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Delaware ALHN
State Coordinator: Diane Neilson
Delaware was one of the 13 colonies participating in the American Revolution and on December 7, 1787, became the first state to ratify the Constitution of the United States, earning Delaware the nickname, “ The First State.”
History
“It is certain that the first practical discovery of the Delaware Hay and River and of the New York Bay and Hudson River was made in 1609 by Henry Hudson an English navigator in the service of the Dutch East India Company, whose title to immortality seems to be assured by the fact that one of the largest bays and one of the noblest rivers in the world equally bear his name, and are admitted to have been discovered by him. The discovery of Delaware Bay and River was made, according to the journal kept by Robert Jewett (or Juet), the first officer of Hudson's ship August 28, 16091 (new style), and on this discovery the Dutch founded their claim to the countries being upon and adjacent to the (North Hudson) and the South ( Delaware) Rivers.” (Source: History of Delaware: General history, v. 1, 1888, by John Thomas Scharf, pp. 23-24
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