<P> In 1609, the Dutch Republic, in the midst of the Dutch Golden Age, commissioned Henry Hudson to explore North America . Shortly thereafter, the Dutch established the colony of New Netherland to profit from the North American fur trade . In 1655, during the Second Northern War, the Dutch under Peter Stuyvesant captured the New Sweden . Though Sweden never again controlled land in the area, several Swedish and Finnish colonists remained, and with their influence came America's first log cabins . </P> <P> The Kingdom of England had established the Colony of Virginia in 1607 and the adjacent Colony of Maryland in 1632 . England also claimed the Delaware River watershed based on the explorations of John Cabot, John Smith, and Francis Drake . The English named the Delaware River for Thomas West, 3rd Baron De La Warr, the Governor of Virginia from 1610 until 1618 . During the Second Anglo - Dutch War (1665--1667), the English took control of the Dutch (and former Swedish) holdings in North America . At the end of the Third Anglo - Dutch War, the 1674 Treaty of Westminster permanently confirmed England's control of the region . </P> <P> Following the voyages of Giovanni da Verrazzano and Jacques Cartier, the French established a permanent colony in New France in the 17th century to exploit the North American fur trade . During the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries, the French expanded New France across present day Eastern Canada into the Great Lakes region, and colonized the areas around the Mississippi River as well . New France expanded into western Pennsylvania by the 18th century, as the French built Fort Duquesne to defend the Ohio River valley . With the end of the Swedish and Dutch colonies, the French were the last rivals to the British for control of the region that would become Pennsylvania . France was often allied with Spain, the only other remaining European power with holdings in continental North America . Beginning in 1688 with King William's War (part of the Nine Years' War), France and England engaged in a series of wars for dominance over Northern America . The wars continued until the end of the French and Indian War in 1763, when France lost New France . </P> <P> On March 4, 1681, Charles II of England granted the Province of Pennsylvania to William Penn to settle a £ 16,000 (around £ 2,100,000 in 2008, adjusting for retail inflation) debt the king owed to Penn's father . Penn founded a proprietary colony that provided a place of religious freedom for Quakers . Charles named the colony Pennsylvania ("Penn's woods" in Latin), after the elder Penn, which the younger Penn found embarrassing, as he feared people would think he had named the colony after himself . Penn landed in North America in 1682, and founded the colonial capital, Philadelphia, that same year . </P>

Which colony was influenced by pennsylvania's size and location