Editing New Sweden (section)

== Colonial Life ==

Life in New Sweden was difficult, marked by shortages of supplies and the challenges of establishing European settlement in the American wilderness. The colonial population probably never exceeded 600 people, scattered among a handful of settlements along the Delaware River. Colonists included soldiers, farmers, craftsmen, and their families, drawn from Sweden, Finland, and the Netherlands. Many were involuntary emigrants—soldiers who had deserted, debtors, and others whom Swedish authorities wished to be rid of. The colony maintained a small militia and a fort at several locations, but never possessed sufficient military strength to defend against determined attack.<ref name="dahlgren"/>

The Swedes and Finns who settled New Sweden brought with them agricultural traditions adapted to the northern European forests. Finnish settlers, in particular, introduced the log cabin construction technique that would become iconic of the American frontier. They cleared land using slash-and-burn methods similar to those practiced in the forests of Finland and Sweden, establishing farms on the relatively narrow strips of fertile land along the rivers. Swedish colonists also established the first mills and attempted to cultivate tobacco, though with limited success. The colony maintained nominal Lutheran religious observance, though formal church services were often impossible due to the shortage of clergy.<ref name="johnson">{{cite book |last=Johnson |first=Amandus |title=The Swedish Settlements on the Delaware 1638-1664 |year=1911 |publisher=University of Pennsylvania |location=Philadelphia}}</ref>