Place:Michigan, United States

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NameMichigan
Alt namesMIsource: Webster's Geographical Dictionary (1988) p 1257
Mich
Michigan Territory
TypeState
Coordinates44°N 85°W
Located inUnited States     (1837 - )
Contained Places
Area
Toledo Strip ( 1803 - 1836 )
County
Alcona ( 1840 - )
Alger ( 1885 - )
Allegan ( 1831 - )
Alpena ( 1840 - )
Antrim ( 1840 - )
Arenac ( 1831 - )
Baraga ( 1875 - )
Barry ( 1829 - )
Bay ( 1857 - )
Benzie ( 1836 - )
Berrien ( 1829 - )
Branch ( 1829 - )
Calhoun ( 1829 - )
Cass ( 1829 - )
Charlevoix ( 1896 - )
Cheboygan ( 1840 - )
Chippewa ( 1826 - )
Clare ( 1840 - )
Clinton ( 1831 - )
Crawford ( 1840 - )
Delta ( 1843 - )
Dickinson ( 1891 - )
Eaton ( 1837 - )
Emmet ( 1840 - )
Genesee ( 1835 - )
Gladwin ( 1831 - )
Gogebic ( 1881 - )
Grand Traverse ( 1851 - )
Gratiot ( 1831 - )
Hillsdale ( 1829 - )
Houghton ( 1845 - )
Huron ( 1840 - )
Ingham ( 1829 - )
Ionia ( 1831 - )
Iosco ( 1840 - )
Iron ( 1885 - )
Isabella ( 1831 - )
Jackson ( 1829 - )
Kalamazoo ( 1829 - )
Kalkaska ( 1840 - )
Kent ( 1831 - )
Keweenaw ( 1861 - )
Lake ( 1840 - )
Lapeer ( 1822 - )
Leelanau ( 1840 - )
Lenawee ( 1822 - )
Livingston ( 1833 - )
Luce ( 1887 - )
Mackinac ( 1818 - )
Macomb ( 1818 - )
Manistee ( 1840 - )
Marquette ( 1843 - )
Mason ( 1840 - )
Mecosta ( 1840 - )
Menominee ( 1861 - )
Midland ( 1831 - )
Missaukee ( 1840 - )
Monroe ( 1817 - )
Montcalm ( 1831 - )
Montmorency ( 1840 - )
Muskegon ( 1859 - )
Newaygo ( 1840 - )
Oakland ( 1820 - )
Oceana ( 1831 - )
Ogemaw ( 1840 - )
Ontonagon ( 1843 - )
Osceola ( 1840 - )
Oscoda ( 1840 - )
Otsego ( 1840 - )
Ottawa ( 1831 - )
Presque Isle ( 1840 - )
Roscommon ( 1840 - )
Saginaw ( 1822 - )
Sanilac ( 1822 - )
Schoolcraft ( 1843 - )
Shiawassee ( 1822 - )
St. Clair ( 1820 - )
St. Joseph ( 1829 - )
Tuscola ( 1840 - )
Van Buren ( 1829 - )
Washtenaw ( 1822 - )
Wayne ( 1796 - )
Wexford ( 1840 - )
Former county
Isle Royal ( 1875 - )
Manitou ( 1855 - )
source: Getty Thesaurus of Geographic Names
source: Family History Library Catalog


the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

Michigan is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. Its name derives from a gallicized variant of the original Ojibwe word, meaning 'large water' or 'large lake'. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and a total area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the largest by area east of the Mississippi River. Its capital is Lansing, and its largest city is Detroit. Metro Detroit is among the nation's most populous and largest metropolitan economies.

Michigan is the only state to consist of two peninsulas. The Lower Peninsula resembles the shape of a mitten, and comprises a majority of the state's land area. The Upper Peninsula (often called "the U.P.") is separated from the Lower Peninsula by the Straits of Mackinac, a channel that joins Lake Huron to Lake Michigan. The Mackinac Bridge connects the peninsulas. Michigan has the longest freshwater coastline of any political subdivision in the world, being bordered by four of the five Great Lakes, plus Lake St. Clair. It also has 64,980 inland lakes and ponds. Michigan has the second-most water of any state, behind only Alaska.

The area was first occupied by a succession of Native American tribes over thousands of years. In the 17th century, French explorers claimed it as part of the New France colony, when it was largely inhabited by indigenous peoples. French and Canadian traders and settlers, Métis, and others migrated to the area, settling largely along the waterways. After France's defeat in the French and Indian War in 1762, the region came under British rule. Britain ceded the territory to the newly independent United States after Britain's defeat in the American Revolutionary War.

The area was part of the larger Northwest Territory until 1800, when western Michigan became part of the Indiana Territory. Michigan Territory was formed in 1805, but some of the northern border with Canada was not agreed upon until after the War of 1812. Michigan was admitted into the Union in 1837 as the 26th state, a free one. It soon became an important center of industry and trade in the Great Lakes region, attracting immigrants in the late 19th and early 20th centuries from many European countries. Immigrants from Finland, Macedonia and the Netherlands were especially numerous.

Although Michigan has developed a diverse economy, in the early 20th century it became widely known as the center of the U.S. automotive industry, which developed as a major national economic force. It is home to the country's three major automobile companies (whose headquarters are all in Metro Detroit). Once exploited for logging and mining, today the sparsely populated Upper Peninsula is important for tourism due to the abundance of natural resources. The Lower Peninsula is a center of manufacturing, forestry, agriculture, services, and high-tech industry.

Contents

History

the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

When the first European explorers arrived, the most populous tribes were Algonquian peoples, who include the Anishinaabe groups of Ojibwe, Odaawaa/Odawa (Ottawa), and the Boodewaadamii/Bodéwadmi (Potawatomi). The three nations co-existed peacefully as part of a loose confederation called the Council of Three Fires. The Ojibwe, whose numbers are estimated to have been between 25,000 and 35,000, were the largest.

The Ojibwe Indians (also known as Chippewa in the U.S.), an Anishaabe tribe, were established in Michigan's Upper Peninsula and northern and central Michigan. Bands also inhabited Ontario and southern Manitoba, Canada; and northern Wisconsin, and northern and north-central Minnesota. The Ottawa Indians lived primarily south of the Straits of Mackinac in northern, western, and southern Michigan, but also in southern Ontario, northern Ohio, and eastern Wisconsin. The Potawatomi were in southern and western Michigan, in addition to northern and central Indiana, northern Illinois, southern Wisconsin, and southern Ontario. Other Algonquian tribes in Michigan, in the south and east, were the Mascouten, the Menominee, the Miami, the Sac (or Sauk), and the Meskwaki (Fox). The Wyandot were an Iroquoian-speaking people in this area; they were historically known as the Huron by the French, and were the historical adversaries of the Iroquois Confederation.

17th century

French voyageurs and coureurs des bois explored and settled in Michigan in the 17th century. The first Europeans to reach what became Michigan were those of Étienne Brûlé's expedition in 1622. The first permanent European settlement was founded in 1668 on the site where Père Jacques Marquette established Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan, as a base for Catholic missions. Missionaries in 1671–75 founded outlying stations at Saint Ignace and Marquette. Jesuit missionaries were well received by the area's Indian populations, with few difficulties or hostilities. In 1679, Robert Cavelier, Sieur de la Salle built Fort Miami at present-day St. Joseph. In 1691, the French established a trading post and Fort St. Joseph along the St. Joseph River at the present-day city of Niles.

18th century

In 1701, French explorer and army officer Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac founded Fort Pontchartrain du Détroit or "Fort Pontchartrain on-the-Strait" on the strait, known as the Detroit River, between lakes Saint Clair and Erie. Cadillac had convinced King Louis XIV's chief minister, Louis Phélypeaux, Comte de Pontchartrain, that a permanent community there would strengthen French control over the upper Great Lakes and discourage British aspirations.

The hundred soldiers and workers who accompanied Cadillac built a fort enclosing one arpent (about , the equivalent of just under per side) and named it Fort Pontchartrain. Cadillac's wife, Marie Thérèse Guyon, soon moved to Detroit, becoming one of the first European women to settle in what was considered the wilderness of Michigan. The town quickly became a major fur-trading and shipping post. The Église de Saint-Anne (Catholic Church of Saint Anne) was founded the same year. While the original building does not survive, the congregation remains active. Cadillac later departed to serve as the French governor of Louisiana from 1710 to 1716. French attempts to consolidate the fur trade led to the Fox Wars, in which the Meskwaki (Fox) and their allies fought the French and their Native allies.

At the same time, the French strengthened Fort Michilimackinac at the Straits of Mackinac to better control their lucrative fur-trading empire. By the mid-18th century, the French also occupied forts at present-day Niles and Sault Ste. Marie, though most of the rest of the region remained unsettled by Europeans. France offered free land to attract families to Detroit, which grew to 800 people in 1765. It was the largest city between Montreal and New Orleans. French settlers also established small farms south of the Detroit River opposite the fort, near a Jesuit mission and Huron village.



From 1660 until the end of French rule, Michigan was part of the Royal Province of New France. In 1760, Montreal fell to the British forces, ending the French and Indian War (1754–1763), the North American front of the Seven Years' War in Europe. Under the 1763 Treaty of Paris, Michigan and the rest of New France east of the Mississippi River were ceded by defeated France to Great Britain. After the Quebec Act was passed in 1774, Michigan became part of the British Province of Quebec. By 1778, Detroit's population reached 2,144 and it was the third-largest city in Quebec province.

During the American Revolutionary War, Detroit was an important British supply center. Most of the inhabitants were French-Canadians or American Indians, many of whom had been allied with the French because of long trading ties. Because of imprecise cartography and unclear language defining the boundaries in the 1783 Treaty of Paris, the British retained control of Detroit and Michigan after the American Revolution. When Quebec split into Lower and Upper Canada in 1791, Michigan was part of Kent County, Upper Canada. It held its first democratic elections in August 1792 to send delegates to the new provincial parliament at Newark (now Niagara-on-the-Lake).

Under terms negotiated in the 1794 Jay Treaty, Britain withdrew from Detroit and Michilimackinac in 1796. It retained control of territory east and south of the Detroit River, which are now included in Ontario, Canada. Questions remained over the boundary for many years, and the United States did not have uncontested control of the Upper Peninsula and Drummond Island until 1818 and 1847, respectively.

19th century

During the War of 1812, the United States forces at Fort Detroit surrendered Michigan Territory (effectively consisting of Detroit and the surrounding area) after a nearly bloodless siege in 1812. A US attempt to retake Detroit resulted in a severe American defeat in the River Raisin Massacre. This battle, still ranked as the bloodiest ever fought in the state, had the highest number of American casualties of any battle of the war.

Michigan was recaptured by the Americans in 1813 after the Battle of Lake Erie. They used Michigan as a base to launch an invasion of Canada, which culminated in the Battle of the Thames. But the more northern areas of Michigan were held by the British until the peace treaty restored the old boundaries. A number of forts, including Fort Wayne, were built by the United States in Michigan during the 19th century out of fears of renewed fighting with Britain.

Michigan Territory governor and judges established the University of Michigan in 1817, as the Catholepistemiad, or the University of Michigania.

The population grew slowly until the opening in 1825 of the Erie Canal through the Mohawk Valley in New York, connecting the Great Lakes to the Hudson River and New York City. The new route attracted a large influx of settlers to the Michigan territory. They worked as farmers, lumbermen, shipbuilders, and merchants, and shipped out grain, lumber, and iron ore. By the 1830s, Michigan had 80,000 residents, more than enough to apply and qualify for statehood.

A Constitutional Convention of Assent was held to lead the territory to statehood. In October 1835 the people approved the Constitution of 1835, thereby forming a state government. Congressional recognition was delayed pending resolution of a boundary dispute with Ohio known as the Toledo War. Congress awarded the "Toledo Strip" to Ohio. Michigan received the western part of the Upper Peninsula as a concession and formally entered the Union as a free state on January 26, 1837. The Upper Peninsula proved to be a rich source of lumber, iron, and copper. Michigan led the nation in lumber production from the 1850s to the 1880s. Railroads became a major engine of growth from the 1850s onward, with Detroit the chief hub.

A second wave of French-Canadian immigrants settled in Michigan during the late 19th to early 20th century, working in lumbering areas in counties on the Lake Huron side of the Lower Peninsula, such as the Saginaw Valley, Alpena, and Cheboygan counties, as well as throughout the Upper Peninsula, with large concentrations in Escanaba and the Keweenaw Peninsula. This was also a period of development of the gypsum industry in Alabaster, Michigan, which became nationally prominent.

The first statewide meeting of the Republican Party took place July 6, 1854, in Jackson, Michigan, where the party adopted its platform. The state was predominately Republican until the 1930s, reflecting the political continuity of migrants from across the Northern Tier of New England and New York. Michigan made a significant contribution to the Union in the American Civil War and sent more than forty regiments of volunteers to the federal armies.

Michigan modernized and expanded its system of education in this period. The Michigan State Normal School, now Eastern Michigan University, was founded in 1849, for the training of teachers. It was the fourth oldest normal school in the United States and the first U.S. normal school outside New England. In 1899, the Michigan State Normal School became the first normal school in the nation to offer a four-year curriculum. Michigan Agricultural College (1855), now Michigan State University in East Lansing, was founded as the first agricultural college in the nation. Many private colleges were founded as well, and the smaller cities established high schools late in the century.

20th and 21st centuries

Michigan's economy underwent a transformation at the turn of the 20th century. Many individuals, including Ransom E. Olds, John and Horace Dodge, Henry Leland, David Dunbar Buick, Henry Joy, Charles King, and Henry Ford, provided the concentration of engineering know-how and technological enthusiasm to develop the automotive industry. Ford's development of the moving assembly line in Highland Park marked a new era in transportation. Like the steamship and railroad, mass production of automobiles was a far-reaching development. More than the forms of public transportation, the affordable automobile transformed private life. Automobile production became the major industry of Detroit and Michigan, and permanently altered the socioeconomic life of the United States and much of the world.

With the growth, the auto industry created jobs in Detroit that attracted immigrants from Europe and migrants from across the United States, including both blacks and whites from the rural South. By 1920, Detroit was the fourth-largest city in the US. Residential housing was in short supply, and it took years for the market to catch up with the population boom. By the 1930s, so many immigrants had arrived that more than 30 languages were spoken in the public schools, and ethnic communities celebrated in annual heritage festivals. Over the years immigrants and migrants contributed greatly to Detroit's diverse urban culture, including popular music trends. The influential Motown Sound of the 1960s was led by a variety of individual singers and groups.

Grand Rapids, the second-largest city in Michigan, is also an important center of manufacturing. Since 1838, the city has been noted for its furniture industry. In the 21st century, it is home to five of the world's leading office furniture companies. Grand Rapids is home to a number of major companies including Steelcase, Amway, and Meijer. Grand Rapids is also an important center for GE Aviation Systems.

Michigan held its first United States presidential primary election in 1910. With its rapid growth in industry, it was an important center of industry-wide union organizing, such as the rise of the United Auto Workers.

In 1920 WWJ (AM) in Detroit became the first radio station in the United States to regularly broadcast commercial programs. Throughout that decade, some of the country's largest and most ornate skyscrapers were built in the city. Particularly noteworthy are the Fisher Building, Cadillac Place, and the Guardian Building, each of which has been designated as a National Historic Landmark (NHL).

In 1927 a school bombing took place in Clinton County. The Bath School disaster, perpetrated by an adult man, resulted in the deaths of 38 schoolchildren and constitutes the deadliest mass murder in a school in U.S. history.


Michigan converted much of its manufacturing to satisfy defense needs during World War II; it manufactured 10.9 percent of the United States military armaments produced during the war, ranking second (behind New York) among the 48 states.

Detroit continued to expand through the 1950s, at one point doubling its population in a decade. After World War II, housing was developed in suburban areas outside city cores to meet demand for residences. The federal government subsidized the construction of interstate highways, which were intended to strengthen military access, but also allowed commuters and business traffic to travel the region more easily. Since 1960, modern advances in the auto industry have led to increased automation, high-tech industry, and increased suburban growth.

Michigan is the leading auto-producing state in the US, with the industry primarily located throughout the Midwestern United States; Ontario, Canada; and the Southern United States. With almost ten million residents, Michigan is a large and influential state, ranking tenth in population among the fifty states. Detroit is the centrally located metropolitan area of the Great Lakes Megalopolis and the second-largest metropolitan area in the U.S. (after Chicago) linking the Great Lakes system.

The Metro Detroit area in Southeast Michigan is the state's largest metropolitan area (roughly 50% of the population resides there) and the eleventh largest in the United States. The Grand Rapids metropolitan area in Western Michigan is the state's fastest-growing metro area, with more than 1.3 million residents . Metro Detroit receives more than 15 million visitors each year. Michigan has many popular tourist destinations, including areas such as Frankenmuth in The Thumb, and Traverse City on the Grand Traverse Bay in Northern Michigan. Tourists spend about $17 billion annually in Michigan supporting 193,000 jobs.

Michigan typically ranks third or fourth in overall Research & development (R&D) expenditures in the US.[1][2] The state's leading research institutions include the University of Michigan, Michigan State University, and Wayne State University, which are important partners in the state's economy and the state's University Research Corridor. Michigan's public universities attract more than $1.5 B in research and development grants each year. Agriculture also serves a significant role, making the state a leading grower of fruit in the US, including blueberries, cherries, apples, grapes, and peaches.[3]

Timeline

YearEventSource
1800Michigan's first censusSource:Population of States and Counties of the United States: 1790-1990
1837Michigan becomes a stateSource:Wikipedia
1903Henry Ford and 11 other investors incorporate the Ford Motor CompanySource:Wikipedia

Population History

source: Source:Population of States and Counties of the United States: 1790-1990
Ancestry with largest population in county
Enlarge
Ancestry with largest population in county
Census Year Population
1800 3,757
1810 4,762
1820 7,452
1830 28,004
1840 212,267
1850 397,654
1860 749,113
1870 1,184,059
1880 1,636,937
1890 2,093,890
1900 2,420,982
1910 2,810,173
1920 3,668,412
1930 4,842,325
1940 5,256,106
1950 6,371,766
1960 7,823,194
1970 8,875,083
1980 9,262,078
1990 9,295,297

Note: Michigan was part of the Northwest Territory established in 1787. When Indiana Territory was created in 1800 it included the west half of lower Michigan and nearly all of the Upper Peninsula, leaving the remainder of the present State in the Northwest Territory until 1802, when the eastern portion also became part of Indiana Territory. Michigan Territory was established in 1805, but nearly all the Upper Peninsula remained in Indiana or Illinois Territories. In 1818 Michigan Territory's boundaries were extended to include the rest of the Upper Peninsula and all of present-day Wisconsin and northeastern Minnesota. In 1834 the Territory was expanded still further to stretch to the Missouri River, including the rest of Minnesota, Iowa, and the eastern Dakotas. Michigan Territory included a northern strip of Indiana until 1816, and it also governed a narrow strip of what is now northwestern Ohio which was claimed by that State. This was ceded to Ohio in 1836, and Michigan was admitted as a State on January 26, 1837 with essentially its present boundaries. In 1790 the Northwest Territory had no census coverage. In 1800 coverage of the present State included only the Detroit area (Wayne County, Northwest Territory) and some persons at "Machilamackanack," Indiana Territory. Coverage in 1810, 1820, and 1830 expanded in the Lower Peninsula and included population in the strip that was ceded to Ohio in 1836. The 1820 and 1830 censuses also included some settlements in present-day Wisconsin, shown under that State. The 1840 census covered all parts of the State.. Total for 1800 comprises population reported for Wayne County, Northwest Territory (which may have included some persons in present-day northern Ohio), and for Machilamackanack, Indiana Territory (251 persons and 300 "boatmen from Canada, &c."). Total for 1820 excludes population (1,444) of Brown and Crawford Counties, and total for 1830 excludes population (3,635) of Brown, Crawford, and Iowa Counties, all enumerated in what is now Wisconsin. Total for 1890 includes 1 Indian in prison, not reported by county.

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