Illinois

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Illinois

Location

Illinois's location is in the Midwest. The states that border it are Indiana, Missouri, Iowa, Kentucky, and Wisconsin. Lake Michigan also runs along 40 miles of the Illinois coastline. This area also includes Chicago.

History

"The Land of Lincoln" and "The Prairie State"are names we call Illinois. There is more to it then that. Illinois has a rich history from The Ice Age to the present.

The land we now call Illinois was once at the the bottom of an inland ocean.Yes, I'm talking about the land that is home to the nation's 2nd largest city, Chicago. Now, as I was saying, this inland ocean was constantly changing. The land underneath the ocean rose and sank, not quickly, ,but over 60 million years. The rising and sinking of Illinois happened from 3 to 5 times before finally staying above the ocean. However, nature was not through with Illinois. The Ice Age came and went, leaving the most fertile soil in the nation.

Not much is known about the early inhabitants of

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this rich and fertile land. All that we know is that they built huge dirt mounds. Some were places of worship, or so we think, some were burial places. These people were called Mound Builders. Another unsolved mystery is giant paintings with the wings of a bird, the body of a lizard, the legs of a lion, and the head of a human. Could it be Mrs. Peacock on the wall with the paintbrush? Probably not, but was it the Mound Builders?

The first white men to set foot in Illinois were Father Jacques Marquette and Louis Jolliet. They were sent by the Governor of Canada to explore the land near the Mississippi river. The pair met and made friends with the Indians on their journey. They not only discovered, but claimed the land for the King of France (Canada was ruled by France at this point in time). Before leaving Father Marquette promised to teach the natives about Christianity when he returned. He did indeed return with Jolliet and they did exactly what he promised. They did not take the same route. This time they took one of what is now one of the most traveled routes in the world, The Ohio River. Jolliet was smart enough to see that this would one day be one of the most famous and traveled rivers of all time.

In 1699, 20 years after Father Marquette and Jolliet discovered Illinois, the French king sent armies, people, animals, explorers and priests to claim this land and its natural riches.The first town was Cahokia and was founded by a group of priests. Even though the French king sent all these people and supplies the population never exceeded 2000!

Wherever the French went the English went too.

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When they met there was war. These conflicts soon became known as "The French And Indian War". The Indians helped everyone. The war lasted from 1758 to 1765. The British won this war and the last French flag flying over Illinois was at Fort de Chartres, and it was lowered in 1765.

British control was never strong or wise and the area became as rough as the wild west 100 years later. One day, word came that the American Colonies had signed a Declaration of Independence aimed towards British rule. Roger Clark felt he might be able to take Illinois away from the British crown. In 1777, Clark went to Patrick Henry (governor of Virginia) for help with his plan. In the name of Virginia he supplied Clark with as many men as he could, without sacrificing Virgina's safety, and Clark was off to retake Illinois. His army reached Kaskaskia, the capital of Illinois, on July 4th 1778. He took the commander by surprise and captured the capital. He knew they had achieved a major goal, but he also knew the British would try and take it back. So, in February 1779, he attacked Vincennes, Indiana. The British general never expected an attack in winter. He was not prepared and therefore surrendered.

In 1787, Congress made Illinois a territory. The first governor of Illinois territory was Arthur St. Clair. At that time a great number of people began to settle in Illinois territory .

In 1812, the English decided it was time to retake America. As more and more Indian tribes felt the Americans had treated them with discrimination and taken their lands away to make room for the whites, the more

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tribes allied themselves with the English.

Illinois felt little damage in 1812, but did suffer a loss when the Potawatomi Indians massacred every single man woman and child in Chicago(at this point a village around Fort Dearborn). This would soon be called The Fort Dearborn Massacre.

After the war was over many settlers flocked to Illinois. The territorial leaders thought that Illinois was ready to be a state. There was one catch, your territory needed 40,000 people. The leaders thought that would never happen, so they just counted settlers passing through.

Nathaniel Pope, a delegate for Illinois was responsible for pushing the state border 40 miles northward. Why? So Illinois would have a Lake Michigan shoreline. Just think if this had not happened, we would not have Chicago and all Chicago has meant to us.

On December 3rd, 1818 Illinois became the 21st state of the Union. Pope said " We will enter upon a state government with better prospects than any state ever did-the best soil in the world, a mild climate, a large state with ample funds to educate every child in the state."

Shadrach Bond became the first governor of the state of Illinois. He chose the very old town of Kaskaskia as the first capital. A building that was rented for 2 dollars a day served as the capitol. Can you imagine our capitol buildings being rented today?

Soon it was decided that the capital be changed to a much newer town. In 1820, the capital moved to Vandalia on the understanding this was the capital only

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20 years. At this time the Indians were rapidly disappearing from Illinois.

In 1829, the federal government told the Sauk and Fox to leave their homeland. In 1831, Black Hawk, who was one of the chiefs, went to the land of Illinois saying the treaty was not legal. He had no intentions of making war, but two soldiers shot his men. He then declared war. There were very few small battles in the war that lasted 3 months or under.

This proved to be the last struggle Illinois would face. The first steamboats started to pull into Shawneetown, Illinois as soon