History of Indiana

History of Indiana

Indiana’s central position between earlier settled regions to the east and south and more recently settled regions to the north and west have made it an important area of commerce and transportation since the early years of the United States. Urban areas of the state, particularly in the northwest corner, which is located near the giant city of Chicago, have developed a multiethnic culture in sharp contrast to the White, western European, Protestant culture which dominates the rest of the state.

Early History

Several thousand years ago, early hunting, gathering, and crop-growing societies inhabited areas near the Ohio River. The oldest artifacts from this period have been discovered at Angel Mounds, a large archaeological site near Evansville. By the time Europeans arrived in the New World, the northern and central regions of the area were inhabited by the Miami Confederation, a group of Native Americans belonging to the Algonquin language group. The Miami, who depended largely on the growing of corn and the hunting of buffalo for survival, were organized into a confederation in order to protect their lands from the Iroquois, a large group of various Native American peoples living to the east. During the nineteenth century, the Miami ceded most of their land to the United States. Most of the Miami moved to Oklahoma, but some remained in Indiana.

French and British Settlement

During the seventeenth century, the Iroquois, who were generally hostile to the French, agreed to treaties which allowed the French to trade with the Miami. In 1679 the French explorer René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, led an expedition into the northern part of the region by traveling south from Michigan down the Saint Joseph River. At about the same time, traders from the British colonies along the Atlantic coast began to settle in the region along the Wabash River and the Ohio River.

In order to protect their access to the Wabash River, which led to the vital waterway of the Mississippi River, the French built a series of forts in the area. The first was Fort Miami, built in 1704, followed by Fort Ouiatanon, built in 1719, and Fort Vincennes, built in 1732. The effort to win the region for France ended in failure in 1763, when the Treaty of Paris, which ended the French and Indian War, brought the area under British control. Although the British officially banned any further European settlement of the area, this prohibition was largely ignored. The area became part of the British province of Quebec in 1774.

American Settlement

During the American Revolution, American forces led by George Rogers Clark brought the region under the control of the newly created United States in 1779 in a surprise attack on British forces in Vincennes. The Peace of Paris, which ended the war in 1783, officially made the area part of the new nation. The first American settlement in the region was established in 1784 in Clarkville, across the Ohio River from Louisville, Kentucky.

The area was part of the Northwest Territory from 1787 to 1800, when the Indiana Territory, which included Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, and part of Minnesota, was created. The Michigan Territory was created in 1805, giving the region its modern northern border. In 1809 the Illinois Territory was created, giving the area its modern western border. Indiana became a state in 1816, with its first capital at Corydon.

Wars with Native Americans

Violent conflict with the Native Americans inhabiting the region began as soon as European settlers entered the area. The first phase of Native American resistance ended in 1794 with the Battle of Fallen Timbers, near the border between Ohio and Indiana. About one thousand White Americans led by Anthony Wayne defeated about two thousand Native Americans of the Northwest Indian Confederation, including members of the Miami, Potawatomi, Shawnee, Delaware, Ottawa, Ojibwa, and Iroquois, led by Shawnee chief Bluejacket. As a result of the battle, in 1795, Miami chief Little Turtle ceded much of his people’s land to the United States in the Treaty of Fort Greenville.

The opening of this land to non-Natives led to a large increase in the number of settlers arriving from southern states. As a result, Indiana became culturally more southern than other states in the area and was inhabited primarily by Protestants of English, Scottish, Irish, and German ancestry. This rapid increase in the rate of European settlement led to an increase in the number of violent encounters with Native Americans.

The second phase of Native American resistance ended on November 7, 1811, at the Battle of Tippecanoe, near the modern city of Lafayette. During the battle, US forces led by William Henry Harrison defeated Shawnee forces led by Tenskwatawa. Although the two sides suffered equal losses, the battle was generally considered a decisive US victory, and it helped Harrison, a war hero, become president in 1840. Between 1820 and 1840, most Native Americans left the state.

Indianapolis

Settlement in Indiana in the first half of the nineteenth century was centered in the southern part of the state. The economy was based primarily on agriculture and transportation of goods along the Ohio River and the Wabash River. Indianapolis, a planned city designed to resemble Washington, DC, was founded in 1821 in the center of the state and became the state capital in 1825. With the rise of railroads in the middle of the nineteenth century and the increase in motor-vehicle traffic in the twentieth century, Indianapolis became one of the largest cities in the world not located on a major waterway. It also went on to be served by more major highways than any other city in the United States.

Education and Industry

The first college in Indiana was founded in Vincennes in 1801. The first major institute of higher education, Indiana University, was founded in Bloomington in 1820. This university went on to become one of the most respected in the United States, with a particularly well-regarded university press. Indiana later became the home of other outstanding universities, with the founding of the University of Notre Dame, near South Bend, in 1842, and Purdue University, in West Lafayette, in 1869.

The Civil War, in which many Indianans fought for the Union, brought a rapid increase in the growth of industry in the state, particularly in the northern region. Natural resources that contributed to this growth included limestone, found in the southern part of the state, and coal, found in the southwest area. The southern half of the state was also the site of the world’s largest natural gas field in the 1880s, but this resource was depleted by 1898.

Steel production became one of the state’s most important industries, particularly with the founding of Gary, located near Chicago, in 1906. At about the same time, automobile manufacturing began in South Bend and Indianapolis. Certain cities specialized in the manufacturing of particular products. Elkhart became known for producing musical instruments in 1875, while Fort Wayne produces a large part of the world’s diamond tools. Overall, Indiana is one of the top ten manufacturing states in the nation. Manufacturing accounts for about 40 percent of the state’s income. Environmental destruction to the state’s unique sand dunes along Lake Michigan, an indirect result of industrial growth, was slowed by the creation of Indiana Sand Dunes National Lakeshore in 1972.

The Twentieth Century

Although much of Indiana retains its character as an enclave of White, Anglo-Saxon, Protestant culture, the growth of the state’s cities and the powerful influence of Chicago on the northwest region brought a mixture of ethnic groups to the area. World War I brought a steady flow of African Americans to the industrial centers of the state. By the late twentieth century, African Americans made up about 20 percent of the population of Indianapolis and about 70 percent of the population of Gary. Indianans of Polish ancestry constitute an important ethnic group in South Bend. Other ethnic groups in the state, particularly in northern cities, include Indianans whose ancestors arrived from Hungary, Belgium, and Italy. These groups give northern Indiana a higher percentage of Roman Catholics than the rest of the state, which is about two-thirds Protestant.

Politically, Indiana is generally conservative. The state spends less per capita on education, welfare, and health care than most other states. The amount of federal aid the state receives per capita is one of the lowest in the nation. Change is slow to come to the state’s political system, which still uses the state constitution of 1851. Although this constitution requires changes to be made in legislative districts based on population changes, this rule was disregarded from 1923 to 1963, giving the rural areas more political power than their dwindling population should have allowed. It was not until 1970 that voters approved a proposal to have the state legislature meet annually rather than every two years.

Despite this conservatism, the Republican Party held only a slight advantage in the state after the Civil War. Indiana counties are about one-third Republican, one-third Democratic, and one-third variable. Almost as many liberals and Democrats have been elected from the state as conservatives and Republicans. Indiana state politics are sometimes surprisingly innovative, as when Indianapolis merged with Marion County in 1969 to form a unique type of city/county government.

The Twenty-first Century

Indiana's manufacturing sector represents more than $95 billion of its GDP, though growth was flat in the early 2020s. In 2023, the state saw revenue of more than $34 billion in the automobile and light duty motor vehicle manufacturing sector. More than half a million people were employed in manufacturing.

The state ranked twenty-sixth in terms of population growth. As of 2023, 6.9 million people called Indiana home. The vast majority, 76.8 percent, were White, while 9.9 percent were Black and 8 percent were Hispanic. By far, the county with the largest population at nearly a million people was Marion.

"Early History of Indiana to 1779." History Museum, www.historymuseumsb.org/early-history-of-indiana-to-1779/. Accessed 28 May 2024

"Hoosier Facts and Fun." Indiana Historical Society, indianahistory.org/education/education-resources/educator-resources/fun-facts/. Accessed 28 May 2024.

"Indiana Economic Profile." IBISWorld, 2023, www.ibisworld.com/united-states/economic-profiles/indiana/. Accessed 7 June 2024.

Murphy, Marin. "Indiana's Road to Statehood: How Did Indiana Become a State?" Fox 59, 4 Jan. 2024, fox59.com/indiana-news/indianas-road-to-statehood-how-did-indiana-become-a-state/. Accessed 28 May 2024.