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Indiana State History

Indiana State Information

Indiana State Symbols

Indiana State History

Indiana is one of the major states of USA. It is included among the United States as the 19th one. The origin of the name Indiana is not well understood but it is believed to have originated as a reminder of the Native Americans who lived there long before as it means “Land of Indians” or “The Indian Land”

Paleo-Indians

Paleo-Indians were the most primitive people of Indiana who inhabited during 8000BC after the period of ice-age or the glacial age. They were nomadic people and obtained their food from hunting of large animals like Mastodons. They were divided into several small groups and used stone as their main hunting tool.

Archaic period

The Archaic is the period between 5000 and 4000 BC. They used more advanced tools than that of Paleo Indians like spear points, knives, stone axes, wood working tools, grinding tools etc. The archaic period came to an end by 1500BC.

Wood Land Period

The wood land period extended up to 1000 AD. During the wood land period various cultural practices did arise. These people created ceramics and potteries. The early people of Wood land known as the Adena had started a new way of burial rituals. They crated long tombs beneath the mounds on the earth. Another group of people in the wood land period were the Hopewell people who practiced trading of goods.

The Mississippian Period

This was the period just after the Wood land period and was between the 1000 AD and 1650 AD. They made many improvement in the culture and were much advanced. They had public areas like plazas and platform mounds and the place started to get advanced into a town.

European Contact

The region of Indiana was first explored by the Europeans. In 1679, the French explorer Robert Cavelier, Sieur de Le Salle was the first European to reach Indiana. During this time, the region was occupied by Native Americans. He visited Indiana in the succeeding years to study in details about the northern Indiana. The fur traders from France also joined him with the aim of carrying out animal fur trade in exchange of the things they brought with them like weapons, jewelry, whisky, blankets etc. Later in 1732, three trading ports were established by the French along the Wabash River with the aim to control the trade practice from along the Mississippi River to the Lake Erie. Later, the British came to Indiana and started to struggle with the French to establish control over the successful fur trade conducted by the French. This war continued throughout the 1750s. During the war period, the Native Americans supported the French as the British treated them very badly. This French and Indian war came to an end in 1763 through the Treaty of Paris. Indiana then slipped away from the hands of French and came under British control. In 1774, based on the Quebec act, the Indiana was added to Canada. Few years later, in 1775, the American Revolutionary war began. During this war, the American military officer George Rogers Clark captured the Vincennes and Fort Sackville from the British. This Revolutionary War ended in 1783 by the Treaty of Paris; Indiana was relinquished from the British and became part of the United States.

In 1787, Indiana was considered as a part of North West Territory. But even during this time, Indiana was not settled properly as the Native American did not agree with a settlement. But soon in 1794, this resistance towards the settlement by the Native Americans was ended when the General Antony Wayne conquered and claimed victory over the Fallen Timbers. In 1881, The Native Americans in the Wabash country was also defeated through the Battle of Tippecanoe led by the General William Henry Harrison.

Formation of Indiana Territory

The Indiana Territory was established in 1800. The territory included the Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin. It also contained some parts of Minnesota. William Henry Harrison was the first governor of the Indiana territory. To honor the first Governor, a country located in southern part of Indiana was named as the Harrison Country. William Henry Harrison served as the governor of Indiana Territory from 1800 to 1813. In 1800, Vincennes was established as the capital of Indiana Territory but in 1813, it was shifted to the Corydon.

Indiana Statehood

Indiana achieved its statehood on December 11, 1816. Indiana was approved as the nineteenth state of United States by the President James Madison. The capital city of the state was changed from Corydon to Indianapolis in 1825. After the achievement of statehood, the government has put forward many plans and programs to convert the state from a wilderness frontier to a well developed state. As a part of the development program, many road ways, canals, public schools etc. were constructed.

History of Indiana

Indiana Economy

Economic Stimulus Plan of Indiana

• $1.3 billion for education
• $1.4 billion for Medicaid
• $658 million for state and local transportation and/or infrastructure projects
• $100 million for housing
• $100 million for water quality
• $400 million for nutrition
• $70 million for energy
• $70 million for employment services
• $40 million for child care
• $40 million for justice-related projects

Indiana Energy

Professional Sports of Indiana