Editing New Sweden (section)

== Expansion to Tinicum Island ==

In 1643, Johan Printz arrived as the new governor of New Sweden, bringing new colonists and instructions to strengthen the colony's position. Printz recognized that Fort Christina was vulnerable to Dutch competition and established a new capital at [[Tinicum Island]], the first European settlement within the present boundaries of Pennsylvania. Located in the Delaware River near present-day Philadelphia International Airport, Tinicum (from the Lenape word meaning "islands") offered a more strategic position from which to control river trade. Printz built his residence, Printzhof, on the island, along with a fort, storehouse, and church—the first Lutheran church in North America.<ref name="acrelius">{{cite book |last=Acrelius |first=Israel |title=A History of New Sweden; or, The Settlements on the River Delaware |year=1874 |publisher=Historical Society of Pennsylvania |location=Philadelphia |orig-year=1759}}</ref>

Under Printz's firm leadership, New Sweden expanded its territorial claims and established additional settlements and trading posts along the Delaware and Schuylkill Rivers. The colony's population grew slowly, supplemented by Finnish settlers (Finland being then part of the Swedish realm) who brought expertise in log cabin construction—a building technique that would later spread throughout the American frontier. Printz was an effective but autocratic governor whose heavy-handed rule caused considerable discontent among the colonists. His decade in office (1643-1653) represented the high point of Swedish colonial presence in the Delaware Valley, though the colony never achieved the size or prosperity its sponsors had envisioned.<ref name="ward"/>