Only 201 years ago today Illinois becomes the 21st state

Illinois achieves full statehood on this day Those brave souls who did try to farm the prairie found that their flimsy plows were inadequate to cut through prairie sod thickly knotted with deep roots. In an “age of wood,” farmers also felt helpless without ready access to the trees they needed for their tools, homes, furniture, fences, and fuel.

The challenge of the prairies slowed emigration into the region; when Illinois was granted statehood in 1818, the population was only about 35,000,
By 1840, the center of population in Illinois had shifted decisively to the north, and the once insignificant hamlet of Chicago rapidly became a bustling city. The four giant prairie counties of northern Illinois, which were the last to be settled, boasted population densities of 18 people per square mile.

www.history.com...

a reply to: stonerwilliam

Actually 201 years ago

originally posted by: Mark98SS
a reply to: stonerwilliam

Actually 201 years ago

Thanks for catching that my brain is still half asleep

a reply to: stonerwilliam
...and 201 years later, Illinois is one of the worst states in the union for quality of life.

And just look at it now. Instead of a barren wasteland it's now a barren wasteland with houses and buildings and a bunch of human fungus.

a reply to: stonerwilliam

And in those 201 years it gave us Abraham Lincoln, the progressive northerner who lead the Union to victory in the War of Southern Depression and the most disgusting pizza on the planet so I guess that evens things out.

a reply to: AugustusMasonicus

You forgot Al Capone which gave us the FBI who would be headed by J Edgar Hoover that spied on everyone. Which given that history makes sense that the modern FBI would faction out politically and conduct a coup attempt.

a reply to: Ahabstar

I like that, the yin and yang of scumbaggery.

a reply to: Klassified

It may also be the first whole state to go bankrupt too.

originally posted by: ketsuko
a reply to: Klassified

It may also be the first whole state to go bankrupt too.

That would not surprise me in the least. We have one of the most corrupt state governments in the country, and they can't figure out why people are leaving in droves.

originally posted by: Klassified
...and they can't figure out why people are leaving in droves.

It's the pizza.

a reply to: stonerwilliam

I wonder how the people from those days would feel about the state of Chicago today.

originally posted by: AugustusMasonicus

originally posted by: Klassified
...and they can't figure out why people are leaving in droves.

It's the pizza.

You might be onto something.

originally posted by: Klassified
a reply to: stonerwilliam
...and 201 years later, Illinois is one of the worst states in the union for quality of life.

I shocked to hear that as Wiki said it had the fifth largest gross domestic product (GDP), the sixth largest population, and the 25th largest land area of all U.S. states and a population of 12,741,080

en.wikipedia.org...

It has a very old history of mound builders though

originally posted by: AugustusMasonicus
a reply to: stonerwilliam

And in those 201 years it gave us Abraham Lincoln, the progressive northerner who lead the Union to victory in the War of Southern Depression and the most disgusting pizza on the planet so I guess that evens things out.

This is from Wikipedia

Three U.S. presidents have been elected while living in Illinois: Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant, and Barack Obama. Additionally, Ronald Reagan, whose political career was based in California, was born and raised in the state.

originally posted by: LSU2018
a reply to: stonerwilliam

I wonder how the people from those days would feel about the state of Chicago today.

Not much different.

Anyone that thinks that Illinois wasn't corrupt back then is just silly. It has always been corrupt.

The thing is, there has always certain level of corruption, but that it was palatable. I'm not even joking. We all lived there, we all knew. The pay was good and life was OK so nobody complained. Somewhere around 2007/8 people started realizing how bad it was. When some longtime residents moved and realized there were greener pastures and you could run a school fiscally a light bulb went off. Now the gig is up and pretty much everyone knows how bad it is. The problem is that the government is holding onto the taxpayers like a slippery bar of soap.

OK all the American members think the place is a xxxx hole

What else was happening this day in History

First human heart transplant 1967

Eleven people killed in a stampede outside Who concert in Cincinnati, Ohio 1979

Explosion kills 2,000 at pesticide plant 1984

www.history.com...

All good doom there

a reply to: stonerwilliam

OK all the American members think the place is a xxxx hole

I don't think anyone thinks Chicago is a xxxx hole. What we think is that it is RUN into the ground by xxxx holes, big difference.

a reply to: JAGStorm

I think it would be very different. If you could bring a gaggle of people from 1840 back to present time 2019, they would beat our asses with a switch just for not opening the door for a woman or saying thank you ma'am/sir, please ma'am/sir, yes ma'am/sir, no ma'am/sir. Especially in the big city where women get offended if a man opens the door for them, etc.

originally posted by: LSU2018
a reply to: JAGStorm

I think it would be very different. If you could bring a gaggle of people from 1840 back to present time 2019, they would beat our asses with a switch just for not opening the door for a woman or saying thank you ma'am/sir, please ma'am/sir, yes ma'am/sir, no ma'am/sir. Especially in the big city where women get offended if a man opens the door for them, etc.

That would be crazy, and fun to watch.

Yes, but that would be everywhere, not just from Chicago.
Where I live those people would look at the grown men here wearing PJ's at the grocery store.
Or they would look at the women with full makeup (only hookers & actresses wore makeup back then)
Or they would look at the price of a Starbucks Coffee and wonder why it costs the same as an Acre of land.

A little side story. I remember growing up and visiting my Aunt. I always remember her house being like a mansion. It was huge and beautiful. She also had a manicured/landscaped yard that seemed to go on forever, acres and acres. I talked to a family member recently about her and went online to look up the house and see if it was as I remembered. To my shock, I saw that her house & land was purchased in the 1960's for 7 grand! Yes 7K for a mansion with tons of acres!
Can you even imagine that???