Report of Governor Johan Rising 1654: Upon arriving in New … · 2016. 9. 16. · Report of...

Report of Governor Johan Rising 1654: Upon arriving in New Sweden, Governor Johan Rising

prepared a report for the Swedish Commercial College, which handled all of New Sweden’s

affairs for the Swedish government. In his report, Rising described the condition in which he

found the colony and the direction in which he hoped to take it. Issues addressed in his report

include: the colonists’ anger over Governor Printz’s usurpation of power, an update concerning

the colony’s population, the hope for the colony’s profitability to be realized with more Swedish

investment, plans for mill construction, trade with both the colony’s English and Native

neighbors, plans for the exploitation of the colony’s natural resources, the need for more skilled

craftsmen, the prospects of establishing a tobacco trade, status of both the Dutch and English

land holdings, and a plan for the raising of revenue thorough an excise tax.