The State of Illinois
L'état d'Illinois
The Illinois are a hybrid people. They are considered one of the Métis peoples of North America because their heritage is both French and indigenous. The language of the Illinois is French, but their dialect contains words and phrases from the language of the ancestral Illinois, or Inoca. Today it is multi-ethnic like any modern state, but at the core of its identity are the ethnic Illinois people.
Illinois grew into the breadbasket of the Confederation in the second half of the nineteenth century, giving it increased economic and political power. It was known as a champion of confederalism - unity among the states. The growth of industry changed its character yet again, but it has never lost its unique cultural identity.
Illinois grew into the breadbasket of the Confederation in the second half of the nineteenth century, giving it increased economic and political power. It was known as a champion of confederalism - unity among the states. The growth of industry changed its character yet again, but it has never lost its unique cultural identity.
Map and counties
Illinois is divided into counties (French comtés) - a decidedly Anglo-Saxon name. This is because the first people to form civil subdivisions in Illinois were the English minority in the south-central part of the state. As new population centers rose, the state government created new counties to serve their needs.
Explanation of the place-names:
- Culpeper, Vandalia, and Harper: The Anglo-Virginian settlers who farmed the upper Kaskasquia River organized these three counties for themselves at a time when they thought they would probably end up as Virginian territory. Culpeper is named for a county in Lower Virginia, Vandalia is named for an eighteenth-century colony in present-day Upper Virginia, and Harper comes from Alexander Harper, though the county was originally called something else. Harper commanded the Illinois militia during the Kishwauki War and is considered the "First English Illinoisan." His decision to fight with the Illinois helped to unite the French and English of the territory.
- Kaskasquia and Cahoquia: These counties take their names from the two original chief towns of the Illinois Country. They are considered the cradle of Illinois Métis society.
- Catherine: Named for the wife of King Jerome of New France in honor of his granting autonomy to Illinois.
- Lenapija and Cinkouia: Split off from other counties in the mid-19th century, these were both fancifully named for creatures in Inoca folklore, the Underwater Panther and the Thunder Beings.
- Penkichinka: From the Miami-Illinois word for West.
- Ouabache, Saguimont, Vermilion, Mackinac, Cristal-de-Roche, Theakiki, Aux-Plaines, and Renards: These counties all take their names from rivers (the Wabash, Sangamon, Vermilion, Mackinaw, Rock, Kankakee, Des Plaines, and Fox Rivers, respectively).
- Pelees: Named for the Bald Hills, a voyageurs' name for landforms along this stretch of the Mississippi.
- Marquette, Rocheblave, Godin, Fourgon, and Linville: Named for important figures in Illinois history. Father Marquette famously preached to the Illinois and was one of the first Frenchmen to visit the area. The Chevalier de Rocheblave commanded the fort in the late 18th century and helped align some of the northern tribes with the growing colony. Captain Godin is honored as "the founder of modern Illinois" for his defense of the territory and firm support of self-government. Governor Fourgon was the only autonomous governor of the state during the Imperial era and signed the declaration of independence from France. And Chief Minister Linville, Illinois's favorite son, is credited with forging the ASB in its modern form.
- Saquenuc: Saukenuk, the great Sac village on Rock Island in the Mississippi River, grew into an important port.
- Saint-Louis: Named in honor of the French Fort that the Sieur de La Salle built in the seventeenth century on a great rock overlooking the Illinois River.
- Peoria and Pimiteoui: Pimiteoui was an alternative name for Peoria in earlier days, and it was adopted for this county just south of the capital.
History
The ancestral Illinois
The Illinois Confederacy preceded the colony and is seen as the ancestor of the modern state. Unlike tribal confederations like the Iroquois, which were formed to unite disparate tribes, the Inoca began as a single tribe that divided into smaller units as it grew and prospered. The tribes had lived in Illinois since time immemorial, having no tradition of migration from elsewhere. The Illinois therefore believe that their ancestors built and ruled the great city of earthen pyramids called Cahoquia. Archaeologists have estimated that Cahokia's age of greatness began around 1050, and many Illinois people today cite that date as the starting point for their society. Modern scholars are mostly silent on the question of when the Inoca tribe was founded.
However and whenever it began, by the time the French made contact, the Inoca confederacy was the dominant power in the present-day states of Illinois, Upper Louisiana, the Arques, and nearby parts of Dakota and the Upper Country. The confederacy consisted of five large tribes and seven smaller ones. It had a class of great chiefs - "great captains," in the words of Father Marquette - who were recognized as having authority over the chiefs of individual tribes and villages.
A series of wars between the Iroquois and their neighbors brought many refugees into the region; the refugees created new alliances that threatened the rule of the Inoca. By the 1660s the confederation was still powerful, but its influence extended no further than the borders of the present-day state, and this influence was diminishing. During this time, the first French traders began to move through the Illinois country.
However and whenever it began, by the time the French made contact, the Inoca confederacy was the dominant power in the present-day states of Illinois, Upper Louisiana, the Arques, and nearby parts of Dakota and the Upper Country. The confederacy consisted of five large tribes and seven smaller ones. It had a class of great chiefs - "great captains," in the words of Father Marquette - who were recognized as having authority over the chiefs of individual tribes and villages.
A series of wars between the Iroquois and their neighbors brought many refugees into the region; the refugees created new alliances that threatened the rule of the Inoca. By the 1660s the confederation was still powerful, but its influence extended no further than the borders of the present-day state, and this influence was diminishing. During this time, the first French traders began to move through the Illinois country.
Emergence of the Illinois Métis
French habitants began to build farming villages around 1700, the first appearing next to the existing Inoca villages of Cahoquia and Kaskasquia. By then, the confederation was facing serious threats from Iroquois raids, ongoing friction with newcomers to the region, and diseases brought by the French themselves. With their power and their numbers declining, the Illinois had to rely more on their alliance with the French. They became the most loyal ally in the region. Illinois villages that did not have adjoining French forts shrank or disappeared. The core of the confederacy shifted to the line of towns in the Mississippi Bottom, the ribbon of flat, fertile soil to the east of the river. The modern Illinois people came from the mixed settlements that took shape there.
Both the Illinois Indians and the French habitants contributed to the emerging culture. The French brought their language and the Catholic religion. The Indians brought styles of clothing and housing suited to life in the bottom lands and up on the prairie. A form of communal land ownership characterized the settlements, a practice known to the French and acceptable to the Indians. Such Illinois cultural elements as food, music, and dance styles truly were new combinations not seen elsewhere in America or Europe.
By the second half of the eighteenth century, the lines between French and Inoca were already blurring. A great many habitants had family from both cultures. Local leaders had dual roles, as French colonial magistrates and confederation chiefs. "Les Illinois" came to be recognized as a unique, mixed-blood, French-speaking ethnic group. Ethnic Illinois began to migrate across the Mississippi River and elsewhere, bringing a sense of Illinois identity with them.
Both the Illinois Indians and the French habitants contributed to the emerging culture. The French brought their language and the Catholic religion. The Indians brought styles of clothing and housing suited to life in the bottom lands and up on the prairie. A form of communal land ownership characterized the settlements, a practice known to the French and acceptable to the Indians. Such Illinois cultural elements as food, music, and dance styles truly were new combinations not seen elsewhere in America or Europe.
By the second half of the eighteenth century, the lines between French and Inoca were already blurring. A great many habitants had family from both cultures. Local leaders had dual roles, as French colonial magistrates and confederation chiefs. "Les Illinois" came to be recognized as a unique, mixed-blood, French-speaking ethnic group. Ethnic Illinois began to migrate across the Mississippi River and elsewhere, bringing a sense of Illinois identity with them.
From confederation to colony
In the18th century, the French administration officially called Illinois Haute-Louisiane, treating it as a northern extension of their colony in Louisiana. But Illinois had broad de facto autonomy. For one thing, there was the sheer distance between Illinois and the centers of French power in New Orleans and Quebec. In addition, local administrators' roles were merging with the roles of confederation chiefs, encouraging them to have a "national" outlook often different from the colonial French point of view. Finally, Illinois was able to exploit rivalry between Louisiana and Canada to win more local control over its affairs.
In the 1760s France built Saint-Louis on the other side of the Mississippi River to be a new center of trade and administration, one that would be more subservient to colonial rule than the precocious Illinois. The city became the focus of subsequent French settlement, and a division emerged between the reliable colony to the west, and the rather unruly Mixt society to the east. Some settlements further away from the Mississippi, most notably Peoria, came to be dominated by Franco-Illinois and allied Indians from other groups such as the Potawatomi.
Fort de Chartres, the largest French military installation, remained important as the center of defense and local administration east of the river Increasingly, the fort and its environs took on a more local Illinois character as French attention shifted to Saint-Louis.
In the 1760s France built Saint-Louis on the other side of the Mississippi River to be a new center of trade and administration, one that would be more subservient to colonial rule than the precocious Illinois. The city became the focus of subsequent French settlement, and a division emerged between the reliable colony to the west, and the rather unruly Mixt society to the east. Some settlements further away from the Mississippi, most notably Peoria, came to be dominated by Franco-Illinois and allied Indians from other groups such as the Potawatomi.
Fort de Chartres, the largest French military installation, remained important as the center of defense and local administration east of the river Increasingly, the fort and its environs took on a more local Illinois character as French attention shifted to Saint-Louis.
From colony to state
The foundations for the modern state of Illinois were laid in the early 19th century. Neighboring peoples began to deal with the Illinois as an entity separate from both Louisiana and the Upper Country. The formal institutions of statehood began to take shape. In the war of 1802, command of Fort de Chartres was entrusted for the first time to a local, François Godin, rather than to an official from France or Lower Louisiana. Godin ably defended the Illinois Country when it was raided by English and Swedish forces. After the war, as a magistrate and diplomat he was an advocate for Illinoisan self-government within the French empire. Godin is honored as the "founder of modern Illinois;" ancient Illinois having no founder figure in recorded or oral history.
Another key event was the Kishwauki War of 1822-1825. The war concerned the border between Illinois, still a part of Louisiana, and the Upper Country, which was a Canadian dependency. Illinois was the aggressor in the war, posting its militia in the disputed region in order to charge tolls on the route from Chicagou to the lead mines of the Aux-Fèves. But it did so in large part at the behest of the Louisianan merchants who dominated the river trade and who wanted to block a possible competing trade route.
The war forced all Illinois people to reckon with the question of where their sympathy and loyalty lay. An aging Godin again led troops to the fighting, though he was not the principal commander, deferring to a younger officer, the Anglophone Alexander Harper. But Godin was important in rallying the Illinois to the fight. After he was badly wounded by a stray skirmisher's bullet, he penned a famous letter to friends in Kaskasquia urging Illinois to disentangle itself from Louisiana and pursue its own course. The letter was published after his death. It gave force to the rising general support for peace and autonomy. Illinois and Upper Country officials sought mediation among the chiefs of western Ohio, and Illinois abandoned the Kishwauki in exchange for some economic privileges in the disputed area.
After the war, events moved quickly. Illinois began to petition the king of New France, Jerome Bonaparte, to separate from Louisiana and become a coequal part of the kingdom. Jerome granted the request in 1828. His decree defined Illinois's borders and lay the foundation for its eventual statehood.
In 1833, the French Emperor Napoleon II died, and a republican government seized power in Paris. All four components of New France - Canada, Louisiana, Saint-Domingue, and Illinois - took the opportunity to declare independence almost as soon as the news arrived. Among all the breakaway states, Illinois was the most enthusiastic supporter of Confederation with its neighbors. As an inland state, Illinois had no hope of a fully independent existence, and it already enjoyed close ties with Ohio and other states. Illinois joined the Congress of the Nations at Pavonia, New Netherland, in 1834, the first French state to do so. The others followed its lead not long after.
Illinois's state government developed concurrently with these events. A new influx of English settlers, largely Virginians, acted as a catalyst for the growth of civil government in Illinois. Already by 1818, so many Virginians lived around the confluence of the Mississippi and Ohio that they had convinced Louisiana to cede a lot of that area to Virginia. But others continued to come north of this border, establishing important towns at Belleville and Vandalia. Belleville was close to the old core settlements of Illinois and was easy for the French to control, but Vandalia was quite distant and seemed positioned to defect to Virginia.
A great meeting had begun to occur in Peoria in the late 18th century that brought together administrators, leaders of Illinois habitants, allied village chiefs, and representatives of English settlers. This meeting evolved into a government, partly in order to include the English settlers in the state and prevent their secession. In 1839, Peoria became the sole capital of the state when most functions of government ceased in Kaskasquia (the French center) and Vandalia (the English center).
Another key event was the Kishwauki War of 1822-1825. The war concerned the border between Illinois, still a part of Louisiana, and the Upper Country, which was a Canadian dependency. Illinois was the aggressor in the war, posting its militia in the disputed region in order to charge tolls on the route from Chicagou to the lead mines of the Aux-Fèves. But it did so in large part at the behest of the Louisianan merchants who dominated the river trade and who wanted to block a possible competing trade route.
The war forced all Illinois people to reckon with the question of where their sympathy and loyalty lay. An aging Godin again led troops to the fighting, though he was not the principal commander, deferring to a younger officer, the Anglophone Alexander Harper. But Godin was important in rallying the Illinois to the fight. After he was badly wounded by a stray skirmisher's bullet, he penned a famous letter to friends in Kaskasquia urging Illinois to disentangle itself from Louisiana and pursue its own course. The letter was published after his death. It gave force to the rising general support for peace and autonomy. Illinois and Upper Country officials sought mediation among the chiefs of western Ohio, and Illinois abandoned the Kishwauki in exchange for some economic privileges in the disputed area.
After the war, events moved quickly. Illinois began to petition the king of New France, Jerome Bonaparte, to separate from Louisiana and become a coequal part of the kingdom. Jerome granted the request in 1828. His decree defined Illinois's borders and lay the foundation for its eventual statehood.
In 1833, the French Emperor Napoleon II died, and a republican government seized power in Paris. All four components of New France - Canada, Louisiana, Saint-Domingue, and Illinois - took the opportunity to declare independence almost as soon as the news arrived. Among all the breakaway states, Illinois was the most enthusiastic supporter of Confederation with its neighbors. As an inland state, Illinois had no hope of a fully independent existence, and it already enjoyed close ties with Ohio and other states. Illinois joined the Congress of the Nations at Pavonia, New Netherland, in 1834, the first French state to do so. The others followed its lead not long after.
Illinois's state government developed concurrently with these events. A new influx of English settlers, largely Virginians, acted as a catalyst for the growth of civil government in Illinois. Already by 1818, so many Virginians lived around the confluence of the Mississippi and Ohio that they had convinced Louisiana to cede a lot of that area to Virginia. But others continued to come north of this border, establishing important towns at Belleville and Vandalia. Belleville was close to the old core settlements of Illinois and was easy for the French to control, but Vandalia was quite distant and seemed positioned to defect to Virginia.
A great meeting had begun to occur in Peoria in the late 18th century that brought together administrators, leaders of Illinois habitants, allied village chiefs, and representatives of English settlers. This meeting evolved into a government, partly in order to include the English settlers in the state and prevent their secession. In 1839, Peoria became the sole capital of the state when most functions of government ceased in Kaskasquia (the French center) and Vandalia (the English center).
Plowing the prairies
The population of Illinois grew slowly and steadily, mainly as a result of organic growth among the inhabitants. Most of the people lived along the Mississippi and Illinois Rivers and some of their tributaries, working the soft bottomlands in ways that combined French and indigenous traditions. The Chicagou Canal of 1853 opened up the Illinois River as a major shipping route. Seemingly overnight, Peoria grew from a modest government and farming town to a major regional commercial center.
The shipping route and the availability of new plow technology positioned Illinois to exploit its prairies for commercial farming after around 1860. The area of land under cultivation greatly expanded. By the turn of the century, Illinois had transformed from a backwater Métis state into the most productive food producer of the ASB. Land ownership became a thorny issue. Many of the big new farms ended up in the hands of well-to-do members of the older Illinois villages, while others were bought up by major landowners from out of state. As in so many other states, class divisions followed racial ones; the most prosperous commercial farmers tended to have largely European French ancestry, while those with more Indian blood tended to stay in the old villages scraping a living from their small communal plots of soil.
Industry grew as a sector of the economy starting around 1900, and it provided new opportunities for paid work. Peoria was the main center, but manufacturing changed the face of some other cities as well. Newly discovered coal deposits across the state provided fuel to the growing factories. The factories and mines drew workers not just from Illinois itself, but also from other states, from Mexico, and from Europe. By this time, Illinois identity was robust enough to absorb all these new elements, and they contributed their own ideas and lifeways wherever they settled.
The shipping route and the availability of new plow technology positioned Illinois to exploit its prairies for commercial farming after around 1860. The area of land under cultivation greatly expanded. By the turn of the century, Illinois had transformed from a backwater Métis state into the most productive food producer of the ASB. Land ownership became a thorny issue. Many of the big new farms ended up in the hands of well-to-do members of the older Illinois villages, while others were bought up by major landowners from out of state. As in so many other states, class divisions followed racial ones; the most prosperous commercial farmers tended to have largely European French ancestry, while those with more Indian blood tended to stay in the old villages scraping a living from their small communal plots of soil.
Industry grew as a sector of the economy starting around 1900, and it provided new opportunities for paid work. Peoria was the main center, but manufacturing changed the face of some other cities as well. Newly discovered coal deposits across the state provided fuel to the growing factories. The factories and mines drew workers not just from Illinois itself, but also from other states, from Mexico, and from Europe. By this time, Illinois identity was robust enough to absorb all these new elements, and they contributed their own ideas and lifeways wherever they settled.
Political development
All this growth gave Illinois newfound political weight in the confederal institutions. It is no surprise that the most influential Chief Minister of the nineteenth century, Armand Linville, came from the state that had become the champion of confederation. Linville had begun his political career in the heady days when Illinois was forming its first modern and democratic government, and he envisioned the entire ASB doing the same thing on a continental scale. During his tenure as Chief Minister, he managed to transfer a great deal of power, including control of the Chief Ministry itself, from the Congress of the Nations to the much newer, popularly elected confederal Parliament. He also changed the rules for electing members of Parliament, requiring all elections to be open to members of the middle class in every state. Linville died unexpectedly in 1871, but he had done as much as anyone to make the ASB into a permanent confederation.
The turn of the century saw new agrarian and trade unionist reform movements sweep the state. These trends happened elsewhere, too, but Illinois was always an important political battleground. With its mix of traditional farms, commercial farms, and growing industrial towns, Illinois was something of an economic microcosm of the ASB, and it played host to many of the Confederation's ongoing class and political struggles. Major mining and railroad strikes in Illinois in the early twentieth century drew the attention of labor activists and anti-labor activists across the Confederation. The trade unionism of Chief Minister Jack Reagan in the late twentieth century grew out of this context.
The turn of the century saw new agrarian and trade unionist reform movements sweep the state. These trends happened elsewhere, too, but Illinois was always an important political battleground. With its mix of traditional farms, commercial farms, and growing industrial towns, Illinois was something of an economic microcosm of the ASB, and it played host to many of the Confederation's ongoing class and political struggles. Major mining and railroad strikes in Illinois in the early twentieth century drew the attention of labor activists and anti-labor activists across the Confederation. The trade unionism of Chief Minister Jack Reagan in the late twentieth century grew out of this context.
Ethnicity and language
The ethnic Illinois were the foundation of the state, but from early times it incorporated others of different language and ethnic backgrounds. The Potawatomi of the upper Illinois River valley were effectively part of the state by 1800 or so. A short time later, growing settlements of Virginian English speakers in the prairies and hills above Kaskasquia became allies, fully integrating into the state in 1839. The Sauk-Fox confederacy, centered north and west of Peoria, was incorporated shortly after that. Further diversity in the early years came from additional French settlers (mostly people of Canadian background coming from the Upper Country and Upper Louisiana), German immigrants, Pennsylvanian and Virginian land speculators, and freed and runaway slaves.
French has always been the only statewide official language. English, Meskwaki, Potawatomi, and German have deep roots in Illinois and are spoken in some communities. Old Illinois, or Inoca, is no longer the language of the ethnic Illinois. The same language is spoken by the Wea and Miami people in the state of Ohio, so some speakers live inside the borders of Illinois. It is still used in personal names, place names, and inscriptions. As stated, a number of terms have been borrowed into the local French, such as nal, "cicada," and aquime, "chief", which today can mean "sir", "respected elder", "teacher", "member of a local council", and so forth.
French has always been the only statewide official language. English, Meskwaki, Potawatomi, and German have deep roots in Illinois and are spoken in some communities. Old Illinois, or Inoca, is no longer the language of the ethnic Illinois. The same language is spoken by the Wea and Miami people in the state of Ohio, so some speakers live inside the borders of Illinois. It is still used in personal names, place names, and inscriptions. As stated, a number of terms have been borrowed into the local French, such as nal, "cicada," and aquime, "chief", which today can mean "sir", "respected elder", "teacher", "member of a local council", and so forth.