developed nuclear weapons and a space
program.
Last Years
In 1968 the French government faced a
Charles de Gaulle students’ and workers’ revolt. On April
28 De Gaulle, Charles BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA
27, 1969, the people of France voted
down De Gaulle’s proposals for constitutional
changes. The following day De
Gaulle resigned. He retired to his home
at Colombey-les-Deux-Eglises, where he
died on November 9, 1970.
#More to explore
Algeria •WorldWar II
Delaware
The Native Americans known as the
Delaware call themselves the Lenape
(meaning “real people”). They are also
often called the Lenni Lenape. English
settlers named them the Delaware
because they lived in villages along the
Delaware River.
The Delaware originally lived in a huge
territory that included what are now
New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York,
and Delaware. Delaware men fished and
hunted deer, elk, bear, and beaver.
Women planted fields of corn, beans,
squash, and other crops. The women
also made clothing, baskets, and pottery.
The Delaware built dome-shaped houses
called wigwams that they covered with
tree bark. They also built large structures
made of wood and bark called longhouses.
Each autumn, people gathered
at the longhouses for a 12-day ceremony.
During the Big House ritual, the
Delaware thanked their creator for their
latest harvest. The Big House ceremony
was performed until the 1900s.
In the early 1600s settlers from England,
Sweden, and the Netherlands began
arriving in Delaware territory. They
brought with them diseases, such as
smallpox and measles, that killed many
tribe members.
Europeans also forced the Delaware to
give up much of their land. After the
colonists’ victory in the American Revolution
(1775–83), many Delaware
moved to Ontario, Canada. The Delaware
who stayed in the United States
moved west. In the mid-1800s the government
forced them to move to Indian
Territory (now Oklahoma).
By the end of the 20th century, there
were about 10,000 Delaware. Most live
in Oklahoma,Wisconsin, and Ontario,
Canada.
#More to explore
Tishcohan was a chief of the Delaware. Measles • Native Americans • Smallpox
BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA Delaware 29
Delaware
In 1610 Englishman Samuel
Argall sailed into a large bay
along the Atlantic Coast of North
America. He called it Delaware Bay in
honor of Virginia’s colonial governor Sir
ThomasWest, baron De laWarr (or
Delaware). The name was later given to
the nearby river and to the colony that
became the state of Delaware. Delaware
is nicknamed the First State because it
was the first colony to ratify, or vote in
favor of, the United States Constitution.
Dover is the capital.
Geography
Delaware is a Middle Atlantic state
located on the East Coast of the United
States. Delaware is bordered on the
southeast by the Atlantic Ocean. The
Delaware River and Delaware Bay separate
it in the northeast from New Jersey.
To the north is Pennsylvania. To the
south and west is Maryland.
Most of Delaware is a flat coastal plain.
It is seldom more than 60 feet (18
meters) above sea level, and it becomes
increasingly sandy to the south. There
are many woodlands, streams, and freshwater
ponds in the region. The far
northern part of the state is more
elevated and runs into the foothills of
Pennsylvania.
People
More than 70 percent of Delaware’s
population are whites of European
descent. African Americans make up
about 19 percent of the state’s population.
Hispanics represent 5 percent of
the population and Asian Americans 2
percent. Although Delaware’s total
population is less than 1 million people,
it is one of the nation’s most densely
populated states. This means that there
are many people living in a small area.
Delaware’s largest city,Wilmington, has
a population of more than 72,000
people.
Economy
Delaware has been called the Chemical
Capital of theWorld. This is mostly
because of the DuPont Company’s long
connection with the state. One of
DuPont’s many inventions in the field
of chemistry was the artificial fiber
known as nylon. DuPont and Hercules,
another large chemical firm in Delaware,
30 Delaware BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA
create products used in such things as
fabrics, paper, pigments, and plastics.
Credit card businesses also have operations
in the state. Broiler chickens
(raised for meat) are the major agricultural
product.
History
The Delaware area was the home of the
Delaware (or Lenni Lenape) and several
other Native American tribes before
Europeans began to settle the area in the
early 1600s. Dutch settlers arrived in the
area in 1631. They called their new
home Zwaanendael, meaning “valley of
the swans.”
The next European settlement was made
by Swedish colonists in 1638 under the
leadership of Peter Minuit. They built
their homes on the site of what is now
Wilmington, on the Christina River.
The first permanent settlement was
called Fort Christina. In 1682 the Delaware
colony became part of Pennsylvania.
Disagreements led the colony to
form its own legislature in 1704, but the
area remained under the control of
Pennsylvania’s governor until 1776.
In 1776 Delaware played an important
role in the passage of the Declaration of
