The township was so named for the cordial relationship, or amity, between Swedish settlers and the local Native Americans.

Pastor Rudman pointed out that many of the residents of the former Swedish colony of New Sweden felt cheated by the preemption of their lands for Quaker settlement.

Rudman secured an order from William Penn in October 1701 setting aside 10,000 acres (40 km2) up the Schuylkill River, near Manatawny Creek, for members of his congregation.

It has a hot-summer humid continental climate (Dfa) and is located mostly in hardiness zone 6b, with that being 7a near the river, including Douglassville.

It follows the Benjamin Franklin Highway and Pottstown Expressway along a northwest-southeast alignment across the southern portion of the township.

Pennsylvania Route 662 follows Old Swede Road along a north-south alignment across the northern and eastern portions of the township.