Delaware (state): description, attractions, history and interesting facts

2024 Author: Harold Hamphrey | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:06

This article will be of interest to those who want to learn more about life in the US. The United States of America is the greatest state with a powerful economy. But it is a community of smaller regions, each with its own laws, tax policies, and so on. Our article is devoted to only one such region called Delaware. This state is very interesting. Its area of five thousand square kilometers is slightly larger than Rhode Island. According to this indicator, Delaware is the second smallest state in the United States. But very often it is called the very first. Why? Like Kyiv, from which the Russian land went, so Delaware played a key role in the formation of American statehood. There are many more interesting facts about this state, and we will present them below.

Where is Delaware located?

It occupies the small Delmarva peninsula jutting out into the Atlantic Ocean. Its width is from fourteen to fifty-six kilometers with a length of 155 km. The penultimate state (before Rhode Island) is limited withMaryland to the west and south, New Jersey to the east, and Pennsylvania to the north. With the latter, Delaware has a very interesting border. It is a perfect arc. If you isolate the center of this circle, then it is located right in the building of the New Castle City Court. This boundary is called the Twelve Mile Arc. In terms of population, Delaware is a state with just under a million permanent residents. However, it ranks sixth in density in the US. From south to north, the state is divided into three districts: Sussex, Kent and New Castle. Delaware got its name not from a surname, and not from a tribe of Indians who lived here, but from a title. The first governor of these lands was Thomas West, 3rd Baron de la Warr.

History of colonization

Before the arrival of Europeans, these lands belonged to the Algonquian settled tribes of the Lenape and Nantikokami. The first settlers were the Dutch, who founded in 1631 the fort Swanendal ("Valley of the Swans") on the site where the city of Louis is now located. Thus, Delaware is one of the first states in the country to be settled by Europeans. But a year later, all the colonists died at the hands of warlike Indians. In 1638, the Swedes founded the trading post of Christina, from which the city of Wilmington later developed. And in 1651, the Dutch built Fort Casimir, which has now turned into the city of New Castle. Sweden and the Netherlands argued for a long time over this territory and even waged military operations among themselves. The Dutch won, but did not celebrate their triumph for long. In 1664, the British, without declaring war, occupied the province of NewNetherlands.

History within the US

Delaware is one of the first states to ratify the Constitution (in 1787). He was one of the thirteen colonies that rebelled against Great Britain. When the War of Independence from England began in 1776, the three counties became known as the "Delaware State". Another interesting fact. During the Civil War, Delaware was on the side of the North, although it was a state in which slavery was legal. And when Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, this territory voted against the 13th Amendment to the US Constitution in a referendum. Of course, this had no practical result. But legally Delaware did not ratify the abolition clause until 1901, forty years after the Lincoln Proclamation.

Geography and climate

This is the lowest state in the country. Its highest point is a hill in the foothills of the Appalachians (136 meters above sea level). Delaware is located on the Atlantic lowlands. The climate here is mild, because from the north the Pennsylvania mountains cover the flat territory from cold winds. The best time to visit Delaware is summer. After all, in addition to the hot subtropical summer, tourists get a bonus - a long coastline with wonderful beaches - South Bethany, Dewey Beach, Lewis, Rehoboth. However, the Atlantic Ocean has a huge impact on the climate. In this regard, Dover is the administrative center of the state of Delaware, and other cities have different weather indicators. Away from the coast, the climate is not subtropical, butcontinental, with cold (up to -20 degrees) in winter and hot (up to +40 degrees) in summer. Near the Atlantic, however, the seasonal fluctuations are not as sharp.

Cities of Delaware

Given the small population of the state, one cannot expect to meet large metropolitan areas in it. But there are still large cities in it. These are Wilmington, New Castle, Georgetown, Smyrna, Milford, Middletown, Seaford, Ellesmere and Newark. The capital of the state of Delaware, Dover, is by no means the largest city. Its population is only thirty-two thousand people. But the largest city in the state - Wilmington - has only seventy thousand inhabitants. Delaware will appeal to lovers of quiet provincial life. It is here that you can see “one-story America”: no crime, most of the townspeople know each other by sight, small shops, cozy cafes … Looking at the map of the state of Delaware, you can notice the town of Odessa in the north. It was named after a Ukrainian city on the Black Sea coast.

Dover and Wilmington

The state capital is a small and quiet town. It literally grew up around the county courthouse. This city has many historical buildings. And not far from Dover is one of the largest US air bases. It is interesting in that, in addition to its direct purpose, it is used as a temporary morgue for Americans who died abroad. The economic and cultural center of Delaware is the city of Wilmington. It also has no shortage of historic buildings. touristsattracts the estate of Dupont (the founder of the chemical concern), the Art Museum, the Copland Sculpture Park. Along the Kristin River, several neighborhoods built by the first Swedish settlers with a Scandinavian flavor have been preserved. One of the oldest churches in the country, Holi Trinity (Holy Trinity), is also located in this city. It was erected in 1698 and, what is most interesting, is still in operation. The northern suburb of Wilmington is home to the Hagley Museum. Its exhibition tells about the life of workers hired by Dupont in the nineteenth century.

Delaware Attractions

Each town in this administrative unit of the United States is fraught with its own flavor. Newark is famous for its state university and figure skating school. Milford - museums and old buildings. Also in Delaware is the world's second longest suspension double-span bridge. Beach lovers should visit the resort towns of the Rehoboth Riviera (Bethany, Dewey Beach, Fenwick Island and Lewis) in late August, when jazz funerals take place there, marking the end of the summer season. Delaware is also famous for cockfighting. Tourists from different parts of the United States come to watch these gambling competitions. This is why Delaware is also known as the Blue Rooster State.