Delaware

First settled by Swedes and Dutch, then drawn into the Quaker Midlands and Chesapeake worlds, Delaware was the first state to ratify the Constitution in 1787. A small slaveholding state, it stayed in the Union. Its business-friendly incorporation law has since made it the legal home of a majority of large American companies.

• Existed: 1638 CE – present
• Type: Entity
• Government: U.S. State
• Capital: Dover