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Have you ever had something that others wanted?
Maybe it was a toy or a book. The same thing happened with the land that would become Illinois. First, the French wanted it. Then the British wanted it. Finally, the Americans wanted it.
◀ For 40 years, people from France explored the area that would become Illinois. On June 14, 1671, a French officer named Simon-François Daumont de St. Lusson claimed a big part of North America for France. This included the Great Lakes. It also included the land bordering the rivers that flowed from them. The French controlled this land for almost 100 years.
The first Europeans to reach Illinois were French explorers Louis Jolliet and Father Jacques Marquette. This was in 1673. They wanted to explore a big river that Indigenous peoples called the “Great River.” We now call it the Mississippi River. They traveled on this river for two months. ▶
◀ In 1682, another French explorer named René-Robert Cavelier de La Salle traveled down the Mississippi River. He went all the way to the Gulf of Mexico. He claimed all the land for France and named it Louisiana after the French king.
In 1698, a French explorer named Henri de Tonti chose the site for the first European settlement in Illinois. It was called Cahokia. This name came from a Native American tribe who lived in the area. Cahokia became an important trading place for boats on the Mississippi River. Years later, the land was given up to Britain. ▶
◀ France and Britain fought a war over land that included Illinois. It was called the French and Indian War. Many Indigenous peoples helped France. Some helped Britain. Britain won the war. In 1763, France gave Illinois to the British. After this, Indigenous peoples started losing their land to British settlers.
His name was Jean Baptiste Pointe duSable. It’s likely he was born in Haiti in 1745. He settled near the Chicago River in the 1770s. DuSable was the first non-Indigenous settler to live in what is now Chicago. He spoke many languages. He also had a successful trading business. Etzer Cantave, president of the DuSable Heritage Association, described him this way. ▶
DuSable had such a business acumen [skill] that he took advantage of all the economic possibilities that the area had to offer and then presented them in a way that served his community, that served his partners and developed not only Chicago but the Midwest.
▲ In 1803, the United States had bought the Louisiana Territory from France. President Thomas Jefferson wanted to explore this land. He chose Meriwether Lewis and William Clark to lead an exploring group. The group was called the Corps of Discovery. In 1804, they started their journey in Illinois where two big rivers meet. They wanted to make maps. To find a way to the Pacific Ocean. To learn about plants and animals there. And to make peace with Indigenous peoples. Their journey lasted two years and covered 8,000 miles.
Think Piece!
Imagine you were a member of the Corps of Discovery. How do you think you would feel about being part of the expedition?
◀ After becoming part of the United States, Illinois wasn’t a state right away. In 1787, it became part of the Northwest Territory. In 1809, it became the Illinois Territory. Finally, in 1818, Illinois became the 21st state of the United States.
