Upper Falls of Tahquamenon River in Tahquamenon Falls State Park on the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.
24/7 Michigan Strategic Prayer Call
Date and Time: Fri / 8 AM ET
Coordinators: Becky Wilder, Nina Riley, Abigail Greene
Phone: 667-770-1410
Code: 827795 #
About Michigan
Michigan is one of the East North Central states in the US. The state’s name is the French version of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning “large water” or “large lake.”
Michigan consists of two peninsulas and has shorelines at four of the five Great Lakes: Lake Superior, Lake Michigan, Lake Huron, and Lake Erie. The Great Lakes are a group of five large, interconnected lakes in the east-central part of North America; it is the largest freshwater area in the world.
Michigan borders the Canadian province of Ontario, the US states of Ohio, Indiana, and Wisconsin, and it shares a water boundary with Illinois and Minnesota.
Michigan is known as the “The Great Lakes State”, the Wolverine State, and also as the Mitten State. Michigan’s alpha city, Detroit, is known as the cradle of the American auto industry and for being a center for contemporary music, such as Detroit sound, Motown, Detroit hip-hop, garage rock or proto-punk, and Detroit Techno.
Short History
From 1660 until the end of French rule, Michigan was part of the Royal Province of New France.
French-Canadian fur traders and Jesuit missionaries were the first European to explore and settle in the region in the 17th century. In 1691, the French established Fort St. Joseph, a trading post on the St. Joseph River, and in 1701 they founded Fort Pontchartrain du Détroit (Fort Detroit). The town soon became an important fur trade and shipping center.
In 1760, French Montreal fell to British forces ending the French and Indian War (1754–1763), and the region of today Michigan, became part of the British Province of Quebec.
The population of Michigan Territory (effectively consisting of Detroit and the surrounding area) grew slowly until the opening of the Erie Canal in 1825, connecting the Great Lakes and the Hudson River with New York City and the Atlantic Ocean.
The new route brought a massive inflow of people. By the 1830s, Michigan had 80,000 residents, more than enough to apply and qualify for statehood. On 26 January 1837, President Andrew Jackson signed a bill that officially granted Michigan its sovereignty. Michigan joined the Union as the 26th state.
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