Editing Illinois (section)

===19th century===

{{Main|Indiana Territory|Organic act#List of organic acts|Illinois Territory|Admission to the Union|List of U.S. states by date of admission to the Union}}

{{See also|History of Chicago|History of Nauvoo, Illinois}}

====Prior to statehood====
[[File:Kaskaskia Bell 3321.jpg|thumb|right|The bell donated by King Louis XV in 1741 to the French mission at Kaskaskia. It was later called the "Liberty Bell of the West", after it was rung to celebrate U.S. victory in the Revolution]]
The [[Illinois-Wabash Company]] was an early claimant to much of Illinois. The [[Illinois Territory]] was created on February 3, 1809, with its capital at [[Kaskaskia, Illinois|Kaskaskia]], an early French settlement.

During the discussions leading up to Illinois's [[admission to the Union]], the proposed northern boundary of the state was moved twice.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sancohis.org/presentations/Illinois%20From%20Territory%20to%20State.htm |title=Full Remarks from Dave M |publisher=Sancohis.org |date=March 16, 2010 |access-date=February 7, 2011}}{{Dead link|date=February 2012}}</ref> The original provisions of the [[Northwest Ordinance]] had specified a boundary that would have been tangent to the southern tip of Lake Michigan. Such a boundary would have left Illinois with no shoreline on Lake Michigan at all. However, as Indiana had successfully been granted a {{cvt|10|mi|adj=on}} northern extension of its boundary to provide it with a usable lakefront, the original bill for Illinois statehood, submitted to Congress on January 23, 1818, stipulated a northern border at the same latitude as Indiana's, which is defined as 10 miles north of the southernmost extremity of Lake Michigan. However, the Illinois delegate, [[Nathaniel Pope]], wanted more, and lobbied to have the boundary moved further north. The final bill passed by Congress included an amendment to shift the border to 42° 30' north, which is approximately {{cvt|51|mi}} north of the Indiana northern border. This shift added {{cvt|8500|sqmi|4=-2}} to the state, including the [[lead mining]] region near [[Galena, Illinois|Galena]]. More importantly, it added nearly 50 miles of Lake Michigan shoreline and the Chicago River. Pope and others envisioned a canal that would connect the Chicago and Illinois rivers and thus connect the Great Lakes to the Mississippi.

====The State of Illinois prior to the Civil War====

[[File:United States 1818-12-1819-03.png|thumb|In 1818, Illinois became the 21st U.S. state. The southern portion of [[Illinois Territory]] was admitted as the state of Illinois, and the rest was joined to [[Michigan Territory]].]]
[[File:Edward_Coles.png|thumb|right|150px|The second [[Governor of Illinois]], [[Edward Coles]] brought his slaves from his home state of [[Virginia]] to give them their [[manumission|freedom]] when they arrived in Illinois.]]
[[File:Springfield,Illinois-Old State Capitol.jpg|thumb|[[Old State Capitol State Historic Site|Old State Capitol]]: Abraham Lincoln and other area legislators were instrumental in moving the state capitol to centrally located Springfield in 1839.]]

In 1818, Illinois became the 21st U.S. state. The capital remained at Kaskaskia, headquartered in a small building rented by the state. In 1819, [[Vandalia, Illinois|Vandalia]] became the capital, and over the next 18 years, three separate buildings were built to serve successively as the capitol building. In 1837, the state legislators representing [[Sangamon County]], under the leadership of state representative [[Abraham Lincoln]], succeeded in having the capital moved to [[Springfield, Illinois|Springfield]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://abrahamlincolnsclassroom.org/Library/newsletter.asp?ID=137&CRLI=193 |title=Abraham Lincoln and Springfield |publisher=Abraham Lincoln's Classroom |access-date=February 7, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120517032613/http://abrahamlincolnsclassroom.org/Library/newsletter.asp?ID=137&CRLI=193 |archive-date=May 17, 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref> where a [[Old State Capitol State Historic Site (Illinois)|fifth capitol]] building was constructed. A [[Illinois State Capitol|sixth capitol]] building was erected in 1867, which continues to serve as the Illinois capitol today.

Though it was ostensibly a "[[Slave and free states|free state]]", there was nonetheless [[History of slavery in Illinois|slavery in Illinois]]. The ethnic French had owned black slaves since the 1720s, and American settlers had already brought slaves into the area from [[Kentucky]]. Slavery was nominally banned by the Northwest Ordinance, but that was not enforced for those already holding slaves. When Illinois became a state in 1818, the Ordinance no longer applied, and about 900 slaves were held in the state. As the southern part of the state, later known as "Egypt" or "Little Egypt",<ref>{{cite news |last=Simon|first=John Y.|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/2001/06/24/the-other-illinois-how-egypt-lost-its-clout/ |title=The other Illinois: How Egypt lost its clout |publisher=Chicago Tribune |date=June 24, 2001 |access-date=April 29, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150714034522/http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2001-06-24/news/0106240357_1_illinois-egypt-logan |archive-date=July 14, 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Davis| first=Rich |url=http://www.courierpress.com/news/2010/may/02/backroads-tourism/ |title=Southern Illinois Backroads Tourism: In Little Egypt it means bluffs, Superman, even scuba diving |publisher=Evansville Courier & Press |access-date=April 29, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130117082832/http://www.courierpress.com/news/2010/may/02/backroads-tourism/ |archive-date=January 17, 2013}}</ref> was largely settled by migrants from the South, the section was hostile to free blacks. [[Edward Coles]], the second Governor of Illinois who was born in Virginia, participated in a campaign to block extending existing slavery in Illinois after winning the [[1822 Illinois gubernatorial election]]. In 1824, state residents voted against making slavery legal by a vote of 6640 against to 4972 for.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.poemsforfree.com/cc25.html |title=Chapter 25 : The Result |publisher=Poemsforfree.com |access-date=2015-06-11}}</ref>

Still, most residents opposed allowing free blacks as permanent residents. Some settlers brought in slaves seasonally or as house servants.<ref>{{cite book|last=Finkelman |first=Paul |title=Slavery and the Founders: Race and Liberty in the Age of Jefferson |year=2001 |page=78 |edition=2nd |publisher=M. E. Sharpe |location=Armonk, NY |isbn=9780765604385}}</ref> The [[Constitution of Illinois|Illinois Constitution of 1848]] was written with a provision for exclusionary laws to be passed. In 1853, [[John A. Logan]] helped pass a law to prohibit all African Americans, including [[Freedman|freedmen]], from settling in the state.<ref>{{cite book|first=James Pickett |last=Jones |title=Black Jack: John A. Logan and Southern Illinois in the Civil War Era |date=1995 |publisher=SIU Press |orig-date=1967| isbn=0-8093-2002-9 |oclc=31435846}}</ref>

The [[The Snow Winter of 1880–1881|winter of 1830–1831]] is called the "Winter of the Deep Snow";<ref>{{cite news |title=1830-1831: The Winter of the Deep Snow |url=https://www.sj-r.com/story/news/columns/2012/02/02/1830-1831-winter-deep/44269013007/ |publisher=State Journal-Register |access-date=November 9, 2022 |date=February 1, 2012 |archive-date=December 4, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221204125236/https://www.sj-r.com/story/news/columns/2012/02/02/1830-1831-winter-deep/44269013007/ |url-status=live }}</ref> a sudden, deep snowfall blanketed the state, making travel impossible for the rest of the winter, and many travelers perished. Several severe winters followed, including the "Winter of the Sudden Freeze". On December 20, 1836, a fast-moving cold front passed through, freezing puddles in minutes and killing many travelers who could not reach shelter. The adverse weather resulted in crop failures in the northern part of the state. The southern part of the state shipped food north, and this may have contributed to its name, "[[Southern Illinois|Little Egypt]]", after the Biblical story of [[Joseph (Genesis)|Joseph in Egypt]] supplying grain to his brothers.<ref>{{cite web | title=Egypt |last=Duff |first=Andrew D. |url=http://www.springhousemagazine.com/egypt2.htm |website=Springhouse Magazine |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130117082839/http://www.springhousemagazine.com/egypt2.htm |archive-date=January 17, 2013 |access-date=May 1, 2006}}</ref>

In 1832, the [[Black Hawk War]] was fought in Illinois and present-day [[Wisconsin]] between the United States and a coalition of the [[Sauk people|Sauk]], [[Meskwaki|Fox (Meskwaki)]], and [[Kickapoo people|Kickapoo]] Indian tribes, who had been forced to leave their homes and relocate to Iowa in 1831. The tribes had lost their territory east of the Mississippi river in Illinois under a [[Treaty of St. Louis (1804)|disputed treaty]] in 1804. The Indians, under Sauk Chief [[Black Hawk (Sauk leader)|Black Hawk]], attempted to return to Illinois in April 1832 to reclaim this land. They were attacked and defeated by the [[Militia (United States)|U.S. Militia]] and rival tribes allied with the US forces, including the [[Potawatomi]], [[Lakota people|Dakota]], [[Menominee]], and [[Ho-Chunk]]. The survivors of Black Hawk's band were forced back to Iowa.<ref>{{cite web |author=Lewis, James |title=The Black Hawk War of 1832 |url=http://lincoln.lib.niu.edu/blackhawk/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120801011703/http://lincoln.lib.niu.edu/blackhawk/ |archive-date=August 1, 2012 |access-date=August 10, 2012 |publisher=Abraham Lincoln Historical Digitization Project}}</ref> This represented the end of Indian resistance to white settlement in the Chicago and Northern Illinois regions.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url=http://encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/141.html |title=Black Hawk War |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of Chicago |access-date = August 10, 2012 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120822134545/http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/141.html |archive-date = August 22, 2012}}</ref>  By 1832, when the last Indian lands in Illinois were ceded to the United States, the indigenous population of the state had been reduced by infectious diseases, warfare, and [[Indian removal|forced westward removal]] to only one village with fewer than 300 inhabitants.<ref name="museum.state.il.us"/>

By 1839, the [[Latter Day Saints]] had founded a [[utopian]] city called [[Nauvoo, Illinois|Nauvoo]], formerly called Commerce. Located in [[Hancock County, Illinois|Hancock County]] along the [[Mississippi River]], Nauvoo flourished and, by 1844, briefly surpassed Chicago for the position of the state's largest city.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Easton Black |first=Susan |date=1995 |title=How Large Was the Population of Nauvoo? |url=https://byustudies.byu.edu/article/how-large-was-the-population-of-nauvoo/ |journal=BYU Studies Quarterly |volume=35 |issue=2 |pages=91–94 |access-date=December 4, 2023 |archive-date=December 4, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231204005818/https://byustudies.byu.edu/article/how-large-was-the-population-of-nauvoo/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=9 November 2022 |title=Early Chicago, 1833–1871 |url=https://www.ilsos.gov/departments/archives/teaching_packages/early_chicago/doc23.html |access-date=9 November 2022 |website=ilsos.gov |archive-date=November 9, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221109230005/https://www.ilsos.gov/departments/archives/teaching_packages/early_chicago/doc23.html |url-status=live }}</ref> But in that same year, the [[Latter Day Saint movement]] founder, [[Joseph Smith]], [[Death of Joseph Smith|was killed]] in the [[Carthage Jail]], about 30 miles away from Nauvoo. Following a [[succession crisis (Latter Day Saints)|succession crisis]], [[Brigham Young]] led most Latter Day Saints out of Illinois in a [[Mormon pioneers|mass exodus]] to present-day [[Utah]]; after close to six years of rapid development, Nauvoo quickly declined afterward.

After it was established in 1833, [[Chicago]] gained prominence as a [[Great Lakes]] port, and then as an [[Illinois and Michigan Canal]] port after 1848, and as a rail hub soon afterward. By 1857, Chicago was Illinois's largest city.<ref name="Biles" /> With the tremendous growth of mines and factories in the state in the 19th century, Illinois was the ground for the formation of [[labor unions in the United States]].

In 1847, after lobbying by [[Dorothea Dix|Dorothea L. Dix]], Illinois became one of the first states to establish a system of state-supported treatment of mental illness and disabilities, replacing local [[almshouse]]s. Dix came into this effort after having met J. O. King, a [[Jacksonville, Illinois]] businessman, who invited her to Illinois, where he had been working to build an asylum for the insane. With the lobbying expertise of Dix, plans for the Jacksonville State Hospital (now known as the [[Jacksonville Developmental Center]]) were signed into law on March 1, 1847.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Norbury |first1=Frank |title=Dorothea Dix and the Founding of Illinois's First Mental Hospital |journal=Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society |date=Spring 1999 |volume=92 |issue=1 |pages=13–29 |jstor=40193299}}</ref>

====Civil War and after====

{{Main|Illinois in the American Civil War}}

[[File:Embarkation of General McClernand's Brigade at Cairo.jpg|thumb|right|[[Union (American Civil War)|Union]] troops embarking at [[Cairo, Illinois|Cairo]] on January 10, 1862]]

During the [[American Civil War]], Illinois ranked fourth in soldiers who served (more than 250,000) in the [[Union Army]], a figure surpassed by only New York, [[Pennsylvania]], and [[Ohio]]. Beginning with President [[Abraham Lincoln]]'s first call for troops and continuing throughout the war, Illinois mustered 150 infantry regiments, which were numbered from the 7th to the 156th regiments. Seventeen cavalry regiments were also gathered, as well as two light artillery regiments.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.illinoiscivilwar.org/units_num.html| title=Illinois Infantry, Cavalry, and Artillery Units|url-status=usurped|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180818150741/http://www.illinoiscivilwar.org/units_num.html |archive-date=August 18, 2018 }}</ref> The town of [[Cairo, Illinois|Cairo]], at the southern tip of the state at the confluence of the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers, served as a strategically important supply base and training center for the [[Union (American Civil War)|Union]] army. For several months, both General [[Ulysses S. Grant|Grant]] and Admiral [[Andrew Hull Foote|Foote]] had headquarters in Cairo.

During the Civil War, and more so afterwards, Chicago's population skyrocketed, which increased its prominence. The [[Pullman Strike]] and [[Haymarket affair|Haymarket Riot]], in particular, greatly influenced the development of the American [[labour movement|labor movement]]. From Sunday, October 8, 1871, until Tuesday, October 10, 1871, the [[Great Chicago Fire]] burned in downtown Chicago, destroying {{cvt|4|sqmi|spell=in}}.<ref>{{cite book|first=Roland |last=Tweet |title=Miss Gale's Books: The Beginnings of the Rock Island Public Library |location=Rock Island, IL |publisher=Rock Island Public Library |year=1997 |page=15}}</ref>