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Iowa is a Midwest state of the United States. It is the 29th state of the United States, having joined the Union on December 28, 1846. The official name of the state is the "State of Iowa". The state is named for the Native American Iowa people. It is known as the "Hawkeye State" or the "Corn State".
History
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StatehoodThe original boundaries of Iowa proposed during statehood proceedings were different from those of today. The first design was approximately pentagonal in shape and only slightly smaller than Missouri. Iowa was to be bounded to the northwest by the lower Minnesota River and a line drawn from confluence of the Blue Earth River and Minnesota River southwest to the mouth of the Big Sioux River. This design was accepted by the Congressional Committee on Territories but met resistance in the House. The implications of adding Texas to the Union was driving Northern interests toward the creation of smaller states in the northwestern territories so as to leave the possibility of creating more states in the future. To that end, Iowa's proposed boundaries were reduced significantly. The southern boundary would remain that of Missouri (itself the subject of the Honey Lands dispute). The eastern boundary would remain that of the Mississippi River. The western boundary was to be essentially a northern continuation of Missouri's western boundary (the meridian passing through the mouth of the Kansas River). Iowa's northern boundary was to be the line of latitude passing through the confluence of the Minnesota and Blue Earth rivers. This much reduced version of Iowa was accepted by Congress but rejected by the people of Iowa — the first time a proposed state was rejected by its people. The main grievance voiced was the loss of the so-called Missouri Slope, the western part of Iowa that reaches the Missouri River. During the next session of Congress a compromise was reached and agreed upon, giving Iowa the shape it has today with its northern boundary at latitude 43° 30' and its western boundary along the Missouri and Big Sioux rivers. Ten years after statehood, Iowa attempted unsuccessfully to add a tract of land to the northwest, similar to Missouri's successful addition of the Platte Purchase. The proposed addition was the land between a western continuation of Iowa's northern boundary and the Missouri River, the southeast part of what would become South Dakota. Timeline
Population History
Note: Iowa was acquired as part of the Louisiana Purchase of 1803 and formed part of Louisiana Territory, renamed Missouri Territory in 1812. Iowa became a territory in 1838 and included present-day Minnesota and the Dakotas from the Mississippi River west to the Missouri River. Iowa was admitted as a State on December 28, 1846 with substantially its present boundaries. Census coverage began in 1840, when it was limited to eastern Iowa, except for two settlements in present-day Minnesota that were included in Clayton County. The northwestern part of the State was not fully covered in the census until 1860. County Notes Note 1: The 1840 total and Clayton County populations include two settlements in present-day Minnesota. Note 2: Tama: Total for 1890 includes population (401) of Sac and Fox Indian Reservation, reported separately. Research Tips
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