTL Printz founded Fort Nya Elfsborg on the east side of the river. Thus when Peter Stuyvesant became Director-General of New Netherland in 1648 he took action as part of a sort of "arms race" on the Delaware. He built Fort Beversreede on the Swedish side in 1848 near what is now Philadelphia, and then in 1851 built Fort Casimir (now New Castle, Delaware) only a few miles downriver from Fort Christina (now Wilmington). In 1654 Swedish militia took Fort Casimir. The Dutch took it back in the fall of 1655, and captured the rest of New Sweden while they were at it. In our OTL this was the end of New Sweden. But in TTL...
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