Location: the Key to Future Growth

Chicago played a huge role in the growth anddevelopment of agriculture and agribusiness in Illinois and therest of the country. This world-class city began as a portagebetween Lake Michigan and the Illinois River. The NativeAmericans used the site long before the Europeans arrived. TheFrench explorer, Louis Jolliet, one of the first Europeans totravel inIllinois,saw thatthislocationwas acrossroads.Herealizedthatbuilding acanal atthis pointcouldconnectthe distant Atlantic Ocean, through a system of lakes, rivers, andcanals, to the Gulf of Mexico. His dream would one day becometrue.

Linking the Great Lakes to the Mississippi River was alarge part of the growth of Chicago and all of northern Illinois.

Glossary

agriculture - anythingto do with farming

agribusiness - thebusinesses related tofarming suchmanufacturing farmimplements

portage - a route forcarrying boats orgoods overland fromone body of water toanother

crossroads - a pointat which roads, trails,rail lines etc. meet

canal - a manmadewaterway

Prairie Pages Vol. 5 # 2 Education Services Illinois Historic Preservation Agency

Chicago

Chicago in 1820. Courtesy Abraham Lincoln Presi-dential Library.

This was especially important during the early 1800s whentraveling by boat was the fastest, easiest, and safest way to movewest. After the Civil War, railroads made Chicago the Midwest’sbiggest city and a transportation hub for the whole country.

The first European settler at the site of Chicago was theson of a French sea captain and an ex-slave. Jean Baptiste Pointdu Sable lived there, off and on, until 1800. He farmed andtraded with the various Indians who came to trade furs. In 1803the United States government built Fort Dearborn on thelocation to protect new settlers arriving from the eastern states.Fur trading remained the main business in Chicago until the late1820s. By then the fur trappers had killed so many animals inthe Midwest that they had to move farther west to find enoughgame. New businesses in Chicago were created when the ErieCanal opened in 1825.

Food for People in the Cities

The world’s population began to increase rapidly around1750. Large cities needed food and transportation systems tomove that food from where it was produced to where it wasneeded. When the problem of food supply and transportationwas solved, cities grew even larger. Chicago’s growth began justas this problem was being solved in the United States. Itslocation, between the farms and ranches of the western statesand the cities of the east coast, was perfect for receiving andshipping farm products and exchanging them for manufactured

goods. Chicago’s central location,next to Lake Michigan, near majorrivers and canals, meant goods andproducts could be shipped all overthe nation. These important factorscaused Chicago to grow quicklyinto the second largest city in theUnited States by 1889.

Transportation Develops

Many Yankees moved from thenortheastern states to the Midwestby traveling on the Erie Canal and

transportation hub - acenter for movinggoods or people

Yankee - a nicknamefor people from thenortheastern part ofthe United States,especially those fromthe New Englandstates

Map of Chicago show-ing movement ofgoods to and from thecity on the I & MCanal. CourtesyNewberry Library.

the Great Lakes. For a long time, Chicago was the westernmostport for passengers and goods. Northern Illinois had goodfarmland for the new arrivals. A problem did exist with theIndians who naturally, did not want people taking their lands. Atreaty was offered to the Potawatomi, Chippewa, and Ottawanations to give up their territory in northern Illinois and moveacross the Mississippi River into Iowa. The tribes accepted andwere granted land by the federal government. The NativeAmericans later felt cheated. Fighting between Indians andsettlers took many lives on both sides. After the Indians wereforced out, the settlers poured into northern Illinois and

Chicago.In 1836, the Illinois

legislature approved a planto build the Illinois &Michigan Canal to connectChicago by way of LakeMichigan to the IllinoisRiver and on to the Gulf ofMexico. The Illinois &Michigan Canal had animmediate impact onChicago’s growth. Morepeople saw that the citycould be a majortransportation hub. Theycame to Chicago to buyand sell land. Thesebusinessmen were called

land or real estate speculators. Twelve years later, in 1848, theIllinois & Michigan Canal was finally finished. That same year,the first railroad line opened in Chicago and the telegraph linesreached the city, too.

By 1856, Chicago was the end of the line for ten differentrailroads. Tracks connected Chicago to the wheat fields of thewestern states and the big cities of the east coast. Detroit,Cincinnati, St. Louis, New Orleans, Kansas City, and St. Paulwere all directly connected to Chicago by railroads. Trainsleaving Chicago carried manufactured goods to the rural areasand returned loaded with grain and livestock to feed the rest ofAmerica.

Map of railroads entering Chicago. Courtesy Illinois State Museum.

treaty - anagreement betweentwo groups orcountries

speculator -someone who buysand sells for a quickprofit

rural - having to dowith the country; notin a city

Agriculture and Immigration

Grain elevators lined the Chicago River. They were full ofcorn and wheat, ready to be sent to cities all across the UnitedStates. Shipping livestock was also a major industry in Chicago.Meat packing plants were located in many different Chicagoneighborhoods. This caused problems when animals wereherded through the streets. People had to dodge animals and thesmell from pigs and cows was awful for people living near theplants. City officials decided to create a business district withone large stockyard to receive livestock, a place for meatprocessing plants, and rail lines to ship the animals in and themeat out. The Union Stockyard opened for business on the southside of Chicago in 1865. Businesses also located in this area inorder to manufacture products the farmers needed. This savedtime and money because it was cheaper and faster than shipping

the same items from the east coastmanufacturing plants. The shippingdistance for the farmers in the Westand the Midwest was cut in half.The McCormick Company madeChicago the base for its operations.Cyrus McCormick had invented areaper that saved the farmer’s timeharvesting their crops.

With the growth of industry,came a need for workers to fill themany new jobs. Many people fromthe eastern states moved westsearching for a chance for a better

life. In addition, many people were coming to the United Statesfrom Europe. Chicago became home for thousands of them. TheIrish were among the first wave of immigrants to settle inChicago during the 1840s. Germans came next, followed byBritish, Scandinavians, Czechs, Lithuanians, Serbs, Croats, andGreeks. Many Chinese arrived from Asia. Half the people inChicago were born in a foreign country. By 1890, more thanthree-fourths of the people living in Chicago, or their parents,were born outside the United States. ( Polish Kids Playing in thestreet

elevator - a place tostore grain

livestock -domesticatedanimals such ascattle and pigs

meat packing - thebusiness of killinganimals andpreparing the meatfor sale

Sketch of Chicagostockyards. CourtesyAbraham Lincoln Presi-dential Library.

business district - apart of a city wherebusinesses locate;not an area wherepeople have theirhomes

Chicago was growing very fast. In 1837, only 4,000 peoplelived there. Only twenty-three years later, when the 1860 censuswas taken, it had a population of over 100,000. Even after theGreat Chicago Fire in 1871, and the bad times that followed,Chicago’s population jumped to over 500,000 by 1880. Withinthe next ten years the population doubled to over one million, sothat by 1890, it was the second largest city in the United States.Chicago continued to grow for the next sixty years. It reached itspeak in 1950 with a population of over three and a half million.By the 2000 census, Chicago’s population slipped to less thanthree million.

Written by Peter C. Harbison, Illinois Historic Preservation AgencyEdited by Laura Reyman

Copyright: Education Services, Illinois Historic Preservation Agency.WebMaster: Karen E. Everingham

reaper - a machinefor cutting grain suchas wheat or barley

immigrant - a personwho moves into anew country

census - an officialcounting of people

The Rush of Lives Over the Randolph Street Bridge. Courtesy Abraham LincolnPresidential Library.