Ancient History
The history of Michigan dates back to 9,000 BC. At that time the region was inhabited by Indian hunters and fishermen, followed by the Ojibwa, the Ottawa, the Potawatomi, and other Algonquian-speaking Native American groups.
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Eighteenth Century
Michigan was part of the Royal Province of New France from 1660 to the end of French rule. In 1701 the French explorer, Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac founded Fort Pontchartrain, later Detroit. The fort was lost to the British forces in the conflict of the French and Indian Wars (1754-1763). The year 1759 was an important one for the British, as Quebec was captured in the Battle of the Plains of Abraham. This marked Britain's victory in the Seven Years's War. In the 1763 Treaty of Paris, Britain gained control of Michigan and the rest of New France east of the Mississippi River. Michigan became part of the northwest territory in 1787 following the Northwest Ordinance. Years later in 1794 the Jay Treaty was signed under which Britain withdrew its forces from Detroit and Fort Michilimackinac.
Nineteenth Century
In 1805, Detroit was made capital of the territory of Michigan. The war of 1812 was a crucial event as Mackinac and Detroit were captured by the British. The native Americans who fought on the British side in the war were still maintained by the latter. Michigan continued to stay under the British control until the battles of Thames and Lake Erie were fought and the US retained control. General William Henry Harrison and Oliver Hazard Perry were leading the US forces at the time .
By the 1830s, the population of Michigan had grown enough to qualify it for statehood. The Constitution of 1835 was approved by the people in October in the same year and a state government was formed. However, the Congress did not approve of it because of the dispute over a land strip in Ohio. This dispute was known as the "Toledo War." After the war, Ohio was given the "Toledo Strip" and the western part of the Upper Peninsula came under the territory of Michigan, following which it entered the Union on January 26, 1837. Michigan is the twenty-sixth US state.
Twentieth Century
Michigan saw the advent of industrialization in the twentieth century, which also brought about urbanization. But the Great Depression in the thirties had devastating effects on the economy of the state. More than half of the industrial workers were unemployed and the automobile market collapsed. The economy revived during the Second World War, as the state produced tanks, airplanes, and other war materials in great numbers. The opening of the Saint Lawrence Seaway in 1959 post the Korean War increased trade with many states. This prosperity however again declined with the nationwide recession of the early 1980s. The economic growth lagged and unemployment became a serious problem. By the late 1980s there were some signs of the economy booming and the unemployment rate began to drop in the late 1990s.
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