Editing Michigan (section)

==History==
{{Main|History of Michigan}}
{{For timeline}}

When the first European explorers arrived, the most populous tribes were the [[Algonquian peoples]], which include the [[Anishinaabe]] groups of [[Ojibwe]], [[Ottawa (tribe)|Odaawaa/Odawa (Ottawa)]], and the [[Potawatomi|Boodewaadamii/Bodéwadmi (Potawatomi)]]. The three nations coexisted peacefully as part of a loose confederation called the [[Council of Three Fires]]. The Ojibwe, whose numbers are estimated to have been at least 35,000, were the largest.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Pritzker |first=Barry |title=A Native American Encyclopedia: History, Culture, and Peoples |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |year=2000 |isbn=9780195138771 |pages=342}}</ref>

The Ojibwe Indians (also known as Chippewa in the U.S.), an Anishinaabe tribe, were established in Michigan's Upper Peninsula and [[northern Michigan|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 Michigan|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 (tribe)|Miami]], the [[Sac people|Sac]] (or Sauk), and the [[Meskwaki|Meskwaki (Fox)]]. The [[Wyandot people|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]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://wyandotte-nation.org/culture/our-history/ | title=Our History }}, Wyandotte Nation</ref>

===17th century===
{{Main|New France|Canada (New France)}}

{{Multiple image
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| footer            = Territorial changes of the [[Michigan Territory]] from 1818 to 1836
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[[File:Pere Marquette.JPG|thumb|left|''Père Marquette and the Indians'' (1869), by Wilhelm Lamprecht]]

French ''[[voyageurs]]'' and ''[[Coureur des bois|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.<ref>{{cite web |title = Chronology of Michigan History |url = http://www.legislature.mi.gov/documents/publications/manual/2003-2004/2003-mm-0003-0019-Chron.pdf |page = 3 |access-date = September 30, 2009 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110721045242/http://www.legislature.mi.gov/documents/publications/manual/2003-2004/2003-mm-0003-0019-Chron.pdf |archive-date = July 21, 2011 |url-status = live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title = Sault Ste Marie Pure Michigan |url = http://www.saultstemarie.com/soo-area-and-great-waters-region/our-local-history/ |publisher = Sault Ste Marie |access-date = June 9, 2016 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160612002509/http://www.saultstemarie.com/soo-area-and-great-waters-region/our-local-history/ |archive-date = June 12, 2016 |url-status = dead}}</ref> Missionaries in 1671–75 founded outlying stations at [[Saint Ignace, Michigan|Saint Ignace]] and [[Marquette, Michigan|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 (Michigan)|Fort Miami]] at present-day [[St. Joseph, Michigan|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, Michigan|Niles]].

===18th century===
{{Main|French and Indian War|Treaty of Paris (1763)|Province of Quebec (1763–1791)|Indian Reserve (1763)|American Revolutionary War|Treaty of Paris (1783)|Northwest Ordinance|Northwest Territory}}

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 [[Lake Saint Clair (North America)|Saint Clair]] and [[Lake Erie|Erie]].{{cn|date=February 2024}} Cadillac had convinced [[Louis XIV of France|King Louis XIV's]] chief minister, [[Louis Phélypeaux (1643-1727)|Louis Phélypeaux, Comte de Pontchartrain]], that a permanent community there would strengthen French control over the upper Great Lakes and discourage [[Kingdom of Great Britain|British]] aspirations.{{cn|date=February 2024}}

The hundred soldiers and workers who accompanied Cadillac built a fort enclosing one [[arpent]] (about {{convert|0.85|acre|m2}},<ref name=tbaytel>{{cite web |url = http://my.tbaytel.net/bmartin/cadillac.htm |title = Cadillac's Village or Detroit under Cadillac |access-date = January 5, 2007 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20061209205600/http://my.tbaytel.net/bmartin/cadillac.htm |archive-date = December 9, 2006 |url-status = live}}</ref><ref name=histdet>{{cite web |url = http://www.historydetroit.com/places/fort_ponchartrain.asp |title = History Detroit 1701–2001 |access-date = January 5, 2007 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20061209065758/http://www.historydetroit.com/places/fort_ponchartrain.asp |archive-date = December 9, 2006 |url-status = live}}</ref> the equivalent of just under {{convert|200|ft|m}} 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 trade|fur-trading]] and shipping post. The ''[[Ste. Anne de Detroit Catholic Church|Église de Saint-Anne]]'' (Catholic Church of Saint Anne) was founded the same year.{{cn|date=February 2024}} While the original building does not survive, the congregation remains active.{{cn|date=February 2024}} Cadillac later departed to serve as the French governor of Louisiana from 1710 to 1716.{{cn|date=February 2024}} 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.{{cn|date=February 2024}}

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.<ref>{{cite web |url = https://www.archives.gov.on.ca/ENGLISH/exhibits/franco_ontarian/detroit.htm |title = French Ontario in the 17th and 18th centuries: Detroit |publisher = Archives of Ontario |date = July 14, 2008 |access-date = July 23, 2008 |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20040824111504/http://www.archives.gov.on.ca/ENGLISH/exhibits/franco_ontarian/detroit.htm |archive-date = August 24, 2004}}</ref> French settlers also established small farms south of the Detroit River opposite the fort, near a Jesuit mission and Huron village.

[[File:British colonies 1763-76 shepherd1923.PNG|thumb|Map of [[British America]] showing the original boundaries of the [[Province of Quebec]] and its [[Quebec Act of 1774]] post-annexation boundaries]]
[[File:Treaty of Paris by Benjamin West 1783.jpg|thumb|''[[Treaty of Paris (painting)|Treaty of Paris]]'', by [[Benjamin West]] (1783), an unfinished painting of the American diplomatic negotiators of the [[Treaty of Paris (1783)|Treaty of Paris]] which brought official conclusion to the [[American Revolutionary War|Revolutionary War]] and gave possession of Michigan and other territory to the new United States]]

From 1660 until the end of French rule, Michigan was part of the Royal Province of [[New France]].<ref group="lower-alpha">The Province included the modern states of Wisconsin, eastern Minnesota, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, two-thirds of Georgia, and small parts of West Virginia, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, and Maine.</ref> 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 [[Treaty of Paris (1763)|1763 Treaty of Paris]], Michigan and the rest of New France east of the Mississippi River were ceded by defeated France to Great Britain.<ref>{{cite EB1911|wstitle= Michigan |volume= 18 |last=  |first=  |author-link= | pages = 371&ndash;377; see page 376 |quote= History.— From 1613 until 1760 the territory now within the borders of Michigan formed a part of New France...&... During the last war between the English and the French in America the Michigan settlements passed into the possession of the English, Detroit in 1760 and...}}</ref> After the [[Quebec Act]] was passed in 1774, Michigan became part of the British [[Province of Quebec (1763-1791)|Province of Quebec]]. By 1778, Detroit's population reached 2,144 and it was the third-largest city in Quebec province.<ref>{{cite book |first1 = Jacqueline |last1 = Peterson |first2 = Jennifer S.H. |last2 = Brown |name-list-style = amp |title = Many Roads to Red River |year = 2001 |page = 69}}{{full citation needed|date= July 2015}}</ref>

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 [[Treaty of Paris (1783)|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, Ontario|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, Ontario|Niagara-on-the-Lake]]).<ref name=SFarmer>{{Cite book |last = Farmer |first = Silas |title = The History of Detroit and Michigan; or, The Metropolis Illustrated; A Full Record of Territorial Days in Michigan, and the Annals of Wayne County |orig-year = 1889 |url = http://name.umdl.umich.edu/bad1459.0001.001 |access-date = June 15, 2006 |year = 2005 |via = University of Michigan Library |page = 94 |chapter = Legislatures and Laws |chapter-url = http://www.hti.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/pageviewer-idx?c=micounty;cc=micounty;rgn=full%20text;idno=BAD1459.0001.001;didno=BAD1459.0001.001;view=image;seq=00000152}}</ref>

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===
{{Main|Indiana Territory|Organic act#List of organic acts|Michigan Territory|Admission to the Union|List of U.S. states by date of admission to the Union|Michigan in the American Civil War}}

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 of Detroit|siege]] in 1812. A U.S. 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 (Detroit)|Fort Wayne]], were built by the United States in Michigan during the 19th century out of fears of renewed fighting with Britain.

[[ File:Detroit in 1820 and steamboat Walk-in-the-Water.jpg |thumb|''[[Walk-in-the-Water]]'' steamboat at Detroit, 1820]]
Michigan Territory governor and judges established the [[University of Michigan]] in 1817, as the Catholepistemiad, or the University of Michigania.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Pence |first=Studio |date=2016-10-16 |title=Why 1817 Matters |url=https://historyofum.umich.edu/why-1817-matters/ |access-date=2024-07-06 |website=The History of the University of Michigan |language=en-US}}</ref>

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.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://eriecanalway.org/learn/history-culture | title=Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor :: History and Culture }}</ref> 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 30,000 residents, more than enough to apply and qualify for statehood.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://crcmich.org/almanac/population/michigan-population-trends | title=Michigan Population Trends }}</ref>

On November 1, 1935, the U.S. Post Office issued a commemorative 3-cent stamp celebrating the 100th anniversary of Michigan statehood. Michigan's statehood, however, wasn't officially established until January 26, 1837, but since the campaign for statehood actually began in 1835, Michigan chose to hold its centennial celebration in 1935, the year the stamp was first issued.<ref name=centennial>{{cite web |first= |last= |title=Michigan Centenary Issue |publisher=Smithsonian National Postal Museum |year= |accessdate=November 3, 2023 |url=https://postalmuseum.si.edu/exhibition/about-us-stamps-bureau-period-1894-1939-commemorative-issues-1934-1935/michigan-centenary |ref=smithsonian35 |archive-date=November 4, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231104024922/https://postalmuseum.si.edu/exhibition/about-us-stamps-bureau-period-1894-1939-commemorative-issues-1934-1935/michigan-centenary |url-status=live }}</ref>

A constitutional convention of assent was held to lead the territory to statehood.<ref name="Progress">{{cite book |title = Men of Progress: Embracing Biographical Sketches of Representative Michigan Men with an Outline History of the State |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=lPlAAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA313 |year = 1900 |publisher = Evening News Association. |page = 313 |access-date = October 31, 2016 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180818082123/https://books.google.com/books?id=lPlAAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA313 |archive-date = August 18, 2018 |url-status = live}}</ref> In October 1835 the people approved the constitution of 1835, thereby forming a state government. [[United States Congress|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 [[slave and free states|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. [[History of railroads in Michigan|Railroads]] became a major engine of growth from the 1850s onward, with [[History of Detroit|Detroit the chief hub]].
[[File:Co. D, 21st Michigan Infantry. Sherman's Volunteers MET DP70807.jpg|thumb|The [[21st Michigan Infantry Regiment|21st Michigan Infantry]], a company of [[William Tecumseh Sherman]]'s veterans]]
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]].<ref>{{cite book |last = Dulong |first = John |title = French Canadians in Michigan |year = 2001 |publisher = Michigan State University Press |location = Lansing, Michigan |isbn = 978-0-87013-582-8 |pages = 3–5}}</ref> 

The first statewide meeting of the [[History of the United States Republican Party|Republican Party]] took place on July 6, 1854, in [[Jackson, Michigan]], where the party adopted its platform.{{cn|date=February 2024}} The state was predominantly Republican until the 1930s, reflecting the political continuity of migrants from across the Northern Tier of New England and New York.{{cn|date=February 2024}} Michigan made [[Michigan in the American Civil War|a significant contribution]] to the [[Union (American Civil War)|Union]] in the [[American Civil War]] and sent more than forty regiments of volunteers to the federal armies.{{cn|date=February 2024}}

Michigan modernized and expanded its system of education in this period.{{cn|date=February 2024}} The Michigan State Normal School, now [[Eastern Michigan University]], was founded in 1849, for the training of teachers.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2008-01-04 |title=EMU : Historic Tour |url=http://www.emich.edu/walkingtour/hist.htm |access-date=2025-03-08 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080104155406/http://www.emich.edu/walkingtour/hist.htm |archive-date=January 4, 2008 }}</ref> It was the fourth oldest [[normal school]] in the [[United States]] and the first [[normal school#United States|U.S. normal school]] outside [[New England]].{{cn|date=February 2024}} 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, Michigan|East Lansing]], was founded as the first [[agricultural college]] in the nation.{{cn|date=February 2024}} Many private colleges were founded as well, and the smaller cities established high schools late in the century.<ref>{{cite book |last1 = Dunbar |last2 = May |title = Michigan: A History of the Wolverine State |url = https://archive.org/details/michiganhistoryo01dunb |url-access = registration |chapter = Chapter 14 |year = 1980 |publisher = Eerdman |isbn = 9780802870438 |name-list-style = amp}}</ref>

=== 20th–21st centuries ===
[[File:TamarackMiners CopperCountryMI.jpg|thumb|Miners at the [[Tamarack mine]] in [[Copper Country]], in 1905]]
[[File:Detroit Skyline 1942d.jpg|thumb|220x220px|[[Detroit]] in the mid-twentieth century. At the time, the city was the fourth-largest U.S. metropolis by population, and held about one-third of the state's population.]]

Michigan's economy underwent a transformation at the turn of the 20th century. Many individuals, including [[Ransom E. Olds]], [[John Francis Dodge|John]] and [[Horace Elgin Dodge|Horace Dodge]], [[Henry Leland]], [[David Dunbar Buick]], [[Henry Bourne Joy|Henry Joy]], [[Charles Brady King|Charles King]], and [[Henry Ford]], provided the concentration of engineering know-how and technological enthusiasm to develop the [[History of the automobile|automotive industry]].<ref>{{cite book |first1 = John B. |last1 = Rae |author-link = John B. Rae |chapter = Why Michigan |title = The Automobile and American Culture |editor1-first = David L. |editor1-last = Lewis |editor2-first = Laurence |editor2-last = Goldstein |location = Ann Arbor |publisher = University of Michigan Press |year = 1983 |pages = 2–9}}</ref> Ford's development of the moving [[assembly line]] in [[Highland Park, Michigan|Highland Park]] marked a new era in transportation.{{cn|date=February 2024}} 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.{{cn|date=February 2024}}

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 [[Southern United States|South]].{{cn|date=February 2024}} By 1920, Detroit was the fourth-largest city in the U.S..{{cn|date=February 2024}} Residential housing was in short supply, and it took years for the market to catch up with the population boom.{{cn|date=February 2024}} 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.<ref>{{Cite web |title=A brief history of housing in Detroit |url=https://www.modeldmedia.com/features/detroit-housing-pt1-111715.aspx |access-date=June 29, 2023 |website=Model D |language=en |archive-date=June 29, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230629163228/https://www.modeldmedia.com/features/detroit-housing-pt1-111715.aspx |url-status=live }}</ref> Over the years immigrants and migrants contributed greatly to Detroit's diverse urban culture, including popular music trends. The influential [[Motown|Motown Sound]] of the 1960s was led by a variety of individual singers and groups.{{cn|date=February 2024}}

[[Grand Rapids, Michigan|Grand Rapids]], the second-largest city in Michigan also became an important center of manufacturing. Since 1838, the city has been noted for its furniture industry.<ref>{{Cite web |date=September 18, 2014 |title=A Trip Through Time: Grand Rapids Furniture History |url=https://shuffleboardmccluretables.com/a-trip-through-time-grand-rapids-furniture-history/ |access-date=June 29, 2023 |website=The Woodshop Blog |language=en-US |archive-date=June 29, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230629164730/https://shuffleboardmccluretables.com/a-trip-through-time-grand-rapids-furniture-history/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=March 2, 2023 |title=Furniture City: The story behind Grand Rapids's original identity |url=https://www.fox17online.com/fox-17-unfiltered/did-ya-know/furniture-city-the-story-behind-grand-rapidss-original-identity |access-date=June 29, 2023 |website=FOX 17 West Michigan News |language=en |archive-date=June 29, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230629163228/https://www.fox17online.com/fox-17-unfiltered/did-ya-know/furniture-city-the-story-behind-grand-rapidss-original-identity |url-status=live }}</ref> 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.{{cn|date=February 2024}} 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]].{{cn|date=February 2024}}

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 [[List of tallest buildings in Detroit|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).
[[File:3c Michigan Centenary state seal, 1935 issue.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|Commemorative stamp, issue of 1935, celebrating the 100th anniversary of Michigan statehood.<ref name=centennial/>]]

In 1927 a school bombing took place in [[Clinton County, Michigan|Clinton County]]. The [[Bath School disaster]] resulted in the deaths of 38 schoolchildren and constitutes the deadliest mass murder in a school in U.S. history.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Haddad |first=Ken |date=May 18, 2023 |title=96 years later: Michigan's Bath School disaster remains deadliest in US history |url=https://www.clickondetroit.com/features/2023/05/16/96-years-later-michigans-bath-school-disaster-remains-deadliest-in-us-history/ |access-date=June 29, 2023 |website=WDIV |language=en |archive-date=June 29, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230629163228/https://www.clickondetroit.com/features/2023/05/16/96-years-later-michigans-bath-school-disaster-remains-deadliest-in-us-history/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

Michigan converted much of its manufacturing to satisfy defense needs during [[World War II]]; it manufactured 10.9% of the United States military armaments produced during the war, ranking second (behind [[New York (state)|New York]]) among the 48 states.<ref>{{cite book |author1-link = Whiz Kids (Department of Defense) |last1 = Peck |first1 = Merton J. |author2-link = Frederic M. Scherer |last2 = Scherer |first2 = Frederic M. |title = The Weapons Acquisition Process: An Economic Analysis |year = 1962 |publisher = [[Harvard Business School]] |page = 111}}</ref>

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 Highway System|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. Longstanding tensions in Detroit culminated in the [[1967 Detroit riot|Twelfth Street riot]] in July 1967.

During the late 1970s and the early 1980s, increasing [[Gasoline and diesel usage and pricing|fuel costs]] and other factors made significantly more global competition and recession among families. Michigan lost a significant amount of [[population]] due to global competition and the dramatic unavailability of manufacturing jobs.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.legislature.mi.gov/documents/publications/manual/2001-2002/2001-mm-0003-0026-History.pdf |title=A Brief History of Michigan |publisher=Michigan Legislature |access-date=November 15, 2024}}</ref> Meanwhile, Michigan had increased use of technology, specifically when the [[IBM Personal Computer]] started selling in the state, in which became mostly used at work.

Michigan became the leading auto-producing state in the U.S., with the industry primarily located throughout the [[Midwestern United States]]; Ontario, Canada; and the Southern United States.<ref name="NAM">{{cite web |publisher = National Association of Manufacturers |date = February 2008 |url = http://www.nam.org/~/media/Files/State_Data/Michigan.ashx |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20081023020928/http://www.nam.org/~/media/Files/State_Data/Michigan.ashx |url-status = dead |archive-date = October 23, 2008 |title = Facts about Michigan Manufacturing |access-date = January 11, 2009}}</ref> With almost ten million residents in 2010, 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 {{as of|2006|lc=y}}.