No Matter Where in The U.S., BlackCityInfo.com Know's What's Going On!

1. Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America at 12,830,632, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country.
   
   
2. Though ostensibly a "free state", Illinois had slavery. The French owned black slaves as late as the 1820s. Slavery was nominally banned by the Northwest Ordnance, but that was not enforced.
   
   
3. The 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 freedmen, from settling in the state.
   
   
4. The Great Migration of African Americans from the rural South to Chicago, established a large community that created the city's famous jazz and blues cultures.
   
   
5. The 2010 total gross state product for Illinois was $630 billion, placing it fifth in the nation. The 2010 per capita income was $41,411.
   
   
6. Illinois, which includes Chicago, has a wide musical heritage. Chicago is most famously associated with the development of electric (or Chicago-style) blues music. Chicago was also a center of development for early jazz and later for house music, and includes a vibrant hip hop scene and R&B.