Editing Vandalia, Illinois (section)

==History==
[[Image:VandaliaStateHouse VandaliaIL.jpg|thumb|left|upright|''[[Madonna of the Trail]]'' statue in front of the Vandalia State House]]

Vandalia was founded in 1819 as a new capital city for Illinois.<ref name=vandaliaillinois.com>{{cite web|title=Vandalia, Illinois History|url=http://vandaliaillinois.com/history.html|website=Vandalia, Illinois|publisher=City of Vandalia|access-date=10 July 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150508094603/http://www.vandaliaillinois.com/history.html|archive-date=8 May 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref>  The previous capital, [[Kaskaskia, Illinois|Kaskaskia]], was unsuitable because it was under the constant threat of flooding.  The townsite, located in Bond County at the time,<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/documentaryhisto00burt/|title=Documentary History of Vandalia, Illinois|date=October 1954|via=Internet Archive}}</ref>{{Rp|5}} was hastily prepared for the 1820 meeting of the Illinois General Assembly.<ref name=vandaliaillinois.com />  In 1821, Fayette County was created, including Vandalia.<ref name=":1" />{{Rp|5}}

The history of the name Vandalia is uncertain. Different theories can be found in almost all of the books written about Vandalia over the years. In her book ''Vandalia: Wilderness Capital of Lincoln's Land'', Mary Burtschi tells of a conversation between one of the original surveyors of the town and a Vandalia resident. The surveyor, [[Greenup, Illinois|Colonel Greenup]], explained that ''Van'' was suggested by one of the men. He recommended this as an abbreviation to the word ''vanguard'' meaning the forefront of an advancing movement. Another suggestion was made for the term ''dalia'', derived from the Anglo-Saxon word ''dale'' which means a valley between hills. Greenup takes credit in the conversation for connecting the two terms to form the name ''Vandalia''.

Another possible source of the name is the [[Vandalia colony]], a failed attempt to establish a fourteenth colony in part of what is now West Virginia and Kentucky. The Vandalia colony was named in honor of [[Queen Charlotte]], who claimed descent from the [[Wends|Wendish]] tribe of [[Obodrites]], also called the [[Vandals]].

Another theory put forth is that Vandalia was named by those who located the state capital in the town; according to the story, they mistakenly thought the [[Vandals]] were a brave [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|Native American]] tribe, rather than of Germanic origins.<ref name="historicgville">Allan H. Keith, [https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_1gJ_RVeb5JYC/page/n2 <!-- pg=2 --> ''Historical Stories: About Greenville and Bond County, IL''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160120150619/https://books.google.com/books?id=1gJ_RVeb5JYC&pg=PA2 |date=2016-01-20 }}. Consulted on August 15, 2007.</ref><ref>{{cite news | url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=2MwfAAAAIBAJ&sjid=mNgEAAAAIBAJ&pg=1176%2C754300 | title=Place Names Have Colorful History | work=The Southeast Missourian | date=January 11, 1963 | access-date=27 April 2015 | author=Allen, John W. | pages=6 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150904110828/https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=2MwfAAAAIBAJ&sjid=mNgEAAAAIBAJ&pg=1176%2C754300 | archive-date=4 September 2015 | url-status=live }}</ref>

The law under which Vandalia was founded included a provision that the capital would not be moved for twenty years.<ref name=longnine>{{cite news|title=Springfield's Long Nine|url=http://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1900/12/01/102436998.html?pageNumber=3|access-date=10 July 2015|work=the New York Times|date=1 December 1900|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160117214900/http://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1900/12/01/102436998.html?pageNumber=3|archive-date=17 January 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> Even before the end of this period, the population center of the state had shifted far north of Vandalia.<ref name=power>{{cite book|last1=Power|first1=John Carroll|title=History of the early settlers of Sangamon County, Illinois : centennial record|date=1876|publisher=Edwin A. Wilson & Co.|location=Springfield, Illinois|page=46|url=https://archive.org/stream/historyofearlyse00powe#page/46/mode/2up|access-date=10 July 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160118004643/https://archive.org/stream/historyofearlyse00powe#page/46/mode/2up|archive-date=18 January 2016|url-status=live}}</ref> In 1837, the General Assembly voted to move the capital to [[Springfield, Illinois|Springfield]].<ref name=power />

On November 21, 1915, the [[Liberty Bell]] passed through Vandalia on its nationwide tour, while being returned to [[Philadelphia, Pennsylvania]] from the [[Panama-Pacific International Exposition (1915)|Panama-Pacific International Exposition]] in [[San Francisco]].<ref name="historicgville"/><ref name="libertybell">{{cite news |title= Liberty Bell Attracts Crowd in Greenville During 1915 Stop |publisher=Greenville Advocate |date=July 3, 2007 }}</ref>

In the early 1960s the sociologist Joseph Lyford examined the social structure of Vandalia in a book-length study that revealed the essentially corporatist nature of decision-making in the city; this work was recently revisited by the Economist newspaper.<ref name="economist">{{cite news |title= The view from Vandalia: A half century on, a much-studied small city has lessons to teach |url= https://www.economist.com/news/united-states/21568724-half-century-much-studied-small-city-has-lessons-teach-view-vandalia |newspaper= The Economist |date= December 22, 2012 |access-date= September 17, 2017 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20171019232213/https://www.economist.com/news/united-states/21568724-half-century-much-studied-small-city-has-lessons-teach-view-vandalia |archive-date= October 19, 2017 |url-status= live }}</ref>