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Native New Mexico
Capital: Santa Fe
State abbreviation/Postal code:
N.M./NM
Governor: Bill Richardson, D (to Jan. 2011)
Lieut. Governor: Diane Denish, D (to Jan. 2011)
Senators: Jeff
Bingaman, D (to Jan. 2013); Pete V. Domenici, R (to
Jan. 2009)
U.S. Representatives: 3
Secy. of State:
Mary Herrera, D (to Jan. 2011)
Atty. General: Gary K. King, D (to Jan. 2011)
State Treasurer: James B. Lewis, D (to
Jan. 2011)
Organized as territory: Sept. 9, 1850
Entered Union (rank): Jan. 6, 1912 (47)
Present constitution adopted:
1911
Motto: Crescit eundo (It grows as it goes)
State symbols:
flower yucca (1927)
tree pinon (1949)
animal black bear (1963)
bird roadrunner (1949)
fish cutthroat trout (1955)
vegetables chili and frijol (1965)
gem turquoise (1967)
song “O Fair New Mexico” (1917)
Spanish-language song “Asi Es Nuevo Méjico”
(1971)
poem “A Nuevo México” (1991)
grass blue gramma (1973)
fossil coelophysis (1981)
cookie
bizcochito (1989)
insect tarantula hawk wasp (1989)
ballad “Land of Enchantment” (1989)
bilingual
song “New Mexico—Mi Lindo Nuevo Mexico”, (1995)
question “Red or Green?” (1999)
Nickname:
Land of Enchantment (1999)
Origin of name: From Mexico, “place of Mexitli,” an Aztec god or
leader
10 largest cities (2005 est.): Albuquerque, 494,236;
Las Cruces,
82,671; Santa Fe, 70,631; Rio Rancho, 66,599; Roswell, 45,199;
Farmington, 43,161; Alamogordo, 36,245; Clovis, 33,357;
Hobbs,
29,006; Carlsbad, 25,300
Land area: 121,356 sq mi. (314,312
sq km)
Geographic center: In Torrance Co., 12 mi. SSW of Willard
Number of counties: 33
Largest county by population
and area: Bernalillo, 603,562 (2005);
Catron, 6,928 sq mi.
State parks: 31
Residents: New
Mexican
2005 resident population est.: 1,928,384
Francisco Vásquez de Coronado, a Spanish explorer searching
for
gold, traveled the region that became New Mexico in 1540–1542.
In 1598 the first Spanish settlement was established on
the Rio
Grande River by Juan de Onate; in 1610 Santa Fe was founded
and
made the capital of New Mexico.
The U.S. acquired most of New Mexico in 1848, as a result
of the
Mexican War, and the remainder in the 1853 Gadsden Purchase.
Union troops captured the territory from the Confederates
during
the Civil War. With the surrender of Geronimo in 1886, the
Apache
Wars and most of the Indian conflicts in the area were ended.
Since 1945, New Mexico has been a leader in energy research
and
development with extensive experiments conducted at Los
Alamos
Scientific Laboratory and Sandia Laboratories in the nuclear,
solar,
and geothermal areas.
Minerals are the state's richest natural resource, and New
Mexico
is one of the U.S. leaders in output of uranium and potassium
salts.
Petroleum, natural gas, copper, gold, silver, zinc, lead,
and
molybdenum also contribute heavily to the state's income.
The principal manufacturing industries include food products,
chemicals, transportation equipment, lumber, electrical
machinery,
and stone-clay-glass products. More than two-thirds of New
Mexico's farm income comes from livestock products, especially
sheep. Cotton, pecans, and sorghum are the most important
field
crops. Corn, peanuts, beans, onions, chilies, and lettuce
are also
grown.
Tourist attractions include the Carlsbad Caverns National
Park,
Inscription Rock at El Morro National Monument, the ruins
at Fort
Union, Billy the Kid mementos at Lincoln, the White Sands
and Gila
Cliff Dwellings National Monuments, Bandelier National Monument,
and the Chaco Culture National Historical Park.
History
Native Americans and the Spanish
Use of the land and
minerals of New Mexico goes back to the
prehistoric time of the early cultures in the Southwest
that long
preceded the flourishing sedentary civilization of the Pueblos
that
the Spanish found along the Rio Grande and its tributaries.
Many of
the Native American pueblos exist today much as they were
in the
13th cent. Word of the pueblos reached the Spanish through
Cabeza de Vaca, who may have wandered across S New Mexico
between 1528 and 1536; they were enthusiastically identified
by
Fray Marcos de Niza as the fabulously rich Seven Cities
of Cibola.
A full-scale expedition (1540–42) to find the cities
was dispatched
from New Spain, under the leadership of Francisco Vásquez
de
Coronado. The treatment of the Pueblo people by Coronado
and his
men led to the long-standing hostility between the Native
Americans and the Spanish and slowed Spanish conquest. The
first
regular colony at San Juan was founded by Juan de Oñate
in 1598.
The Native Americans of Acoma revolted against the Spanish
encroachment and were severely suppressed.
In 1609 Pedro de Peralta was made governor of the “Kingdom
and
Provinces of New Mexico,” and a year later he founded
his capital
at Santa Fe. The little colony did not prosper greatly,
although
some of the missions flourished and haciendas were founded.
The
subjection of Native Americans to forced labor and attempts
by
missionaries to convert them resulted in violent revolt
by the
Apache in 1676 and the Pueblo in 1680. These uprisings drove
the
Spanish entirely out of New Mexico.
The Spanish did not return until the campaign of Diego de
Vargas
Zapata reestablished their control in 1692. In the 18th
cent. the
development of ranching and of some farming and mining was
more thorough, laying the foundations for the Spanish culture
in
New Mexico that still persists. Over one third of the population
today is of Hispanic origin (and few are recent immigrants
from
Mexico) and roughly the same percentage speak Spanish fluently.
When Mexico achieved its independence from Spain in 1821,
New
Mexico became a province of Mexico, and trade was opened
with
the United States. By the following year the Santa Fe Trail
was
being traveled by the wagon trains of American traders.
In 1841 a
group of Texans embarked on an expedition to assert Texan
claims
to part of New Mexico and were captured.
The Anglo Influence
The Mexican War marked the coming
of the Anglo-American
culture to New Mexico. Stephen W. Kearny entered (1846)
Santa
Fe without opposition, and two years later the Treaty of
Guadalupe
Hidalgo ceded New Mexico to the United States. The territory,
which included Arizona and other territories, was enlarged
by the
Gadsden Purchase (1853).
A bid for statehood with an antislavery constitution was
halted by
the Compromise of 1850, which settled the Texas boundary
question in New Mexico's favor and organized New Mexico
as a
territory without restriction on slavery. In the Civil War,
New
Mexico was at first occupied by Confederate troops from
Texas, but
was taken over by Union forces early in 1862. After the
war and
the withdrawal of the troops, the territory was plagued
by conflict
with the Apache and Navajo. The surrender of Apache chief
Geronimo in 1886 ended conflict in New Mexico and Arizona
(which had been made a separate territory in 1863). However,
there were local troubles even after that time.
Already the ranchers had taken over much of the grasslands.
The
coming of the Santa Fe RR in 1879 encouraged the great cattle
boom of the 80s. There were typical cow towns, feuds among
cattlemen as well as between cattlemen and the authorities
(notably the Lincoln County War), and the activities of
such
outlaws as Billy the Kid. The cattlemen were unable to keep
out
the sheepherders and were overwhelmed by the homesteaders
and
squatters, who fenced in and plowed under the “sea
of grass.”
Land claims gave rise to bitter quarrels among the homesteaders,
the ranchers, and the old Spanish families, who made claims
under
the original grants. Despite overgrazing and reduction of
lands,
ranching survived and continues to be important together
with the
limited but scientifically controlled irrigated and dry
farming.
Statehood was granted in 1912.
Modern New Mexico
In 1943 the U.S. government built Los
Alamos as a center for
atomic research. The first atom bomb was exploded at the
White
Sands Proving Grounds in July, 1945. The growth and use
of
military and nuclear facilities continued after World War
II.
High-altitude experiments were apparently responsible for
a 1947
incident near Roswell that led to persistent claims that
the
government was concealing captured extraterrestrial corpses
and
equipment. In the 1990s the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant,
deep in
salt formations near Carlsbad, was readied for storage of
nuclear
wastes, amid controversy.
New Mexico's climate, tranquillity, and startling panoramas
have
made the state a place of winter or year-round residence
for those
seeking health or a place of retirement. Many writers and
artists
have made their homes in communities such as Taos and Santa
Fe,
including D. H. Lawrence and Georgia O'Keeffe. The Apache,
Navajo, and Pueblo, and some Ute, live on federal reservations
within the state—the Navajo Nation, with over 16 million
acres
(6.5 million hectares), is the largest in the country—and
the
Pueblo, a settled agricultural people, live in pueblos scattered
throughout the state. At the beginning of the 1990s the
Native
American population of New Mexico was more than 134,000.
To
search for more of New Mexico's treasures, please visit
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Cosmopolitan
New York
Capital: Albany
State abbreviation/Postal code: N.Y./NY
Governor: David Paterson (to Jan. 2011)
Acting
Lieut. Governor: Dean Skelos (to Jan. 2011)
Senators: Charles E. Schumer, D (to Jan. 2011); Hillary Rodham
Clinton, D (to Jan. 2013)
U.S. Representatives: 29
Secy. of State: Lorraine Cortés-Vásquez (apptd. by governor)
Comptroller: Thomas P. DiNapoli
Atty. General: Andrew M. Cuomo, D (to Jan. 2011)
Entered Union (rank): July 26, 1788 (11)
Present constitution adopted: 1777 (last revised 1938)
Motto: Excelsior (Ever upward)
State symbols:
animal beaver (1975)
fish brook trout (1975)
gem garnet (1969)
flower
rose (1955)
tree sugar maple (1956)
bird bluebird (1970)
insect ladybug (1989)
song
“I Love New York” (1980)
Nickname: Empire State
Origin of name: In honor of the Duke of York
10 largest cities (2005 est.): New York, 8,143,197; Buffalo,
279,745; Rochester, 211,091; Yonkers, 196,425; Syracuse,
141,683; Albany, 93,523; New Rochelle, 72,967; Mount Vernon,
67,924; Schenectady, 61,280; Utica, 59,336
Land area: 47,214 sq mi. (122,284 sq km)
Geographic center: In Madison Co., 12 mi. S of Oneida and 26 mi.
SW of Utica
Number of counties: 62
Largest county by population and area: Kings, 2,486,235 (2005);
St. Lawrence, 2,686 sq mi.
State forest preserves: Adirondacks, 2,500,000 ac.; Catskills,
250,000 ac.
State parks: 176
Residents: New Yorker
2005 resident population est.: 19,254,630
Giovanni da Verrazano, an Italian-born navigator sailing for France,
discovered New York Bay in 1524. Henry Hudson, an Englishman
employed by the Dutch, reached the bay and sailed up the river
now bearing his name in 1609, the same year that northern New
York was explored and claimed for France by Samuel de Champlain.
In 1624 the first permanent Dutch settlement was established at
Fort Orange (now Albany). One year later Peter Minuit purchased
Manhattan Island from the Indians for trinkets worth about 60
Dutch guilders and founded the Dutch colony of New Amsterdam
(now New York City), which was surrendered to the English in
1664.
New York's extremely rapid commercial growth may be partly
attributed to Gov. De Witt Clinton, who pushed through the
construction of the Erie Canal (Buffalo to Albany), which was
opened in 1825. Today, the 641-mile Gov. Thomas E. Dewey
Thruway connects New York City with Buffalo and with
Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania express highways.
Two toll-free superhighways, the Adirondack Northway (linking
Albany with the Canadian border) and the North-South Expressway
(crossing central New York from the Pennsylvania border to the
Thousand Islands), have been opened.
The great metropolis of New York City is the nerve center of the
nation. It is a leader in manufacturing, foreign trade, commerce
and banking, book and magazine publishing, and theatrical
production. A leading seaport, its John F. Kennedy International
Airport is one of the busiest airports in the world. New York is also
home to the New York Stock Exchange, the largest in the world.
The printing and publishing industry is the city's largest
manufacturing employer, with the apparel industry second.
Nearly all the rest of the state's manufacturing is done on Long
Island, along the Hudson River north to Albany, and through the
Mohawk Valley, Central New York, and Southern Tier regions to
Buffalo. The St. Lawrence seaway and power projects have opened
the North Country to industrial expansion and have given the state
a second seacoast.
The state ranks seventh in the nation in manufacturing, with
586,400 employees in 2005. The principal industries are printing
and publishing, industrial machinery and equipment, electronic
equipment, and instruments. The convention and tourist business
is also an important source of income.
New York farms produce cattle and calves, corn and poultry, and
vegetables and fruits. The state is a leading wine producer.
Major points of interest are Castle Clinton, Fort Stanwix, and
Statue of Liberty National Monuments; Niagara Falls; U.S. Military
Academy at West Point; National Historic Sites that include
History
The Algonquians and the Iroquois
Before Europeans began to arrive in the 16th cent., New York was
inhabited mainly by Algonquian- and Iroquoian-speaking Native
Americans. The Algonquians, including the Mohegan, Lenni Lenape,
and Wappinger tribes, lived chiefly in the Hudson valley and on
Long Island. The Iroquois, living in the central and western parts
of the state, included the Cayuga, Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, and
Seneca tribes, who joined c.1570 to form the Iroquois Confederacy.
French and Dutch Claims
Europeans first approached New York from both the sea and from
Canada. Giovanni da Verrazano, a Florentine in the service of
France, visited (1524) the excellent harbor of New York Bay but
did little exploring. In 1609, Samuel de Champlain, a Frenchman,
traveled S on Lake Champlain from Canada, and Henry Hudson, an
Englishman in the service of the Dutch, sailed the Hudson nearly to
Albany. The French, who had allied themselves with the Hurons of
Ontario, continued to push into N and W New York from Canada,
but met with resistance from the Iroquois Confederacy, which
dominated W New York.
The Dutch early claimed the Hudson region, and the Dutch West
India Company (chartered in 1621, organized in 1623) planted
(1624) their colony of New Netherland, with its chief settlements
at New Amsterdam on the lower tip of present-day Manhattan
island (purchased in 1626 from the Canarsie tribe for goods worth
about 60 Dutch guilders) and at Fort Nassau, later called Fort
Orange (present-day Albany). To increase the slow pace of
colonization the Dutch set up the patroon system in 1629, thus
establishing the landholding aristocracy that became the hallmark
of colonial New York. The last and most able of the Dutch
administrators, Peter Stuyvesant (in office 1647–64), captured
New Sweden for the Dutch in 1655.
An English Colony
The English, claiming the whole region on the basis of the
explorations of John Cabot, made good their claim in the Second
Dutch War (1664–67). In 1664 an English fleet sailed into the
harbor of New Amsterdam, and Stuyvesant surrendered without a
struggle. New Netherland then became the colonies of New York
and New Jersey, granted by King Charles II to his brother, the
duke of York (later James II). Except for brief recapture (1673–74)
by the Dutch, New York remained English until the American
Revolution.
After the early days of the colony, the popular governor Thomas
Dongan (1683–88) put New York on a firm basis and began to
establish the alliance of the English with the Iroquois, which later
played an important part in New York history. The attempt in 1688
to combine New York and New Jersey with New England under the
rule of Sir Edmund Andros was a failure, turning almost all the
colonists against him. The threat of the French was continuous,
and New York was involved in a number of the French and Indian
Wars (1689–1763). The friendship of Sir William Johnson with
some of the Iroquois aided the British in the warfare and also
opened part of central New York to settlers, mainly from the British
Isles. Frequent warfare hindered growth, however, and much of W
New York remained unsettled by colonists throughout the 18th
cent.
Slowly, however, the colony, with its busy shipping and fishing
fleets, its expanding farms, and its first college (King's College,
founded in 1754, now Columbia Univ.), was beginning to establish
its own identity, separate from that of England. Colonial
self-assertiveness grew after the warfare with the French ended;
there was considerable objection to the restrictive commercial
laws, and the Navigation Acts were flouted by smuggling. When
the Stamp Act was passed, New York was a leader of the
opposition, and the Stamp Act Congress met (1765) in New York
City. The policies of Lt. Gov. Cadwallader Colden, who did not
oppose the Stamp Act, occasioned considerable complaint, and
unrest grew.
Revolution and a New Constitution
As troubles flared and escalated into the American Revolution,
New Yorkers were divided in their loyalties. About one third of all
the military engagements of the American Revolution took place in
New York state. The first major military action in the state was the
capture (May, 1775) of Ticonderoga by Ethan Allen and his Green
Mountain Boys and Benedict Arnold. Crown Point was also taken.
In Aug., 1776, however, George Washington was unable to hold
lower New York against the British under Gen. William Howe and
lost the battle of Long Island, as he did the succeeding actions at
Harlem Heights (Sept. 16) and White Plains (Oct. 28).
The British invested New York City and held it to the war's end.
The state had, however, declared independence and functioned
with Kingston as its capital, George Clinton as its first governor,
and John Jay as its first chief justice. In 1777 New York was the
key to the overall British campaign plan, which was directed
toward taking the entire state and thus separating New England
from the South. This failed finally (Oct., 1777) in the battles near
the present-day resort of Saratoga Springs (see Saratoga
campaign), generally considered as the decisive action of the war,
partly because France was now persuaded to join the war on the
side of the Colonies.
The British alliance with the Iroquois resulted in widespread
violence in the frontier portion of the state. After the devastation
of two Iroquois villages, the Iroquois and British responded with
the massacre at Cherry Hill (1778). For the rest of the war there
was more or less a stalemate, with the British occupying New York
City, the patriots holding most of the rest of the state, and
Westchester co. disputed ground. In 1780 Benedict Arnold failed in
his attempt to betray West Point.
The influence of Alexander Hamilton was paramount in bringing
New York to accept (1788) the Constitution of the United States at
a convention in Poughkeepsie. Other leaders, however, mostly
from the landed aristocracy (such as John Jay and Gouverneur
Morris), were also powerful. Hamilton, Jay, and James Madison
wrote The Federalist, a series of essays, to promote ratification.
New York City was briefly (1789–90) the capital of the new nation
and was also the state capital until 1797, when Albany succeeded
it. Political dissension between the Federalists and the
Jeffersonians was particularly keen in New York state, and Aaron
Burr had much to do with swinging the state to Jefferson.
Land Speculation and Commercial Development
By the end of the war many Loyalists had left New York; the
emigrants included former large landowners whose holdings had
been seized by the legislature. After the war speculation in W New
York land (some newly acquired by quieting Massachusetts claims)
rose to dizzying heights. The eastern boundary of the state was
established after long wrangles and violence when Vermont was
admitted as a state in 1791.
From the 1780s increased commerce (somewhat slowed by the
Embargo Act of 1807) and industry, especially textile milling,
marked the turn away from the old, primarily agricultural, order. It
was on the Hudson that Robert Fulton demonstrated (1807) his
steamboat. In the War of 1812 New York saw action in 1813–14,
with the British capture of Fort Niagara and particularly with the
brilliant naval victory of Thomas Macdonough over the British on
Lake Champlain at Plattsburgh.
The state continued its development, which was quickened and
broadened by the building of the Erie Canal. The canal, completed
in 1825, and railroad lines constructed (from 1831) parallel to it
made New York the major East-West commercial route in the 19th
cent. and helped to account for the growth and prosperity of the
port of New York. Cities along the canal (Buffalo, Syracuse, Rome,
Utica, and Schenectady) prospered. Albany grew, and New York
City, whose first bank had been established by Hamilton in 1784,
became the financial capital of the nation.
Political, Reform, and Cultural Movements
New constitutions broadened the suffrage in 1821 and again
in
1846; slavery was abolished in 1827. Politics was largely
controlled from the 1820s to the 40s by the Albany Regency, which
favored farmers, artisans, and small businessmen. Martin Van
Buren was the regency's chief figure. The regency's control was
challenged by the business-oriented Whigs, led by Thurlow Weed
and William H. Seward, and by the Anti-Masonic party. The rise of
tension between the reform-minded Locofocos and the Tammany
organization in New York City weakened the Democratic party in
the 1830s. After the panic of 1837, Seward was governor
(1839–52), and his Whig program included internal improvements,
educational reform, and opposition to slavery.
New York was a leader in numerous 19th-century reform groups.
Antislavery groups made their headquarters in New York. In 1848
the first women's rights convention in the United States met in
Seneca Falls.
Early in its history New York state emerged as one of the cultural
leaders of the nation. In the early 19th cent. Washington Irving
and William Cullen Bryant, leaders of the famed Knickerbocker
School of writers, and James Fenimore Cooper were among the
country's foremost literary figures. The natural beauty of New York
inspired the noted Hudson River school of American landscape
painters. With New England's decline as a literary center, many
writers came to New York City from other parts of the nation,
helping to make it a literary and publishing center and the cultural
heart of the country.
Immigration and Civil War
Migrants from New England had been settling on the western
frontier, and in the 1840s famine and revolution in Europe resulted
in a great wave of Irish and German immigrants, whose first stop
in America was usually New York City. In 1850, Millard Fillmore
became the second New Yorker to be President of the United
States; the first was Martin Van Buren (1837–41). The split of the
Democrats over the slavery issue into antislavery Barnburners and
the Hunkers, who were not opposed to the extension of slavery,
helped pave the way for New York's swing to the Republicans and
Abraham Lincoln in the fateful election of 1860.
Despite the draft riots (1863) in New York City and the activities of
the Peace Democrats, New York state strongly favored the Union
and contributed much to its cause in the Civil War. Industrial
development was stimulated by the needs of the military, and
railroads increased their capacity. New York City's newspapers,
notably the Tribune under the guidance of Horace Greeley, had
considerable national influence, and after the war the publication
of periodicals and books centered more and more in the city, whose
libraries expanded. From 1867 to 1869, Cornelius Vanderbilt
consolidated the New York Central RR system.
Political Corruption and the Labor Movement
As economic growth accelerated, political corruption became
rampant. Samuel J. Tilden won a national reputation in 1871 for
prosecuting the Tweed Ring of New York City, headed by William
Marcy “Boss” Tweed, but Tammany soon recovered much of its
prestige and influence as the Democratic city organization. The
Republican party also had bosses, notably Roscoe Conkling and
Thomas Collier Platt, and the split between Democratic New York
City and Republican upstate widened. New Yorkers Chester A.
Arthur (1881–85) and Grover Cleveland (1885–89, 1893–97)
served as Presidents of the United States in the late 19th cent.
After 1880 the inpouring of immigrants from Ireland, Italy, and
Eastern Europe brought workers for the old industries, which were
expanding, and for the new ones, including the electrical and
chemical industries, which were being established. Labor
conditions worsened but were challenged by the growing labor
movement, whose targets included sweatshops (particularly
notorious in New York City). Muckrakers were particularly
vociferous in New York in the late 19th and early 20th cent.
Service as New York City's police commissioner and then as a
reform-oriented governor of the state helped Theodore Roosevelt
establish the national reputation that sent him to the vice
presidency and then to the White House (1901–9). A fire in 1911
at the Triangle Waist Company in Manhattan that killed 146
workers resulted in the passage of early health, fire safety, and
labor laws including the Widowed Mothers Pension Act.
New York since 1912
The Democrats returned to power in the state in 1912, and
subsequently New York seesawed from one party to the other. The
reform programs continued to gain ground, however, and
Democratic state administrations between World War I and
II—those of Alfred E. Smith (1918–20, 1922–28), Franklin D.
Roosevelt (1928–32), and Herbert H. Lehman (1932–42)—presided
over a wide variety of reform measures. The reform programs
emphasized public works, conservation, reorganization of state
finances, social welfare, and extensive labor laws. Four years after
Smith's defeat in the 1928 presidential election, Roosevelt went to
the White House. Lehman followed Roosevelt's national New Deal
program by instituting the Little New Deal in New York state. At
the same time Fiorello LaGuardia, Republican mayor of New York
City (1934–45), enthusiastically supported Roosevelt's social and
economic reforms.
The Republican party returned to power in the state in 1942 with
the election of Thomas E. Dewey as governor (reelected 1946,
1950). Dewey had the immense task of coordinating state
activities with national efforts in World War II, straining New
York's resources to the utmost. He also built upon the reforms of
his predecessors, extending social and antidiscrimination
legislation, and won a reputation for effectiveness that made him
twice (1944 and 1948) the Republican presidential nominee.
During the governorship (1959–73) of Nelson Rockefeller, a
Republican, state social-welfare programs and the State Univ. of
New York were expanded, and a large state office and cultural
complex was built in Albany. New York's growth slowed from the
1970s, though, as the state lost its dominant position in U.S.
manufacturing, and the older cities lost businesses and residents
to suburbs or to other states. For everything, including Times
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North Carolina Charm
Capital: Raleigh
State abbreviation/Postal code: N.C./NC
Governor: Mike Easley, D (to Jan. 2009)
Lieut. Governor: Beverly Perdue, D (to Jan. 2009)
Senators: Richard Burr, R (to Jan. 2011); Elizabeth Dole, R (to Jan. 2009)
U.S. Representatives: 13
Historical biographies of Congressional members
Secy. of State: Elaine F. Marshall, D (to Jan. 2009)
Treasurer: Richard H. Moore, D (to Jan. 2009)
Atty. General: Roy Cooper, D (to Jan. 2009)
Entered Union (rank): Nov. 21, 1789 (12)
Present constitution adopted: 1971
Motto: Esse quam videri (To be rather than to seem)
State symbols:
flower dogwood (1941)
tree pine (1963)
bird cardinal (1943)
mammal
gray squirrel (1969)
insect honeybee (1973)
reptile eastern box turtle (1979)
gemstone emerald (1973)
shell
scotch bonnet (1965)
historic boat shad boat (1987)
beverage milk (1987)
rock granite (1979)
dog plott hound
(1989)
song “The Old North State” (1927)
colors red and blue (1945)
fruit scuppernong grape (2001)
Nickname: Tar Heel State
Origin of name: In honor of Charles I of England
10 largest cities (2005 est.): Charlotte, 610,949; Raleigh, 341,530; Greensboro,
231,962; Durham, 204,845; Winston-Salem, 193,755; Fayetteville, 129,928; Cary, 106,439; Wilmington, 95,476; High Point, 95,086;
Asheville, 72,231
Land area: 48,711 sq mi. (126,161 sq km)
Geographic center: In Chatham Co., 10 mi. NW of Sanford
Number of counties: 100
Largest county by population and area: Mecklenburg, 796,372 (2005); Robeson,
949 sq mi.
State parks: 29
Residents: North Carolinian
2005 resident population est.: 8,683,242
2000 resident census population (rank): 8,049,313 (11). Male: 3,942,695
(49.0%); Female: 4,106,618 (51.0%). White: 5,804,656 (72.1%); Black: 1,737,545 (21.6%); American Indian: 99,551 (1.2%); Asian:
113,689 (1.4%); Other race: 186,629 (2.3%); Two or more races: 103,260 (1.3%); Hispanic/Latino: 378,963 (4.7%). 2000 percent
population 18 and over: 75.6; 65 and over: 12.0; median age: 35.3.
English colonists, sent by Sir Walter Raleigh, unsuccessfully attempted
to settle Roanoke Island in 1585 and 1587. Virginia Dare, born there in 1587, was the first child of English parentage born
in America.
In 1653 the first permanent settlements were established by English colonists
from Virginia near the Roanoke and Chowan rivers. The region was established as an English proprietary colony in 1663–1665
and in its early history was the scene of Culpepper's Rebellion (1677), the Quaker-led Cary Rebellion (1708), the Tuscarora
Indian War (1711–1713), and many pirate raids.
During the American Revolution, there was relatively little fighting within
the state, but many North Carolinians saw action elsewhere. Despite considerable pro-Union, antislavery sentiment, North Carolina
joined the Confederacy during the Civil War.
North Carolina is the nation's largest furniture, tobacco, brick, and textile
producer. Metalworking, chemicals, and paper are also important industries. The major agricultural products are tobacco, corn,
cotton, hay, peanuts, and vegetable crops. The state is the country's leading producer of mica and lithium.
Tourism is also important, with visitors spending more than $1 billion annually.
Sports include year-round golfing, skiing at mountain resorts, both fresh- and salt-water fishing, and hunting.
Among the major attractions are the Great Smoky Mountains, the Blue Ridge
National Parkway, the Cape Hatteras and Cape Lookout National Seashores, the Wright Brothers National Memorial at Kitty Hawk,
Guilford Courthouse and Moores Creek National Military Parks, Carl Sandburg's home near Hendersonville, and the Old Salem
Restoration in Winston-Salem.
History
Exploration and Colonization
North Carolina's treacherous coast was
explored by Verrazano in 1524, and possibly by some Spanish navigators. In the 1580s, Sir Walter Raleigh attempted unsuccessfully
to establish a colony on one of the islands (see Roanoke Island). The first permanent settlements were made (c.1653) around
Albemarle Sound by colonials from Virginia. Meanwhile, Charles I of England had granted (1629) the territory S of Virginia
between the 36th and 31st parallels (named Carolina in the king's honor) to Sir Robert Heath. Heath did not exploit his grant,
and it was declared void in 1663. Charles II reassigned the territory to eight court favorites, who became the “true
and absolute Lords Proprietors” of Carolina. In 1664, Sir William Berkeley, governor of Virginia and one of the proprietors,
appointed a governor for the province of Albemarle, which after 1691 was known as North Carolina.
By 1700 there were only some 4,000 freeholders, predominantly of English
stock, along Albemarle Sound. There, with the labor of indentured servants and African- and Native-American slaves, they raised
tobacco, corn, and livestock, mostly on small farms. The people were semi-isolated; only vessels of light draft could negotiate
the narrow and shallow passages through the island barriers. Furthermore, communication by land was almost impossible, except
with Virginia, and even then swamps and forests made it difficult. There was some trade (primarily with Virginia, New England,
and Bermuda).
In 1712, North Carolina was made a separate colony. The destructive war
with Native Americans of the Tuscarora tribe broke out that year. The Tuscarora were defeated, and in 1714 the remnants of
the tribe moved north to join the Iroquois Confederacy. A long, bitter boundary dispute with Virginia was partially settled
in 1728 when a joint commission ran the boundary line 240 mi (386 km) inland.
The British government made North Carolina a royal colony in 1729. Thereafter
the region developed more rapidly. The Native Americans were gradually pushed beyond the Appalachians as the Piedmont was
increasingly occupied. German and Scotch-Irish settlers followed the valleys down from Pennsylvania, and Highland Scots established
themselves along the Cape Fear River. These varied ethnic elements, in addition to smaller groups of Swiss, French, and Welsh
that had migrated to the region earlier in the century, gradually amalgamated. There has been little new immigration since
colonial days, and North Carolina's white population is now largely homogeneous.
Resistance and Revolution
In 1768 the back-country farmers, justifiably
enraged by the excessive taxes imposed by a legislature dominated by the eastern aristocracy, organized the Regulator movement
in an attempt to effect reforms. The insurgents were suppressed at Alamance in 1771 by the provincial militia led by Gov.
William Tryon, who had seven of the Regulators executed.
After the outbreak of the American Revolution, royal authority collapsed.
A provisional government was set up, the disputed Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence was allegedly promulgated (May,
1775), and the provincial congress instructed (Apr. 12, 1776) the colony's delegates to the Continental Congress to support
complete independence from Britain. Most Loyalists, including Highland Scots, fled North Carolina after their defeat (Feb.
27, 1776) at the battle of Moores Creek Bridge near Wilmington. The British, however, did not give up hope of Tory assistance
in the state until their failure in the Carolina campaign (1780–81). The designation of North Carolinians as “Tar
Heels” was said to have originated during that campaign when patriotic citizens poured tar into a stream across which
Cornwallis's men retreated, emerging with the substance sticking to their heels.
Westward Expansion and Civic Improvements
Settlements had been established
beyond the mountains before the Revolution (see Watauga Association and Transylvania Company) and were increased after the
war. In 1784 North Carolina ceded its western lands to the United States, spurring the transmontane people to organize a new,
short-lived government (see Franklin, State of). Within the year North Carolina repealed the act ceding the land; however,
the cession was reenacted in 1789, and that territory became (1796) the state of Tennessee.
North Carolina opposed a strong central government and did not ratify the
Constitution until Nov., 1789, months after the new U.S. government had begun to function. Little social and economic progress
was made under the state's undemocratic constitution (framed in 1776), which largely served the interests of the politically
dominant, tidewater planter aristocracy, and North Carolina appeared to be on the verge of revolution.
In 1835, however, the western part of the state, now its most populous section,
finally succeeded in enacting a constitution that abolished the property and religious qualifications for voting and holding
office (except for Jews) and provided for the popular election of governors. In the same year began the final forced removal
of most of the Cherokee; but to check the steady, voluntary outmigration of whites, internal improvements, especially the
building of railroads and plank roads, were effected. The Public School Law (1839) inaugurated free education, and other important
reforms were instituted. The period of progress continued until the Civil War.
Secession and Civil War
Few North Carolinians held slaves, and considerable
antislavery sentiment existed until the 1830s, when organized agitation by Northern abolitionists began, provoking a defensive
reaction that North Carolinians shared with most Southerners. Yet it was a native of the state, Hinton Rowan Helper, who made
the most notable southern contribution to antislavery literature. Not until President Lincoln's call for troops after the
firing on Fort Sumter did the state secede and join (May, 1861) the Confederacy. The coast was ideal for blockade-running,
and the last important Confederate port to fall (Jan., 1865) was Wilmington (see Fort Fisher).
Gov. Zebulon B. Vance zealously defended the state's rights against what
he considered encroachments by the Confederate government. Although many small engagements were fought on North Carolina soil,
the state was not seriously invaded until almost the end of the war when Gen. William Sherman and his huge army moved north
from Georgia. After engagements at Averasboro and Bentonville in Mar., 1865, Confederate Gen. J. E. Johnston surrendered (Apr.
26, 1865) to Sherman near Durham; next to Lee's capitulation at Appomattox, it was the largest (and almost the last) surrender
of the war.
Reconstruction and Agrarian Revolt
In May, 1865, President Andrew Johnson
applied his plan of Reconstruction to the state. The radical Republicans in Congress, however, adopted their own scheme in
1867, and the Carolinas, organized as the second military district, were again occupied by federal troops. The Reconstruction
constitution of 1868 abolished slavery, removed all religious tests for holding office, and provided for the popular election
of all state and county officials. In 1871 the legislature, with conservatives again in control, impeached and convicted Gov.
William H. Holden.
The often maligned period of Reconstruction actually saw the beginning of
the modern state, with a tremendous rise in industry in the Piedmont. Increased use of tobacco in the Civil War stimulated
the growth of tobacco manufacturing (first centered at Durham), and the introduction of the cigarette-making machine in the
early 1880s was an immense boon to the industry, creating tobacco barons such as James B. Duke and R. J. Reynolds.
Agriculture, however, was in a critically depressed condition. The old plantation
system had been replaced by farm tenancy, which long remained the dominant system of holding land. Much farm property was
destroyed, credit was largely unavailable, and transportation systems broke down. The nationwide agrarian revolt reached North
Carolina in the Granger movement (1875), the Farmers' Alliance (1887), and the Populist party, which united with the Republicans
to carry the state elections in 1894 and 1896. However, the Fusionists (as members of the alliance were called) were blamed
for the rise of black control in many tidewater towns and counties, and in the election of 1898, when the Red Shirts, like
the Ku Klux Klan of Reconstruction days, were active, the Democrats regained control.
Progress in the Twentieth Century
The turn of the century marked the
beginning of a new progressive era, typified by the successful airplane experiments of the Wright Brothers near Kitty Hawk.
The crusade for public education for both whites and blacks led by Gov. Charles B. Aycock, elected in 1900, had a wide impact,
and new interest was created in developing the state's agricultural and industrial resources. However, one old pattern was
strengthened when a suffrage amendment, the “grandfather clause” assuring white supremacy, was added (1900) to
the state constitution.
Since World War I the state government has increasingly followed a policy
of consolidation and centralization, taking over the public school system and the supervision of county finances and roads.
A huge highway development program, begun by the counties in 1921, was assumed by the state a decade later when the counties
could no longer meet the costs. Expenditures for higher education were greatly increased, and the three major state educational
institutions were merged into a greater entity, the Univ. of North Carolina. North Carolina, more than many other Southern
states, was able to make a peaceful adjustment to integration in the public schools following the Supreme Court's desegregation
ruling in 1954.
Industrialization burgeoned after World War II, and in the 1950s the value
of manufactured goods surpassed that of agriculture for the first time, as North Carolina became the leading industrial state
in the Southeast. The Charlotte and Raleigh-Durham airports were both transformed into major air-travel hubs during the 1980s,
reflecting the tremendous growth (most of it suburban) in those metropolitan areas, which were becoming financial, business,
and research boomtowns. Traditional, low-skill industries have been gradually replaced by high-technology concerns, especially
in the Research Triangle between Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill, which draws on the resources of the three cities' universities.
Farming in North Carolina has become increasingly dominated by the large-scale production of hogs and broiler chickens, raising
environmental concerns about the disposal of their waste. In Sept., 1999, floods on the Cape Fear and other rivers followed
Hurricane Floyd, causing widespread devastation in the southeast. for more on North Carolina please visit www.visitnc.com
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North Dakota Friends
Capital: Bismarck
State abbreviation/Postal code: N.D./ND
Governor: John Hoeven, R (to Dec. 15, 2008)
Lieut. Governor: Jack Dalrymple, R (to Dec. 15, 2008)
Senators: Kent Conrad, D (to Jan. 2013); Byron L. Dorgan, D (to Jan. 2011)
U.S. Representatives: 1
Secy. of State: Alvin A. Jaeger, R (to Dec. 31, 2008)
Treasurer: Kelly Schmidt, R (to Dec. 31, 2008)
Atty. General: Wayne Stenehjem, R (to Dec. 31, 2008)
Organized as territory: March 2, 1861
Entered Union (rank): Nov. 2, 1889 (39)
Present constitution adopted: 1889
Motto: Liberty and union, now and forever: one and inseparable
State symbols:
tree American elm (1947)
bird western meadowlark (1947)
song “North Dakota Hymn” (1947)
fish northern pike (1969)
grass western wheatgrass (1977)
fossil teredo petrified wood (1967)
beverage milk
(1983)
state march Spirit of the Land (1975)
flower wild prairie rose (1907)
equine Nokota horse (1993)
dance
square dance (1995)
Nickname: Sioux State; Flickertail State; Peace Garden State; Rough Rider State
Origin of name: From the Sioux tribe, meaning “allies”
10 largest cities (2005 est.): Fargo, 90,672; Bismarck, 57,377; Grand Forks, 49,792; Minot, 34,984; West
Fargo, 19,487; Mandan, 17,225; Dickinson, 15,666; Jamestown, 14,826; Williston, 12,193; Wahpeton, 8,220
Land area: 68,976 sq mi. (178,648 sq km)
Geographic center: In Sheridan Co., 5 mi. SW of McClusky
Number of counties: 53
Largest county by population and area: Cass, 131,019 (2005); McKenzie, 2,742 sq mi.
State parks: 17
Residents: North Dakotan
2005 resident population est.: 636,677
North Dakota was explored in 1738–1740 by French Canadians led by Sieur de la Verendrye. In 1803,
the U.S. acquired most of North Dakota from France in the Louisiana Purchase. Lewis and Clark explored the region in 1804–1806,
and the first settlements were made at Pembina in 1812 by Scottish and Irish families while this area was still in dispute
between the U.S. and Great Britain. In 1818, the U.S. obtained the northeast part of North Dakota by treaty with Great Britain
and took possession of Pembina in 1823. However, the region remained largely unsettled until the construction of the railroad
in the 1870s and 1880s.
North Dakota is the most rural of all the states, with farms covering more than 90% of the land. North Dakota
ranks first in the nation's production of spring and durum wheat; other agricultural products include barley, rye, sunflowers,
dry edible beans, honey, oats, flaxseed, sugar beets, hay, beef cattle, sheep, and hogs.
Recently, manufacturing industries have grown, especially food processing and farm equipment. The state's
coal and oil reserves are plentiful, and it also produces natural gas, lignite, clay, sand, and gravel.
The Garrison Dam on the Missouri River provides extensive irrigation and produces 400,000 kilowatts of electricity
for the Missouri Basin areas.
Known for its waterfowl, grouse, pheasant, and deer hunting and bass, trout, and pike fishing, North Dakota
has 20 state parks and recreation areas. Points of interest include the International Peace Garden near Dunseith, Fort Union
Trading Post National Historic Site near Williston, Knife River Indian Villages National Historic Site in Stanton, the State
Capitol at Bismarck, the Badlands, Theodore Roosevelt National Park, and Fort Abraham Lincoln State Park.
History
Native Americans and the Fur Traders
The first farmers in the region of whom there is definite
knowledge were Native Americans of the Mandan tribe. Other agricultural tribes were the Arikara and the Hidatsa. Seminomadic
and nomadic tribes were the Cheyenne, Cree, Sioux, Assiniboin, Crow, and Ojibwa (Chippewa).
With the Louisiana Purchase of 1803 the northwestern half of North Dakota became part of the United States.
The southeastern half was acquired from Great Britain in 1818 when the international line with Canada was fixed at the 49th
parallel. Earlier the Lewis and Clark expedition had wintered (1804–5) with the Mandan and the North West Company and
the Hudson's Bay Company had established trading posts in the Red River valley. These ventures introduced an industry that
dominated the region for more than half a century. Within that era the buffalo vanished from the plains and the beaver from
the rivers.
From its post at Fort Union, which was established in 1828, John Jacob Astor's American Fur Company gradually
gained monopolistic control for a time over the region's trade. Supply and transport were greatly facilitated when a paddlewheel
steamer, the Yellowstone, inaugurated steamboat travel on the turbulent upper Missouri in 1832. Additional transportation
was provided by the supply caravans of Red River carts, which went westward across the Minnesota prairies and returned to
the Mississippi loaded with valuable pelts. In 1837, the introduction of smallpox by settlers decimated the Mandan tribe.
Early Settlers and the Sioux
An attempt at agricultural colonization was made at Pembina in 1812 (see
Red River Settlement), but the first permanent farming community was not established until 1851, when another group settled
at Pembina. This was still the only farm settlement in the future state in 1851 when the Dakota Territory was organized. The
territory included lands that would eventually became North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, and Wyoming.
Several military posts had been established starting in 1857 to protect travelers and railroad workers.
Even when free land was opened in 1863 and the Northern Pacific RR was chartered in 1864, concern with the Civil War and the
eruption of open warfare with Native Americans discouraged any appreciable settlement. Gen. Alfred H. Sully joined Gen. Henry
H. Sibley of Minnesota in campaigns against the Sioux in 1863–66. A treaty was signed in 1868. In 1876, after gold was
discovered on Native American land in the Black Hills, the unwillingness of the whites to respect treaty agreements led to
further war, and the force of George A. Custer was annihilated at the battle of the Little Bighorn in present-day Montana.
Ultimately, however, the Sioux under Chief Sitting Bull fled to Canada, where they surrendered voluntarily; they were returned
to reservations in the United States.
Immigration and Agrarian Discontent
The first cattle ranch in North Dakota was established in 1878. With
the construction of railroads in the 1870s and 80s, thousands of European immigrants, principally Scandinavians, Germans,
and Czechs, arrived. They worked the land on their own homesteads or on the large Eastern-financed bonanza wheat fields of
the low central prairies. Borrowing the idea from Europe, they founded agricultural cooperatives.
Local politics were rapidly reduced to a struggle between the agrarian groups and the corporate interests.
Alexander McKenzie of the Northern Pacific was for many years the most important figure in the state. Republicans held the
elective offices. Agrarian groups formed the Farmers' Alliance and in 1892, three years after North Dakota had achieved statehood,
the Farmers' Alliance combined with the Democrats and Populists to elect Eli Shortridge, a Populist, as governor. Later, when
the success of the La Follette Progressives in Wisconsin encouraged the growth of the Republican Progressive movement in North
Dakota, a fusion with the Democrats elected “Honest John” Burke as governor for three terms (1906–12).
The Nonpartisan League
Much of the agrarian discontent was focused on marketing practices of the large
grain interests. Although many small cooperative grain elevators were established, they did not prove effective, and the farmers
pressed for state-owned grain elevators. When this movement failed in the legislature of 1915, the Nonpartisan League, directed
in North Dakota by Arthur C. Townley, was organized on a platform that included state ownership of terminal elevators and
flour mills, state inspection of grain and grain dockage, relief of farm improvements from taxation, and rural credit banks
operated at cost.
Working primarily with the Republican party because it was the majority party in North Dakota, the league
captured the state legislature in 1919 and proceeded to enact virtually its entire platform. This included the establishment
of an industrial commission to manage state-owned enterprises and the creation of the Bank of North Dakota to handle public
funds and provide low-cost rural credit. The right of recall was also enacted, by which voters could remove an elected official.
However, the reforms were disappointing in operation.
Dissension arose within the league, and the Independent Voters Association was organized to represent the
conservative Republican position. The industrial commission was accused of maladministration, and the provision of recall
was exercised three times, the first against Gov. L. J. Frazier in 1921. William Langer, who had been active with both the
Nonpartisan League and the Independent Voters Association, was elected governor in 1932 running as a Nonpartisan. Langer was
convicted on a federal charge of misconduct in office in 1934, although the conviction was later reversed. Langer again became
governor in 1936, running as an individual candidate and not on the ticket of either party; subsequently he was elected to
the U.S. Senate four times.
Present-day North Dakota
The state's heavy dependence on wheat and petroleum has made it unusually vulnerable
to fluctuations in those markets. Red River flooding in 1997 devastated Grand Forks, adding to economic problems. In recent
years North Dakota has become more urbanized, and telecommunications and high-tech manufacturing have created jobs, but between
1990 and 2000 it had the slowest rate of population growth of all the states. For more on North Dakota and winter happenings
please visit www.ndtourism.com/vacations .
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Ohio Strong
Capital: Columbus
State abbreviation/Postal code: Ohio/OH
Governor: Ted Strickland, D (to Jan. 2011)
Lieut. Governor: Lee Fisher, D (to Jan. 2011)
Senators: Sherrod Brown, D (to Jan. 2013); George V. Voinovich, R
(to Jan. 2011)
U.S. Representatives: 18
Secy. of State: Jennifer J. Brunner, D (to Jan. 2011)
Treasurer: Richard Cordray, D (to Jan. 2011)
Atty. General: Marc Dann, D (to Jan. 2011)
Entered Union (rank): March 1, 1803 (17)
Present constitution adopted: 1851
Motto: With God all things are possible
State symbols:
flower scarlet carnation (1904)
tree buckeye (1953)
bird cardinal (1933)
insect ladybug (1975)
gemstone flint (1965)
song “Beautiful Ohio” (1969)
beverage tomato juice (1965)
fossil trilobite
(1985)
animal white-tailed deer (1988)
wildflower large white trillium (1987)
Nickname: Buckeye State
Origin of name: From an Iroquoian word meaning “great river”
10 largest cities (2005 est.): Columbus, 730,657; Cleveland,
452,208; Cincinnati, 308,728; Toledo, 301,285; Akron, 210,795;
Dayton, 158,873; Parma, 82,837; Youngstown, 81,469; Canton,
79,478; Lorain, 67,820
Land area: 40,948 sq mi. (106,055 sq km)
Geographic center: In Delaware Co., 25 mi. NNE of Columbus
Number of counties: 88
Largest county by population and area: Cuyahoga, 1,335,317
(2005); Ashtabula, 703 sq mi.
State forests: 20 (more than 183,000 ac.)
State parks: 74 (more than 204,000 ac.)
Residents: Ohioan
2005 resident population est.: 11,464,042
First explored for France by Robert Cavelier, Sieur de la Salle, in
1669, the Ohio region became British property after the French and
Indian Wars. Ohio was acquired by the U.S. after the Revolutionary
War in 1783. In 1788, the first permanent settlement was
established at Marietta, capital of the Northwest Territory.
The 1790s saw severe fighting with the Indians in Ohio; a major
battle was won by Maj. Gen. Anthony Wayne at Fallen Timbers in
1794. In the War of 1812, Commodore Oliver H. Perry defeated the
British in the Battle of Lake Erie on Sept. 10, 1813.
Ohio is one of the nation's industrial leaders, ranking third in
manufacturing employment nationwide. Important manufacturing
centers are located in or near Ohio's major cities. Akron is known
for rubber; Canton for roller bearings; Cincinnati for jet engines
and machine tools; Cleveland for auto assembly, auto parts, and
steel; Dayton for office machines, refrigeration, and heating and
auto equipment; Youngstown and Steubenville for steel; and
Toledo for glass and auto parts.
The state's fertile soil produces soybeans, corn, oats, greenhouse
and nursery products, wheat, hay, and fruit, including apples,
peaches, strawberries, and grapes. More than half of Ohio's farm
receipts come from dairy farming and sheep and hog raising. Ohio
ranks fourth among the states in lime production and also ranks
high in sand and gravel and crushed stone production.
Tourism is a valuable revenue producer, bringing in $30.7 billion in
2004. Attractions include the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Indian
burial grounds at Mound City Group National Monument, Perry's
Victory International Peace Memorial, the Pro Football Hall of Fame
at Canton, and the homes of presidents Grant, Taft, Hayes,
Harding, and Garfield.
History
Prehistory to the American Revolution
In prehistoric times Ohio was inhabited by the Mound
Builders,
many of whose mounds are preserved in state parks and in the
Hopewell Culture National Historical Park (see National Parks and
Monuments, table). Before the arrival of Europeans, E Ohio was the
scene of warfare between the Iroquois and the Erie, which resulted
in the extermination of the Erie. In addition to the Iroquois, other
Native American tribes soon prominent in the region were the
Miami, the Shawnee, and the Ottawa.
La Salle began his explorations of the Ohio valley in 1669 and
claimed the entire area for France. The Ohio River became a
magnet for fur traders and landseekers, and the British, attempting
to move in (see Ohio Company), hotly contested the French claims.
Rivalry for control of the forks of the Ohio River led to the outbreak
(1754) of the last of the French and Indian Wars. The defeat of the
French gave the land to the British, but British possession was
disturbed by Pontiac's Rebellion. The British government issued a
proclamation in 1763 forbidding settlement W of the Appalachian
Mts. Then in 1774, with the Quebec Act, the British placed the
region between the Ohio River and the Great Lakes within the
boundaries of Canada. The colonists' resentment over these acts
contributed to the discontent that led to the American Revolution,
during which military operations were conducted in the Ohio
country.
From the Settlement of the Old Northwest to Statehood
Ohio was part of the vast area ceded to the United
States by the
Treaty of Paris (1783; see Paris, Treaty of). Conflicting claims to
land in that area made by Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Virginia
were settled by relinquishment of almost all of the claims (see
Western Reserve) and the organization of the Old Northwest by the
Ordinance of 1787. Ohio was the first region developed under the
provisions of that ordinance, with the activities of the Ohio
Company of Associates promoted by Rufus Putnam and Manasseh
Cutler. Marietta, founded in 1788, was the first permanent
American settlement in the Old Northwest.
In the years that followed, various land companies were formed,
and settlers poured in from the East, either down the Ohio on
flatboats and barges, or across the mountains by wagon—their
numbers varying with conditions but steadily expanding the area's
population. The Native Americans, supported by the British,
resisted American settlement. They successfully opposed
campaigns led by Josiah Harmar and Arthur St. Clair but were
decisively defeated by Anthony Wayne in the battle of Fallen
Timbers (1794). The British thereafter (1796) withdrew their
outposts from the Northwest under the terms of Jay's Treaty, and
the area was pacified. Ohio became a territory in 1799. General St.
Clair, as the first governor, ruled in an arbitrary fashion that made
Ohioans for many years afterward distrustful of all government. In
1802 a state convention drafted a constitution, and in 1803 Ohio
entered the Union, with Chillicothe as its capital. Columbus
became the permanent capital in 1816.
The War of 1812 and Further Settlement
In the War of 1812 the Americans lost many of the early battles
of
the war that took place in the Old Northwest, and their military
frontier was pushed back to the Ohio River. Two British attacks on
Ohio soil were successfully resisted: one against Fort Meigs at the
mouth of the Maumee River and the other against Fort Stephenson
on the Sandusky. The area was further secured by Oliver Hazard
Perry's naval victory on Lake Erie near Put-in-Bay, Ohio, and
William Henry Harrison's victory in the battle of the Thames on
Canadian soil.
After the war Ohio's growth was spurred by the building of the Erie
Canal, other canals, and toll roads. The National Road was a vital
settlement and commercial artery. Settlement of the Western
Reserve by New Englanders (especially those from Connecticut)
gives NE Ohio a decidedly New England cultural landscape. Ohio's
society of small farmers exported their produce down the Ohio and
the Mississippi rivers to St. Louis and New Orleans. In 1837 Ohio
won a territorial struggle with Michigan usually called the Toledo
War. The Loan Law, adopted in the Panic of 1837, encouraged
railroad and industrial development. Railroads gradually succeeded
canals, preparing the way for the industrial expansion that
followed the Civil War.
The Civil War, Industrialization, and Politics
Most Ohioans were sympathetic with the Union in the Civil
War,
and many Ohioans served in the Union army. Native sons such as
Joshua R. Giddings, Salmon P. Chase, and Edwin M. Stanton had
long been prominent opponents of slavery. Nevertheless, the Peace
Democrats, the Knights of the Golden Circle, and the Copperheads
were very active; Clement L. Vallandigham drew many votes in the
gubernatorial election of 1863. Ohio was the scene of the
northernmost penetration of Confederate forces in the war—the
famous raid (1863) of John Hunt Morgan, which terrorized the
people of the countryside until Morgan and most of his men were
finally captured in the southeast corner of the state.
After the Civil War industrial development grew rapidly when
shipments of ore from the upper Great Lakes region increased and
the development of the petroleum industry in NE Ohio shifted the
center of economic activity from the banks of the Ohio River to the
shores of Lake Erie, particularly around Cleveland. Immigrants
began to swell the population, and huge fortunes were made.
Ohio became very important politically. The state contributed
seven American presidents: Ulysses S. Grant, Rutherford B. Hayes,
James A. Garfield, Benjamin Harrison, William McKinley, William
Howard Taft, and Warren G. Harding. Big business and politics
became entwined as in the relations of Marcus A. Hanna and
McKinley. City bosses such as Cincinnati's George B. Cox also
followed this pattern. The state as a whole was for many years
steadily Republican, despite the rise of organized labor in the late
19th cent. and considerable labor strife. In the 1890s the
reform-minded mayor of Toledo, Samuel “Golden Rule” Jones, won
national fame for his espousal of city ownership of municipal
utilities.
Twentieth-Century Developments
Floods in the many rivers flowing to the Ohio and in the Ohio River
itself have long been a problem; a devastating flood in 1913 led to
the establishment of the Miami valley conservation project.
Continuing long-term state and federal projects have improved
locks and dams along the entire length of the Ohio and its major
tributaries, for navigation as well as flood control purposes.
Both farms and industries in Ohio were hard hit by the Great
Depression that began in 1929. In the 1930s the state was
wracked by major strikes such as the sit-down strikes in Akron
(1935–36) and the so-called Little Steel strike (1937). World War
II brought great prosperity to Ohio, but labor strife later resumed,
as in the steel strikes of 1949 and 1959. Political unrest also
affected the state in the protests of the 1960s and most violently
in 1970 when four students were killed by national guardsmen
who fired on a group of Vietnam War protesters at Kent State Univ.
Ohio's economy went into massive decline in the 1970s and 80s as
the automobile, steel, and coal industries virtually collapsed,
causing unemployment to soar. Akron, once world famous as a
rubber center, stopped manufacturing rubber products altogether
by the mid-1980s. During this period, the state's northern
industrial centers were especially hard hit and lost much of their
population. Since then, Ohio has concentrated on diversifying its
economy, largely through expansion of the service sector. The
state became an important center for the health-care industry with
the opening of the Cleveland Clinic. Industrial research is also
important, with Nela Park near Cleveland and Battelle Memorial
Institute in Columbus among the more notable research centers;
there are also still important rubber research laboratories in Akron.
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