Michigan Michigan is located in the northern Midwest. Michigan has a most unusual shape because it touches on four of the five Great Lakes. The western edge of Lake Erie forms the southeastern border of Michigan while Lake Huron defines most of its eastern border. There is a tiny strip of Canada bordering Michigan between these lakes. Lake Huron and Lake Michigan divide Michigan into two pieces termed the Upper Peninsula and the Lower Peninsula. The Lower Peninsula is shaped like a mitten with Lake Huron to the east and Lake Michigan to the west. Indiana and Ohio are to the south of the Lower Peninsula. Most of the population of Michigan lives in the southern half of the Lower Peninsula. The Upper Peninsula of Michigan is a relatively small and sparsely populated piece of land bound by Lake Michigan to the south and Lake Superior to the north. The southwestern portion of the Upper Peninsula borders on the state of Wisconsin. The Mackinac Bridge links the Upper and Lower Peninsula at the Straits of Mackinac where Lake Michigan joins Lake Huron. This bridge was completed in 1957 and, at five miles in length it is the third longest suspension bridge in the world. Early History Present-day Michigan was occupied by many groups of Native Americans before any Europeans explored the area. The Ojibwa and Menominee people occupied the Upper Peninsula while the Potawatomi, Miami Kickapoo, Fox, Sauk, and Huron people lived in the southern regions of the Lower Peninsula. The Odawa people lived in the northern Lower Peninsula. Each group had its own territory in Michigan and seldom fought with each other. In the early 1600s, France controlled Canada and French explorers had discovered the Great Lakes while looking for a route to China. Etienne Brule is credited with being the first European explorer to reach Michigan in his travels between 1618 and 1621. Few others explored the area until Father Jacques Marquette, a French missionary priest, built a settlement in 1668 at Sault Sainte Marie where Canada, the Upper Peninsula and the tip of Lake Superior meet today. This city still exists. In the early 1700s, the French built Fort Michilimackinac at the upper tip of the Lower Peninsula.
French traders came to Michigan in search of furs, especially beaver, mink and fox. Native Americans sold furs to the traders who then sent them back to Europe to make fashionable clothing. A French fur trader named LaSalle built a series of forts between the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River to protect the fur trade. Another French trader named Cadillac built Fort Ponchatrain which was another main fur trading center. The city of Detroit now occupies this site. Great Britain also wanted control of the land in Michigan for its furs. So there were three groups involved: the Native Americans who lived on the land; the French who had claimed it; and the British who wanted to control it. The French and Native Americans were already working together as trading partners and formed an alliance to fight the British together. The war that resulted with Britain is called the French and Indian War, lasting from 1754 until 1763. In November 1760, the British conquered the French fort at Detroit and then captured other French forts in the area. As the British gained control of the area, settlers moved westward from the colonies, occupying Native American lands. In early 1763 Chief Pontiac of the Odawa tribe began attacking British forts in Pennsylvania northwest to Lake Superior. His forces attacked the fort at Detroit, now under British control, and held it under siege for seven months. Meanwhile the French surrendered to the British, ending the French and Indian War, and Pontiac realized that he no longer had an ally. His warriors gave up the fight. The area around Michigan was too far from the thirteen colonies to be involved in the Revolutionary War. However the British still controlled the fort at Detroit and used it as a transfer point, routing soldiers through Canada to attack the colonists from the west. At the conclusion of the war, the peace treaty set the northern boundary between present-day Michigan and Canada, where it remains today. Towards Statehood Originally Michigan was part of the Northwest Territory of the United States, but in 1805 there were enough settlers for President Thomas Jefferson to create a separate Michigan Territory. The Michigan Territory had the same shape as Michigan today and Detroit was the territorial capital.
Again in 1812 the young United States and Great Britain went to war against each other. The British wanted to regain control of the Great Lakes. British troops attacked and defeated American forces at Detroit and Fort Mackinac, two forts that guarded the American border with Canada. The British also took much of the Lower Peninsula during the War of 1812. However the British were eventually defeated and the U.S. regained its territory and forts in Michigan. Settlers preferred to move to the farm ground south of Michigan, in Ohio and Indiana. Michigan territorial governor Lewis Cass pressed for better roads to Michigan. Also in 1825, workers completed the Erie Canal which linked New York State to the Great Lakes. Using water transportation, settlers now had a relatively inexpensive and easy route to Michigan that did not involve wagons. Michigan became a state in 1837 and by 1840 Michigan s population was over 200,000.
Circle True or False after analyzing each of the following statements. 1. True False The state of Michigan has an unusual shape because it borders on four of the five Great Lakes. 2. True False Michigan is divided into two pieces called North Michigan and South Michigan. 3. True False The Mackinac Bridge links the Upper and Lower Peninsula at the Straits of Mackinac where Lake Michigan joins Lake Huron. This bridge is the third longest bridge in the world. 4. True False Father Jacques Marquette, a French missionary priest, built a settlement in 1668 at Sault Sainte Marie where Canada, the Upper Peninsula and the tip of Lake Superior meet today. 5. True False French traders came to Michigan in search of agricultural products, especially corn, beans and squash that the Native Americans grew. 6. True False During the French and Indian War Chief Pontiac of the Odawa tribe fought to gain control of the French forts. 7. True False In the Revolutionary War the British controlled the fort at Detroit and used it as a transfer point, routing soldiers through Canada to attack the colonists from the west. 8. True False The northern boundary between present-day Michigan and Canada is the same as it was when the peace treaty was signed ending the Revolutionary War. 9. True False At the end of the War of 1812 new settlers came to Michigan to take advantage of the fertile farm ground like they did in Indiana and Ohio. 10. True False The executives running automobile companies in Detroit were referring to Michigan and Detroit history when they named the automobiles Cadillac and Pontiac.
Answers 1. True 2. False 3. False 4. True 5. False 6. False 7. True 8. True 9. False 10. True