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Michigan

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Dictionary: Mich·i·gan   (mĭsh'ĭ-gən) pronunciation
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(Abbr. MI or Mich.)

A state of the north-central United States. It was admitted as the 26th state in 1837. French explorers first visited the area in 1618, and the French retained nominal control until the end of the French and Indian Wars (1763), when the region passed to Great Britain. It was ceded to the United States in 1783, although the British held some areas until 1796. The Michigan Territory was organized in 1805 with Detroit as its capital. Lansing is the state capital (since 1847) and Detroit the largest city. Population: 10,100,000.

Michigander Mich'i·gan'der (-găn'dər) adj. & n.

 

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Britannica Concise Encyclopedia:

Michigan

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State, midwestern U.S. Area: 96,716 sq mi (250,493 sq km). Pop. (2009 est.): 9,969,727. Capital: Lansing. Surrounded almost entirely by the Great Lakes, Michigan is divided into two large land segments: the Upper and Lower peninsulas. The Lower Peninsula is bordered to the south by Indiana and Ohio; the Upper Peninsula is bounded by Wisconsin to the west. The western region of the Upper Peninsula is a rugged upland rich in minerals, and the remainder of the state consists of lowlands and rolling hills. The area was originally inhabited by Algonquian-speaking Indians. The French arrived in the 17th century, founding Sault Ste. Marie in 1668 and Detroit in 1701; fur trading was their primary activity. The English gained control of Michigan in 1763 following the French and Indian War, and it passed to the U.S. in 1783. It was included in the Northwest Territory in 1787 and in Indiana Territory in 1800. Michigan Territory was organized on the Lower Peninsula in 1805. Though surrendered to the British in the War of 1812, U.S. rule was restored in 1813 by the victory of Oliver Hazard Perry at the Battle of Lake Erie. A boundary dispute with Ohio, known as the Toledo War, was settled by U.S. President Andrew Jackson, with Michigan receiving the Upper Peninsula and statehood as compensation. In 1837 it became the 26th U.S. state. Throughout the American Civil War, it made major contributions to the Union cause. In the 20th century its economy was dominated by the automotive industry.

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US History Encyclopedia:

Michigan

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Michigan (population 9,938,444 in 2000) is bounded to the west by Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Lake Michigan; to the north by Lake Superior; to the east by Lakes Huron and St. Clair; and to the south by Ohio and Indiana. Though well into the interior of the nation, its two peninsulas are formed by the Great Lakes in such a way that provides an extensive coastline. Known as the "automobile state," its history is far more diverse than that nickname implies.

Government and Strategy, 1622–1796

During the period of exploration and colonial rule, the Michigan area had strategic and commercial value derived from its position in the Great Lakes region. Under the French, and later the British, the area proved an important source of furs easily transported on the extensive natural waterways. Based on early travel accounts, historians know that Samuel de Champlain sent Etienne Bruûlé west along the upper parts of Lake Huron to search for a water route to the Pacific Ocean. Sometime in 1622, they surmise Bruûlé reached the Sault Sainte Marie area. In 1668 the first formal settlement, a mission, was established by Rev. Jacques Marquette at the Sault, followed by a second at St. Ignace in 1671. Shortly thereafter, the French settlers claimed the land for Louis XIV. To secure their hold on the emerging and lucrative fur trade, the French Crown established forts at strategic points. Fort Ponchartrain at Detroit (meaning the straits), established in 1701, was the first permanent French settlement in the Lower Peninsula. Antoine de Cadillac established the fort and settlement as a fur center.

French control over the area passed to the British in 1763, who fortified Detroit and outposts at Michilimackinac. In 1780, in response to the revolution in the thirteen colonies, the British established a fortification at Mackinac Island that still stands today.

At the time of American independence, the area of Michigan was very much on the frontier. In 1787, the Northwest Ordinance made Michigan a part of the newly established Northwest Territory. In 1794, an American force under the command of Anthony Wayne defeated a British-inspired Native American confederacy. Although the British formally ceded the area of Michigan to the United States through the Treaty of Paris in 1783, the British did not actually leave Fort Mackinac and Detroit until 1796. Only then were the political institutions recognized by the Northwest Territory gradually implemented. By 1803, Michigan had become a part of the Indiana Territory. On 1 July 1805, in response to the petitions of Detroit residents, Congress authorized the creation of the Michigan Territory, with Detroit designated as its capital.

Agriculture and Market, 1796–1850

Though John Jacob Astor founded the American Fur Company with headquarters on Mackinac Island in 1808, the fur trade that had been the economic basis for European settlement in the Michigan area was already in decline. In the first decades of the nineteenth century, a project was begun to survey the lands of southern Michigan. Today's grid of townships was first laid out by the Surveyor General of the United States. Land offices opened in Detroit and Monroe, where settlers could purchase a substantial farm for a very modest cost. The value of this opportunity increased enormously in 1825 when the Erie Canal opened to traffic and linked Michigan lands to the lucrative markets of the Northeast. The response was dramatic, as many chose to move to Michigan from the exhausted lands of upper New York State and elsewhere. Between 1820 and 1840, the population of European origin in Michigan increased from 8,767 to 212,267. Most of the settlement was east to west in the lower part of the state along the Chicago Road, which was developed between 1825 and 1835. Ann Arbor, Marshall, and Kalamazoo were among the market towns that were established. The prospects for farming in Michigan were promoted abroad by real estate interests, which attracted a diverse group of settlers that included Irish, German, and Dutch immigrants. These settlers brought with them a variety of religious beliefs and institutions. This diversity would continue to increase in scope and complexity throughout the subsequent history of the state.

The rapid population growth propelled arguments for statehood, and in 1835 it was authorized by territorial election. However, contention over the border with Ohio, finally resolved by the so-called Toledo War, delayed statehood to 1837 and ensured the inclusion of the Upper Peninsula as part of the new state. Stevens T. Mason, who had been appointed at the age of 19 in 1831 to succeed Lewis Cass as territorial governor, was appointed first governor of the new state in 1837. The new constitution provided for a university to be established, and offers of land were received from a number of towns. Ann Arbor was chosen for the institution. In 1817, three Native American tribes donated lands to the territorial university established in Detroit, but were sold to benefit the new campus in Ann Arbor. The spread of population across the lower part of state made Detroit impractical as a state capitol, and, after considerable debate, the more centrally located city of Lansing was selected in 1847.

Extracting Timber and Minerals, 1850–1910

Agriculture in Michigan flourished in the southern most part of the state. However, with the expansion of a rail network and a good supply of Great Lakes shipping vessels, the state was in an excellent position to move heavier raw materials with relative ease. The lands in the northern two thirds of the state remained largely untouched and covered with timber. By 1860, Michigan had more than 800 timber mills and was shipping forest products throughout the Northeast. At its peak, in the years around 1890, Michigan was producing more than $60 million in timber per year. The lumber industry was largely homegrown, which meant that the revenue generated would remain, for the most part, in the state. Such was not the case with minerals extracted in the upper part of the state.

One of the first acts of the new state legislature was to commission Douglas Houghton, professor at the state chartered university in Ann Arbor, to survey the geologic resources of Michigan. Houghton noted large deposits of copper in the Upper Peninsula. In 1844, iron was discovered. By the late 1860s, rail transport made it possible to move the iron and copper. The capital for many of the mines and the transport infrastructure came from the eastern states, most notably Massachusetts. Consequently, a significant portion of returns on those investments went east. By the late nineteenth century, copper and iron production nearly equaled the value of lumber production.

This extractive economy had a profound impact on the state. Whole cities were established to serve as centers for the finance and distribution of these raw materials. Bay City, Saginaw, and Traverse City, for example, were established as lumber centers. Houghton, Hancock, Marquette, and others were mining centers. The mines and the lumber trade drew immigrants from Italy, Finland, Sweden, Germany, and Ireland, among others.

The state's population was as diverse as any in the nation. As such, tensions were a part of the political landscape. In the mid-nineteenth century, nativist and anti Catholic sentiment led to internal dissension in both the Whig and Democratic Parties. In 1854, a new political coalition, the Republican Party, emerged more tolerant and opposed to the extension of slavery. This new party would dominate politics in the state until the depression of the 1930s. At the time of the Civil War, Michigan supported the Union cause, sending ninety thousand men into service.

By the dawn of the twentieth century, the state's population had surged to 2,240,982, with more than 40 percent foreign-born or children of foreign-born. There were tensions with in various groups. For example, the Dutch split between Christian Reformed and the Reformed Church in America in the mid-nineteenth century. The Polish community was split over the Kolasinski affair in the 1890s. There were conflicts with in the German community at the time of World War I, chronicled in the pages of the daily Detroiter Abend-Post.

Automobile and Manufacturing, 1910 to the Present

Many manufacturing centers had been established in Michigan before the appearance of the automobile in the state. Most notably, Grand Rapids had emerged by the 1870s as a national center for furniture. Drawing from local and imported sources of lumber, as well as a population of expert craftsmen, its furniture could be shipped by rail to most destinations in the country. Kalamazoo had paper manufacturers, Battle Creek had health food factories that became the foundation for its famed breakfast food industry, and Detroit had factories that made rail cars, stoves, and other goods. However, it was only with the emergence of the automobile that Michigan became known as an urban industrial state.

At the turn of the twentieth century, Ransom Olds, Henry Ford, Henry Leland, David Buick, and Roy Chapin were among many in the state working on the idea of attaching a motor to wheels to make a personal transport vehicle. There were others working with the concept out-side the state, but with well-established engine works and carriage manufacturers in Michigan, along with a transport infrastructure in place, the state was an ideal place to pursue these ideas on a large scale.

The auto manufacturers in Michigan came to dominate the industry through innovation and organization. Henry Ford's application of the assembly line so transformed the economies of production that what had been an expensively crafted luxury good became a mass-produced consumer good with in reach of a large segment of the population. This innovation, more than any other, led to the dominance of Michigan in the automobile industry. Several independent auto producers amalgamated under a corporate framework called General Motors (conceived by William Durant of Flint, Michigan), and it, too, realized economies of scale and market power that raised significantly the barriers to entry for new mass producers of automobiles. By 1920, the automotive industry in Michigan employed 127,000 and had an output valued at $1,330,000,000.

While Michigan was well known as a manufacturing state by the 1920s, it was only in the 1940s that the world would come to realize the enormous industrial capacity of the state. In 1940, at the request of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, William Knudsen, then president of General Motors, directed the changeover of the auto plants to war production. The production output of tanks and planes earned the state the appellation "arsenal of democracy."

The transformation of Michigan from an agricultural and extractive economy to one of the leading industrial economies of the world was not without stress and cultural tensions. The demand for labor to work in the new auto factories and then to sustain production during two world wars brought a huge influx of workers into the state. These were from nearly every country in the world, but most notably Canada, Poland, and Germany. In response, many in the state embraced new ideas of the Progressive Era, which manifested in programs of change and reform as well as restriction and control. Hazen Pingree, as mayor of Detroit in the 1870s, was an early proponent of government regulation of public transport and utilities. Chase Osborn, a Progressive governor (1911–1912), introduced the concept of workers' compensation to the state, among other reform measures. The Detroit Citizens League, the Grand Rapids Furniture Manufacturers Association, and other groups formed to protect the interests of the urban elite in the face of changes brought on by rapid urban industrial growth.

The Detroit Urban League, along with a host of ethnic and church-based associations, helped maintain individual and group identities. These organizations structured urban and town life with a focus on assimilation. The demand for workers was so strong during World War II that many people, both white and African American, migrated from the South to work in the factories. Though always a diverse state, Michigan by 1940 was among the most diverse in the country. With boom and bust cycles in the industrial economy, combined with cultures of intolerance, the population had its stresses—most notably manifested in the Detroit racial disturbances of 1943. There was also an elegance that emerged in Detroit and other cities in the 1920s. Detroit, a prosperous city and the fourth largest in America, built monuments, parks, museums, libraries, office towers, and great estates. During this time, stately houses were built in Grosse Pointe, Flint, Pontiac, Grand Rapids, and other industrial towns emblematic of the fruits of the new automobile industry. With railroads and highways leading north, grand houses and hotels appeared on the lakeshore along the coastline of Upper Michigan, a precursor to the vigorous travel industry that would emerge in the later half of the twentieth century.

As the industrial capacity of the state developed, so, too, did the size of the labor force. There had been tensions from the start, as indicated by the Grand Rapids Furniture strike of 1912, and the attempts to unionize the cereal industry in Battle Creek. Michigan became a real bulwark for the labor movement, with the establishment of the United Automobile Workers (UAW) in 1935. There had been a series of strikes and protests brought on by the severe economic depression of the 1930s. However, the "sit-down strike" of 1936–1937 in Flint was the event that brought recognition to the UAW as the sole bargaining representative for workers at General Motors. Soon thereafter, the union represented all workers employed with Ford Motor Company and other smaller firms.

By the 1930s, Michigan had an enormous industrial capacity. As a result, the effects of the depression were particularly difficult. A variety of voices emerged in the state. Frank Murphy became an early advocate of New Deal reform, first as mayor of Detroit (1930–1933) and later as governor (1937–1938). He eagerly worked with Franklin D. Roosevelt to establish governmental assistance to the many unemployed and dislocated. Another voice that arose from Detroit was that of Rev. Charles Coughlin. This Roman Catholic priest, from his pulpit in Royal Oak, Michigan, gained a huge national following for his radio broadcasts. At first a supporter of the New Deal, he was later discredited as his critiques became more harsh and anti-Semitic. Henry Ford, too, weighed in with extensive critiques in his Dearborn Independent, pushing his own particular notions of American values, which he was able to exemplify in his three-dimensional recreation of the ideal American environment at his museum he called "Greenfield Village."

The end of World War II brought a rebirth of the strength of the Democratic Party in the state. Neil Staebler was the architect of a new strategy of reaching out to each segment of the population, combined with a high sense of morality in politics. G. Mennen Williams, known as "Soapy" because he was heir to the Mennen soap fortune, was the party's candidate for governor in 1948. Narrowly elected, he was able to establish the newly defined party and stay in office for six consecutive terms through 1960. Among his many achievements was the completion of the bridge at the straits of Mackinac in 1957, which linked the two peninsulas of the state.

Unionization proved an economic benefit for the state and set the foundation for middle-class prosperity that had a huge impact on Flint, Pontiac, Ypsilanti, as well as Detroit and its suburbs. The post–World War II economy was booming, bringing higher wages, new roads, and the automobile, significantly changing the urban and social landscape of the state. Many people in the cities relocated to the newly developed suburbs. The movement involved prosperous white residents almost entirely, leaving older residents and those of African American descent with in the city limits. This exacerbated a racial divide that increasingly defined city and state politics. The population of Detroit began to decline until, in the year 2000, it was nearly half its high point of 1,849,568 in 1950. New shopping malls siphoned the retail trade from the city centers. The once elegant streets of downtown Flint, Grand Rapids, and Detroit became relatively sparsely populated.

This isolation of race and poverty with in the cities erupted in a series of violent confrontations in 1967. Detroit's riot captured national attention; there were also disturbances in Pontiac, Flint, Grand Rapids, Lansing, and Kalamazoo, all of which further encouraged the abandonment of the cities. At the same time, throughout the latter half of the twentieth century the state population steadily grew, mostly in new suburban subdivisions, to the point that cities such as Southfield, Birmingham, Troy, Ann Arbor, and East Grand Rapids took on functions formerly associated with older urban downtowns. Also, a general prosperity in the Midwest increased the demand for lakefront property. A continuing building boom transformed Petoskey, Harbor Springs, Charlevoix, Traverse City, and Alpena.

The prosperity of the state, however, suffered in the later decades of the twentieth century. The lumber was exhausted, as were the mines of the Upper Peninsula. The value of agricultural production was at the same level as in the 1920s. The furniture industry had moved south, and foreign competition had severely challenged the automotive industry. Michigan became the very symbol of the "Rust Belt," with aging factories and a seeming inability to compete in a new global economy. Under George Romney and William Milliken, the Republican Party controlled the governorship from 1963 through 1983. During the late 1970s and early 1980s, the state's economy was in deep recession. A split in the state's Republican Party led to the election of the Democrat James Blanchard as the state continued a struggle to regain competitiveness in its old industries, while trying to diversify its economic base. In 1990, Republicans regained the governorship under John Engler, a representative of the more conservative wing of the party. His program of vigorous cost cutting and welfare reform, combined with the general economic boom in the country as a whole, restored Michigan to the point that, in 1993, it had achieved more growth than any industrial state in the union.

By the turn of the twenty-first century, the economy had rebounded due to the internationalization of the automobile industry, the development of high-tech activities, and the persistent growth of the tourist industry based on the state's extensive lakeshore. Michigan contained a large number of prosperous towns, characterized by new office buildings and a high rate of new residential construction. There were important initiatives to revive old downtowns, most notably with new cultural facilities in Grand Rapids and Detroit; the latter city also built a new stadium for major league baseball. The new century, however, brought new challenges. A stalled economy revived the need for cost cutting in state government and in the corporate sector. The effects of the attacks on the World Trade Center in New York and the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., on 11 September 2001 had a particular impact on the state of Michigan, which, in Dearborn, had the largest Arab American community in the country. The slowed economy, coupled with the national tragedies, again focused attention on the diversity of Michigan's population and on the historic reliance of the state on a single industry.

Bibliography

Dunbar, Willis, and George May. Michigan: A History of the Wolverine State. 3d rev. ed. Grand Rapids, Mich.: W.B. Eerdmans, 1995.

Kern, John. A Short History of Michigan. Lansing: Michigan Department of State, 1977.

Hathaway, Richard J., ed. Michigan: Visions of Our Past. East Lansing: Michigan State University Press, 1989.

Poremba, David Lee, ed. Detroit in Its World Setting: A Three-Hundred Year Chronology. Detroit, Mich.: Wayne State University Press, 2001.

 
Columbia Encyclopedia:

Michigan

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Michigan (mĭsh'ĭgən), upper midwestern state of the United States. It consists of two peninsulas thrusting into the Great Lakes and has borders with Ohio and Indiana (S), Wisconsin (W), and the Canadian province of Ontario (N,E).

Facts and Figures

Area, 58,216 sq mi (150,779 sq km). Pop. (2000) 9,938,444, a 6.9% increase since the 1990 census. Capital, Lansing. Largest city, Detroit. Statehood, Jan. 26, 1837 (26th state). Highest pt., Mt. Curwood, 1,980 ft (604 m); lowest pt., Lake Erie, 572 ft (174 m). Nickname, Wolverine State. Motto, Si Quaeris Peninsulam Amoenam Circumspice [If You Seek a Pleasant Peninsula, Look about You]. State bird, robin. State flower, apple blossom. State tree, white pine. Abbr., Mich.; MI

Geography

The Lower Peninsula, shaped like a mitten, is separated from Ontario, Canada, on the east by Lake Erie and Lake Huron, and by the Detroit River and the St. Clair River, which together link these two Great Lakes. It is bordered by Lake Michigan on the west, across which lies Wisconsin. The Upper Peninsula lies northeast of Wisconsin between Lake Michigan and Lake Superior, and is separated from Ontario by the narrow St. Marys River.

The Upper Peninsula. known as the U.P. (its residents call themselves Yoopers), is separated from the Lower Peninsula by the Straits of Mackinac; a bridge connecting the two peninsulas was opened in 1957 and has spurred the development of the Upper Peninsula. The eastern portion of the Upper Peninsula has swampy flats and limestone hills on the Lake Michigan shore, while sandstone ridges rise abruptly from the rough waters of Lake Superior; in the west the land rises to forested mountains, still rich in copper and iron.

The northern Michigan wilds, numerous inland lakes, and some 3,000 mi (4,800 km) of shoreline, combined with a pleasantly cool summer climate, have long attracted vacationers. In the winter Michigan's snow-covered hills bring skiers from all over the Midwest. Places of interest in the state include Greenfield Village, a re-creation of a 19th-century American village, and the Henry Ford Museum, both at Dearborn; Pictured Rocks and Sleeping Bear Dunes national lakeshores; and Isle Royal National Park.

Lansing is the capital, and Detroit is the largest city. Other major cities are Grand Rapids, Sterling Heights, Warren, Flint, and Ann Arbor.

Economy

The Upper Peninsula is northern woods country, with what has been described as "ten months of winter and two months of poor sledding." The abundance of furred animals and forests early attracted fur traders and lumberjacks. Animals were trapped out, virgin forests were stripped, and, in addition, pure copper and high-grade iron ore were rapidly wrested from the earth, so that virtually all of the Upper Peninsula's mines have been closed. Deer, bear, and other game in the forests, as well as abundant fish in streams and lakes, keep the area a rich hunting and fishing ground. Selective cutting and replanting of trees are now employed in the second-growth forests.

The Lower Peninsula is less wild, but in parts no less beautiful, than the Upper. Its forests were also cut over in the lumber boom of the late 19th cent., when Michigan was briefly the world leader in lumber production. The soil of these cut-over lands, unlike the productive earth in other areas of the Lower Peninsula, proved generally unsuitable for agriculture, and reforestation has been undertaken.

The Lower Peninsula has its own mineral riches, including gypsum, sandstone, limestone, salt, cement, sand, and gravel, but its great wealth lies in the many farms and factories. The surrounding waters temper the climate, providing a long growing season. Fields of grain and corn cover much of the southern counties, and Michigan's noted fruit belt lines the shore of Lake Michigan (the state leads the nation in the production of cherries). Dairying is the most lucrative farm business. Corn is the chief crop, followed by greenhouse products, soybeans, apples, carrots, celery, cucumbers, and other vegetables.

Manufacturing accounts for 30% of Michigan's economic production, more than twice as much as any other sector. The manufacture of automobiles and transportation equipment is by far the state's chief industry, and Detroit, Dearborn, Flint, Pontiac, and Lansing are historic centers of automobile production, although the industry is now in dramatic decline throughout the state. The automobile industry's mass-production methods, developed here, were the core of the early-20th-century industrial revolution. Other Michigan manufactures include nonelectrical machinery, fabricated metal products, primary metals, chemicals, and food products. Among Michigan's most important industrial centers are Saginaw, Bay City, Muskegon, and Jackson. The chemical industry in Midland is one of the nation's largest; Kalamazoo is an important paper-manufacturing and pharmaceuticals center; Grand Rapids is noted for its furniture, and Battle Creek for its breakfast foods.

Although mining contributes less to income in the state than either agriculture or manufacturing, Michigan still has important nonfuel mineral production, chiefly of iron ore, cement, sand, and gravel, and is a leading producer of peat, bromine, calcium-magnesium chloride, gypsum, and magnesium compounds. Abundant natural beauty and excellent fishing help to make tourism a major Michigan industry. Michigan's historic lack of manufacturing diversity has made it particularly susceptible to the fluctuations of the national economy, and in recent years it has tried to diversify, attracting high-technology industry and developing the service sector.

Government and Higher Education

Michigan's constitution, adopted in 1963, provides for a governor serving a term of four years, who may be reelected. The state legislature is made up of a senate with 38 members and a house of representatives with 110 members. Michigan sends 15 representatives and 2 senators to the U.S. Congress and has 17 electoral votes in presidential elections. John Engler, a Republican, was elected governor in 1990 and reelected in 1994 and 1998. In 2002, a Democrat, Jennifer Granholm, was elected to succeed him; she was reelected in 2006.

Institutions of higher education include the Univ. of Michigan, at Ann Arbor, Dearborn, and Flint; Michigan State Univ., at East Lansing; the Univ. of Detroit Mercy and Wayne State Univ., at Detroit; Western Michigan Univ. and Kalamazoo College, at Kalamazoo; Eastern Michigan Univ., at Ypsilanti; Northern Michigan Univ., at Marquette; Central Michigan Univ., at Mt. Pleasant; and many other private and state colleges.

History

Native Americans and French Explorers

The Ojibwa, the Ottawa, the Potawatomi, and other Algonquian-speaking Native American groups were living in Michigan when the French explorer Étienne Brulé landed at the narrows of Sault Ste. Marie in 1618, probably the first European to have reached present Michigan. Later French explorers, traders, and missionaries came, including Jean Nicolet, who was searching for the Northwest Passage; Jacques Marquette, who founded a mission in the Mackinac region; and the empire builder, Robert Cavelier, sieur de La Salle, who came on the Griffon, the first ship to sail the Great Lakes. French posts were scattered along the lakes and the rivers, and Mackinac Island (in the Straits of Mackinac) became a center of the fur trade. Fort Pontchartrain, later Detroit, was founded in 1701 by Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac. The vast region was weakly held by France until lost to Great Britain in the last conflict (1754-63) of the French and Indian Wars.

Resistance to British Occupation

The Native Americans of Michigan, who had lived in peace with the French, resented the coming of the British, who were the allies of the much-hated Iroquois tribes. Under Pontiac they revolted (see Pontiac's Rebellion) against the British occupation. The rebellion, which began in 1763, was short-lived, ending in 1766, and the Native Americans subsequently supported the British during the American Revolution. Native American resistance to U.S. control was effectively ended at the Battle of Fallen Timbers in 1794 with the victory of Gen. Anthony Wayne. Despite provisions of the Treaty of Paris, which ended the American Revolution (1783; see Paris, Treaty of), the British held stubbornly to Detroit and Mackinac until 1796.

After passage of the Northwest Ordinance in 1787, Michigan became part of the Northwest Territory. However, even after the Northwest Territory was broken up and Detroit was made (1805) capital of Michigan Territory, British agents still maintained great influence over the Native Americans, who fought on the British side in the War of 1812. In that war Mackinac and Detroit fell almost immediately to the British as a result of the ineffective control of U.S. Gen. William Hull and his troops. Michigan remained in British hands through most of the war until Gen. William Henry Harrison in the battle of Thames and Oliver Hazard Perry in the battle of Lake Erie restored U.S. control.

Settlement and Statehood

After peace came, pioneers moved into Michigan. The policy of pushing Native Americans westward and opening the lands for settlement was largely due to the efforts of Gen. Lewis Cass, who was governor of Michigan Territory (1813-31) and later a U.S. Senator. Steamboat navigation on the Great Lakes and sale of public lands in Detroit both began in 1818, and the Erie Canal was opened in 1825. Farmers came to the Michigan fields, and the first sawmills were built along the rivers.

The move toward statehood was slowed by the desire of Ohio and Indiana to absorb parts of present S Michigan, and by the opposition of southern states to the admission of another free state. The Michigan electorate organized a government without U.S. sanction and in 1836 operated as a state, although outside the Union. To resolve the boundary dispute Congress proposed that the Toledo strip be ceded to Ohio and Indiana with compensation to Michigan of land in the Upper Peninsula. Though the Michigan electorate rejected the offer, a group of Democratic leaders accepted it, and by their acceptance Michigan became a state in 1837. (The admission of Arkansas as a slaveholding state offset that of Michigan as a free state.) Detroit served as the capital until 1847, when it was replaced by Lansing.

After statehood, Michigan promptly adopted a program of internal improvement through the building of railroads, roads, and canals, including the Soo Locks Ship Canal at Sault Ste. Marie. At the same time lumbering was expanding, and the population grew as German, Irish, and Dutch immigrants arrived. In 1854 the Republican party was organized at Jackson, Mich. During the Civil War, Michigan fought on the side of the Union, contributing 90,000 troops to the cause.

Reform Movements

After the war the state remained firmly Republican until 1882. Then Michigan farmers, moved by the same financial difficulties and outrage at high transportation and storage rates that aroused other Western farmers, supported movements advocating agrarian interests, such as the Granger movement and the Greenback party. The farmers joined with the growing numbers of workers in the mines and lumber camps to elect a Greenback-Democratic governor in 1882 and succeeded in getting legislation passed for agrarian improvement and public welfare.

Reforms influenced by the labor movement were the creation of a state board of labor (1883), a law enforcing a 10-hr day (1885), and a moderate child-labor law (1887). The lumbering business, with its yield of wealth to the timber barons, declined to virtual inactivity. Some of the loggers joined the ranks of industrial workers, which were further swelled by many Polish and Norwegian immigrants.

Assembly Lines and Labor Strife

With the invention of the automobile and the construction of automotive plants, industry in Michigan was altered radically. Henry Ford established the Ford Motor Company in 1903 and introduced conveyor-belt assembly lines in 1918. General Motors and the Chrysler Corporation were established shortly after Ford. Along with the development of mass-production methods came the growth of the labor movement. In the 1930s, when the automobile industry was well established in the state, labor unions struggled for recognition. The conflict between labor and the automotive industry, which continued into the 1940s, included sit-down strikes and was sometimes violent. Walter Reuther, a pioneer of the labor movement, was elected president of the United Automobile Workers (UAW) in 1946.

In World War II Michigan produced large numbers of tanks, airplanes, and other war matériel. Industrial production again expanded after the Korean War broke out in 1950, and the opening of the Saint Lawrence Seaway in 1959 increased export trade by bringing many oceangoing vessels to the port of Detroit. In the early 1960s, however, economic growth lagged and unemployment became a problem in the state.

Racial Tensions and Recession

Detroit was shaken by severe race riots in 1967 that left 43 persons dead and many injured, in addition to causing $200 million in damage. In the wake of the rioting, programs were undertaken to improve housing facilities and job opportunities in the city, but these failed as the city suffered massive outmigration. While Detroit deteriorated, the suburbs experienced dramatic growth, spreading throughout SE Michigan. Resistance to busing was a major political issue in the state in the early 1970s.

The state's dependence on the auto industry was exhibited during the recession of the early 1980s, when car sales slumped, many factories were closed and Michigan's unemployment rate at over 15% was the nation's highest. The federal government helped bail out the Chrysler Corporation in 1979, authorizing $1.5 billion in loan guarantees. After a brief period of recovery through limited diversification of the state economy, Michigan was again especially hard hit by national recession and continuing foreign competition in the early 1990s, and it continued to suffer large, mainly auto-related manufacturing job losses over the next two decades.

Bibliography

See J. A. Door, Jr., and D. F. Eschman, Geology of Michigan (1970); A. R. Gilpin, Territory of Michigan, 1805-1887 (1971); R. A. Santer, Michigan: Heart of the Great Lakes (1977); L. M. Sommers, ed., Atlas of Michigan (1977) and et al., Michigan: A Geography (1984). B. Blenz, The Encyclopedia of Michigan (1981); B. Rubenstein and L. Ziewacz, Michigan (1981).

 
Geography:

Michigan

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State in the northern United States bordered on the north by Lake Superior; on the east by Lake Erie, Lake Huron, and Ontario, Canada; on the south by Ohio and Indiana; and on the west by Wisconsin and Lake Michigan. Its capital is Lansing, and its largest city is Detroit.

 
Maps:

Michigan

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Local Time:

Michigan

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It is 2:42 PM, July 31, in Michigan.

It is 1:42 PM, July 31, in Michigan (exception).

 
Wine Lover's Companion:

Michigan

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Although Michigan's grape-growing history goes back to the mid-1800s, its chronicle of fine winemaking didn't start until the end of the 1960s. During the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, concord was the primary grape variety here, and because Concord grapes are used primarily for juice and jelly, many vineyards survived prohibition. Today Michigan has over 13,000 vineyard acres, mostly planted with Concord and niagara. There are only about 1500 acres of wine grapes (primarily hybrids and some vitis vinifera) and over thirty wineries scattered around the state. Michigan has four avas, all of which (particularly the northern two), benefit from the distinctive climate brought about by the lake effect which provides a moderated environment and longer growing season. The majority of the vineyards are in the state's southwest corner along Lake Michigan. Two AVAs are located here-Lake Michigan Shore and Fennville. Lake Michigan Shore AVA encompasses 1,280,000 acres along a 72-mile section running from where the Kalamazoo River intersects with Lake Michigan (about 10 miles south of Holland) in the north, down to the Michigan-Indiana state line in the south, and inland approximately 35 miles. The Fennville AVA (Michigan's first) was established in 1981, a little over 2 years before the Lake Michigan Shore AVA. It takes up the 75,000 acres of the northern portion of the Lake Michigan Shore AVA, from the Kalamazoo River down to the City of South Haven-about a 20-mile section. Michigan's northwest portion contains Leelanau Peninsula AVA and Old Mission Peninsula AVA. Old Mission Peninsula AVA is the northernmost, encompassing 19,200 acres on the narrow 19-mile peninsula surrounded by Grand Traverse Bay near Traverse City. Area wineries produce mostly Vitis vinifera wines from the area's 200 vineyard acres. The Leelanau Peninsula AVA, approved in 1982, is the second oldest Michigan AVA. It's just south and west of the Old Mission Peninsula AVA, with Lake Michigan on the western side and Grand Traverse Bay on the eastern side. This AVA, which covers approximately 211,000 acres and takes in all of Leelanau County except for the offshore islands, has only about 200 acres planted to vineyards. Although hybrids were once dominant, Vitis vinifera grapes now make up almost half of the acreage. Michigan's oldest and largest winery is the St. Julian Wine Company, established in 1921 in Ontario, Canada, and relocated to Michigan in 1934.

 
Stats:

Michigan

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flag of Michigan

  • Abbreviation: MI
  • Capital City: Lansing
  • Date of Statehood: Jan. 26, 1837
  • State #: 26
  • Population: 9,938,444
  • Area: 96810 sq.mi. Land 56809 sq. mi. Water 40001 sq.mi.
  • Economy:
    Agriculture: dairy products, apples, blueberries, cattle, vegetables, hogs, corn, nursery stock, soybeans;
    Industry: motor vehicles and parts, machinery, fabricated metal products, food processing, chemical products, mining, tourism
  • Where the name comes from: Based on Chippewa Indian word "meicigama" meaning "great water," referring to the Great Lakes.
  • State Bird: Robin
  • State Flower: Apple Blossom
  • About the Flag: Adopted in 1911, the design on Michigan's deep blue field has three mottoes: On a red ribbon - "One Nation Made Up of Many States", On a blue shield - "I will Defend", On a white ribbon - "If You Seek a Pleasant Peninsula, Look Around." On the blue shield the sun rises over a lake and peninsula, a man with raised hand and holding a gun represents peace and the ability to defend his rights. The elk and moose are symbols of Michigan, while the eagle represents the United States.
  • State Motto: Si quaeris peninsulam amoenam, circumspice -- If you seek a pleasant peninsula, look about you
  • State Nickname: Wolverine State / Great Lakes State
  • State Song: Michigan, My Michigan
 
 
Wikipedia:

Michigan

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This article is about the U.S. State of Michigan. For other uses, see Michigan (disambiguation).
State of Michigan
Flag of Michigan State seal of Michigan
Flag Seal
Nickname(s): The Great Lakes State;
The Wolverine State;
The Automotive State;
Water-Winter Wonderland;
The Lady of Lake;
The Auto State
Motto(s): Si quaeris peninsulam amoenam circumspice

(If you seek a pleasant peninsula, look about you)
Map of the United States with Michigan highlighted
Official language(s) None (English, de-facto)
Demonym Michigander
Michiganian
Capital Lansing
Largest city Detroit
Largest metro area Metro Detroit
Area  Ranked 11th in the US
 - Total 97,990 sq mi
(253,793 km2)
 - Width 386[1] miles (621 km)
 - Length 456[1] miles (734 km)
 - % water 41.5
 - Latitude 41° 41' N to 48° 18' N
 - Longitude 82° 7' W to 90° 25' W
Population  Ranked 8th in the US
 - Total 10,045,697 (2008 est.)[2]
- Density 179/sq mi  (67.55/km2)
Ranked 16th in the US
 - Median income  $44,627 (21st)
Elevation  
 - Highest point Mount Arvon[3]
1,979 ft  (603 m)
 - Mean 902 ft  (275 m)
 - Lowest point Lake Erie[3]
571 ft  (174 m)
Before statehood Michigan Territory
Admission to Union  January 26, 1837 (26th)
Governor Jennifer Granholm (D)
Lieutenant Governor John D. Cherry (D)
Legislature Michigan Legislature
 - Upper house Senate
 - Lower house House of Representatives
U.S. Senators Carl Levin (D)
Debbie Stabenow (D)
U.S. House delegation 8 Democrats
7 Republicans (list)
Time zones  
 - most of state Eastern: UTC-5/-4
 - 4 U.P. counties Central: UTC-6/-5
Abbreviations MI Mich. US-MI
Website http://www.michigan.gov

Michigan (Listeni /ˈmɪʃɪɡən/) is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is a French adaptation of the Ojibwe word mishigama, meaning "large water" or "large lake".[1][4]

Michigan is the eighth most populous state in the United States. It has the longest freshwater shoreline of any political subdivision in the world, being bounded by four of the five Great Lakes, plus Lake Saint Clair.[5] In 2005, Michigan ranked third among US states for the number of registered recreational boats, behind California and Florida.[6] Michigan has 64,980 inland lakes and ponds.[7] A person in the state is never more than six miles (10 km) from a natural water source or more than 87.2 miles (140.3 km) from a Great Lakes shoreline.[8] It is the largest state by total area[9] east of the Mississippi River.

Michigan is the only state to consist entirely of two peninsulas. The Lower Peninsula, to which the name Michigan was originally applied, is often dubbed "the mitten" by residents, owing to its shape. When asked where in Michigan one comes from, a resident of the Lower Peninsula may often point to the corresponding part of his or her hand. The Upper Peninsula (often referred to as "The U.P.") is separated from the Lower Peninsula by the Straits of Mackinac, a five-mile (8 km)-wide channel that joins Lake Huron to Lake Michigan. The Upper Peninsula is economically important for tourism and natural resources.

Contents

History

See also: Timeline of Michigan history, History of railroads in Michigan, History of Michigan, and History of Detroit

Michigan was home to various Native American cultures for thousands of years before colonization by Europeans. When the first European explorers arrived, the most populous and influential tribes were Algonquian peoples, specifically, the Ottawa, the Anishnabe (called Chippewa in French, after their language Ojibwe), and the Potawatomi. The Anishnabe, whose numbers are estimated to have been between 25,000 and 35,000, were the most populous.

Although the Anishnabe were well-established in Michigan's Upper Peninsula and northern Lower Peninsula, they also inhabited northern Ontario, northern Wisconsin, southern Manitoba, and northern and north-central Minnesota. The Ottawa lived primarily south of the Straits of Mackinac in northern and western Michigan, while the Potawatomi were primarily in the southwest. The three nations co-existed peacefully as part of a loose confederation called the Council of Three Fires. Other First Nations people in Michigan, in the south and east, were the Mascouten, the Menominee, the Miami, and the Wyandot, who are better known by their French name, Huron.

17th century

French voyageurs, explored and settled in Michigan in the 17th century. The first Europeans to reach what later became Michigan were those of Étienne Brûlé's expedition in 1622. The first permanent European settlement was founded in 1668 on the site where Father (Père, in French) Jacques Marquette established Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan as a Catholic mission to minister to the Ottawa Indians, and to serve as a regional headquarters for further Catholic missionary activities in the upper Great Lakes area.[10] It was here that the first European building was erected in Michigan, within the US Midwest, and also within what is now the Canadian province of Ontario.

Soon afterward, in 1671 the outlying mission of Saint Ignace was founded approximately 50 miles south. Then in 1675 the mission of Marquette was also founded approximately 200 miles to the west of Sault Ste. Marie, on the south shore of Lake Superior. Together with Sault Ste. Marie, these three original Jesuit missions are the first three European-founded cities in Michigan. Due to the generally skilled, tolerant and helpful manner of these early Jesuit missionaries, the Indian populations in the area received these missions well, with relatively few difficulties or hostilities, despite the fact that the ratio of the European populations, vs: the native populations of these settlements was usually in favor of the native Indians from early on. "The Soo" (Sault Ste. Marie) has the distinction of being the oldest city in both Michigan and Ontario. It was split into two cities in 1818, a year after the U.S.-Canada boundary in the Great Lakes was finally established by the U.S.-U.K. Joint Border Commission following the War of 1812.

In 1679, Lord La Salle of France directed the construction of the Griffin, the first European sailing vessel built on the upper Great Lakes. That same year, La Salle built Fort Miami at present-day St. Joseph.

18th century

Michigan in 1718, Guillaume de L'Isle map, approximate state area highlighted.

In 1701 French explorer and army officer Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac founded Le Fort Ponchartrain du Détroit or "Fort Ponchartrain on-the-Strait" on the strait, known as the Detroit River, between lakes Saint Clair and Erie. Cadillac had convinced King Louis XIV's chief minister, Louis Phélypeaux, Comte de Pontchartrain, that a permanent community there would strengthen French control over the upper Great Lakes and repel British aspirations.

The hundred soldiers and workers who accompanied Cadillac built a fort enclosing one arpent[11][12] (about .85 acre, the equivalent of just under 200 feet (61 m) per side) and named it Fort Pontchartrain. Cadillac's wife, Marie Thérèse Guyon, soon moved to Detroit, becoming one of the first European women to settle in the Michigan wilderness. The town quickly became a major fur-trading and shipping post. The Église de Saint-Anne (Church of Saint Ann) was founded the same year. While the original building does not survive, the congregation of that name continues to be active today.

At the same time, the French strengthened Fort Michilimackinac at the Straits of Mackinac to better control their lucrative fur-trading empire. By the mid-eighteenth century, the French also occupied forts at present-day Niles and Sault Ste. Marie, though most of the rest of the region remained unsettled by Europeans.

From 1660 to the end of French rule, Michigan was part of the Royal Province of New France.[13] In 1759, following the Battle of the Plains of Abraham in the French and Indian War (1754–1763), Québec City fell to British forces. This marked Britain's victory in the Seven Years War. Under the 1763 Treaty of Paris, Michigan and the rest of New France east of the Mississippi River passed to Great Britain.[14]

During the American Revolutionary War, Detroit was an important British supply center. Most of the inhabitants were French-Canadians or Native Americans, many of whom had been allied with the French. Because of imprecise cartography and unclear language defining the boundaries in the 1763 Treaty of Paris, the British retained control of Detroit and Michigan after the American Revolution. When Quebec was split into Lower and Upper Canada in 1790, Michigan was part of Kent County, Upper Canada. It held its first democratic elections in August 1792 to send delegates to the new provincial parliament at Newark (now Niagara-on-the-Lake).[15]

Under terms negotiated in the 1794 Jay Treaty, Britain withdrew from Detroit and Michilimackinac in 1796. Questions remained over the boundary for many years, and the United States did not have uncontested control of the Upper Peninsula and Drummond Island until 1818 and 1847, respectively.

19th century

During the War of 1812, Michigan Territory (effectively consisting of Detroit and the surrounding area) was captured by the British and nominally returned to Upper Canada. United States forces pushed the British out in 1813 and moved into Canada.

The Treaty of Ghent implemented the policy of Status Quo Ante Bellum or "Just as Things Were Before the War." That meant Michigan would remain as part of the United States, and the agreement to establish a joint US-UK boundary commission also remained valid. Subsequent to the findings of that commission in 1817, control of the Upper Peninsula and of islands in the St. Clair River delta was transferred from Ontario to Michigan in 1818. Mackinac Island (to which the British had moved their Michilimackinac army base) was transferred to the U.S. in 1847.

Lumbering pines in the late 1800s

The population grew slowly until the opening of the Erie Canal in New York State 1825. This brought a large influx of settlers from New York and New England to Ohio and Michigan because it made transportation by ships through the Great Lakes possible. Farm products, such as grain, and resource commodities, such as lumber and iron ore, could be shipped to the port of New York and elsewhere by Great Lakes and Erie Canal-Hudson River traffic. By the 1830s, Michigan had 80,000 residents, which were more than enough to allow it to qualify and apply for statehood. The connection between the Great Lakes states and New York increased the wealth of all.

In October 1835 the people approved the Constitution of 1835, thereby forming a state government, although Congressional recognition was delayed pending resolution of a boundary dispute with Ohio. Both states claimed a 468-square-mile (1,210 km2) strip of land that included the newly incorporated city of Toledo on Lake Erie and an area to the west then known as the "Great Black Swamp". The dispute came to be called the Toledo War. Michigan and Ohio militia maneuvered in the area but never exchanged fire. Congress awarded the "Toledo Strip" to Ohio. Michigan received the western part of the Upper Peninsula as a concession and formally entered the Union on January 26, 1837.

Thought at first to be nearly valueless, the Upper Peninsula was discovered to be a rich and important source of lumber, iron and copper. These became the state's most sought-after natural resources and generated early wealth. Geologist Douglass Houghton and land surveyor William Austin Burt were among the first to document many of these resources. Developers rushed to the state. Michigan led the nation in lumber production from 1850s to the 1880s. The lumber harvested in Michigan was shipped to the rapidly developing prairie states, Chicago, the eastern states, and all the way to Europe.

The first official meeting of the Republican Party took place July 6, 1854 in Jackson, Michigan, where the party adopted its platform. Michigan made a significant contribution to the Union in the American Civil War and sent more than forty regiments of volunteers to the Federal armies.

Communities and the state rapidly set up systems for public education, including founding the University of Michigan, for a classical academic education, and Ypsilanti Normal College (now Eastern Michigan University, for the training of teachers. Michigan State University in East Lansing was founded as a land-grant college. In the early 1900s, Michigan was the first state to offer a four-year curriculum in a normal college.

20th century to present

See also: History of Ford Motor Company

Michigan's economy underwent a transformation at the turn of the 20th century. The birth of the automotive industry, with Henry Ford's first plant in Highland Park, marked the beginning of a new era in transportation. Like the steamship and railroad, it was a far-reaching development. More than the forms of public transportation, the automobile transformed private life. It became the major industry of Detroit and Michigan, and permanently altered the socio-economic life of the United States and much of the world.

With the growth of the auto industry, jobs were created in Detroit that attracted immigrants from eastern and southern Europe and migrants from across the country, including both whites and blacks from the rural South. By 1910 Detroit was the fourth largest city in the nation. Residential housing was in short supply, and it took years for the market to catch up with the population boom. By the 1930s, so many immigrants had arrived that more than 30 languages were spoken in the public schools, and ethnic communities celebrated in annual heritage festivals.

Skyscrapers in downtown Detroit

Many African Americans moved to Detroit as one of the destinations in the Great Migration from the South, as they could find better work there. Over the years they contributed greatly to its diverse urban culture. African Americans from Detroit created national popular music trends, such as the influential Motown Sound of the 1960s led by a variety of individual singers and groups.

Grand Rapids, the second-largest city in Michigan, is also a center of automotive manufacturing. Since 1838, the city had also been noted for its thriving furniture industry. Started because of ready sources of lumber, the furniture industry declined in the late 20th century through competition with other regional firms and overseas industry.

Michigan held its first United States presidential primary election in 1910. With its rapid growth in industry, it was an important center of union industry-wide organizing, such as the rise of the United Auto Workers.

In 1920 WWJ in Detroit became the first radio station in the United States to regularly broadcast commercial programs. Throughout that decade, some of the country's largest and most ornate skyscrapers were built in the city. Particularly noteworthy are the Fisher Building, Cadillac Place, and the Guardian Building, each of which is a National Historic Landmarks (NHL).

Detroit boomed through the 1950s, at one point doubling its population in a decade. After World War II, housing development spread outside cities to answer pent-up demand. Newly built highways allowed commuters to navigate the region more easily. In Detroit as elsewhere, those who could afford to, began to move to newer housing in the suburbs.

Michigan is the leading auto-producing state in the U.S., although some of the industry has shifted to less-expensive labor in the Southern United States and overseas.[16] With more than ten million residents, Michigan remains a large and influential state, ranking eighth in population among the fifty states.

The Metro Detroit area in the southeast corner of the state is the largest metropolitan area in Michigan (roughly 50% of the population resides there) and one of the ten largest metropolitan areas in the country. The Grand Rapids/Holland/Muskegon metropolitan area on the west side of the state is the fastest-growing metro area in the state, with over 1.3 million residents as of 2006.

Metro Detroit's population is growing. Detroit's population is stabilizing with a strong redevelopment in the city's central district with a significant rise in population in its outskirts are contributing to some population inflow. A period of economic transition, especially in manufacturing, has caused economic difficulties in the region since the recession of 2001.

Government

See also: List of Governors of Michigan and United States congressional delegations from Michigan
Michigan State Capitol in LansingMichigan State Capitol Muses.jpg

State government

Main article: Government of Michigan

Michigan is governed as a republic, with three branches of government: the executive branch consisting of the Governor of Michigan and the other independently elected constitutional officers; the legislative branch consisting of the House of Representatives and Senate; and the judicial branch consisting of the one court of justice. The state also allows direct participation of the electorate by initiative, referendum, recall, and ratification. Lansing is the state capital and is home to all three branches of state government.

The Governor of Michigan and the other state constitutional officers serve four-year terms and may be re-elected only once. The current Governor is Jennifer Granholm. Michigan has two official Governor's Residences; one is in Lansing, and the other is at Mackinac Island.

The Michigan Legislature consists of a 38-member Senate and 110-member House of Representatives. Senators serve four-year terms and Representatives two. The Michigan State Capitol was dedicated in 1879 and has hosted the state's executive and legislative branches ever since.

Law

Michigan Supreme Court at the Hall of Justice

The Michigan Court System consists of two courts with primary jurisdiction (the Circuit Courts and the District Courts), one intermediate level appellate court (the Michigan Court of Appeals), and the Michigan Supreme Court. There are several administrative courts and specialized courts. The Michigan Constitution provides for voter initiative and referendum (Article II, § 9,[17] defined as "the power to propose laws and to enact and reject laws, called the initiative, and the power to approve or reject laws enacted by the legislature, called the referendum. The power of initiative extends only to laws which the legislature may enact under this constitution").

In 1846 Michigan was the first state in the Union, as well as the first English-speaking government in the world,[18][19] to abolish the death penalty. Historian David Chardavoyne has suggested that the movement to abolish capital punishment in Michigan grew as a result of enmity toward the state's neighbor, Canada. Under British rule, it made public executions a regular practice.

Politics

See also: Elections in Michigan and Political party strength in Michigan
Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm (D)
Presidential elections results[20]
Year Republicans Democrats
2008 40.89% 2,048,639 57.33% 2,872,579
2004 47.81% 2,313,746 51.23% 2,479,183
2000 46.14% 1,953,139 51.28% 2,170,418
1996 38.48% 1,481,212 51.69% 1,989,653
1992 36.38% 1,554,940 43.77% 1,871,182
1988 53.57% 1,965,486 45.67% 1,675,783
1984 59.23% 2,251,571 40.24% 1,529,638
1980 48.99% 1,915,225 42.50% 1,661,532
1976 51.83% 1,893,742 46.44% 1,696,714
1972 56.20% 1,961,721 41.81% 1,459,435
1968 41.46% 1,370,665 48.18% 1,593,082
1964 33.10% 1,060,152 66.70% 2,136,615
1960 48.84% 1,620,428 50.85% 1,687,269

Voters in the state elect candidates from both major parties. Economic issues are important in Michigan elections. The three-term Republican Governor John Engler (1991–2003) preceded the current Democratic Governor Jennifer Granholm. The state has re-elected its current Republican Attorney General Mike Cox since 2003. Michigan supported the election of Republican Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush.

However, the state has supported Democrats in the last five presidential election cycles. In 2008, Barack Obama carried the state over John McCain, winning Michigan's seventeen electoral votes with 57% of the vote. Democrats have won each of the last three, nine of the last ten, and fifteen of the last eighteen U.S. Senate elections in Michigan with confidence on national economic issues posing a challenge. Republican strength is greatest in the western, northern, and rural parts of the state, especially in the Grand Rapids area. Republicans also do well in suburban Detroit, which tends to be an important factor in deciding statewide elections. Democrats are strongest in the east, especially in the cities of Detroit, Ann Arbor, Flint, and Saginaw.

Historically, the first formal meeting of the Republican Party took place in Jackson, Michigan on July 6, 1854[21] and the party thereafter dominated Michigan until the Great Depression. In the 1912 election, Michigan was one of the six states to support progressive Republican and third-party candidate Theodore Roosevelt for President after he lost the Republican nomination to William Howard Taft.

Michigan remained fairly reliably Republican at the presidential level for much of the twentieth century. It was part of Greater New England, the northern tier of states settled chiefly by migrants from New England who carried their culture with them. The state was one of only a handful to back Wendell Willkie over Franklin Roosevelt in 1940, and supported Thomas E. Dewey in his losing bid against Harry Truman in 1948. Michigan went to the Democrats in presidential elections during the 1960s, and voted for Republican Richard Nixon in 1972.

Michigan was the home of Gerald Ford, the 38th President of the United States. He was born in Nebraska and moved as an infant to Grand Rapids, Michigan, and grew up there.[22][23] The Gerald R. Ford Museum is located in Grand Rapids.

Administrative divisions

Main article: Administrative divisions of Michigan
See also: List of Michigan county seats, List of counties in Michigan, and List of municipalities in Michigan (by population)

State government is decentralized among three tiers — statewide, county and township. Counties are administrative divisions of the state, and townships are administrative divisions of a county. Both of them exercise state government authority, localized to meet the particular needs of their jurisdictions, as provided by state law. There are 83 counties in Michigan.

Cities, state universities, and villages are vested with home rule powers of varying degrees. Home rule cities can generally do anything that is not prohibited by law. The fifteen state universities have broad power and can do anything within the parameters of their status as educational institutions that is not prohibited by the state constitution. Villages, by contrast, have limited home rule and are not completely autonomous from the county and township in which they are located.

There are two types of township in Michigan: general law township and charter. Charter township status was created by the Legislature in 1947 and grants additional powers and stream-lined administration in order to provide greater protection against annexation by a city. As of April 2001, there were 127 charter townships in Michigan. In general, charter townships have many of the same powers as a city but without the same level of obligations. For example, a charter township can have its own fire department, water and sewer department, police department, and so on—just like a city—but it is not required to have those things, whereas cities must provide those services. Charter townships can opt to use county-wide services instead, such as deputies from the county sheriff's office instead of a home-based force of ordinance officers.

Geography

See also: Protected areas of Michigan, List of Michigan state parks, and Geography of Michigan
Michigan Regions.
Aerial view of Sleeping Bear Dunes.
The Pointe Mouillee State Game Area
Tahquamenon Falls in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan

Michigan consists of two peninsulas that lie between 82°30' to about 90°30' west longitude, and are separated by the Straits of Mackinac. The 45th parallel north runs through the state—marked by highway signs and the Polar-Equator Trail[24]—along a line including Mission Point Light near Traverse City, the towns of Gaylord and Alpena and Menominee in the Upper Peninsula. With the exception of two small areas that are drained by the Mississippi River by way of the Wisconsin River in the Upper Peninsula and by way of the Kankakee-Illinois River in the Lower Peninsula, Michigan is drained by the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence watershed and is the only state with the majority of its land thus drained.

The Great Lakes that border Michigan from east to west are Lake Erie, Lake Huron, Lake Michigan and Lake Superior. It has more lighthouses than any other state. The state is bounded on the south by the states of Ohio and Indiana, sharing land and water boundaries with both. Michigan's western boundaries are almost entirely water boundaries, from south to north, with Illinois and Wisconsin in Lake Michigan; then a land boundary with Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula, that is principally demarcated by the Menominee and Montreal Rivers; then water boundaries again, in Lake Superior, with Wisconsin and Minnesota to the west, capped around by the Canadian province of Ontario to the north and east.

The heavily forested Upper Peninsula is relatively mountainous in the west. The Porcupine Mountains, which are part of one of the oldest mountain chains in the world,[25] rise to an altitude of almost 2,000 feet (610 m) above sea level and form the watershed between the streams flowing into Lake Superior and Lake Michigan. The surface on either side of this range is rugged. The state's highest point, in the Huron Mountains northwest of Marquette, is Mount Arvon at 1,979 feet (603 m). The peninsula is as large as Connecticut, Delaware, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island combined but has fewer than 330,000 inhabitants. They are sometimes called "Yoopers" (from "U.P.'ers"), and their speech (the "Yooper dialect") has been heavily influenced by the numerous Scandinavian and Canadian immigrants who settled the area during the lumbering and mining boom of the late nineteenth century.

The Lower Peninsula, shaped like a mitten, is 277 miles (446 km) long from north to south and 195 miles (314 km) from east to west and occupies nearly two-thirds of the state's land area. The surface of the peninsula is generally level, broken by conical hills and glacial moraines usually not more than a few hundred feet tall. It is divided by a low water divide running north and south. The larger portion of the state is on the west of this and gradually slopes toward Lake Michigan. The highest point in the Lower Peninsula is either Briar Hill at 1,705 feet (520 m), or one of several points nearby in the vicinity of Cadillac. The lowest point is the surface of Lake Erie at 571 feet (174 m).

The geographic orientation of Michigan's peninsulas makes for a long distance between the ends of the state. Ironwood, in the far western Upper Peninsula, lies 630 highway miles (1,015 km) from Lambertville in the Lower Peninsula's southeastern corner. The geographic isolation of the Upper Peninsula from Michigan's political and population centers makes the U.P. culturally and economically distinct. Occasionally U.P. residents have called for secession from Michigan and establishment as a new state to be called "Superior".

A feature of Michigan that gives it the distinct shape of a mitten is the Thumb. This peninsula projects out into Lake Huron and the Saginaw Bay. The geography of the Thumb is mainly flat with a few rolling hills. Other peninsulas of Michigan include the Keweenaw Peninsula, making up the Copper Country region of the state. The Leelanau Peninsula lies in the Northern Lower Michigan region. See Also Michigan Regions

Little Sable Point Light south of Pentwater, Michigan.

Numerous lakes and marshes mark both peninsulas, and the coast is much indented. Keweenaw Bay, Whitefish Bay, and the Big and Little Bays De Noc are the principal indentations on the Upper Peninsula. The Grand and Little Traverse, Thunder, and Saginaw bays indent the Lower Peninsula. Michigan has the ninth longest shoreline of any state—3,224 miles (5,189 km),[5] including 1,056 miles (1,699 km) of island shoreline.[26]

Michigan map, including territorial waters

The state has numerous large islands, the principal ones being the North Manitou and South Manitou, Beaver, and Fox groups in Lake Michigan; Isle Royale and Grande Isle in Lake Superior; Marquette, Bois Blanc, and Mackinac islands in Lake Huron; and Neebish, Sugar, and Drummond islands in St. Mary's River. Michigan has about 150 lighthouses, the most of any U.S. state. The first lighthouses in Michigan were built between 1818 and 1822. They were built to project light at night and to serve as a landmark during the day to safely guide the passenger ships and freighters traveling the Great Lakes. See Lighthouses in the United States.

The state's rivers are generally small, short and shallow, and few are navigable. The principal ones include the Detroit River, St. Marys River, and St. Clair River which connect the Great Lakes; the Au Sable, Cheboygan, and Saginaw, which flow into Lake Huron; the Ontonagon, and Tahquamenon, which flow into Lake Superior; and the St. Joseph, Kalamazoo, Grand, Muskegon, Manistee, and Escanaba, which flow into Lake Michigan. The state has 11,037 inland lakes and 38,575 square miles (99,910 km2) of Great Lakes waters and rivers in addition to 1,305 square miles (3,380 km2) of inland water. No point in Michigan is more than six miles (10 km) from an inland lake or more than 85 miles (137 km) from one of the Great Lakes.[27]

Adjacent states & provinces

Minnesota Ontario Ontario
Wisconsin Ontario
   Michigan    
Illinois & Indiana Indiana & Ohio Ohio

Protected lands

See also: List of Michigan state parks

The state is home to one national park: Isle Royale National Park, located in Lake Superior, about 30 miles (48 km) southeast of Thunder Bay, Ontario. Other national protected areas in the state include: Keweenaw National Historical Park, Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, Huron National Forest, Manistee National Forest, Hiawatha National Forest, Ottawa National Forest and Father Marquette National Memorial. The largest section of the North Country National Scenic Trail also passes through Michigan.

With 78 state parks, 19 state recreation areas, and 6 state forests, Michigan has the largest state park and state forest system of any state. These parks and forests include Holland State Park, Mackinac Island State Park, Au Sable State Forest, and Mackinaw State Forest.

Climate

Detroit, MI
Climate chart (explanation)
J F M A M J J A S O N D
 
 
1.9
 
31
18
 
 
1.9
 
34
20
 
 
2.5
 
45
29
 
 
3.1
 
58
38
 
 
3.1
 
70
49
 
 
3.6
 
79
59
 
 
3.2
 
83
64
 
 
3.1
 
81
62
 
 
3.3
 
74
54
 
 
2.2
 
61
43
 
 
2.7
 
48
34
 
 
2.5
 
36
23
average max. and min. temperatures in °F
precipitation totals in inches
source: Detroit Climate
Lansing, MI
Climate chart (explanation)
J F M A M J J A S O N D
 
 
1.6
 
29
14
 
 
1.5
 
33
15
 
 
2.3
 
44
24
 
 
3.1
 
57
35
 
 
2.7
 
69
45
 
 
3.6
 
78
54
 
 
2.7
 
82
58
 
 
3.5
 
80
57
 
 
3.5
 
72
49
 
 
2.3
 
60
39
 
 
2.7
 
46
30
 
 
2.2
 
34
20
average max. and min. temperatures in °F
precipitation totals in inches
source: Lansing Climate
Marquette, MI
Climate chart (explanation)
J F M A M J J A S O N D
 
 
2.6
 
20
3
 
 
1.9
 
24
5
 
 
3.1
 
33
14
 
 
2.8
 
46
27
 
 
3.1
 
62
39
 
 
3.2
 
70
48
 
 
3
 
75
54
 
 
3.6
 
73
52
 
 
3.7
 
63
44
 
 
3.7
 
51
34
 
 
3.3
 
35
22
 
 
2.4
 
24
10
average max. and min. temperatures in °F
precipitation totals in inches
source: Marquette Climate
Michigan USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map.

Michigan has a humid continental climate, although there are two distinct regions. The southern and central parts of the Lower Peninsula (south of Saginaw Bay and from the Grand Rapids area southward) have a warmer climate (Koppen climate classification Dfa) with hot summers and cold winters. The northern part of Lower Peninsula and the entire Upper Peninsula has a more severe climate (Koppen Dfb), with warm, but shorter summers and longer, cold to very cold winters. Some parts of the state average high temperatures below freezing from December through February, and into early March in the far northern parts. During the winter through the middle of February the state is frequently subjected to heavy lake-effect snow. The state averages from 30–40 inches (76–100 cm) of precipitation annually.

The entire state averages 30 days of thunderstorm activity per year. These can be severe, especially in the southern part of the state. The state averages 17 tornadoes per year, which are more common in the extreme southern portion of the state. Portions of the southern border have been nearly as vulnerable historically as parts of Tornado Alley. For this reason, many communities in the very southern portions of the state are equipped with tornado sirens to warn residents of approaching tornadoes. Farther north, in the Upper Peninsula, tornadoes are rare.[28]

Monthly Normal High and Low Temperatures For Other Michigan Cities in °F(°C)
City Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Flint 29/13

(-2/-11)

 32/15

(0/-9)

 43/24

(6/-4)

 56/35

(13/2)

 69/45

(21/7)

 78/55

(26/13)

 82/59

(28/15)

 80/57

(27/14)

 72/49

(22/9)

 60/39

(16/4)

 46/30

(8/-1)

 34/19

(1/-7)
Grand Rapids 29/16

(-2/-9)

 33/17

(1/-8)

 43/26

(6/-3)

 57/36

(14/2)

 70/47

(21/8)

 78/56

(26/13)

 82/60

(28/16)

 80/59

(27/15)

 72/51

(22/11)

 60/40

(11/4)

 46/31

(8/-1)

 34/21

(1/-6)
Muskegon 30/17

(-1/-8)

 32/18

(0/-8)

 42/25

(6/-4)

 55/35

(13/2)

 67/45

(19/7)

 76/54

(24/12)

 80/60

(27/16)

 78/59

(26/15)

 70/51

(21/11)

 59/41

(15/5)

 46/32

(8/0)

 35/23

(2/-5)
Sault Ste. Marie 22/5

(-6/-15)

 24/7

(-4/-14)

 34/16

(1/-9)

 48/29

(9/-2)

 63/39

(17/4)

 71/46

(22/7)

 76/52

(24/11)

 74/52

(23/11)

 65/45

(18/7)

 53/36

(12/2)

 39/26

(12/-3)

 27/13

(-3/-11)
[4]

Geology

The geological formation of the state is greatly varied. Primary boulders are found over the entire surface of the Upper Peninsula (being principally of primitive origin), while Secondary deposits cover the entire Lower Peninsula. The Upper Peninsula exhibits Lower Silurian sandstones, limestones, copper and iron bearing rocks, corresponding to the Huronian system of Canada. The central portion of the Lower Peninsula contains coal measures and rocks of the Permo-Carboniferous period. Devonian and sub-Carboniferous deposits are scattered over the entire state.

Demographics

See also: Michigan census statistical areas
Michigan population distribution
Map showing the largest ancestry group in each county
Historical populations
Census Pop. %±
1800 3,757
—
1810 4,762 26.8%
1820 7,452 56.5%
1830 28,004 275.8%
1840 212,267 658.0%
1850 397,654 87.3%
1860 749,113 88.4%
1870 1,184,059 58.1%
1880 1,636,937 38.2%
1890 2,093,890 27.9%
1900 2,420,982 15.6%
1910 2,810,173 16.1%
1920 3,668,412 30.5%
1930 4,842,325 32.0%
1940 5,256,106 8.5%
1950 6,371,766 21.2%
1960 7,823,194 22.8%
1970 8,875,083 13.4%
1980 9,262,078 4.4%
1990 9,295,297 0.4%
2000 9,938,444 6.9%
Est. 2008 10,045,697 [2] 1.1%

As of July 1, 2008, Michigan had an estimated population of 10,003,422, an increase of 64,930, or 0.7%, since the year 2000. As of 2000, the state had the eighth-largest population in the Union.

The center of population of Michigan is located in Shiawassee County, in the southeastern corner of the civil township of Bennington, which is located directly north of the village of Morrice.[29]

As of 2005-2007 three-year estimate, the state had a foreign-born population of 610,173, or 6% of the total population. In recent years, the foreign-born population in the state has grown. Michigan has the largest Dutch, Finnish, and Macedonian populations in the United States.

As of the 2006-2008 American Community Survey, the racial composition was as follows:

Source:[30]

The five largest reported ancestries in Michigan are German (22.4%), African American (14.0%), Irish (12.0%), English (10.6%), and Polish (9.1%).[31]

The large majority of Michigan's population is Caucasian. Americans of European descent live throughout Michigan and most of Metro Detroit. Large European American groups include those of German, Irish, French, and British ancestry. People of Scandinavian descent, especially those of Finnish ancestry, have a notable presence in the Upper Peninsula. Western Michigan is known for the Dutch heritage of many residents (the highest concentration of any state), especially in metropolitan Grand Rapids. Metro Detroit also has residents of Polish and Irish descent.

Dearborn has become the center of a sizeable Arab community, including many Lebanese who immigrated for jobs in the auto industry in the 1920s.[32] About 300,000 people trace their roots to the Middle East which includes.[33] African Americans, who came to Detroit and other northern cities in the Great Migration of the early 20th century, form a majority of the population of the city of Detroit and of other industrial cities, including Flint and Benton Harbor.

An individual from Michigan is called a "Michigander" or "Michiganian".[34] Also at times, but rarely, a "Michiganite".[35] Residents of the Upper Peninsula are sometimes referred to as "Yoopers" (a phonetic pronunciation of "U.P.ers"), and Upper Peninsula residents sometimes refer to those from the lower as "trolls" (they live below the bridge).[36]

Demographics of Michigan (csv)
By race White Black AIAN* Asian NHPI*
2000 (total population) 83.05% 14.92% 1.26% 2.10% 0.08%
2000 (Hispanic only) 2.98% 0.22% 0.11% 0.03% 0.01%
2005 (total population) 82.65% 15.05% 1.21% 2.57% 0.08%
2005 (Hispanic only) 3.51% 0.23% 0.11% 0.05% 0.02%
Growth 2000–05 (total population) 1.35% 2.77% -2.51% 24.24% 12.50%
Growth 2000–05 (non-Hispanic only) 0.66% 2.67% -2.71% 24.04% 10.70%
Growth 2000–05 (Hispanic only) 19.89% 9.70% -0.48% 36.87% 20.51%
* AIAN is American Indian or Alaskan Native; NHPI is Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander

Religion

The Roman Catholic Church was the only organized religion in Michigan until the 19th century, reflecting the territory's French colonial roots. Detroit's St. Anne's parish, established in 1701, is the second-oldest Catholic parish in the country.[37] French-Canadian Catholics were reduced to a small minority by the influx of Protestants from the United States in the early 19th century. By the mid-19th century, there was a wave of immigration of Catholics from Ireland and, later, from eastern and southern Europe.

Change was rapid in the 19th century. The Lutheran Church was introduced by German and Scandinavian immigrants; Lutheranism is second largest religious denomination in the state. The first Jewish synagogue in the state was Temple Beth El, founded by twelve German Jewish families in Detroit in 1850.[38] Islam was introduced by immigrants from the Near East during the 20th century.[39]

The largest denomination by number of adherents, according to a survey in the year 2000, was the Roman Catholic Church with 2,019,926 parishioners. The largest Protestant denominations were the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod with 244,231 adherents; followed by the United Methodist Church with 222,269; and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America with 160,836 adherents. In the same survey, Jewish adherents in the state of Michigan were estimated at 110,000, and Muslims at 80,515.[40]

Economy

See also: List of companies based in Michigan and Economy of metropolitan Detroit
Michigan is the center of the American automotive industry. Pictured is the Ford Shelby GT500 at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit. The GT500 is manufactured in Ford's Flat Rock, Michigan assembly plant.

The Bureau of Economic Analysis estimated Michigan's 2004 gross state product at $372 B.[41] Per capita personal income in 2003 was $31,178 and ranked twentieth in the nation. In May 2010, the state's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 13.6%, with an actual rate of 12.8% for the month, during a U.S. recession.[42][43]

Top Fortune Companies
in Michigan for 2009
(ranked by revenues)
with State and U.S. rankings.
State Corporation US
1 General Motors 6
2 Ford 7
3 Dow 38
4 Delphi 121
5 Whirlpool 133
6 Ally 147
7 TRW Automotive 169
8 Lear 195
9 Kellogg 210
10 Penske Automotive 225
11 Masco 277
12 Visteon 282
13 DTE Energy 285
14 Arvin Meritor 346
15 CMS Energy 369
16 Stryker 375
17 Autoliv 376
18 Pulte Homes 393
19 Kelly Services 437
20 BorgWarner 453
21 Auto-Owners 476
22 Steelcase 625
23 Borders Group 639
24 Spartan Stores 751
25 Cooper Standard 814
26 Valassis 809
27 Universal Forest 837
28 Affinia Group 853
29 Hayes-Lemmerz 856
30 American Axle 874
31 Herman Miller 897
32 Perrigo 897
Further information:
List of Michigan companies

Source: Fortune [44]

Some of the major industries/products/services include automobiles, cereal products, pizza, information technology, aerospace, military equipment, copper, iron, and furniture. Michigan is the third leading grower of Christmas trees with 60,520 acres (245 km2) of land dedicated to Christmas tree farming.[45][46] The beverage Vernors was invented in Michigan in 1866, sharing the title of oldest soft drink with Hires Root Beer. Faygo was founded in Detroit on November 4, 1907. Two of the top four pizza chains were founded in Michigan and are headquartered there: Domino's Pizza by Tom Monaghan and Little Caesars Pizza by Mike Ilitch.

Michigan has experienced economic difficulties brought on by volatile stock market disruptions following the September 11, 2001 attacks. This caused a pension and benefit fund crisis for many American companies, including General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler. Since the early 2000s recession and the September 11, 2001 attacks, GM, Ford, and Chrysler have struggled to overcome the benefit funds crisis which followed an ensuing volatile stock market which had caused a severe underfunding condition in the respective U.S. pension and benefit funds (OPEB). Although manufacturing in the state grew 6.6% from 2001 to 2006,[16] the high speculative price of oil became a factor for the U.S. auto industry during the economic crisis of 2008 impacting industry revenues.

During this economic crisis, President George W. Bush extended loans from the Troubled Assets Relief Program (TARP) funds in order to help the GM and Chrysler bridge the recession.[47] In January 2009, President Barack Obama formed an automotive task force in order to help the industry recover and achieve renewed prosperity for the region. With retiree health care costs a significant issue,[48][49] General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler reached agreements with the United Auto Workers Union to transfer the liabilities for their respective health care and benefit funds to a 501(c)(9) Voluntary Employee Beneficiary Association (VEBA). In spite of these efforts, the severity of the recession required Detroit's automakers to take additional steps to restructure, including idling many plants. With the U.S. Treasury extending the necessary debtor in possession financing, Chrysler and GM filled separate 'pre-packaged' Chapter 11 restructurings in May and June 2009 respectively.[50]

Michigan ranks fourth nationally in high tech employment with 568,000 high tech workers, which includes 70,000 in the automotive industry.[51] Michigan typically ranks third or fourth in overall Research & development (R&D) expenditures in the United States.[52][53] Its research and development, which includes automotive, comprises a higher percentage of the state's overall gross domestic product than for any other U.S. state.[54] The state is an important source of engineering job opportunities. The domestic auto industry accounts directly and indirectly for one of every ten jobs in the U.S.[55]

Michigan ranked second nationally in new corporate facilities and expansions in 2004. From 1997 to 2004, Michigan was listed as the only state to top the 10,000 mark for the number of major new developments;[16][56] however, the effects of the late 2000s recession have slowed the state's economy. In 2008, Michigan ranked third in a survey among the states for luring new business which measured capital investment and new job creation per one million population.[57] In August 2009, Michigan and Detroit's auto industry received $1.36 B in grants from the U.S. Department of Energy for the manufacture of electric vehicle technologies which is expected to generate 6,800 immediate jobs and employ 40,000 in the state by 2020.[58] From 2007 to 2009, Michigan ranked 3rd in the U.S. for new corporate facilities and expansions.[59][60]

As leading research institutions, the University of Michigan, Michigan State University,and Wayne State University are important partners in the state's economy and the state's University Research Corridor.[61] Michigan's public university's attract more than $1.5 B in research and development grants each year.[62] The National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory is located at Michigan State University. Michigan's workforce is well-educated and highly skilled, making it attractive to companies. It has the third highest number of engineering graduates nationally.[63]

Detroit Metropolitan Airport is one of the nation's most recently expanded and modernized airports with six major runways, and large aircraft maintenance facilities capable of servicing and repairing a Boeing 747. Michigan's schools and colleges rank among the nation's best. The state has maintained its early commitment to public education. The state's infrastructure gives it a competitive edge; Michigan has 38 deep water ports.[64] In 2007, Bank of America announced that it would commit $25 billion to community development in Michigan following its acquisition of LaSalle Bank in Troy.[65]

Taxation

Michigan's personal income tax is set to a flat rate of 4.35%. Some cities impose additional income taxes. Michigan's state sales tax is 6%. Property taxes are assessed on the local level, but every property owner's local assessment contributes six mills (six dollars per thousand dollars of property value) to the statutory State Education Tax. In 2007, Michigan repealed its Single Business Tax (SBT) and replaced it with a Michigan Business Tax (MBT) in order to stimulate job growth by reducing taxes for seventy percent of the businesses in the state.[66] According to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, recent growth in Michigan is 0.1%.[67]

Agriculture

Michigan is the leading U.S. producer of tart cherries, blueberries, pickling cucumbers, red beans and petunias.

A wide variety of commodity crops, fruits, and vegetables are grown in Michigan, making it second only to California among U.S. states in the diversity of its agriculture.[68] The state has 55,000 farms utilizing 10 million acres (40,500 km²) of land which sold $6.6 billion worth of products in 2008.[69] The most valuable agricultural product is milk. Leading crops include corn, soybeans, flowers, wheat, sugar beets and potatoes. Livestock in the state included 1 million cattle, 1 million hogs, 78,000 sheep and over 3 million chickens. Livestock products accounted for 38% of the value of agricultural products while crops accounted for the majority.

Michigan is a leading grower of fruit in the U.S., including blueberries, cherries, apples, grapes, and peaches.[70][71] These fruits are mainly grown in West Michigan. Michigan produces wines, beers and a multitude of processed food products. Kellogg's cereal is based out of Battle Creek, Michigan and processes many locally grown foods. Thornapple Valley, Ballpark Franks, Koegel's, and Hebrew National sausage companies are all based in Michigan.

Michigan is home to very fertile land in the Flint/Tri-Cities and "Thumb" areas. Products grown there are corn, sugar beets, navy beans, and soy beans. Sugar beet harvesting usually begins the first of October. It takes the sugar factories about five months to process the 3.7 million tons of sugarbeets into 970 million pounds of pure, white sugar.[72] Michigan's largest sugar refiner, Michigan Sugar Company[73] is the largest east of the Mississippi River and the fourth largest in the nation. Michigan Sugar brand names are Pioneer Sugar and the newly incorporated Big Chief Sugar. Potatoes are grown in Northern Michigan, and corn is dominant in Central Michigan. Michigan State University is dedicated to the study of agriculture.

Tourism

See also: List of National Historic Landmarks in Michigan, List of Registered Historic Places in Michigan, and List of museums in Michigan

Michigan has a thriving tourist industry. Visitors spend $17.5 billion per year in the state, supporting 193,000 tourism jobs.[74] Michigan's tourism website ranks among the busiest in the nation.[75] Destinations draw vacationers, hunters, and nature enthusiasts from across the United States and Canada. Michigan is fifty percent forest land, much of it quite remote. The forests, lakes and thousands of miles of beaches are top attractions. Event tourism draws large numbers to occasions like the Tulip Time Festival and the National Cherry Festival.

The Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island is a classic image of Michigan tourism.

In 2006, the Michigan State Board of Education mandated that all public schools in the state hold their first day of school after the Labor Day holiday, in accordance with the new Post Labor Day School law. A survey found that 70% of all tourism business comes directly from Michigan residents, and the Michigan Hotel, Motel, & Resort Association claimed that the shorter summer in between school years cut into the annual tourism season in the state.[76]

Tourism in metropolitan Detroit draws visitors to leading attractions, particularly The Henry Ford, the Detroit Institute of Arts, and the Detroit Zoo, and to sports in Detroit. Other museums include the Detroit Historical Museum, the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, museums in the Cranbrook Educational Community, and the Arab American National Museum. The metro area offers four major casinos, MGM Grand Detroit, Greektown, Motor City, and Caesars Windsor in Windsor, Ontario, Canada; moreover, Detroit is the largest American city and metropolitan region to offer casino resorts.[77]

Hunting and fishing are significant industries in the state. Charter boats are based in many Great Lakes cities to fish for salmon, trout, walleye and perch. Michigan ranks first in the nation in licensed hunters (over one million) who contribute $2 billion annually to its economy. Over three-quarters of a million hunters participate in white-tailed deer season alone. Many school districts in rural areas of Michigan cancel school on the opening day of firearm deer season, because of attendance concerns.

Michigan's Department of Natural Resources manages the largest dedicated state forest system in the nation. The forest products industry and recreational users contribute $12 billion and 200,000 associated jobs annually to the state's economy. Public hiking and hunting access has also been secured in extensive commercial forests. The state has highest number of golf courses and registered snowmobiles in the nation.[78]

The state has numerous historical markers, which can themselves become the center of a tour.[79] The Great Lakes Circle Tour is a designated scenic road system connecting all of the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River.[80]

With its position in relation to the Great Lakes and the countless ships that have foundered over the many years in which they have been used as a transport route for people and bulk cargo, Michigan is a world-class scuba diving destination. The Michigan Underwater Preserves are 11 underwater areas where wrecks are protected for the benefit of sport divers.

Transportation

Mackinac Bridge

Michigan has nine international crossings with Ontario, Canada:

A second international bridge is currently under development between Detroit, Michigan and Windsor, Ontario.[81]

Railroads

See also: List of Michigan railroads and History of railroads in Michigan

Michigan is served by four Class I railroads: the Canadian National Railway, the Canadian Pacific Railway, CSX Transportation, and the Norfolk Southern Railway. These are augmented by several dozen short line railroads. The vast majority of rail service in Michigan is devoted to freight, with Amtrak and various scenic railroads the exceptions.[82]

Main article: Michigan Services

Amtrak passenger rail services the state, connecting many southern and western Michigan cities to Chicago, Illinois. There are plans for commuter rail for Detroit and its suburbs (see SEMCOG Commuter Rail).[83][84][85]

Roadways

Welcome sign.
See also: Michigan Highway System

Interstate 75 is the main thoroughfare between Detroit, Flint, and Saginaw extending north to Sault Sainte Marie and providing access to Sault Sainte Marie, Ontario. The expressway crosses the Mackinac Bridge between the Lower and Upper Peninsulas. Branching highways include I-275 and I-375 in Detroit; I-475 in Flint; and I-675 in Saginaw.

Interstate 69 enters the state near the Michigan-Ohio-Indiana border, and it extends to Port Huron and provides access to the Blue Water Bridge crossing into Sarnia, Ontario.

Interstate 94 enters the western end of the state at the Indiana border, and it travels east to Detroit and then northeast to Port Huron and ties in with I-69. I-194 branches off from this freeway in Battle Creek. I-94 is the main artery between Chicago, Illinois and Detroit.

Interstate 96 runs east-west between Detroit and Muskegon. I-496 loops through Lansing. I-196 branches off from this freeway at Grand Rapids and connects to I-94 near Benton Harbor. I-696 branches off from this freeway at Novi and connects to I-94 near St Clair Shores.

U.S. Route 2 enters Michigan at the city of Ironwood and runs east to the town of Crystal Falls, where it turns south and briefly re-enters Wisconsin northwest of Florence. It re-enters Michigan north of Iron Mountain and continues through the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to the cities of Escanaba, Manistique, and St. Ignace. Along the way, it cuts through the Ottawa and Hiawatha National Forests and follows the northern shore of Lake Michigan. Its eastern terminus lies at exit 344 of I-75, just north of the Mackinac Bridge. This is generally regarded as the main route through the Upper Peninsula, although some prefer to travel on M-28 as it tends to save time (U.S. 2 hugs the Lake Michigan shoreline for much of its length.)

Major bridges include the Ambassador Bridge, Blue Water Bridge, Mackinac Bridge, and International Bridge. Michigan also has the Detroit-Windsor Tunnel crossing into Canada.

Airports

See also: List of airports in Michigan

The Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport is by far Michigan's busiest airport, followed by the Gerald R. Ford International Airport in Grand Rapids.

Important cities and townships

The Detroit skyline along the Detroit River
The Grand Rapids skyline centered on the Grand River.
A Lansing sunset
Downtown Flint as seen from the Flint River.
The Ann Arbor skyline as seen from Michigan Stadium.
Further information: List of cities, villages, and townships in Michigan

The largest municipalities in Michigan are (according to 2007 census estimates):

Rank City Population Image
1 Detroit 916,952
Map showing largest Michigan municipalities.
2 Grand Rapids 193,627
3 Warren 134,223
4 Sterling Heights 127,349
5 Ann Arbor 115,092
6 Lansing 114,947
7 Flint 114,662
8 Clinton Township 96,253
9 Livonia 93,931
10 Dearborn 89,252

Other important cities include:

Half of the wealthiest communities in the state are located in Oakland County, just north of Detroit. Another wealthy community is located just east of the city, in Grosse Pointe. Only three of these cities are located outside of Metro Detroit. The city of Detroit itself, with a per capita income of $14,717, ranks 517th on the list of Michigan locations by per capita income. Benton Harbor is the poorest city in Michigan, with a per capita income of $8,965, while Barton Hills is the richest with a per capita income of $110,683.

Education

See also: List of colleges and universities in Michigan and List of high schools in Michigan

Colleges and universities

Community colleges and technical schools

Professional sports teams

Michigan's major-league sports teams include: Detroit Tigers baseball team, Detroit Lions football team, Detroit Red Wings ice hockey team, Detroit Pistons men's basketball team, and

The Pistons played at Detroit's Cobo Arena until 1978 and at the Pontiac Silverdome until 1988 when they moved into the Palace of Auburn Hills. The Detroit Lions played at Tiger Stadium in Detroit until 1974, then moved to the Pontiac Silverdome where they played for 27 years between 1975-2002 before moving to Ford Field in 2002.The Detroit Tigers Played at Tiger Stadium (Detroit) (formerly known as Navin Field and Briggs Stadium) It hosted the Detroit Tigers Major League Baseball team from 1912 to 1999,In 2000 they moved to Comerica Park. The Red Wings played at Olympia Stadium before moving to Joe Louis Arena in 1979.

Ten-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams was born in Saginaw. Professional hockey got its start in Houghton, when the Portage Lakers were formed.

Other notable sports teams include:

Club Sport League
Alpena IceDiggers Ice hockey North American Hockey League
Battle Creek Revolution Ice hockey All American Hockey League
West Michigan Blizzard Ice hockey All American Hockey League
Flint Generals Ice hockey International Hockey League
Grand Rapids Griffins Ice hockey American Hockey League
Kalamazoo Wings Ice Hockey ECHL
Marquette Rangers Ice Hockey North American Hockey League
Motor City Machine Ice hockey North American Hockey League
Muskegon Lumberjacks Ice hockey United States Hockey League
Plymouth Whalers Ice hockey Ontario Hockey League
Port Huron Icehawks Ice hockey International Hockey League
Saginaw Spirit Ice hockey Ontario Hockey League
Traverse City North Stars Ice hockey North American Hockey League
Battle Creek Bombers Baseball Summer Collegiate Baseball, Northwoods League
Lansing Lugnuts Baseball Minor League Baseball, Midwest League
Great Lakes Loons Baseball Minor League Baseball, Midwest League
Kalamazoo Kings Baseball Minor League Baseball, Frontier League
Traverse City Beach Bums Baseball Minor League Baseball, Frontier League
Oakland County Cruisers Baseball Minor League Baseball, Frontier League
West Michigan Whitecaps Baseball Minor League Baseball, Midwest League
Kalamazoo Xplosion Indoor football Continental Indoor Football League
Flint Phantoms Indoor football Continental Indoor Football League
Muskegon Thunder Indoor football Indoor Football League
Saginaw Sting Indoor football Indoor Football League
Detroit Demolition Football Independent Women's Football League
Detroit Ignition Indoor soccer Xtreme Soccer League
Kalamazoo Kingdom Soccer USL Premier Development League
Michigan Bucks Soccer USL Premier Development League
Michigan Hawks Soccer W-League
Michigan Phoenix Soccer Women's Premier Soccer League
West Michigan Edge Soccer USL Premier Development League
West Michigan Firewomen Soccer W-League
Motor City Machine Guns Wrestling TNA Wrestling

Former professional teams

See also: List of Michigan sport championships
Club Sport League(s) Status
Detroit Gems Basketball National Basketball Association Moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota and became the Minneapolis Lakers, would move again to Los Angeles, California and are now the Los Angeles Lakers
Detroit (NFL) (Heralds/Tigers/Panthers/Wolverines) Football National Football League Defunct
Detroit Wheels Football World Football League Moved to Charlotte, North Carolina for one game, then disbanded in the middle of the 1974 season
Detroit Falcons Basketball Basketball Association of America Defunct
Michigan Panthers Football USFL Defunct
Detroit Stars Baseball Negro National League, 2nd Negro National League, Negro American League The team ceased operations in 1960
Detroit Wolverines Baseball National League Disbanded, 1888
Michigan Stags Ice Hockey World Hockey Association Moved to Baltimore, Maryland and became the Baltimore Blades for the rest of the team's existence
Detroit Vipers Ice Hockey International Hockey League Disbanded when IHL became AHL
Detroit Fury Arena football Arena Football League Franchise terminated September 20, 2004
Grand Rapids Rampage Arena football Arena Football League Franchise terminated March 5, 2010
Michigan Mayhem Basketball Continental Basketball Association Disbanded after 2005-2006 season
Detroit Shock Basketball WNBA Moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma.

State symbols and nicknames

Michigan is, by tradition, known as "The Wolverine State," and the University of Michigan takes the wolverine as its mascot. The association is well and long established: for example, many Detroiters volunteered to fight during the American Civil War and George Armstrong Custer, who led the Michigan Brigade, called them the "Wolverines". The origins of this association are obscure; it may derive from a busy trade in wolverine furs in Sault Ste. Marie in the 18th century or may recall a disparagement intended to compare early settlers in Michigan with the vicious mammal. Wolverines are, however, extremely rare in Michigan. A sighting in February 2004 near Ubly was the first confirmed sighting in Michigan in 200 years.[86] The animal was found dead in 2010. [87]

Sister states

See also

North America portal
United States portal
Michigan portal
Main articles: Outline of Michigan and Index of Michigan-related articles

References

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  8. ^ "Michigan's State Facts". State of Michigan. http://www.michigan.gov/som/0,1607,7-192-29938_30245-67959--,00.html. Retrieved 1 January 2010. 
  9. ^ I.e., including water that is part of state territory. Georgia is the largest state by land area east of the Mississippi.
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  13. ^ The Province also included the modern states of Wisconsin, eastern Minnesota, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, two-thirds of Georgia, and small parts of West Virginia, Pennsylvania, New York, Vermont, and Maine
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  26. ^ Shorelines of the Great Lakes, Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Environment. Retrieved July 8, 2010.
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  33. ^ "Detroit Expects Half of Iraqi Refugees". http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=3233636&CMP=OTC-RSSFeeds0312. 
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  42. ^ Bls.gov; Local Area Unemployment Statistics
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  48. ^ Sloan, Allan (April 10, 2007).GM's High-Performance Pension Machine Washington Post, D02.
  49. ^ Lindorff, Dave (April 19, 2005).Health Care Costs and the Jobs Flight to Canada Counterpunch. Retrieved on April 24, 2007.
  50. ^ Garrett, Major (March 31, 2009).White House Plots GM Bankruptcy, Unsure When Taxpayers Will Recoup $50 Billion Investment.Fox News. Retrieved on June 23, 2009.
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  53. ^ NSF 01-320 (2001).R&D Spending is Highly Concentrated in a Small Number of States National Science Foundation
  54. ^ http://www.agiweb.org/gap/cvd/CVD04Michigan.pdf
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  91. ^ "Birmingham Sister City Program". http://www.ci.birmingham.mi.us/home/index.asp?page=419. 
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Further reading

  • Bald, F. Clever, Michigan in Four Centuries (1961)/
  • Browne, William P. and - Kenneth VerBurg. Michigan Politics & Government: Facing Change in a Complex State University of Nebraska Press. 1995.
  • Bureau of Business Research, Wayne State U. Michigan Statistical Abstract (1987).
  • Clarke Historical Library, Central Michigan University, Bibliographies for Michigan by region, counties, etc..
  • Dunbar, Willis F. and George S. May. Michigan: A History of the Wolverine State (1995) excerpt and text search
  • Michigan, State of. Michigan Manual (annual), elaborate detail on state government.
  • Press, Charles et al., Michigan Political Atlas (1984).
  • Public Sector Consultants. Michigan in Brief. An Issues Handbook (annual)
  • Rich, Wilbur. Coleman Young and Detroit Politics: From Social Activist to Power Broker (Wayne State University Press, 1988).
  • Rubenstein, Bruce A. and Lawrence E. Ziewacz. Michigan: A History of the Great Lakes State. (2nd ed. 2008)
  • Sisson, Richard, Ed. The American Midwest: An Interpretive Encyclopedia (2006)
  • Weeks, George, Stewards of the State: The Governors of Michigan (Historical Society of Michigan, 1987).

External links

Find more about Michigan on Wikipedia's sister projects:
Definitions from Wiktionary
Textbooks from Wikibooks
Quotations from Wikiquote
Source texts from Wikisource
Images and media from Commons
News stories from Wikinews
Learning resources from Wikiversity


Minnesota
Lake Superior		 Ontario, Canada
Lake Superior		 Ontario, Canada
Lake Huron
Wisconsin
Lake Michigan		 Ontario, Canada
Lake Huron
Lake Saint Clair
   Michigan    
Illinois (L.P.)
Wisconsin (U.P.)
Lake Michigan		 Indiana Ohio
Lake Erie
Bold Faced States/Provinces bound Michigan completely over water.
Bold Italicized States bound Michigan partially over water.
None of Michigan's neighbors border them completely over land. Even Indiana and Ohio have small portions of border that is over one of the Great Lakes, Lake Michigan (Indiana) and Lake Erie (Ohio).
Wisconsin's border with Michigan is mainly over water except for most of their border with the Upper Peninsula, which is over land and to the southwest.
v • d • e
Political divisions of the United States
States
Federal district
Insular areas
Outlying islands
Preceded by
Arkansas		 List of U.S. states by date of statehood
Admitted on January 26, 1837 (26th)		 Succeeded by
Florida

Coordinates: 44°20′N 85°35′W / 44.34°N 85.58°W / 44.34; -85.58


This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

 
Misspellings:

Michigan

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Home > Library > Literature & Language > Common Misspellings

Common misspelling(s) of Michigan

  • Michagan

 
Translations:

Michigan

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Dansk (Danish)
n. - Michigan

Français (French)
n. - Michigan

Deutsch (German)
n. - Michigan

Português (Portuguese)
n. - Michigan

Español (Spanish)
n. - Michigan

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
密歇根州

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 密西根州

한국어 (Korean)
미시간 (미국 중북부의 주; 주도 Lansing; (약) Mich.; 속칭 Wolverine State, Auto State)

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮מישיגן‬

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