The first of the 13 original colonies to ratify the federal Constitution was Delaware. Since that historic event of Dec. 7, 1787, it has been known as the First State of the Union. The state's speedy ratification of the Constitution helped the state earn its nickname. The profile of Delaware combines elements that mark the character of all of the United States.
When Thomas Jefferson, the author of the Declaration of Independence, called Delaware a jewel among the states, he might have been paying tribute to the brilliance of its statesmen in the Continental Congress and the Constitutional Convention. Some historians believe that Jefferson's description referred to the compact area and rich soil of the so-called Diamond State. A more likely origin of the state's popular name comes from a line attributed to John Lofland, known as the Milford Bard, in 1847. A romantic storyteller with eccentric Poelike tendencies, Lofland wrote, Delaware is like a diamond, diminutive, but having within it inherent value.
Another nickname for Delaware is the Blue Hen State, for the pet gamecocks carried as mascots by a Delaware regiment during the American Revolution. The strain was developed from a Kent County blue hen celebrated for its fighting ability, and the name Blue Hen's Chickens is still used fondly for all Delawareans. Delaware is sometimes called the Peach State for the fruit that was a bonanza crop in the 1800s. The state is named after Sir Thomas West, Lord De la Warr, or Warre, who was the governor of Virginia in the early 1600s. He spent only a year in the colonies, so he probably never set foot in the state named for him.
The extreme northern part of Delaware is in the Piedmont Plateau, from which short, swift streams tumble to lower levels. Flour mills were built on the Brandywine and other streams when the state was first settled. Paper mills were built as early as 1787, and the first cotton mill was established in 1795. Abundant waterpower and easy access to the Delaware River and Delaware Bay helped make Wilmington a manufacturing center and seaport. Leathermaking has been a leading industry since 1732, when the Quakers began preparing buckskin and chamois there. The city is also the state's financial and commercial hub.
One of the Middle Atlantic states, Delaware is on the East coast of the United States, about midway between Maine and Florida. The state is 2,057 square miles (5,328 square kilometers) in area, including 112 square miles (290 square kilometers) of water surface. Its greatest length, north to south, is 96 miles (155 kilometers). Its greatest width, east to west, is 35 miles (56 kilometers). Delaware is the 49th state in size. Only Rhode Island is smaller. The state is bounded on the east by water--the Atlantic Ocean and the river and bay that separate it from New Jersey's shore. To the south and west is Maryland. Delaware's northern boundary curves into Pennsylvania. This boundary was set in a land grant made to William Penn by the duke of York in 1682. It was to be within a circle with a 12-mile (19-kilometer) radius from the end of the horse dyke at New Castle.
