States from A-Z: Michigan and Minnesota

Michigan: The Great Lakes State

The state was named after Lake Michigan, whose name in turn is derived from the Algonquian language, from a word meaning “large water.” The capital is Lansing, further important cities include Detroit, which is the seventh largest city in the US, Grand Rapids, Warren, and Flint. Michigan joined the United States on January 26, 1837 as the 26^th state. Several famous museums are in Michigan, including the Detroit Institute of Arts with an impressive collection of American, European and oriental art.

Michigan is known as birthplace of the car industry, but it also has a large tourism sector. Travel destinations such as Traverse City, Mackinac Island and the entire Upper Peninsula attract sports tourists and nature enthusiasts from all over the United States and Canada. The Great Lakes give Michigan the longest freshwater coastline in all of the US. It is also the only state that consists of two parts. Four of the five Great Lakes are within the Michigan borders. Those are Lake Michigan, Lake Huron, Lake Superior and Lake Erie. Thus it has a coastline of no less than 5310 kilometers (3299 miles). In addition, it has more than 11,000 smaller lakes, the biggest of them being Lake Houghton in the North of the Lower Peninsula. The longest river is the Grand River.

Popular tourist destinations include Isle Royale National Park on the island of the same name in Lake Superior, the nature reserve Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore with colorful sandstone cliffs and nice beaches and marshes along Lake Superior, the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore with great dunes and long beaches along the Lake Michigan shoreline, and the Porcupine Mountains State Park in the Northwest area of the state.

Michigan has a divers economy. Very important are the primary (agriculture, mining) and secondary (industry) sector. Agriculture became important in Michigan during the first half of the 19^th century and it still is today. Most important agricultural products include dairy products, corn, soy beans and cattle. Additionally, Michigan is leading in the production of apples and cherries. Approximately $3 billion income is derived from crops. Mining plays a vital role in Michigan’s economy. It is a major support for its industry. There are substantial ore deposits and also natural gas and crude oil are to be found in the mid-north and the south. The most important natural resources are iron ore, petroleum, natural gas, cement and copper. Mining of salt is also very important. In addition, Michigan is a major gravel, peat, silver and potash exporter, which are extracted from various marshes. Another important sector is the tourism industry with an annual $6.7 billion in revenue. Michigan’s scenic potential and recreation areas, which are greater than those of neighboring states with a similar population density, the pleasantly cool climate during the summer months and the various winter sports areas attract tourists to the state all year long.

The main pillar of Michigan’s economy is industry. Michigan is one of the leading industrial states in the US. It is leading in the automobile industry. One of the vital centers of that industry is Detroit. Here are the company headquarters of the three great car manufacturers Chrysler, General Motors and Ford. Other centers of the automobile industry include Flint, Lansing and Pontiac. Once a major supplier of timber, iron and copper, Michigan became the birthplace of the automobile industry at the beginning of the 20^th century after natural resources started to decline. Henry Ford’s first plant in Highland Park, a suburb of Detroit, marked the beginning of a new era in passenger transportation and caused a lasting change in American society. Despite the fact that many car manufacturers still are in Detroit, the city lost its predominance in this area after World War II, because many car manufacturers left the big industrial areas and moved to the Southern states or abroad where wages are lower.

The first European settlement in Michigan, a mission in Sault-Sainte-Marie, was founded by Father Jacques Marquette, a French Jesuit Father, in 1668. Between 1679 and 1686 the French set up fur trading posts along the road from Mackinac (between Lake Michigan and Lake Huron) and the mouth of the St. Joseph River. Detroit, which had been founded by Antoine de La Mothe, sieur de Cadillac in 1701, controlled shipping between Lake Huron and Lake Erie. The British took over all of those French settlements in 1763 and in the same year put down an Indian rebellion under chief Pontiac. During the War of Independence, Michigan was a starting point for raids on American colonies by Indians who had been stirred up by the British.

Minnesota – Land of 10,000 Lakes

Minnesota is the 32^nd state of the United States of America and situated in the North of the country, sharing a border with Canada. As the 12^th largest state in the US, it was made up of the eastern part of the Minnesota Territory and a small part of the Wisconsin Territory in 1858. Due to its many lakes it is also called “Land of 10,000 Lakes.”

The name is derived from the Dakota Sioux language and translated means something like “sky-tinted water.” Almost two thirds of the population are living in the metropolitan area of the famous Twin Cities Minneapolis and St. Paul. The first is the bigger of the two and the latter the state’s capital. Some large, internationally active companies have their headquarters in these two cities. In Bloomington, a suburb of the Twin Cities, is the largest mall in the US, the Mall of America. The Twin Cities are said to be the cultural center of the Upper Midwest. Famous museums such as the Weisman Art Museum or the Minneapolis Institute of Arts are in those two cities. In addition, professional orchestras, rich in tradition, can be found there, such as the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra and the Minnesota Orchestra. With 30 theaters, the Twin City have the second highest number of theaters per capita after New York City.

Minnesota has 66 state parks and 57 state forests with a total area of approximately 16,000 square kilometers (6,177 square miles) and various nature reserves. The first state park, the Itasca State Park, was established in 1891. The two National Forests Chippewa National Forest and Superior National Forest stretch across a total area of 22,200 square kilometers (8,571 square miles). The Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness with a total area of more than 4,000 square kilometers (1544 square miles) and a thousand lakes is in the Superior National Forest on the northeastern border of the state.

Minnesota’s economy underwent some profound changes over the past 200 years. Once being dominated almost exclusively by agriculture, forestry and trade, the process of industrialization caused the secondary sector to grow. Especially the northwestern region around Duluth profited from local iron ore deposits. However, since the 1950s the service sector continuously grew to be a vital portion of the GDP, a trend similar to all industrial states or countries. Today, more than 80 percent of jobs are in that sector, while only less than one percent are still working in the primary sector. Within the US, however, the state still is one of the biggest suppliers of agricultural products such as sugar beets, sweet corn and peas.

The first settlers arrived at the beginning of the 17^th century, they were French fur traders. When the Ojiwbe later moved further West into Minnesota, tensions with the Sioux arose. Discoverers like Daniel Greysolon, Sieur du Lhut, Louis Hennepin, Jonathan Carver, Henry Schoolcraft and Joseph Nicollet traveled the state and mapped it. In 1679, Greysolon, after an expedition, built a fort on the shore of Lake Superior and claimed northern Minnesota as a part of France.

As a consequence of the French-Indian wars, however, France had to give the region to the British in 1763. With the Treaty of Paris and the Declaration of Independence, the region between the Great Lakes and the Mississippi became part of the Northwest Territory and thus part of the United States. Nevertheless, the area had strong British influences until ca. 1816. With the Louisiana Purchase, the US also acquired the southern and western parts of present day Minnesota from France. The first big waves of German settlers, who still make up a large portion of Minnesota’s present day culture, arrive between 1860 and 1870.