In the 1810s settlers began arriving from Kentucky; in 1818 Illinois achieved statehood. The state filled up from south to north. Chicago was founded in the 1830s on the banks of the Chicago River, one of the few natural harbors on southern Lake Michigan. Railroads and John Deere's invention of the self-scouring steel plow turned Illinois' rich prairie into some of the world's most productive and valuable farmlands, attracting immigrant farmers from Germany and Sweden. By 1900, the growth of industrial jobs in the northern cities and coal mining in the central and southern areas attracted immigrants from Eastern and Southern Europe.
Three U.S. Presidents have been elected while living in Illinois — Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant, and Barack Obama. The only President actually born and raised in Illinois was Ronald Reagan, although in his adult life he became associated with California and was living there at the time of his election to the presidency. Today, Illinois honors Lincoln with its official state slogan, Land of Lincoln, which is displayed on its license plates.
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
|
