I | INTRODUCTION |
Delaware, one of the South Atlantic states of the
United States. It occupies part of the peninsula between Delaware Bay and
Chesapeake Bay. Delaware was one of the 13 original states. Delawareans played a
major role in the events that occurred during and after the American Revolution
(1775-1783), and on December 7, 1787, Delaware became the first of the original
13 states to ratify the Constitution of the United States.
Delaware is divided into three counties: New
Castle, Kent, and Sussex. Historically, industrialized New Castle County has
contrasted with the other two counties, which have been predominantly
agricultural areas. Today more than two-thirds of the population live in New
Castle County, the northernmost county, in and around Wilmington, the state’s
only large city. Dover, in Kent County in the center of the state, is Delaware’s
capital. The history of Wilmington and of the state’s early large-scale
industrial growth is, to a great extent, the history of the famous du Pont
family and E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company, one of the world’s largest
chemical companies. Delaware is primarily an industrial state. Most of the
manufacturing industries are located in New Castle County, although a number of
industrial plants have been established in the two southern counties. For the
most part, the south remains an agricultural area, and farmers produce a wide
range of products for such urban markets as Washington, D.C., Philadelphia,
Baltimore, and New York City. The people of Delaware commonly denote parts of
their state as either “north of the canal,” meaning in the industrialized and
densely inhabited region around Wilmington, or “south of the canal,” meaning in
Delaware’s rural and lightly settled farming region. The canal referred to is
the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal, which effectively bisects New Castle
County.
The state’s name is derived from the name of
Thomas West, 3rd Baron De La Warr, Virginia’s first colonial governor. In 1610
Sir Samuel Argall, sailing for Virginia, sighted what is now called Cape
Henlopen in Delaware Bay. Argall named it Cape De La Warr in honor of the
governor. Although the cape itself was later renamed, the name Delaware
came to be applied to the Delaware River and Delaware Bay and later to the land
along the western shore of the bay and the river. Delaware’s official nickname
is the First State, which commemorates Delaware’s early ratification of the U.S.
Constitution. Delaware is also known as the Diamond State, because its value,
like that of a diamond, is said to be out of all proportion to its small size.
Another nickname, the Blue Hen State, dates from the American Revolution when
the fighting spirit of the Delaware First Regiment was compared with that of
their mascots, a brood of gamecocks reared by a famous blue hen. The blue hen
was later designated the official state bird.
II | PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY |
Delaware is the second smallest state of the
Union, covering only 6,446 sq km (2,489 sq mi), including 186 sq km (72 sq mi)
of inland water and 961 sq km (371 sq mi) of coastal water over which it has
jurisdiction. Only Rhode Island is smaller. Located in the eastern section of
the Delmarva Peninsula, between Delaware Bay and Chesapeake Bay, Delaware is 154
km (96 mi) from north to south and varies from 14 to 56 km (9 to 35 mi) east to
west. The state is a low-lying area. With an average elevation of only 18 m (60
ft), it ranks as the lowest state in the nation.
A | Natural Regions |
Delaware can be divided into two major
regions, or physiographic provinces, each of which is part of a larger
physiographic division of the eastern United States. The two regions are the
Piedmont Plateau and the Coastal Plain. The Piedmont, which is part of the
larger Appalachian Region, extends into the state from Pennsylvania and forms
only a small section of Delaware. The Coastal Plain occupies the rest of the
state as well as much of the coastal area of neighboring states. The boundary
between Delaware’s two natural regions is marked by the Fall Line, the zone
where streams pass from the more ancient and harder rock of the upland to the
more easily eroded sands, clays, and shales of the Coastal Plain.
The Piedmont in Delaware lies north of the
Christina River, and consists of fertile river valleys and rolling wooded hills.
The highest point, on the border with Pennsylvania, is only 137 m (448 ft) above
sea level, and few other hills rise above 120 m (400 ft).
The Coastal Plain in Delaware is
characterized by flat, sometimes swampy plains, which are part of the wide sandy
plain that stretches along the eastern coast of the United States. Great
Pocomoke Swamp, which is also called Big Cypress Swamp, lies in the southern
part of the Coastal Plain, and other swamps and marshes, which are flooded at
high tide, occupy the lower courses of many of the major river valleys. A low
ridge of well-drained land runs the entire length of the Coastal Plain in
Delaware. It forms the low divide between rivers flowing eastward into Delaware
Bay and westward into Chesapeake Bay. Delaware’s best farmlands lie on or near
the low ridge. Nearly all of the state’s coastal plain is less than 18 m (60 ft)
above sea level.
B | Rivers |
Delaware borders the estuary of the Delaware
River, which is considered to be the state’s principal river. The wide, lower
portion of the estuary is called Delaware Bay. In northeastern Delaware, the New
Jersey state line follows the east bank of the Delaware River so that the river
there lies entirely in Delaware. In northern Delaware, rivers flowing into the
Delaware River include the Christina and its tributary, Brandywine Creek, which
join to form Wilmington’s harbor. Other rivers flowing into Delaware Bay include
the Appoquinimink, Smyrna, and Saint Jones rivers in central Delaware, and the
Mispillion River, which enters the bay in southern Delaware. The Nanticoke and
its tributary, Broad Creek, are the principal rivers in southwestern Delaware
and flow westward across Maryland into Chesapeake Bay. There are many other
short rivers and streams in the state.
Except for the Delaware River, most of the
major rivers in the state are navigable only by small craft. Oceangoing vessels
and barges can navigate Delaware Bay and the Delaware River to Wilmington and
other ports farther upriver. The Chesapeake and Delaware Canal extends across
the northern part of the state to link Delaware Bay and Chesapeake Bay. The
canal forms part of the Intracoastal Waterway.
In colonial times the small waterfalls that
occur where Brandywine Creek and other tributaries of the Christina River flow
over the Fall Line provided waterpower for Delaware’s flour mills and other
factories.
There are no large lakes in Delaware.
However, there are numerous small lakes and ponds, which are often used for
fishing and other recreational activities.
C | Coastline |
The state’s ocean coastline is only 45 km
(28 mi) long. The shoreline, which includes all bays and inlets, is 613 km (381
mi) long. Extensive saltwater marshes are found along the shores of the Delaware
River and Delaware Bay. By contrast, south of Cape Henlopen the seacoast is
fringed by sand dunes and long sandy barrier beaches. Indian River Inlet, which
allows small vessels to reach the shallow lagoons behind the coast, is the only
break in the barrier beaches. Behind the beaches are Rehoboth Bay, Indian River
Bay, and other lagoons.
D | Climate |
Delaware has generally hot and humid
summers and mild winters.
D1 | Temperature |
In July, average daytime temperatures are
usually in the upper 20°s to lower 30°sC (80°sF) or even higher. But because
summer nights tend to be cooler than the days, July averages are about 24°C
(about 75°F). In addition, onshore sea breezes can reduce daytime temperatures
along the coast by 3 to 6 Celsius degrees (5 to 10 Fahrenheit degrees). January
averages range from -1°C (31°F) at Newark, in the north, to 3°C (38°F) at
Bridgeville, in Sussex County. Nearly three-fifths of Delaware’s days are
classified as sunny.
D2 | Precipitation |
Precipitation (rainfall and snowfall) in
Delaware is evenly distributed throughout the year, with slightly more in June
and July than in any other month. Most of the state receives between 1,020 and
1,170 mm (40 and 46 in) a year. Severe droughts are uncommon. Thunderstorms
occur frequently in summer, and in winter there is generally light
snowfall.
D3 | Growing Season |
The growing season, which is the period
between the last killing frost in the spring and the first killing frost in the
fall, is generally between 170 and 200 days long. Destructive frosts seldom
occur later than the end of April or before the middle of October.
E | Soils |
Delaware has predominantly gray-brown
soils, called Ultisols, that range in texture from coarse sands to loams. These
soils, which have in many areas been cultivated for as long as 200 years, now
require heavy applications of fertilizer when cultivated.
F | Plant Life |
Prior to European settlement, most of
Delaware was covered by forest. However, much of the original tree cover was cut
for timber, fuel, and agricultural purposes in the 17th and 18th centuries.
Today 31 percent of the state remains forested, although nearly all existing
forests have been harvested for timber at some time in the past. The principal
deciduous trees include oak, hickory, beech, maple, gums, and ash. Loblolly
pine, found chiefly in the southern part of the state, is the principal conifer.
In the sandy coastal areas are found pitch pine, loblolly pine, red cedar, and
bayberry. The bald cypress, common in the South, has its northernmost stand in
North America in the Great Cypress Swamp, where Atlantic white cedar and other
trees can also be found.
Wild flowers are found in great abundance
between early spring and late fall. Common wild flowers include the crocus,
violet, azalea, honeysuckle, pink lady’s slipper, and aster. The water lily is
common in freshwater lakes and ponds throughout the state. The hibiscus grows in
salt marshes, and the swamp magnolia along the coast. The blossom of the peach
tree is the state flower of Delaware.
G | Animal Life |
The white-tailed deer is the only large
game animal found in Delaware today. Other animals found there include the fox,
raccoon, chipmunk, rabbit, mole, muskrat, mink, otter, and some beaver.
Among the wide variety of birds found in
Delaware are the robin, Carolina wren, starling, boat-tailed grackle, wood
thrush, purple grackle, catbird, cardinal, tufted titmouse, blue jay, and
ruby-throated hummingbird. There are also a number of species of warbler,
woodpecker, vireo, and sparrow in the state. The woodcock, snipe, quail,
mourning dove, and pheasant are the principal game birds. Shore and water birds
include the great blue heron, snowy egret, black duck, blue-winged teal, and
species of sandpipers, gulls, and terns.
The snapping turtle is common in the
swamps. Snakes include the hognose snake, the blackrat snake, the garter snake,
and the copperhead, the only poisonous snake in the state.
Crabs and clams are gathered in Delaware
Bay, although their numbers are drastically reduced from former years, while
oysters have been almost eliminated by a combination of diseases. Bass, perch,
pike, trout, and other game fish are common in many lakes, ponds, and smaller
streams in the state. Other fish include sturgeon, catfish, and drumfish.
H | Conservation |
Delaware’s Department of Natural Resources
and Environmental Control is responsible for the conservation of soil and water
and the management of fish and wildlife, parks, water resources, air quality,
and waste disposal. The preservation of wetlands and other fragile lands is a
priority. State park acreage has risen from about 2,100 hectares (about 5,300
acres) in the early 1970s to more than 6,000 hectares (15,000 acres) in the
mid-1990s. In the same period the area set aside to protect wildlife grew to
14,000 hectares (35,000 acres). The possible loss of its remaining open space is
one of the state’s most serious environmental issues. Between 1995 and 2000, the
amount of toxic chemicals discharged into the environment remained stable,
changing by less than half a percent.
H1 | Air Quality |
In 1989 all three counties in Delaware
failed to meet the federal standard for ozone, a major component of smog. By the
early 1990s the number of days in which the Wilmington area failed to meet
standards had been halved, while no days in excess of federal standards were
reported in Sussex County. Other air pollutants were also being cleaned up.
Since 1970 lead has been virtually
eliminated from the air, and levels of soot, dust, and other particulate matter
have fallen. Concentrations of carbon monoxide, sulfur, and some organic
chemicals have also declined.
Because ozone is the pollutant of
primary concern, the state requires vehicle emission inspections. To help reduce
vehicle emissions, service stations are required to sell highly combustible
gasoline in summer. In 1990 Delaware and five nearby states concluded an
agreement to coordinate strategies for the control of ozone and certain other
pollutants.
H2 | Waste Management |
Delaware is the only state to operate a
statewide solid waste management agency with powers to locate and run disposal
facilities. This agency, the Delaware Solid Waste Authority, was created in
1978. In 1988 the state revised its solid waste laws, emphasizing trash
reduction and the cleaning up of problem landfills. By 1990, 50 such landfills
had been closed and 25 of these had been cleaned up.
All hazardous waste producers and
treatment and disposal facilities must obtain permits and are inspected
regularly. The generation and movement of hazardous waste in the state are
carefully tracked. In 2006 Delaware had 14 hazardous waste sites on a federal
priority list for cleanup because of their severity or proximity to people.
Underground storage tanks, primarily for
petroleum products such as gasoline, are also regulated. Many old tanks have
been upgraded or removed. New tanks must meet stringent installation rules,
particularly where the water table is close to the surface.
H3 | Water Quality |
In the 1960s, the water quality in
Delaware’s bays, streams, and wetlands was generally high. It declined in the
1970s, largely because of poorly treated sewage discharges and excessive
sediments from erosion. As a result of such water pollution, the quality and
quantity of the shellfish harvest were so poor by the late 1970s that the
industry was all but destroyed. Other possible sources of water pollution are
oil spills from tankers plying the Delaware River.
Beach preservation and wetlands
protection are matters of concern. Beach management generally emphasizes sand
replenishment. Fragile sand-dune ecosystems are protected from vehicular
traffic. New state policies discourage the draining of wetlands.
III | ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES |
Delaware is a small but prosperous state,
the economy of which benefits from the large urban markets nearby. During much
of the 19th and 20th centuries, manufacturing was the state’s leading economic
activity. In the late 1990s, however, the finance sector provided the greatest
share of the state’s economy, with many people employed in commerce, service
industries, or government agencies as well. Partly because of Delaware’s
relatively lenient corporate-tax laws, many businesses are incorporated in the
state even though virtually all their activities are carried on elsewhere.
Delaware’s labor force totaled 440,000 in
2006. The largest share of the labor force, 34 percent, worked in the diverse
service sector, doing jobs such as working in restaurants or computer
programming. Another 17 percent were employed in wholesale or retail trade; 14
percent in federal, state, or local government, including those in the military;
13 percent in manufacturing; 24 percent in finance, insurance, or real estate; 6
percent in construction; and 19 percent in transportation or public utilities.
Employment in mining and agriculture was insignificant. In 2005, 12 percent of
Delaware’s workers were unionized.
A | Agriculture |
In 2005 there were 2,300 farms in
Delaware. Many were sidelines for operators who held other jobs. Farmland
occupied 210,437 hectares (520,000 acres). Some 85 percent of the farmland was
used to raise crops, with the remainder split between pasture and woodlots.
The sale of livestock and livestock
products accounted for 80 percent of total farm income in 2004. Poultry and eggs
are the most valuable farm products and contribute nine-tenths of the total
value of livestock sales. Broilers, which are young chickens raised for meat,
are the most valuable farm product. They are raised in large numbers on
specialized farms in Sussex and Kent counties. Eggs and turkeys are also
produced on some poultry farms.
Dairy farms are numerous in northern
sections of the state and are a major source of fresh milk for Wilmington,
Philadelphia, and other large cities in the East. Hogs and beef cattle, which
are fed partly on surplus milk and milk wastes, are also raised.
Field crops provide 20 percent of all
farm income. Soybeans and corn are grown throughout the state, and represent the
leading crops in terms of sales. Wheat is raised on many farms in northern and
central Delaware. Potatoes are a specialty crop on farms in southern Delaware,
and together with peas are the most valuable vegetable crops. In addition, a
variety of truck and fruit crops are produced in the state. Peaches, once the
chief crop of the state, are an important orchard crop.
B | Fisheries |
Commercial fishing crews and chartered
boats working out of Lewes and other lower Delaware ports catch saltwater fish
in Delaware Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. Clams and crabs are dredged. In 2004 the
fish catch was valued at $5.4 million.
C | Forestry |
Many farmers retain small woodlots on
their property. The wood is used to make boxes and crates and other wood
products. Some fine woods, for use as veneers in good-quality furniture, are
also cut. Holly, which is fashioned into wreaths and decorations for the
Christmas season, is also grown.
D | Mining |
Delaware ranks last among all the states
in the value of mineral production, and there are few mineral resources of even
potential commercial value. Magnesium compounds, extracted from seawater, and
sand and gravel are the principal mineral products. Iron ore is present in small
quantities on the Piedmont and in some of the swamps of the coastal region.
However, the deposits are too small and too widely scattered to be of commercial
value.
E | Manufacturing |
In 2002 some 13 percent of the workforce
of Delaware was employed in manufacturing industries. The principal industry is
the chemical industry, which in 1996 generated two-fifths of all income produced
by industry. Chemical products manufactured in the state include paints and
varnishes, dyes, cloth and cloth finishes, and synthetic fibers. Other
industrial activities include food processing and the manufacture of paper
products, instruments, rubber and plastic goods, fabricated metal products,
machinery, and transportation equipment. There are also several petroleum
refineries and printing and publishing firms in the state. Most industrial
plants are located in northern New Castle County, in the Wilmington area.
The chemical industry in Delaware dates
from 1802, when Eleuthère Irénée du Pont, a French immigrant, built the state’s
first gunpowder mill on Brandywine Creek near Wilmington. From those early
beginnings grew E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company, the largest chemical
company in the United States. The home office and the research laboratories of
the company now dominate the city and suburbs of Wilmington. There are a number
of other chemical companies with headquarters in Delaware, the largest being
Hercules and Atlas, which split off from the Du Pont Company after an antitrust
suit in 1912.
The manufacture of textiles and leather
products was formerly a major economic activity, but it is now of only minor
significance. The textile industry began in the late 18th century, when Jacob
Broom built the state’s first cotton mill on Brandywine Creek. Leather making is
also one of the state’s oldest industries. Buckskin and chamois leather were
manufactured in Wilmington as early as 1732.
F | Electricity |
Steam-driven power plants burning coal,
natural gas, or petroleum produce 100 percent of the electricity generated in
Delaware. The Delmarva Power and Light Company, a private utility, serves most
of the state.
G | Transportation and Commerce |
Delaware’s main center of transportation
and commerce, the port of Wilmington, lies on the Christina River near its
junction with the Delaware. Wilmington serves large oceangoing vessels and
carries on an extensive trade through its municipal marine terminal with New
York City and other U.S. ports and with foreign ports. Wilmington is the largest
port-of-discharge for bananas in the world. The port is also important in both
import and export of automobiles. The chief commercial waterways are the
Delaware River, Delaware Bay, and the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal.
By 2005 Delaware had 9,806 km (6,093 mi)
of public roads, of which 66 km (41 mi) were part of the national interstate
highway system. Wilmington is the focal point of several major federal highways.
The Delaware Memorial Bridge, which spans the Delaware River near Wilmington,
was opened in 1951. Traffic volume grew so heavy (the bridge connects the
Delaware and New Jersey turnpikes) that a second, twin span was opened in 1968.
A ferry offers year-round service between Lewes, Delaware, and Cape May, New
Jersey.
Delaware was served by 367 km (228 mi) of
railroads in 2004. Some 35 percent of the tonnage of goods shipped by rail and
originating in the state was chemicals. Commuter rail service is provided from
Wilmington to downtown Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
In 2007 Delaware had 1 airports, some of
which were private airfields. The principal airport was the Greater Wilmington
Airport, although it was not busy by national standards. The Wilmington area
also is served by a major airport in Philadelphia. Dover Air Force Base is one
of the most important military air terminals on the East Coast.
IV | THE PEOPLE OF DELAWARE |
A | Population Patterns |
According to the 2000 national census,
Delaware ranked 45th among the states, with a total population of 783,600. This
represented an increase of 17.6 percent over the 1990 census figure of 666,168.
Despite its comparatively small population, Delaware had a high average density
in 2006 of 169 persons per sq km (437 per sq mi). Whites make up the largest
share of Delaware’s residents, representing 74.6 percent of the people. Blacks
are 19.2 percent of the population, Asians 2.1 percent, Native Americans 0.3
percent, and those of mixed heritage or not reporting race 3.7 percent.
Hawaiians and other Pacific Islanders number 283. Hispanics, who may be of any
race, are 4.8 percent of the people. Some 80 percent of the population lived in
urban areas in 2000.
The earliest settlers, who arrived in the
17th century, were mainly Swedes, but there were also Finns, Dutch, and a few
English and French. The total population in the region in the middle of the 17th
century was probably less than 1,000. Most Delawareans trace their ancestry back
to later immigrants. The British were the most numerous in the late 17th and
18th centuries and included settlers of English, Scottish, Irish, and Welsh
extraction. French settlers arrived in the 1790s. In the middle of the 19th
century, immigrants from Ireland and Germany found work in the factories that
were being set up in northern Delaware. Toward the end of the 19th century they
were followed by Italians, Poles, Jews, and Ukrainians. Blacks are descended
mainly from Africans who were brought to Delaware as slaves during the 17th and
18th centuries.
B | Principal Cities |
Delaware’s largest city is Wilmington,
which in 2006 had an estimated population of 72,826. Wilmington was the site of
the first permanent settlement by Europeans during the colonial era and is today
the chief center of manufacturing, commercial, and transportation activities in
the state. Wilmington is also the state’s foremost cultural center.
Dover, the state capital, serves as an
administrative and commercial center. Tourism is also important to the city,
which is noted for its many buildings of historic interest. Dover’s population
was 34,735 in 2006. Newark, with a population of 30,014, is a manufacturing city
and the seat of the University of Delaware. Milford, with a population of 7,852,
is a trade center for farms in southern Delaware. Seaford is an industrial
community on the Nanticoke River. Lewes is one of the oldest ports on the East
Coast. New Castle, site of William Penn’s first landing in North America, is a
quaint river town south of Wilmington. Its historic courthouse and cobblestone
streets attract many visitors.
C | Religion |
The earliest Swedish settlers established
a Lutheran congregation in 1638. Most of the early English colonists belonged to
the Church of England, while Dutch settlers were usually members of the Reformed
Church. New Castle’s Immanuel Episcopal Church (1703) was the first Church of
England parish in Delaware. Many Quakers moved to Delaware from Pennsylvania in
the 18th century. During the late 17th and early 18th centuries, Presbyterian
and Baptist churches were established, and after the American Revolution members
of the Church of England in the United States reorganized as the Protestant
Episcopal Church. Methodism, introduced in the mid-18th century, became the
dominant religion in Delaware by about 1800. In the 19th century the number of
Roman Catholics greatly increased with the arrival of immigrants from
Europe.
Although many Protestant denominations are
now represented, the United Methodist Church has the largest membership,
particularly in rural areas. But statewide and particularly in Wilmington and
other cities Roman Catholics are the largest single religious group,
representing about one-quarter of all church members. In addition, there are a
few Jewish and Orthodox congregations in the state.
V | EDUCATION AND CULTURAL INSTITUTIONS |
A | Education |
Although the general assembly created a
public school fund in 1796, no use was made of it until 1817 and 1818, when
$1,000 was allocated to each county for the education of poor children. In 1829
the legislature passed “An Act for the Establishment of Free Schools.” Under the
terms of the act, Delaware was divided into school districts, which were
empowered to raise funds that would be matched, up to $300, by state funds.
However, no district was compelled to raise money or to open a school.
Delaware now has a modern school system.
The seven members of the state board of education are appointed by the governor
and confirmed by the state senate. Six of the members serve six year terms; the
seventh serves at the pleasure of the governor. The state secretary of education
is appointed by the governor, approved by the state senate, and serves at the
pleasure of the governor. School attendance in Delaware is compulsory for all
children from the ages of 5 to 16. Some 20 percent of the state’s children
attend private schools.
In the 2002–2003 school year Delaware spent
$11,382 on each student’s education, compared to a national average of $9,299.
There were 15.2 students for every teacher (the national average was 15.9). Of
those older than 25 years of age in the state, 85.5 percent had a high school
diploma, compared to an average of 84.1 percent for the nation as a whole.
A1 | Higher Education |
The first state institution of higher
education, Newark College (now the University of Delaware, at Newark) was
founded in 1833. In 2004–2005 Delaware had 5 public and 5 private institutions
of higher education. Among the most notable of these schools, besides the
University of Delaware, were Delaware State University and Wesley College, both
in Dover; Goldey-Beacom College and Widener University School of Law, both in
Wilmington; and Wilmington College, in New Castle.
B | Libraries |
Delaware had 21 public tax-supported
libraries in 2002. Each year libraries in the state circulate an average of 6.2
books for every resident. The Wilmington Institute Library, which dates from the
18th century, is the oldest library in Delaware. The largest library in the
state is the University of Delaware’s library, with about 2.4 million volumes,
including 2,000 volumes on the public and private life of Abraham Lincoln.
Outstanding libraries devoted to the history of Delaware include the Delaware
Public Archives, in Dover, and the library of the Historical Society of
Delaware, in Wilmington. The Eleutherian Mills-Hagley Foundation, in Greenville,
has a noted collection on American economic history.
C | Museums |
Located on the former country estate of
Henry Francis du Pont, the Winterthur Museum, Garden, and Library in Winterthur
has exhibits of furniture and household goods of the period from 1640 to 1840.
The museum is open to the public for guided tours. Other important museums
include the museum of the Historical Society and the Delaware Art Museum, both
in Wilmington; the Delaware State Museums, in Dover; and the Delaware Museum of
Natural History, in Wilmington. The Hagley Museum, in Wilmington, is a museum of
American industrial history. The Zwaanendael Museum, in Lewes, was built by the
state in 1931 to mark the 300th anniversary of the Dutch settlement in
1631.
D | Communications |
It is believed that the first newspaper in
the state was the Wilmington Courant, which was published for six months
in 1762. The oldest continuously published newspaper is the Delaware
Gazette, which continues today as the Wilmington News Journal. One of
Delaware’s most notable publications was the former weekly newspaper entitled
The Blue Hen’s Chicken. It was published and edited in the mid-19th
century by Francis Vincent, who used the newspaper to advocate programs of civil
rights, labor reform, and public service. There are 2 daily newspapers published
in the state. The Wilmington News Journal, which is the state’s largest
newspaper in circulation, has daily statewide circulation. The Delaware State
News is published daily in Dover.
Delaware has 9 AM and 12 FM radio stations.
Several cable television systems operate in the state, and WHYY, a publicly
supported educational television station, maintains studios in Wilmington and
Philadelphia. The state’s first radio station, WDEL, in Wilmington, began
operations in 1922.
E | Music and Theater |
Wilmington supports a symphony orchestra
and a professional theater. The Grand Opera House, in Wilmington, is home to
OperaDelaware and presents a year-round program of classical concerts and dance.
Community theater groups are also maintained in Newark, Dover, and
elsewhere.
VI | RECREATION AND PLACES OF INTEREST |
Although it is a small state, Delaware has
numerous recreational facilities and is noted for its historic sites and
buildings. Facilities for swimming, boating, and other water sports are located
at numerous places along the coast, and camping, hiking, and picnicking are
popular pastimes in the state parks and forests. There are no national parks or
national forests.
A | State Parks and Forests |
Among Delaware’s 13 state parks is Fort
Delaware State Park, on Pea Patch Island in the Delaware River and accessible by
boat from Delaware City. The huge granite fort was a Union stronghold during the
Civil War. Bellevue State Park, in Wilmington, once was the estate of the du
Pont family and features the Bellevue mansion. Also near Wilmington is
Brandywine Creek, with its towering tulip trees, rolling hills, and wildflower
meadows framed by gray stone walls. Cape Henlopen State Park, east of Lewes on
the Atlantic shore, includes a fishing pier stretching into Delaware Bay and the
Seaside Nature Center, popular with bird-watchers. Delaware Seashore State Park,
south of Dewey Beach, includes 10 km (6 mi) of ocean and bay shoreline. Trap
Pond State Park, east of Laurel, encompasses part of the Great Cypress Swamp
that is home to the unique bald cypress trees.
There are several state forests. Among
them are Blackbird State Forest, Ellendale State Forest, and Owens Tract and Red
Lion Tract state forests. Redden State Forest in southern Delaware is the
largest. Many regions of the state have been set aside as wildlife preserves,
fishing sites, and public beaches. Prime Hook National Wildlife Refuge is
located around Broadkill Beach, while near Dover is Bombay Hook National
Wildlife Refuge.
B | Other Places to Visit |
Fort Christina, in Wilmington, marks the
site where Swedish pioneers landed in 1638 to establish the first permanent
European settlement in Delaware. The John Dickinson Plantation, built in 1740,
was once the home of the American patriot John Dickinson. It is one of several
early American buildings in the historic Dover area. The former state capitol in
Dover, dating from about 1790, is one of the oldest capitols in the country. The
structure faces the historic Green, which appears today almost as it did in
1717, the year Dover and the Green were laid out. The historic Court House in
New Castle, which dates from the early 1730s, is one of the oldest existing
public buildings in the United States. Its cupola served as the focus from which
surveyors drew the arc forming Delaware’s northern border. The Amstel House
Museum depicts 18th-century life in New Castle. Another popular New Castle
attraction is the George Read II House, a classic Federal style mansion. The De
Vries Monument near Lewes marks the approximate site of the former Zwaanendael
(Swanendael), Delaware’s short-lived first community, which was founded in
1631.
Among Delaware’s many historic churches is
Old Swedes Church and Hendrickson House Museum, in Wilmington, which has been in
use since its completion in 1698. Barratt’s Chapel in Frederica, Christ
Episcopal Church near Laurel, and Old Drawyers’ Presbyterian Church near Odessa
were built between 1770 and 1780. Immanuel Episcopal Church in New Castle was
built early in the 18th century, as was the recently restored Presbyterian
church there. Prince George’s Chapel in Dagsboro was built in 1757. Fenwick
Island Lighthouse, which began operation in 1859, was decommissioned in 1978 and
now is operated by the state as an attraction. The Wilmington and Western
Railroad operates a steam train through the scenic Red Clay Valley.
C | Annual Events |
Colors abound at the Great Delaware Kite
Festival at Cape Henlopen, held in late April. Early in May many historic
private homes in Dover are opened to the public during Old Dover Days. The
Delaware State Fair, held in July in Harrington, is a true agricultural fair,
featuring a mixture of livestock and farm equipment. A Day in Old Newcastle is
held annually in May. Nanticoke Pow Wow draws eastern Native Americans to the
September festival which includes ceremonial dances, storytelling, and Native
American food and crafts. The Delaware Decoy Festival and Carving Championship,
held in Odessa in October, focuses on the skill of crafting decoys used in duck
hunting. Christmas parades are held in several communities in early December,
and a candlelight tour of historic homes is held in New Castle.
VII | GOVERNMENT |
The present constitution of Delaware, which
was adopted in 1897, has been amended many times. It is the fourth constitution
in the history of the state. The first constitution, adopted in 1776, created
“The Delaware State” with a president as chief executive. It was replaced in
1792 by a constitution that established the basic form of the present state
government. The third constitution, adopted in 1831, made a number of changes in
the judiciary. In each case the constitution was written by a constitutional
convention and put into effect without being submitted to a popular vote. In
order to become law, a proposed amendment must receive a two-thirds vote of
approval from each house of the state legislature in two successive sessions,
with an election intervening.
A | Executive |
The chief executive of the state is the
governor, who is elected for a term of four years and may serve only two terms.
Other executive officers are the lieutenant governor, attorney general,
insurance commissioner, auditor of accounts, and treasurer, who are elected to
serve four-year terms. The governor appoints the secretary of state, various
commissioners and judges, and some of the administrative officers.
The governor has the power to veto
proposed legislation. A three-fifths majority vote in each house of the state
legislature is required to override the governor’s veto.
B | Legislative |
The state legislature, called the General
Assembly, meets annually at Dover. It consists of a Senate and a House of
Representatives. The senate has 21 members, who are elected for four-year terms,
and the house of representatives has 41 members, who are elected for two-year
terms.
C | Judicial |
The state judicial system includes a
supreme court, a superior court, and a court of chancery. The supreme court is
made up of a chief justice and four associate justices. The justices and all
state judges are appointed by the governor, with the consent of the senate, for
12-year terms. Lower courts include a court of common pleas in each county in
the state, as well as family courts, municipal courts, and magistrates’
courts.
D | Local Government |
Delaware is divided into three counties:
New Castle, Kent, and Sussex. New Castle County is administered by an elected
council headed by an elected president. Sussex County is administered by an
elected council, with one council member serving as president. Kent County is
administered by an elected board of commissioners called the levy court. The
counties are subdivided into hundreds, which are old English political
subdivisions with no government of their own and little significance.
Most of the cities and towns in Delaware,
including Wilmington, have the mayor and council form of municipal government.
Some are governed by a council and manager.
E | National Representation |
Delaware elects one representative and
two senators to the Congress of the United States. In presidential elections the
state has three electoral votes.
VIII | HISTORY |
A | Early Inhabitants |
Before the arrival of the first European
settlers, the Delaware River valley was inhabited by a group of Native Americans
who spoke a language of the Algonquian linguistic stock. They called themselves
the Lenni Lenape, which means “original people” or “real people,” and
they were accorded the title “grandfathers” by other Native American groups to
acknowledge their long occupation of the valley. They lived by hunting, fishing,
and farming; their chief crops were corn, beans, and squash.
The Lenni Lenape, who came to be known
as the Delaware to the European settlers, were organized in a confederacy of
three large groups that ranged from southern New York state to northern
Delaware. The southernmost group occupied the northern part of what is now
Delaware. The Nanticoke people, who were related to the Delaware, lived in
southwestern Delaware along the Nanticoke River. Occasionally the Minqua, a
warlike people who spoke an Iroquoian language, came from the interior of
Pennsylvania to trade furs along the Delaware River.
B | The 17th Century |
B1 | Dutch Exploration and Settlement |
The first European explorations in the
area were by agents of The Netherlands, whose people are called the Dutch, and
England. Henry Hudson, a navigator from England who was employed by the Dutch
East India Company to find the fabled Northwest Passage through North America to
the Pacific Ocean, is credited with discovering Delaware Bay in 1609. However,
he did not explore it. The following year, Captain Samuel Argall, an English
explorer, gave the name Cape De la Warr to a point of land on the western shore
in honor of Thomas West, 3rd Baron De la Warr, the governor of the English
colony of Virginia.
Between 1614 and 1620 several Dutch
ships explored the Delaware River. In 1624 another company, the Dutch West India
Company, set up the colony of Nieuw Nederland (New Netherland), which claimed
the Delaware Valley, the Hudson River Valley, and the land between them. The
company encouraged business people to buy land from the Native American
inhabitants, which they could then rule as patroons, or manorial lords,
provided they brought in settlers. A group of merchants bought the land between
Bombay Hook and Cape Henlopen and in 1631 built Swanendael, the first European
settlement in Delaware, on the site of present-day Lewes. Within a year the
settlement was destroyed, and the settlers were killed by Native Americans. This
was the only such attack ever made on white settlers in Delaware, and it is
uncertain which Native American people was responsible.
B2 | New Sweden |
The Dutch West India Company was more
interested in trade than in colonization. However, several of its members
offered their services to the kingdom of Sweden as colonizers. One of them,
Peter Minuit, the former director-general of New Netherland, led the Swedish
expedition that established the first permanent settlement in Delaware. In March
1638 the expedition built a fortified trading post on the site of present-day
Wilmington. It was named Fort Christina in honor of the queen of Sweden. Minuit
secured a deed from the Native Americans for the land extending north from
Bombay Hook to the Schuylkill River, which flows into the Delaware River at what
is now Philadelphia. The territory was named New Sweden. Over the next 17 years
more than a dozen expeditions arrived in New Sweden, bringing Swedish, Finnish,
and Dutch settlers, as well as livestock, grain, and tools. Additional land was
bought on both sides of the Delaware River. During the administration of
Governor Johan Björnsson Printz (1643-1653), new forts, houses, mills, and
wharves were built, tobacco was planted, and trade with the Native Americans was
encouraged.
The Dutch West India Company still
claimed the Delaware area and in 1651 attempted to gain control of it. Under the
leadership of Peter Stuyvesant, governor of New Netherland, the Dutch built Fort
Casimir on the site of present-day New Castle. The Swedes captured the fort in
1654, but the following year, Stuyvesant returned to New Sweden in greater force
and seized the entire territory. Although many Swedes remained in Delaware,
Swedish rule in North America was at an end.
In 1656 the Dutch West India Company,
in financial difficulties, sold Fort Casimir and the land between the Christina
River and Bombay Hook to the city of Amsterdam in The Netherlands. A settlement
named New Amstel grew up at Fort Casimir and was made the capital of the area.
By 1663 Amsterdam had acquired all the land from Delaware Bay to the Schuylkill
River.
B3 | English Rule |
The English, who competed with the
Dutch for trade and colonies in North America, fought a series of three wars
with them between 1652 and 1674. In 1664 the English captured all of New
Netherland and the Dutch possessions in the Delaware Valley. This began the
Second Anglo-Dutch War, which concluded in 1667 with the English in possession.
Delaware was annexed by the English duke of York and for 18 years was governed
as part of his colony of New York (which had been New Netherland). The Dutch,
Swedish, and Finnish settlers who pledged allegiance to the English king were
allowed to keep their lands and property. Settlers from England and from the
English colonies of Virginia, Maryland, New Jersey, and New York settled in
Delaware, and the colony grew rapidly.
The Dutch recaptured their former
territory in 1673, during the Third Anglo-Dutch War. However, under the terms of
the peace treaty they were forced to return it to England.
B4 | Delaware and William Penn |
In 1682 William Penn, the founder of
the adjoining Pennsylvania colony, petitioned for a direct outlet to the ocean.
The duke of York deeded to Penn all the land within a radius of 19 km (12 mi) of
New Castle and south to Cape Henlopen. The area included most of what is now
Delaware. The transfer was bitterly contested by Charles Calvert, Lord
Baltimore, who also claimed the land along the Delaware River for his Maryland
colony. An English court denied Lord Baltimore’s claim, but the dispute over the
Maryland-Delaware boundary was not finally settled until 1769.
In December 1682 the three Delaware
counties, which Penn called the Lower Counties, were formally united with
Pennsylvania. They were governed by a general assembly. Delaware and
Pennsylvania each had the same number of representatives to the assembly.
Penn concluded a peace treaty that
year with the Delaware nation. There were no further clashes between the
Delaware and the whites until the French and Indian War (1754-1763), when some
of the Delaware sided with France, some sided with Great Britain (a union of
three countries headed by England), and some stayed neutral. By that time,
however, the Delaware were moving west ahead of white settlement, and most of
them lived in Ohio. Today they live in widely scattered groups in Oklahoma and
Ontario, Canada. A small remnant of the Nanticoke still lives in Warwick, Sussex
County, where they maintain a community center.
B5 | Separation from Pennsylvania |
The people of Delaware resented being
controlled by the Society of Friends, or Quakers, the religious body that
dominated Philadelphia, and they feared the rapid economic growth of
Pennsylvania. They also resented Penn’s failure to provide sufficient protection
against raids by Lord Baltimore’s agents and by pirates who terrorized the
settlements along the shore. Finally, quarrels over representation of the lower
counties led to the establishment of a separate assembly for Delaware. It held
its first meeting in New Castle in 1704. From that time the Delaware assembly
made the laws for the three counties, which became in effect a separate colony
under the governor of Pennsylvania. Through their own assembly the people of
Delaware provided for the development of their colony.
C | The 18th Century |
C1 | Economic Growth |
The three counties prospered during
the 18th century. Farming was the main occupation, but many people also engaged
in fishing and in small manufacturing enterprises such as the making of barrels
and household goods. Flour mills, leather tanneries, and other small plants were
established in northern Delaware along streams that provided abundant
waterpower. Shipbuilding flourished at Wilmington and in many other towns.
Grain, lumber, dairy products, and other foodstuffs were exported to the
Southern colonies, the West Indies, and Europe.
C2 | American Revolution |
In 1774 the Delaware assembly sent its
members George Read, Caesar Rodney, and Thomas McKean, three of the colony’s
most prominent citizens, as delegates to the First Continental Congress in
Philadelphia. This was a conference of 12 of the British North American colonies
to discuss means of resisting the so-called Intolerable Acts, a set of punitive
measures applied against the colonies by Great Britain. The same delegates were
sent to the Second Continental Congress in 1775, which 13 colonies attended.
McKean and Read were present at the Continental Congress in July 1776, when that
body was asked to vote on the Declaration of Independence, severing the 13
colonies’ relation with Great Britain. Read opposed the declaration, believing
there was not yet enough popular support for independence. Both McKean and
Rodney supported it, but Rodney was in Delaware at the time. Summoned by a
messenger from McKean, Rodney rode all night on horseback, 129 km (80 mi)
through lightning and rain, from Dover to Philadelphia to break the tie between
Read and McKean and cast Delaware’s vote in favor of independence. Eventually
Read came to agree, and all three Delaware delegates signed the
declaration.
In the same year delegates from the
three Delaware counties convened at New Castle to organize a state government.
Delaware, which had been an unofficial name along with Lower Counties or
The Three Counties, was made official. A constitution was adopted, and John
McKinly was elected Delaware’s first president, as the governor was then called.
He took office in 1777. Between 1777 and 1793, when Joshua Clayton became the
state’s first governor under a new constitution, Delaware had ten
presidents.
Many from Delaware enlisted for
military service against the British in the American Revolution (1775-1783), and
the Delaware regiment had an excellent reputation. Only one skirmish of that war
was fought on Delaware soil; it occurred in September 1777 at Cooch’s Bridge,
near the village of Newark. A detachment of soldiers from the Continental Army
of General George Washington, which was camped near Wilmington, clashed with
advance units of a British force advancing northeast from Maryland to
Philadelphia. The British later defeated Washington’s troops on September 11 at
the Battle of the Brandywine, at Brandywine Creek in Pennsylvania, just a few
miles from the Delaware border. British forces then crossed into Delaware and
made a surprise raid on Wilmington, where they captured President McKinly.
The British left Wilmington after a
month, but a fleet of British warships controlled the coast until June 1778,
keeping the river open to British shipping. During this time the capital was
moved from New Castle to Dover because it was thought safer to be out of range
of the British naval cannon. In McKinly’s absence, McKean and then Read served
as acting presidents, and then Rodney was elected to succeed McKinly in 1778.
Even after the British fleet left in 1778, one warship remained on guard at Cape
Henlopen and British sympathizers, protected by it, raided Delaware farms.
C3 | After the Revolution |
When the revolution had been won,
Delaware’s representatives actively supported the movement for a strong national
government for the United States. In 1786, Delaware was one of five states
represented at the Annapolis Convention, which recommended to Congress that
another meeting of all the states be called to strengthen the federal charter,
the Articles of Confederation. Congress responded by calling the Constitutional
Convention, held the next year at Philadelphia; Delaware sent a delegation of
five, led by John Dickinson and George Read. Dickinson was instrumental in
framing the Constitution of the United States and, when it was submitted to the
states for approval, he wrote a series of newspaper articles under the pen name
Fabius, in which he forcefully urged its adoption. Delaware speedily called a
state convention at Dover in December 1787 and voted unanimously for adoption.
Delaware led all the other states in adopting the Constitution, thereby earning
its nickname, the First State.
C4 | Early Years of Statehood |
In 1790, when the first federal
census was taken, Delaware had a total population of 59,096, including almost
4,000 free blacks and 9,000 black slaves. At that time the state’s population
was evenly distributed among the three counties. The state was predominantly
agricultural, but industry was already developing in the north, particularly in
the Wilmington area. In the 1790s, following the invention of new flour milling
machinery by Delawarean Oliver Evans, the mills along Brandywine Creek near
Wilmington were the country’s leading source of flour. In 1795, Delaware’s first
cotton mill was established near Wilmington, and in 1802, Eleuthère Irénée du
Pont de Nemours, a French immigrant, established a gunpowder mill. His firm, E.
I. du Pont de Nemours and Company, supplied nearly all the military explosives
used by the United States in its wars and evolved into one of the world’s
largest chemical manufacturing firms.
D | The 19th Century |
D1 | Commercial Development |
In the early 19th century, trade was
encouraged by the development of new transportation links. Toll roads, or
turnpikes, were built to connect farming areas to the commercial town of
Wilmington. Steamboats began to replace sailing ships on the Delaware River in
the 1810s, and the completion in 1829 of the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal,
between Delaware Bay and Chesapeake Bay, gave an additional stimulus to
shipping. Delaware’s first steam-driven railroad went into operation in 1832.
The Philadelphia, Wilmington, and Baltimore Railroad, which was completed in
1838, gave the state its first through rail service. Except for a brief period
before and during the War of 1812, when British ships threatened the Delaware
shore, oceangoing vessels plied regularly between port towns along the Delaware
River, principally Wilmington and New Castle, and the ports of other coastal
states, as well as ports in Europe and the West Indies.
D2 | Political Development |
A second constitution, adopted in
1792, established Delaware’s basic framework of government. It provided for a
governor to be elected by popular vote, although for many years voting was
restricted to men who were free, white, and had paid their taxes. Representation
in the state legislature was apportioned equally among the three counties.
However, New Castle County grew far more rapidly than the two southern counties.
By the middle of the 19th century about 45 percent of the state’s total
population of more than 91,000 lived in New Castle County, with one-third of
those concentrated in the Wilmington area. A new state constitution was adopted
in 1831, but the changes it made affected principally the judiciary and not the
legislature. Despite the shift in the balance of population, the new document
made no change in the representation formula. The southern counties dominated
both houses of the legislature.
In the years between the revolution
and the War of 1812 the dominant political party in Delaware was the Federalist
Party, which was pro-British and supported a highly centralized form of national
government. Even after the War of 1812, in which the British invaded the United
States, the party kept its strength in Delaware although it was defeated in
almost every other state. Indeed, Delaware was the last Federalist state. In the
1820s most Delaware voters turned to the new National Republican Party, which
adopted many Federalist policies, including a protective tariff and support of a
strong national government. In the 1830s and 1840s most Delawareans backed the
Whig Party, which evolved from the National Republicans. However, when the Whig
Party was split by reform issues such as abolition and prohibition, the majority
of Delaware voters, along with most Southern Whigs, switched their support to
the Democratic Party.
D3 | The Civil War |
Slavery was one of the most important
issues in national politics in the first half of the 19th century. Politicians
of the Northern states pressed to end it, both because it was considered immoral
and because white labor could not compete with unpaid black labor. Politicians
of the cotton-growing Southern states felt that slavery was necessary to their
agricultural system and that the North was trying to dominate the country
economically. Many in the influential slaveholding class in the South favored
secession from the federal Ubetween Bombay Hook and Capnion and formation of a
separate Southern nation.
By the 1850s the South had become a
minority section, and its leaders viewed the actions of Congress, which they no
longer controlled, with growing concern. The North demanded for its industrial
growth a protective tariff, federal subsidies for shipping and internal
improvements, and a sound banking and currency system. The West looked to
Congress for free homesteads and federal aid for its roads and waterways. The
South, however, regarded such measures as discriminatory, favoring Northern
commercial interests, and it found intolerable the rise of antislavery agitation
in the North.
In 1860, Abraham Lincoln was elected
president as the candidate of the Republican Party, which opposed the spread of
slavery. The state of South Carolina had threatened to secede if the Republicans
won, and in December 1860 it did so. Other slavery states followed in quick
succession, and in February 1861 they formed a confederacy, the Confederate
States of America.
Delaware was a slaveholding border
state with many Confederate sympathizers; Lincoln did not carry the state in
1860. However, Delaware had more economic ties with the North than with the
South; by 1860 fewer than 2000 of the almost 22,000 blacks in the state were
slaves, and most Delawareans opposed the extension of slavery. There was never
any movement in Delaware to secede from the Union, and it remained loyal during
the American Civil War (1861-1865) that followed the secessions.
More than 13,000 Delawareans, nearly
one-tenth of the state’s population, served in the Union Army, and several
hundred fought for the Confederacy. Fort Delaware, on Pea Patch Island in the
Delaware River, was garrisoned by Union Army soldiers and served as a prison for
Confederate prisoners of war.
In 1861 Lincoln proposed that
Delaware’s slaves be freed and the owners compensated. That proposal failed,
partly because of party politics on the part of the Delaware Democrats, and in
1865 the 13th Amendment to the Constitution freed the slaves with no
compensation. The Democrats controlled the legislature throughout the war and
repeatedly railed at the Republicans as the party that had started the war and
was going to make blacks equal to whites. In the 1864 presidential election
Lincoln again failed to carry Delaware, one of only three states that preferred
his opponent, General George B. McClellan.
D4 | After the Civil War |
In the years after the war the
Democratic Party, consistently voted into office by the rural population of Kent
and Sussex counties, won nearly every major election in Delaware and remained in
power until the 1890s. It proclaimed itself the “white man’s party,” made it
difficult for blacks to vote, and aligned itself with the Southern bloc of the
party (the so-called Solid South) in Congress. Meanwhile, industry expanded
rapidly in the northern part of the state, especially in the Wilmington area,
which attracted immigrants from Ireland, Germany, Poland, Italy, and Russia.
Wilmington consistently voted Republican.
In 1897 the state’s present
constitution was adopted. It provided for the revision of the legislative and
judicial systems, including reapportionment of the state legislature. Under the
terms of the new constitution, New Castle County was given increased
representation in the legislature, but the combined vote of the other two
counties continued to control the legislature, and Wilmington’s representation
actually decreased.
Meanwhile the Republican Party in
Delaware was weakened by a struggle between supporters and opponents of John
Edward O’Sullivan Addicks. A wealthy financier, Addicks campaigned as a
candidate for the United States Senate for nearly two decades. He was never
elected, but on several occasions his supporters caused a deadlock in the
election of a senator. On one occasion the deadlock caused Delaware to be
without a U.S. senator for two years, 1901 to 1903. After 1905, however, the
Republican Party took the lead in state politics, supported by the wealthy du
Pont family, and retained control of the government until 1936.
E | The 20th Century |
E1 | Early Years of the Century |
During the governorship of John G.
Townsend, Jr., a Republican who served from 1917 to 1921, public education was
greatly improved through large gifts from industrialist Pierre S. du Pont, who
built modern schools throughout the state. Pierre’s cousins Thomas Coleman du
Pont (known as “T. Coleman”) and Alfred I. du Pont also made substantial
donations to the state. T. Coleman du Pont built a modern highway the length of
the state between 1911 and 1924, while Alfred promoted the creation of the
state’s first welfare home, which was opened in 1933 to replace antiquated
county facilities. A state income tax law was passed to help finance the state’s
school system.
The industrial boom of World War I
(1914-1918) spurred the growth of the Wilmington area. By 1920 the state’s urban
population exceeded its rural population for the first time. Like the rest of
the country, Delaware suffered great economic hardship during the worldwide
Great Depression of the 1930s. Many workers were unemployed. However, no large
banks failed in Delaware, and the diversification of industry within the state
encouraged a fairly rapid economic recovery. During the depression, Delaware’s
voters swung toward the Democrats because of their efforts to revitalize the
economy. In the 1936 elections the Democrats carried the state for the
president, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and also for the offices of governor, U.S.
senator, U.S. representative, and many other positions.
During World War II (1939-1945),
Delaware produced ships, airplanes, motor vehicles, iron and steel, chemicals,
foodstuffs, and other goods for the Allied war effort. Agriculture and industry
in the state prospered.
E2 | After World War II |
After the war the state’s industrial
output continued to increase, although shipbuilding and some other wartime
industries declined in importance. New chemical research centers were developed,
and in 1956 a modern mechanized oil refinery began production near Delaware
City. Wilmington continued to grow as an industrial center, and new industries
were also established in smaller cities throughout the state, especially around
Wilmington and Dover. In addition, Kent County benefited economically from the
development of Dover Air Force Base, and Sussex County benefited from the
improvement and expansion of its resort facilities and from the development of
an extensive and lucrative poultry industry that supplied the East Coast.
Commerce expanded with the completion of the Delaware Memorial Bridge to New
Jersey in 1951.
During the 1950s, Delaware’s
population growth made it one of the fastest growing states on the eastern
seaboard. Wilmington itself lost population, but its suburbs grew and spread
into adjoining states. Population growth remained rapid in the 1960s but slowed
drastically in the 1970s.
E3 | Recent Political Developments |
Neither the Republicans nor the
Democrats commanded a reliable majority of voters in Delaware after the 1930s.
In national presidential elections the Democratic and Republican candidates have
carried Delaware about equally. In state elections, the Democrats have
frequently won control of both houses of the legislature. The governorship has
shifted between the two parties, and few governors have been reelected.
During the early 1960s there were
continued demands for reapportionment of the legislature. New Castle County
wanted greater representation on the basis of its greatly increased population.
After the courts in the case of Sincock v. Roman, 1962, decided
that the existing apportionment was in conflict with the U.S. Constitution, the
general assembly in 1964 passed a new and more equitable law. This too was
successfully challenged in court, leading to another apportionment law in 1968.
Under this new law, New Castle County was assigned about two-thirds of the state
legislators, with the suburbs of Wilmington showing the greatest gain.
E4 | Race Relations |
Race relations have been a great
concern in Delaware. The state’s public schools were segregated by race under
the constitution of 1897 and remained so until after the Supreme Court of the
United States struck down racial segregation in its 1954 decision, Brown
v. Board of Education (see Segregation in the United States). Two
of the cases that were merged in that historic decision, Bulah v.
Gebhart and Belton v. Gebhart, involved Delaware
plaintiffs. Integration proceeded smoothly in most parts of the state except
Milford, where diehard segregationists succeeded in having the public schools
shut down for a year. De facto segregation—racial imbalance of schools
caused by residence patterns—continued to be a problem into the 1970s and
beyond. In 1978 a federal court decree affecting Wilmington and its surrounding
suburbs (Evans v. Buchanan) mandated the busing of children to
achieve racial balance in the schools. In 1995 a federal judge ended mandatory
busing when it was found that the goals of integration had been achieved.
Segregated housing was also practiced
throughout the state until the federal government passed legislation to end it
in 1968. In that year Wilmington, like many other American cities, experienced
rioting following the assassination of the Martin Luther King, Jr. The governor,
Charles L. Terry, Jr., called out the National Guard to keep order and, over the
protests of the city’s mayor, kept it on patrol until his successor took office
in January 1969.
E5 | Political and Economic Developments |
Republican Governor Russell W.
Peterson, Jr. (1969-1973), reorganized the executive branch of state government
during his term. Its former collection of nearly 100 semi-independent
commissions was replaced by ten executive departments, each directed by a
cabinet secretary appointed by the governor with legislative consent. Also in
that year, the governor persuaded the legislature to adopt a Coastal Zone Act
designed to prevent the environmental degradation of Delaware’s extensive bay,
river, and ocean coastline by new industry or refineries.
In the 1970s northern Delaware’s
previously strong economic development slowed. The cost of maintaining the
state’s education, transportation, and welfare programs threatened to overwhelm
the tax base and to drive some industries from the state. In response to this
challenge, Governor Pierre S. du Pont IV reduced state spending and encouraged
the legislature to adopt the Financial Center Development Act of 1981. By
relaxing regulations on interest rates that banks may charge their customers,
the act attracted more than a dozen out-of-state banks to locate their credit
card operations in the First State. The banks’ large new buildings now dominate
Wilmington, where they employ thousands of workers.
In the mid-1980s Delaware’s personal
income tax rates were reduced four times in four years. Yet government revenues
and employment continued to grow and construction boomed as more businesses and
credit-card operations flocked to the state. The banks maintained high
employment in the state in spite of downsizing (shrinking of the workforce),
which by the early 1990s had become commonplace among the state’s mature
chemical corporations. Another source of economic health in Delaware is its
legal profession. Delaware is the corporate home of hundreds of major and minor
corporations that take advantage of Delaware’s unrestrictive incorporation law
and its state and federal courts, which are highly experienced in corporate law.
In 1988, when many American businesses faced hostile corporate takeovers, the
legislature enacted a law that made Delaware even more attractive. The law made
it difficult to accomplish such a takeover of a Delaware corporation, because
the would-be acquirer must capture 85 percent of the corporation’s stock in a
single transaction or wait three years before proceeding.
Delaware achieved a healthy economy
in the 1990s. Democratic governor Thomas Carper, who served from 1993 to 2001,
took an active approach to creating and preserving jobs. He was succeeded by
Democrat Ruth Ann Minner, who became Delaware’s first female governor.
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