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History
Home » Michigan » Michigan Overview and History » HistoryIn 1618, French explorer Étienne Brulé landed in Sault Ste. Marie as the first European to have reached what is now Michigan. The land was inhabited by the Ojibwa, the Ottawa, the Potawatomi and other Algonquin-speaking Native American groups. Later, other French explorers and missionaries came, including Jacques Marquette, who in 1668 established the first settlement in Sault Ste. Marie. From then on, the region was held by France until it was lost to Great Britain in the last conflict of the French and Indian wars.
The Native Americans of Michigan had lived in peace with the French, but they revolted against the coming of the British, who were allies of their enemies, the Iroquois tribes. The rebellion began in 1763 and ended in 1766, and the Native Americans later supported the British during the American Revolution.
After the Northwest Ordinance passed in 1787, Michigan became part of the Northwest Territory - the United States' first possession, which included the present states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, and part of Minnesota. But even after the Northwest Territory was broken up and Detroit was made capital of the Michigan Territory in 1805, British agents still maintained great influence over the Native Americans, who fought on the British side in the War of 1812. Michigan remained in British control through most of the war until the battle of Thames and the battle of Lake Erie restored U.S. control.
Soon pioneer settlers moved into Michigan, thanks to steamboat navigation on the Great Lakes and the opening of the Erie Canal in 1825.
As Michigan progressed toward becoming a state, the process was slowed by Ohio and Indiana, who wanted to annex parts of southern Michigan to their own states. Also, the southern states opposed adding another free state to the Union. So Michigan proceeded to organize a government anyway and in 1836 established staehood, although not part of the Union. Congress intervened in the dispute over boundaries by proposing that a strip of land including present day Toledo, Ohio, be given to Ohio and Indiana, while Michigan would get the land that is now the Upper Peninsula. Meanwhile, the admission of Arkansas as a slaveholding state offset the addition of Michigan as a free state. Michigan became the 26th state in 1837. Detroit served as the capital until 1847, when the capital was moved to Lansing.
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