Illinois Becomes the 21st State
On December 3, 1818, President James Monroe signed legislation admitting the state of Illinois to the Union.
In 1673, the governor-general of the French colonies in Canada, Louis de Buade, Compte de Frontenac, sent Father Jacques Marquette and Louis Jolliet to explore the Mississippi River. Marquette and Jolliet were most likely the first Europeans to reach Illinois. The men traveled south along the western border of the state and then returned north up the Illinois River. In 1675, Marquette founded a mission at an Indian village near present-day Ottawa. In 1699, French priests established the first permanent European settlement in Illinois, at Cahokia.
The French made Illinois part of the colony of Louisiana in 1717. In 1720, the French built Fort de Chartres on the east bank of the Mississippi, about 20 miles north of Kaskaskia. When this fort was rebuilt in the 1750s, it became the strongest in all of North America. Though remote at the time, the fighting of the French and Indian War even reached Illinois. In 1763, the British defeated the French, and Illinois came under British rule. Soon after, many French settlers in the area moved west to avoid government by the British.
Fewer than 2,000 whites lived in Illinois when the American Revolution began in Massachusetts. These people were missionaries, fur traders, farmers, and British soldiers. George Rogers Clark of Virginia led a force of frontiersmen, known as the “Big Knives,” against the British in Illinois. Rogers was able to capture Kaskaskia and Cahokia in 1778. Illinois was then made a county of Virginia.
As the representatives of the states prepared to sign the Articles of Confederation, Maryland refused to ratify the document unless Virginia – and other states that held western lands – gave up their claims. So, in 1784, Virginia gave Illinois to the Federal Government. When Congress passed the Northwest Ordinance of 1787, Illinois was made part of the Northwest Territory. In 1800, it became part of the Indiana Territory, but settlers in the far west of the state complained it was difficult for them to join in the affairs of Indiana. So on March 1, 1809, the area was established as the Illinois Territory.
In early 1818, residents began their push for statehood by petitioning Congress and drawing up a state constitution. Though they didn’t have the required 60,000 residents to achieve statehood, Illinois was admitted to the Union on December 3, 1818. However, at that time, only the southern third of the state was settled. Nathaniel Pope, the territorial governor, had the northern border pushed to its current boundary. This gave the state access to the Chicago port area, lead deposits around Galena, and the rich dairy areas of the north.
Today, more than two thirds of the state’s population lives in this northern territory. In 1837, the capital was changed to Springfield – Abraham Lincoln was the key proponent of this change.
Click the images to add this history to your collection.
Very informative article.
Day in History presentations provided by Mystic have been great. They remind me of our history lessons of years past and readily provide historical information in which I use for our grand children, then confirm the lesson by showing the issue of USPS Commemorative stamps (and some coins). At times when some political groups are attempting to rewrite our history, its great to see the facts reissued.
Nice to see Marquette mentioned in this piece. Many of today’s US survey history textbooks fail to mention him and Joliet anymore. One I used recently had there trek depicted on a map of colonial explorers but did not say what they did in the book’s text. He is important to me personally since I went to Marquette University in Milwaukee which of course was named in his honor.
Being from Illinois I enjoyed the info.Thank you.
Happy 197th Anniversary Illinois and everyone who lives there or is from there! Thanks for the great article, Mystic.
As a non-US resident, these snippets of your history are very informative. Thanks, Mystic.
This would be great for history teachers to share with their students.
)n July 7,8,& 9, 1818 an election was held in Perrysville the county seat of Bond, for the election of two delegates to a convention for Illinois statehood. Mr. Kirkpatrict and Mr. Morse were elected to represent Bond County. Perrysville was later in Fayette County when it was formed and Greenville became the county seat of Bond County
A great big KUDDO for the people who research and provide additional information to this column
I was born and raised on the south side of Chicago and very proud of it but I am ashamed that I was not aware of most of what was written here. I did very well in US history in school but the history of our state was not taught that I remember. Thank You for the lesson!
Four American Presidents have been elected while living in Illinois. Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses Grant, Barack Obama . The only U.S. President born and raised in Illinois is Ronald Reagan . Adlai Stevenson (1835-1914) was Vice President of U.S. Adlai Stevenson (1900-1965) was Democratic nominee for 1952 and 1956 Presidential elections which he lost to Dwight Eisenhower. Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library & Museum is located in Springfield. Barack Obama Presidential Center is scheduled to be completed in Chicago by 2020. Thank you MYSTIC for your article.