Despite its territorial expansion, New Sweden never became the profitable venture it was conceived to become because it was chronically under-populated and neglected. The colony never counted more than about 400 people, and from 1648-1654, the Swedish Crown didn't send a single supply ship. Interest in emigrating was so low that the Swedish Empire resorted to sending petty criminals and military deserters as a form of punishment.
With the colony all but abandoned by the Swedish government, Printz ruled with an iron fist to keep his few settlers from deserting. In 1653, when one-quarter of the colony's male population signed a petition accusing Printz of abusing his powers, he declared it a "mutiny", but stepped down – marking one of the first successful political protests in US colonial history.
A vintage tree house
The oldest log cabin in the Western hemisphere was built in 1638 by New Swedish settlers. Known as the C A Nothnagle Log House, it's still a private residence and is located on Swedesboro Road in Gibbstown, New Jersey.
By 1655, New Netherlands' hot-tempered governor, Peter Stuyvesant, had had enough of the Swedish squatters and sent seven armed ships down the Delaware. The outnumbered Swedes surrendered without a shot, marking the end of Swedish sovereignty in the Americas. New Sweden was soon absorbed into New Netherland, but Stuyvesant allowed it to continue as a "Swedish Nation", and settlers were allowed to choose their own government, form their own militia and keep their land.
When William Penn arrived in 1682 after creating his namesake Pennsylvania colony for the English, he found Swedish and Finnish farmers living alongside the Lenape in Philadelphia. "That's why, on top of City Hall, directly below the statue of William Penn, there are four statues: two are Lenape and two are Swedes," Hoffman said. "Have you seen those?"