1. Chapter Three From Territory to Statehood
Illinois
Chapter Three
From Territory to Statehood

2. Illinois Territory – The Fort Dearborn Massacre Pages 38-43

3. Illinois Territory – The Fort Dearborn Massacre
Ninian Edwards
Named territorial governor by President Madison
Wealthy, Kentucky aristocrat
Arrived six months after the territory was established
Territorial secretary conducted business until he arrived

4. Illinois Territory – The Fort Dearborn Massacre
Nathaniel Pope
Territorial secretary
Cousin of Edwards
Brother of Sen. John Pope
24 year old lawyer
Fluent in French

5. Illinois Territory – The Fort Dearborn Massacre
Major issues in Illinois
Who was entitled to the franchise? (the right to vote)
Issue of landownership
The Franchise
Northwest Ordinance stated land owners only could vote.
Only about 220 of 12,000 could prove land ownership.
More people wanted to participate in govt. (Indiana obtained the right to elect their own delegate to Congress)

6. Illinois Territory – The Fort Dearborn Massacre
Edwards called for a referendum on expanding the franchise.
Vote by people on a single question/issue
Referendum passed and Edwards petitioned Congress for change.
Second-grade territorial govt.
All free white males living in the territory for at least one year and having paid taxes could vote.
Oct. of 1812, first legislature and rep to U.S. Congress was elected.

7. Illinois Territory – The Fort Dearborn Massacre
Land
French claims had been contested and ignored.
Fraud occurred under British rule.
American Confederation govt. reinstated French claims and awarded land to Rev. War Vets from Illinois.
Large tracts of land were claimed by a small group of wealthy and influential land speculators.
John Edgar- 49,000 + acres
William Morrison and brothers- 15,000+ acres
Federal commissioners reported speculators were guilty of forgery and perjury.
900 land claims were found fraudulent and illegal.
1810 surveyors began to establish township and sections lines.

8. Illinois Territory – The Fort Dearborn Massacre
1814 land was offered for sale.
Two land offices were established
Kaskaskia
Shawneetown
A 3rd office opened in Edwardsville two yrs. later
Squatters were given first right of purchase.
Land purchases increased after the War of 1812 ended.
Land sold for $2 an acre.
1820, price dropped to $1.25 an acre. (80 acres for $100)
3.5 million acres were reserved for vets from the War of 1812.
Many vets sold to speculators for as little as .10 an acre.
Despite efforts to help homesteaders, speculators acquired much land.

10. Illinois Territory – The Fort Dearborn Massacre
Indians
Illinois faced a continued threat from Indians.
British were blamed, but the Indians would resist the American invasion of their land.
Battle of Tippecanoe (1811)
Shawnee chief Tecumseh and his brother Tenskwatawa (the Prophet) led a coalition of tribes.
Lost to William Henry Harrison at the Tippecanoe River in Indiana.
Indians joined with the British in the War of 1812.
In Illinois, Indians outnumbered settlers ten to one.
Raids were made on isolated settlements and homesteads.

11. Illinois Territory – The Fort Dearborn Massacre
Congress sent soldiers, those in Illinois were placed on alert.
Gov. Edwards paid for other militia companies out of his own pocket.
He ordered the construction of Fort Russell (Edwardsville) and a series of blockhouses.
Fort Dearborn
1779, Du Sable (first permanent resident of Chicago) established a trading post on the Chicago River. (present day Chicago)
Established a mill.
Prospered at this location, later sold and moved.
1803, Ft. Dearborn was built.

12. Illinois Territory – The Fort Dearborn Massacre
Captain John Whistler
In charge of building Ft. Dearborn
Good duty station & many men re-enlisted to stay there
Father of Chicago
His Grandson was James Abbott McNeil Whistler
The War of 1812
The new commander of Ft. Dearborn was Capt. Nathan Heald.
Ordered by Gen. Hull at Ft. Detroit to abandon the fort, destroy arms and ammunition, and dispose of nonmilitary goods.

13. Illinois Territory – The Fort Dearborn Massacre
John Kinzie, a fur trader who lived nearby, and the Indian who brought the order urged Heald to disregard the orders.
Kinzie told him if he would not stay, then he should leave immediately to avoid hostile Indians.
The Massacre
Five days later Heald made a decision
Heald gave away or destroyed everything that was not needed.
Heald only allowed 25 rounds of ammunition per man.

14. Illinois Territory – The Fort Dearborn Massacre
August 15, 1812
They had traveled 1½ miles before the Indians attacked
60 men, 2 women, and 12 children were killed
5 women captured and the fate of several children remained unknown.
Some were killed and tortured after they surrendered.
Heald & his wife were spared and eventually were able to escape.
Kinzie put his family onto a boat and sent them off to safety; he survived.
Fort Dearborn was burned.

15. Illinois Territory – The Fort Dearborn Massacre
Impact of the Massacre
Land sales virtually ceased.
New arrivals declined
Settlers fled
Retaliation by the Americans led to the destruction of several peaceful Indian villages and later to compensation by Illinois.
1814, the territory offered a bounty for the killing of hostile Indian warriors and the capture of women and children.
1816, Fort Dearborn was rebuilt and Fort Armstrong was built at Rock Island.

16. Statehood
Pages 43-47

17. Statehood Illinois Grows
After the end of the War of 1812, many people immigrated to the IL. Territory.
Many came from Southern states.
Most followed water routes west.
Shawneetown was the gateway to the Illinois territory.

18. Statehood Travel by Water
The first steamboat traveled down the Ohio River in the winter of
The first steamboat did not reach St. Louis until 1817.
Flatboats were the most common form of travel.

19. Statehood Flatboats The National Highway
Easy and inexpensive to construct
Carried 25 to 100 tons of cargo
Combination log cabin, fort, barnyard, and grocery
Could be dismantled and sold for lumber
The National Highway
In later years, settlers traveled the Cumberland Road to Illinois.
It started in Wheeling, Virginia
Ended in Vandalia, Illinois

20. Statehood The Drive for Statehood
Illinois was growing slower than Indiana (1816).
Indians, sparse population, and lack of economic development hindered growth in Illinois.
Despite these issues the campaign for statehood began in 1817.

21. Statehood Daniel Pope Cook Leader in the movement for statehood.
Part owner in the first newspaper (Illinois Herald, later renamed Illinois Intelligencer)
Appointed first Auditor of Public Accounts by Territorial Gov. Ninian Edwards.
Elected Clerk of the Territorial Legislature.
Nephew of Nathaniel Pope
Future son-in-law of Gov. Edwards

22. Statehood Arguments for Statehood December 1817
Governor had irreversible veto power
General Assembly had limited power
Legislative body
Representatives to Congress had no vote
Land values would increase
This would generate revenue to cover the costs of govt. now paid by the Federal government
December 1817
Gov. Edwards recommended that a census be taken in preparation for application for statehood.
Official count or survey
Legislature drew up a petition for statehood estimating a pop. Of 40,000 and sent it to the U.S. Congress.

23. Statehood Nathanial Pope
Delegate to Congress for Illinois Territory
Daniel Cook’s uncle
Chairman of the committee that considered the petition.
Privately doubted the pop. count and concerned about the petition.
Promoted bill in the House of Representatives outlining steps for statehood.
Amendment to the bill extended northern border 40 miles (Chicago and 14 counties)
Linked to Lake Michigan for commerce and tied IL to the North

24. Statehood Census Fraud
Population requirement dropped from 60,000 to 40,000
Bill passed and signed by President Monroe
Statehood granted pending a census and a constitution
Census Fraud
The census would be conducted by Illinois.
It was apparent that the pop. count would fall short.
Deadline was extended
Creative counting occurred
Multiple counts, migrants counted, estimates of rural areas, areas outside of the proposed state lines counted.
Official state count was 40,258
Later, Fed report stated IL had a pop. of 34,620 in 1818.
Count was accepted by Congress.
Statehood

25. Statehood State Constitution Free or Slave State
State constitutional convention was held Aug
Modeled on NY, Ohio, and KY state constitution
Sent to congress for approval
Free or Slave State
NW ordinance called for no slavery.
Many Illinois settlers had southern roots and owned slaves.
Convention was divided.

26. Statehood
Compromise
Current slaves could be kept but no new slaves were to be brought into IL (property rights)
Illinois would be a free state with some “grandfathered” slaves.
Slaves would be used in state owned salt mines until 1825

27. Statehood State Elections Congress passed resolution on statehood.
Shadrach Bond ran unopposed for governor.
Pierre Menard - Lieutenant Governor
John McLean – U.S. Representative
Ninian Edwards and Jesse Thomas were chosen by the legislature as U.S. Senators.
Congress passed resolution on statehood.
President Monroe signed the resolution.
Illinois became the 21st state on December 3, 1818.

28. State Capitals, Slavery, and Shawneetown Pages 48-55

29. State Capitals, Slavery, and Shawneetown
The Capital of Illinois
1818 Kaskaskia- first state capital
Flooding was a problem
Speculators wanted a new capital
Central location
Congress intervened
1819 Vandalia- second capital
82 miles from Kaskaskia
Site of the first statehouse
Uninhabited region
Poor accommodations

30. State Capitals, Slavery, and Shawneetown
Slow Growth
Panic of 1819 hurt Illinois
Private banks failed in Illinois
State ventures in banking failed
Living conditions were unhealthy
“the fever” or “the ague” (malaria)
Slavery
1819 Black Laws
Limited freedom and rights of slaves and indentured servants
No slaves brought in for manumission. (Freeing of slaves)
Free blacks had to file certificates of freedom.
Punishment for whites aiding runaways

31. State Capitals, Slavery, and Shawneetown
Missouri Compromise
The Missouri Compromise was a United States federal statute devised by Henry Clay. It regulated slavery in the country's western territories by prohibiting the practice in the former Louisiana Territory north of the parallel 36°30′ north, except within the boundaries of the proposed state of Missouri.
Supported by both senators
Opposed by Congressman
McLean lost his seat to Daniel Pope Cook.

32. State Capitals, Slavery, and Shawneetown
Election of 1822
Edward Coles elected governor
Anti-slavery (Freed his slaves in Virginia)
Won with 33% (vote was split between three others, 2 pro-slavery)
Battle over Slavery
Pro-slavery legislators proposed a constitutional amendment legalizing slavery.
Required a vote for a convention
¾ of the legislators and
Majority of voters

33. State Capitals, Slavery, and Shawneetown
Vote in the Legislators
First vote failed by one vote
Pro-slavery advocates were able to remove one member and replace him with a likeminded man.
Second vote passed
Vote on Convention
Pro-slavery people appealed to those with southern sympathies and promises of economic prosperity.
Coles wanted the Black Laws repealed and slavery abolished.
Campaigned and financed the fight against the convention
The Vote
The proposal was defeated 6,640 to 4,972.
NO SLAVERY IN IL.

34. State Capitals, Slavery, and Shawneetown
1745 established by Shawnee Indians
Vacated but resettled because of the salt mines worked by the federal government and later the state.
Village planned by the fed. government.
Washington D.C. was the only other
Gateway to Illinois and Missouri
Supply point and land office
2nd territorial newspaper (Emigrant)
Home to one of two banks in IL
Prone to flooding
1937 moved to higher ground