Alternative position of New Sweden?

Valdemar II

Banned
I was thinking if the Delaware was occupied by the Dutch or another European power, where could New Sweden be founded instead? Could they buy Quebec from France? Likely they would seek a major river to settle at, but the only East Coast major river not occupied by this point would be the Santee River, but with the focus on fur hunting they would likely do their best to find a river further north, which are why I suggested buying Quebec from the French.
 
Given the settlements already in place, I don't think the French are just going to up and sell Quebec.

How about the Penobscot River in Maine? It's over 300 miles long, includes some rather large lakes, flows through good fur country, and opens into a large bay. Along the banks there's plenty of timber and land that's good enough to farm. Offshore there's plenty of fish too.

The only settlement circa 1600 are a small mission of Franciscan monks. The closest large European settlements are either up in the Maritimes or down around Massachusetts Bay. Most of the future English settlements will be hundred of miles away around Portland and most will eventually fail. Even as late as the Revolution, there will be a few as a dozen settlements in what would become Maine.
 
That looks like a good almost perfect territorium for a Swedish colony.


There will be plenty of room, that's for sure. People often forget just how big Maine is, you can put the rest of New England inside Maine and still have room left over.

A Scandinavian relative of mine used to visit a town called, you guessed it, New Sweden way up north in Maine's Aroostook Country. The village put on Midsummer festivals and stuff like that. Here's a link for you.

Anyway, Maine was so big and so empty that up through the end of the colonial period Britain administered everything east and north of the Penobscot River as part of Nova Scotia while the rest administered by Massachusetts. The border between Maine and British Canada wasn't even settled until 1842 22 years after Maine became a state!

The Penobscot might not be as long as the Hudson or offer a route towards the Great Lakes, but it will still give the colony access to what was and pretty much still is an awfully big and awfully empty chunk of North America.

Hope all this helps you somehow.
 
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I agree. I spent a lot of time as a kid vacationing in central Maine (Sebec and Moosehead Lake region). I've also visited Sweden (the Stockholm and Sodertalje areas) several times for work and pleasure. I can tell you that the two regions are similar enough that any immigrants there would feel right at home. An added bonus is that there are gold fields along the Penobscot so a minor gold rush may bring in enough settlers to ensure the colonies viability.

Benjamin
 
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