Kevin Flynn asked:

> What was the Duke of York's purpose, when conveying the Three Lower Counties
> (Delaware) to Penn, in insisting that Penn's Pennsylvania not come within a
> 12-mile radius of New Castle? I never quite understood the purpose since
> Penn was to exercise authority over both. Were the inhabitants of what was
> to become Delaware dela-wary (haha) of being ruled by Quakers?

In 1651, Peter Stuyvesant established Fort Casimir (now New Castle) for the
Dutch West India Company. In 1664, the Duke of York received the lands lost by
the Dutch, lying now in New York, New Jersey, and Delaware. In 1681, Charles II
granted Pennsylvania to William Penn, describing it such that "twelve miles
distance Northwards of New Castle Towne" would remain in the possession of the
Duke. In 1682, Penn, needing an outlet to the sea via the Delaware River,
bargained with the Duke for the land now comprising Delaware, which became the
"Lower Counties" of Pennsylvania. The Delaware people, however, were indeed
wary of Quaker rule, felt overshadowed by Philadelphia, and felt under-protected
from both pirates and Lord Baltimore. In 1701, Penn granted a charter for a
separate government for the Lower Counties, and its assembly first met in 1704
to make its laws. The "Government of the counties of New Castle, Kent, and
Sussex, upon Delaware" still reported to the Pennsylvania governor, but not to
the Pennsylvania assembly. Only in 1776 did Delaware cut the cord when its
people adopted a revolutionary constitution for "Delaware State."

Lowell G. McManus
Leesville, Louisiana, USA