165-658: The Prairie Research Institute is a multidisciplinary research institute charged with providing objective research, expertise, and data on the natural and cultural resources of Illinois . It was established as a unit of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign by a Public Act of the Illinois State Legislature in 2008. The institute comprises four state scientific surveys: the Illinois Natural History Survey (INHS),
330-643: A Jacksonville, Illinois businessman, who invited her to Illinois, where he had been working to build an asylum for the insane. With the lobbying expertise of Dix, plans for the Jacksonville State Hospital (now known as the Jacksonville Developmental Center ) were signed into law on March 1, 1847. During the American Civil War , Illinois ranked fourth in soldiers who served (more than 250,000) in
495-601: A particle accelerator , which was the world's largest for over 40 years. With eleven plants currently operating, Illinois leads all states in the amount of electricity generated from nuclear power. In 1961, Illinois became the first state in the nation to adopt the recommendation of the American Law Institute and pass a comprehensive criminal code revision that repealed the law against sodomy . The code also abrogated common law crimes and established an age of consent of 18. The state's fourth constitution
660-593: A sanctuary state . In the 2018 election , Rauner was replaced by J. B. Pritzker , returning the state government to a Democratic trifecta . In January 2020 the state legalized marijuana . On March 9, 2020, Pritzker issued a disaster proclamation due to the COVID-19 pandemic . He ended the state of emergency in May 2023. During the early part of the Paleozoic Era , the area that would one day become Illinois
825-407: A succession crisis , Brigham Young led most Latter Day Saints out of Illinois in a mass exodus to present-day Utah ; after close to six years of rapid development, Nauvoo quickly declined afterward. After it was established in 1833, Chicago gained prominence as a Great Lakes port, and then as an Illinois and Michigan Canal port after 1848, and as a rail hub soon afterward. By 1857, Chicago
990-480: A 2007 study in Quaternary Science Reviews , "Between AD 1050 and 1100, Cahokia's population increased from between 1,400 and 2,800 people to between 10,200 and 15,300 people", an estimate that applies only to a 1.8-square-kilometre (0.69 sq mi) high-density central occupation area. As a result of archeological excavations in the early 21st century, new residential areas were found to
1155-529: A 50-acre (20 ha) plaza larger than 35 football fields, and a woodhenge of sacred cedar, all in a planned design expressing the culture's cosmology. Monks Mound , the center of the site, is the largest Pre-Columbian structure north of the Valley of Mexico . It is 100 ft (30 m) high, 951 ft (290 m) long, 836 ft (255 m) wide, and covers 13.8 acres (5.6 ha). It contains about 814,000 cu yd (622,000 m ) of earth. It
1320-610: A boom in 1937, and by 1939, Illinois ranked fourth in U.S. oil production. Illinois manufactured 6.1 percent of total United States military armaments produced during World War II , ranking seventh among the 48 states. Chicago became an ocean port with the opening of the Saint Lawrence Seaway in 1959. The seaway and the Illinois Waterway connected Chicago to both the Mississippi River and
1485-600: A catalyst for the development of more sustainable technologies, processes, and practices, and does this through an integrated program of research, demonstration projects, technical assistance, and communication. The Prairie Research Institute Library, formed from the merger of the State Scientific Survey libraries, holds more than 45,000 titles and 81,000 items on earth and atmospheric sciences, ecology, environmental science, environmental sustainability , natural resources, and natural history with an emphasis on
1650-474: A chain of events culminating in Blagojevich's impeachment , trial, and subsequent criminal conviction and imprisonment, making Blagojevich the second consecutive Illinois governor to be convicted on federal corruption charges. Blagojevich's replacement Pat Quinn was defeated by Republican Bruce Rauner in the 2014 election . Disagreements between the governor and legislature over budgetary policy led to
1815-556: A climate that varies widely throughout the year. Because of its nearly 400-mile distance between its northernmost and southernmost extremes, as well as its mid-continental situation, most of Illinois has a humid continental climate ( Köppen climate classification Dfa ), with hot, humid summers and cold winters. The southern part of the state, from about Carbondale southward, has a humid subtropical climate (Koppen Cfa ), with more moderate winters. Average yearly precipitation for Illinois varies from just over 48 in (1,219 mm) at
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#17327805900131980-445: A diamond-shaped pattern about 1 mi (1.6 km) from end to end, while the entire city is 5 mi (8.0 km) across from east to west. Cahokian residential zones were arranged into carefully planned clusters around plazas and mounds. Specific delineations and functions have been hard to determine, but many of these clusters may have been designed to accommodate religious or ethnic segregations. Cahokia's neighborhoods possessed
2145-796: A fort at the site of present-day Peoria , and in 1682, a fort atop Starved Rock in today's Starved Rock State Park. French Empire Canadiens came south to settle particularly along the Mississippi River, and Illinois was part of first New France , and then of La Louisiane until 1763, when it passed to the British with their defeat of France in the Seven Years' War . The small French settlements continued, although many French migrated west to Ste. Genevieve and St. Louis, Missouri , to evade British rule. A few British soldiers were posted in Illinois, but few British or American settlers moved there, as
2310-682: A law to prohibit all African Americans, including freedmen , from settling in the state. The winter of 1830–1831 is called the "Winter of the Deep Snow"; a sudden, deep snowfall blanketed the state, making travel impossible for the rest of the winter, and many travelers perished. Several severe winters followed, including the "Winter of the Sudden Freeze". On December 20, 1836, a fast-moving cold front passed through, freezing puddles in minutes and killing many travelers who could not reach shelter. The adverse weather resulted in crop failures in
2475-720: A leading cultural, economic, and population center; its metropolitan area , informally referred to as Chicagoland , holds about 65% of the state's 12.8 million residents. Two World Heritage Sites are in Illinois, the ancient Cahokia Mounds , and part of the Wright architecture site. Major centers of learning include the University of Chicago , University of Illinois , and Northwestern University . A wide variety of protected areas seek to conserve Illinois' natural and cultural resources. Three U.S. presidents have been elected while residents of Illinois: Abraham Lincoln , Ulysses S. Grant , and Barack Obama ; additionally, Ronald Reagan
2640-834: A million visitors a year, was designed by AAIC Inc. The building, which opened in 1989, received the Thomas H. Madigan Award, the St. Louis Construction News & Reviews Readers Choice Award, the Merit Award from the Metal Construction Association , and the Outstanding Achievement Award from the Brick Manufacturer Association. Cahokia has long been a point of interest in the academic community. As early as
2805-734: A north–south line at 87° 31′ 30″ west longitude in Lake Michigan at the north, to the Wabash River in the south above Post Vincennes . The Wabash River continues as the eastern/southeastern border with Indiana until the Wabash enters the Ohio River . This marks the beginning of Illinois's southern border with Kentucky , which runs along the northern shoreline of the Ohio River. Most of the western border with Missouri and Iowa
2970-429: A possible indicator of weak integration along ethnic lines. It is likely that social and environmental factors combined to produce the conditions that led people to leave Cahokia. Cahokia's connections to the surrounding regions seems to have shifted from one of direct contact and outpost construction to one of dispersal. The immigrant populations inhabiting upland villages in the so-called Richland Complex were some of
3135-578: A standardized suite of building types, including steam baths, council houses, and temples. Cahokian domestic structures were generally of pole-and-thatch construction and followed rectangular footprints. Wall trenches were often used instead of posts for building construction. Alleen Betzenhauser and Timothy Pauketat argue that upwards of 20 percent of Cahokia's neighborhood structures did not serve domestic functions, but were rather intended to facilitate engagement with non-human spiritual beings as part of an animistic religion. These beings may have resided in
3300-589: A state in 1818, the Ordinance no longer applied, and about 900 slaves were held in the state. As the southern part of the state, later known as "Egypt" or "Little Egypt", was largely settled by migrants from the South, the section was hostile to free blacks. Edward Coles , the second Governor of Illinois who was born in Virginia, participated in a campaign to block extending existing slavery in Illinois after winning
3465-716: A string of high-profile exonerations, Ryan commuted all death sentences in the state. The 2002 election brought Democrat Rod Blagojevich to the governor's mansion. It also brought future president Barack Obama into a committee leadership position in the Illinois Senate, where he drafted the Health Care Justice Act , a forerunner of the Affordable Care Act . Obama's election to the presidency in Blagojevich's second term set off
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#17327805900133630-442: A symbolic "Path of Souls". The high-status central district of Cahokia was surrounded by a 2-mi-long palisade that was equipped with protective bastions. A later addition to the site, when the palisade was constructed, it cut through and separated some pre-existing neighborhoods. Archaeologists found evidence of the stockade during excavation of the area and indications that it was rebuilt several times. Its bastions showed that it
3795-481: A transportation hub for the nation. By 1900, the growth of industrial jobs in the northern cities and coal mining in the central and southern areas attracted immigrants from Eastern and Southern Europe . Illinois became one of America's most industrialized states and remains a major manufacturing center. The Great Migration from the South established a large Black community, particularly in Chicago , which became
3960-645: A weather station not subjected to the same quality control as official records. Illinois averages approximately 51 days of thunderstorm activity a year, which ranks somewhat above average in the number of thunderstorm days for the United States. Illinois is vulnerable to tornadoes, with an average of 35 occurring annually, which puts much of the state at around five tornadoes per 10,000 sq mi (30,000 km ) annually. While tornadoes are no more powerful in Illinois than other states, some of Tornado Alley 's deadliest tornadoes on record have occurred in
4125-681: A wide range of sizes, shapes, and functions, and had a population of between 15,000 and 20,000 people. Cahokia was the largest and most influential urban settlement of the Mississippian culture , which developed advanced societies across much of what is now the Central and the Southeastern United States , beginning more than 1,000 years before European contact . Today, the Cahokia Mounds are considered to be
4290-538: A wide variety of ethnic groups. The city of Rockford , Illinois's third-largest city and center of the state's fourth largest metropolitan area, sits along Interstates 39 and 90 some 75 mi (121 km) northwest of Chicago. The Quad Cities region, located along the Mississippi River in northern Illinois, had a population of 381,342 in 2011. The midsection of Illinois is the second major division, called Central Illinois . Historically prairie , it
4455-576: Is ireniwaki . The name Illiniwek has also been said to mean 'tribe of superior men', which is a false etymology . The name Illinois derives from the Miami-Illinois verb irenwe·wa 'he speaks the regular way'. This was taken into the Ojibwe language , perhaps in the Ottawa dialect , and modified into ilinwe· (pluralized as ilinwe·k ). The French borrowed these forms, spelling
4620-416: Is 100 ft (30 m) high, 951 ft (290 m) long, 836 ft (255 m) wide and covers 13.8 acres (5.6 ha). It contains about 814,000 cu yd (622,000 m ) of earth. The mound was built higher and wider over the course of several centuries, through as many as 10 separate construction episodes, as the mound was built taller and the terraces and apron were added. Monks Mounds
4785-536: Is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States . It borders the state of Wisconsin to its north, Iowa to its northwest, Missouri to its southwest, Kentucky to its south, Indiana to its east, and has a water border with Michigan to the northeast in Lake Michigan . Of the fifty U.S. states, Illinois has the fifth-largest gross domestic product (GDP) , the sixth-largest population , and
4950-445: Is also an increase in cemeteries of grouped minor-elites outside of Cahokia. Though mound construction still occurred, it did so at a lesser rate. Many earlier mounds were ritually capped and ceased to be modified afterwards. Altogether this has been taken as a time when centralized political structures were weakening and essential religious practices were rethought. Political, economic, or cultural problems may also have contributed to
5115-630: Is based on modern understandings of crop yields that assume the use of plows. Cahokians' exclusive use of hand tools was less damaging to the soil and thus may have maintained soil quality far longer than is typical today, making a rapid collapse of agricultural productivity in Cahokia less likely. Historian Daniel Richter notes that the apex of the city occurred during the Medieval Warming Period . This period appears to have fostered an agricultural revolution in upper North America, as
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5280-487: Is defined as 10 miles north of the southernmost extremity of Lake Michigan. However, the Illinois delegate, Nathaniel Pope , wanted more, and lobbied to have the boundary moved further north. The final bill passed by Congress included an amendment to shift the border to 42° 30' north, which is approximately 51 mi (82 km) north of the Indiana northern border. This shift added 8,500 sq mi (22,000 km ) to
5445-720: Is in this building, along with many collections and laboratories of the Illinois State Geological Survey and Illinois Natural History Survey. There are numerous additional facilities of the institute located on the University of Illinois campus and in various locations around the state. In 1978, the Illinois Institute of Natural Resources was established by the Illinois General Assembly by a public act which transferred
5610-485: Is invasion by outside peoples. Many theories since the late 20th century propose conquest-induced political collapse as the primary reason for Cahokia's abandonment. Evidence of warfare found is defensive wooden stockade and watchtowers that enclosed Cahokia's main ceremonial precinct. Multiple associated 13th century burned villages in the Illinois River Valley to the north speak to the rising tensions at
5775-715: Is now mainly agricultural and known as the Heart of Illinois. It is characterized by small towns and medium–small cities. The western section (west of the Illinois River) was originally part of the Military Tract of 1812 and forms the conspicuous western bulge of the state. Agriculture, particularly corn and soybeans , as well as educational institutions and manufacturing centers, figure prominently in Central Illinois. Cities include Peoria ; Springfield ,
5940-564: Is separated from the rest of the state by the Mississippi River. This region has a somewhat warmer winter climate, different variety of crops (including some cotton farming in the past), more rugged topography (due to the area remaining unglaciated during the Illinoian Stage , unlike most of the rest of the state), as well as small-scale oil deposits and coal mining. The Illinois suburbs of St. Louis , such as East St. Louis , are located in this region, and collectively, they are known as
6105-470: Is that higher levels of maize consumption may be correlated with a lower social status among Cahokian residents. The impact that Cahokian agriculture had on the environment, and its relationship to the city's ultimate collapse, is hotly debated. The depletion of farming soil surrounding Cahokia may have led to a decline in food resources that doomed the city. Jane Mt. Pleasant, however, argues that these models of Cahokia's soil longevity are flawed, because it
6270-478: Is the Mississippi River ; Kaskaskia is an exclave of Illinois, lying west of the Mississippi and reachable only from Missouri. The state's northern border with Wisconsin is fixed at 42° 30′ north latitude. The northeastern border of Illinois lies in Lake Michigan , within which Illinois shares a water boundary with the state of Michigan , as well as Wisconsin and Indiana. Though Illinois lies entirely in
6435-472: Is thought to have had symbolic associations to the builders in connection with their lunar maize goddess of the underworld. This is further strengthened by its close proximity to the ridgetop mortuary Mound 72 , the underworld connotations of the low water-filled area the causeway traversed, and its terminus at the mortuary complex at the Rattlesnake Mound. The causeway itself may have been seen as
6600-524: The /we/ ending as -ois , a transliteration of that sound in the French of that time. The current spelling form, Illinois , began to appear in the early 1670s, when French colonists had settled in the western area. The Illinois's name for themselves, as attested in all three of the French missionary-period dictionaries of Illinois, was Inoka , of unknown meaning and unrelated to the other terms. American Indians of successive cultures lived along
6765-424: The 1822 Illinois gubernatorial election . In 1824, state residents voted against making slavery legal by a vote of 6640 against to 4972 for. Still, most residents opposed allowing free blacks as permanent residents. Some settlers brought in slaves seasonally or as house servants. The Illinois Constitution of 1848 was written with a provision for exclusionary laws to be passed. In 1853, John A. Logan helped pass
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6930-440: The 25th-most land area . Its capital city is Springfield in the center of the state, and the state's largest city is Chicago in the northeast. Present-day Illinois was inhabited by Indigenous cultures for thousands of years. The French were the first Europeans to arrive, settling near the Mississippi and Illinois River in the 17th century Illinois Country , as part of their sprawling colony of New France . A century later,
7095-610: The Atlantic Ocean . In 1960, Ray Kroc opened the first McDonald's franchise in Des Plaines , which was demolished in 1984. In 1985 a replica was built on the same site to recreate how the original one looked. Though this replica was demolished in 2017, due to repeated flooding of the building. Illinois had a prominent role in the emergence of the nuclear age . In 1942, as part of the Manhattan Project ,
7260-564: The Black Hawk's War ) their claim to the land and its usage was usurped. In downtown Cahokia a group of early 19th century (circa 1809) Trappist Monks lived on the grounds. Later the land was farmed by the Ramey family through the latter-half of the 19th century. This is when serious archaeological interest began as Euro-American settlers began trying to make sense of the site. The Cahokia Museum and Interpretive Center, which receives up to
7425-529: The Bootheel ; and the Upper Tombigbee drainage in northeastern Mississippi. The region may have been used by occasional hunting parties but there was no settlement of any substantial kind at Cahokia nor in the wider region from 1400 to 1600 CE. However archeologists discovered evidence in 2020 that there was a population rebound in the greater area following Cahokia's population minimum in 1400, with
7590-805: The Eocene Epoch . During the Pleistocene Epoch , vast ice sheets covered much of Illinois, with only the Driftless Area remaining exposed. These glaciers carved the basin of Lake Michigan and left behind traces of ancient glacial lakes and moraines . Illinois is located in the Midwest region of the United States and is one of the eight states in the Great Lakes region of North America (which also includes Ontario , Canada). Illinois's eastern border with Indiana consists of
7755-512: The Fukushima reactor incident . The institute is an important repository for many of Illinois' cultural and natural resource collections—whether archaeological, biological, and mineral. The INHS's biological collections include insects, crustaceans, molluscs, annelids, reptiles and amphibians, birds, mammals, algae, bryophytes, fishes, fungi, and vascular plants. Most collections are also global in geographic coverage for many groups. For example,
7920-549: The Illinois Native Americans , a name that was spelled in many different ways in the early records. American scholars previously thought the name Illinois meant 'man' or 'men' in the Miami-Illinois language , with the original iliniwek transformed via French into Illinois. This etymology is not supported by the Illinois language, as the word for "man" is ireniwa , and plural of "man"
8085-490: The Illinois Budget Impasse , a 793-day period stretching from 2015 to 2018 in which the state had no budget and struggled to pay its bills. On August 28, 2017, Rauner signed a bill into law that prohibited state and local police from arresting anyone solely due to their immigration status or due to federal detainers. Some fellow Republicans criticized Rauner for his action, claiming the bill made Illinois
8250-683: The Interior Plains , it does have some minor variation in its elevation. In extreme northwestern Illinois, the Driftless Area , a region of unglaciated and therefore higher and more rugged topography, occupies a small part of the state. Southern Illinois includes the hilly areas around the Shawnee National Forest . Charles Mound , located in the Driftless region, has the state's highest natural elevation above sea level at 1,235 ft (376 m). Other highlands include
8415-678: The Latter Day Saints had founded a utopian city called Nauvoo , formerly called Commerce. Located in Hancock County along the Mississippi River , Nauvoo flourished and, by 1844, briefly surpassed Chicago for the position of the state's largest city. But in that same year, the Latter Day Saint movement founder, Joseph Smith , was killed in the Carthage Jail , about 30 miles away from Nauvoo. Following
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#17327805900138580-707: The Metro-East . The other somewhat significant concentration of population in Southern Illinois is the Carbondale-Marion-Herrin, Illinois Combined Statistical Area centered on Carbondale and Marion , a two-county area that is home to 123,272 residents. A portion of southeastern Illinois is part of the extended Evansville, Indiana , Metro Area, locally referred to as the Tri-State with Indiana and Kentucky. Seven Illinois counties are in
8745-487: The Midwest region . Chicago, the third-most populous city in the United States , is the center of the Chicago metropolitan area or Chicagoland, as this area is nicknamed. Although the Chicago metropolitan area comprises only 9% of the land area of the state, it contains 65% of the state's residents, with 21.4% of Illinois' population living in the city of Chicago itself as of 2020. The losses of population anticipated from
8910-434: The Mississippi River from present-day St. Louis . The state archaeology park lies in south-western Illinois between East St. Louis and Collinsville . The park covers 2,200 acres (890 ha), or about 3.5 square miles (9 km ), and contains about 80 manmade mounds, but the ancient city was much larger. At its apex around 1100 CE, the city covered about 6 square miles (16 km ), included about 120 earthworks in
9075-653: The Shawnee Hills in the south, and there is varying topography along its rivers; the Illinois River bisects the state northeast to southwest. The floodplain on the Mississippi River from Alton to the Kaskaskia River is known as the American Bottom . Illinois has three major geographical divisions. Northern Illinois is dominated by Chicago metropolitan area , or Chicagoland, which is
9240-418: The Union Army , a figure surpassed by only New York, Pennsylvania , and Ohio . Beginning with President Abraham Lincoln 's first call for troops and continuing throughout the war, Illinois mustered 150 infantry regiments, which were numbered from the 7th to the 156th regiments. Seventeen cavalry regiments were also gathered, as well as two light artillery regiments. The town of Cairo , at the southern tip of
9405-423: The University of Chicago conducted the first sustained nuclear chain reaction . In 1957, Argonne National Laboratory , near Chicago , activated the first experimental nuclear power generating system in the United States. By 1960, the first privately financed nuclear plant in the United States, Dresden 1 , was dedicated near Morris . In 1967, Fermilab , a national nuclear research facility near Batavia , opened
9570-452: The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign since the early 20th century. This collective history is documented in the State Scientific Surveys Legislative Histories , published in 2024. In 1917, the State Laboratory of Natural History and research duties of the State Entomologist's Office merged and were renamed the State Natural History Survey, which along with Illinois State Geological Survey and Illinois State Water Survey were placed in
9735-517: The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Department of Anthropology, became the Illinois State Archaeological Survey (ISAS) and joined the institute. In May 2011, the name of the institute was changed to the Prairie Research Institute. Each of the five divisions of the Prairie Research Institute has its own unique history, but there is much shared history, particularly among the Geological, Natural History, and Water Surveys, which have been connected administratively to one another and headquartered at
9900-417: The three-fold crops of maize , beans ( legumes ), and gourds ( squash ) were developed and adapted or bred to the temperate climates of the north from their origins in Mesoamerica . Richter also notes that Cahokia's advanced development coincided with the development in the Southwest of the Chaco Canyon society, which also produced large-scale works in an apparent socially stratified society. The decline of
10065-469: The 12th century. Others paddled upriver to the site in southern Wisconsin of Trempleau Bluffs to create a mounded religious center at the end of the 11th century. It was during the Stirling phase (1100-1200 CE) that Cahokia was at its height of political centralization. Current academic discourse has emphasized religion as a major component in consolidating and maintaining political power essential to Cahokia's urbanity. The Emerald Acropolis mound site in
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#173278059001310230-451: The 1960s, universities across the Midwest have gone to the site to conduct research in fields ranging from geology to archaeology. One of the most prominent archaeological researchers of Cahokia is Timothy Pauketat . He has been writing about and researching Cahokia for the majority of his professional career. Other prominent Cahokia academics include Warren Wittry, who was instrumental in the recovery of Cahokia Woodhenge . Cahokia Mounds
10395-471: The 2020 census results do not arise from the Chicago metro area; rather the declines are from the Downstate counties. As of the 2020 census, the state's geographic mean center of population is located at 41° 18′ 43″N 88° 22 23″W in Grundy County , about six miles northwest of Coal City . Cahokia Cahokia Mounds / k ə ˈ h oʊ k i ə / ( 11 MS 2 ) is the site of a Native American city (which existed c. 1050–1350 CE) directly across
10560-441: The American Bottom region. Moundbuilding activity may have occurred at Cahokia proper, but certainly did at one site to the north near Horseshoe Lake. These Late Woodland people were farmers, but maize's importance at this time was marginal. Its successful introduction occurred around 900 CE. Most of the crops grown at the time were from the Eastern Agricultural Complex suite, an older and endemic farming tradition. Cahokia became
10725-448: The Americas north of Mexico, the site is open to the public and administered by the Illinois Historic Preservation Division and supported by the Cahokia Mounds Museum Society. In celebration of the 2018 Illinois state bicentennial, the Cahokia Mounds were selected as one of the Illinois 200 Great Places by the American Institute of Architects Illinois component (AIA Illinois). It was recognized by USA Today Travel magazine, as one of
10890-484: The Crown made it part of the territory reserved for Indians west of the Appalachians, and then part of the British Province of Quebec . In 1778, George Rogers Clark claimed Illinois County for Virginia . In a compromise, Virginia (and other states that made various claims) ceded the area to the new United States in the 1780s and it became part of the Northwest Territory , administered by the federal government and later organized as states. The Illinois-Wabash Company
11055-488: The Fox ( Meskwaki ), Iowa , Kickapoo , Mascouten , Piankeshaw , Shawnee , Wea , and Winnebago ( Ho-Chunk ) came into the area from the east and north around the Great Lakes. French explorers Jacques Marquette and Louis Jolliet explored the Illinois River in 1673. Marquette soon after founded a mission at the Grand Village of the Illinois in Illinois Country . In 1680, French explorers under René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle and Henri de Tonti constructed
11220-407: The Great Lakes, and the invention of the self-scouring steel plow by Illinoisan John Deere turned the state's rich prairie into some of the world's most productive and valuable farmland, attracting immigrant farmers from Germany and Sweden . In the mid-19th century, the Illinois and Michigan Canal and a sprawling railroad network facilitated trade, commerce, and settlement, making the state
11385-429: The INHS insect collection has more than 6,500,000 curated specimens, and is one of the largest and oldest in North America; digitization of the specimens and metadata from this collection continues with support from the National Science Foundation. The Illinois State Geological Survey conducts basic and applied geological research, creates new geologic maps, and gathers and manages the state's geological data. ISGS houses
11550-594: The Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR). The Surveys (now four, including the Hazardous Waste Research and Information Center) plus the Illinois State Museum were placed under the Office of Scientific Research and Analysis within IDNR. The Surveys remained in IDNR until the institute was established within the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2008. 40°6′4.4″N 88°13′44.8″W / 40.101222°N 88.229111°W / 40.101222; -88.229111 Illinois Illinois ( / ˌ ɪ l ɪ ˈ n ɔɪ / IL -in- OY )
11715-413: The Illinois Department of Registration and Education. The Board of Natural Resources was established to administer the Surveys, its members being the director of the new department, the president of the University of Illinois or designee, and appointed representatives of core disciplines of biology, geology, engineering, chemistry, and forestry. In the 1930s, the State of Illinois appropriated $ 300,000 which
11880-767: The Illinois State Archaeological Survey (ISAS), the Illinois State Geological Survey (ISGS), and the Illinois State Water Survey (ISWS), and the institute also houses the Illinois Sustainable Technology Center ( ISTC ). The institute has a combined total staff of more than 700 employees, with facilities located on the Urbana-Champaign campus of the University of Illinois , and field offices and research stations throughout
12045-660: The Naturally Illinois Expo each March, concurrently with the Open House events of the College of Agriculture Environmental and Consumer Sciences, and College of Engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The target audience of Expo includes Illinois K-12 students and the public. The Illinois Natural History Survey's Traveling Science Center visits schools and communities throughout Illinois to offer education on habitats and species diversity in
12210-551: The United States in 2009. State Senator Evelyn M. Bowles wrote about the Cahokia Mounds site: Through the years my friends and I made occasional Sunday afternoon trips to the Mounds. When I became the State Senator, it afforded me the opportunity to secure funds for the acquisition of additional acreage in which there are smaller Mounds. Many of these have contained additional artifacts. The designation has helped protect
12375-558: The area. In addition to these three, largely latitudinally defined divisions, all of the region outside the Chicago metropolitan area is often called " downstate " Illinois. This term is flexible, but is generally meant to mean everything outside the influence of the Chicago area. Thus, some cities in Northern Illinois, such as DeKalb , which is west of Chicago, and Rockford —which is actually north of Chicago—are sometimes incorrectly considered to be 'downstate'. Illinois has
12540-462: The beginning of Cahokia's rearticulation and decline. Circa 1160-1170 CE a large walled, residential compound in the East St. Louis precinct was burned down. Multiple ritual structures that were filled with an unusual density of stone tools, exotic materials, and pots filled with shelled maize were included in this burning, possibly representing unrest in response to 12th century inequalities. The area
12705-536: The building itself or inhabited large marker posts, similar to the posts used to build the Cahokia Woodhenge. Betzenhauser and Pauketat compare their theorized Cahokian buildings to similar historical examples such as shaking tents or medicine lodges. Monks Mound is the largest structure and central focus of the city: a massive platform mound with four terraces, 10 stories tall, it is the largest man-made earthen mound north of Mexico. Facing south, it
12870-718: The central Illinois River valley, one third of all adults died as a result of violent injuries." The next major power in the region was the Illinois Confederation or Illini, a political alliance. Around the time of European contact in 1673, the Illinois confederation had an estimated population of over 10,000 people. As the Illini declined during the Beaver Wars era, members of the Algonquian -speaking Potawatomi , Miami , Sauk , and other tribes including
13035-550: The chances that a single cataclysmic flood would wipe out the city's food supply. Cahokia's abandonment came in tandem with the abandonment of the wider surrounding region, referred to by scholars as "the Vacant Quarter." Populations left what is now southern Illinois; the Lower Ohio Drainage in southern Indiana; nearly the entirety of western Kentucky and Tennessee; most of southeastern Missouri excepting
13200-639: The city coincides with the Little Ice Age , although by then, the three-fold agriculture remained well-established throughout temperate North America. The original site contained 120 earthen mounds over an area of 6 square miles (16 km ), of which 80 remain today. To achieve that, thousands of workers over decades moved more than an estimated 55 million cubic feet (1,600,000 m ) of earth in woven baskets to create this network of mounds and community plazas. Monks Mound , for example, covers 14 acres (5.7 ha), rises 100 ft (30 m), and
13365-409: The city of Chicago and its suburbs, and the adjoining exurban area into which the metropolis is expanding. As defined by the federal government, the Chicago metro area includes several counties in Illinois, Indiana , and Wisconsin , and has a population of over 9.8 million. Chicago itself is a cosmopolitan city, densely populated, industrialized, the transportation hub of the nation, and settled by
13530-406: The city's abandonment as such Algonquian groups from the east moved into the Vacant Quarter in the mid-17th century, specifically the Illinois Confederation . The Cahokia tribe was one such group from where the site gets its name. While Cahokia proper had ceased to exist the mounds continued to be present on the landscape. Various French settler-colonial families are documented to have claimed
13695-678: The city's early period of existence. A diversity of crops such as goosefoot and sumpweed from the Eastern Agricultural Complex were grown and eaten at Cahokia. Thomas Emerson and Kristin Hedman attribute the discovery of Cahokian individuals with low-maize diets to the existence of hunter-gatherer immigrant communities who had not yet adopted maize as a staple food source. Residents of outlying areas relied heavily on maize for subsistence, while residents of Cahokia's city center enjoyed more diverse diets. One interpretation
13860-401: The city's initial rapid growth. At the onset of the "Big Bang" non-local ceramics begins to appear in higher frequencies across site types indicating interaction or immigration from populations around the lower Ohio Drainage ( Yankeetown ), Lower Mississippi Valley ( Coles Creek ), Upper Midwest (below), and south-central plains ( Caddo ). Many of these immigrants moved into outlying villages in
14025-482: The common mound-and-plaza pairing was adopted from longstanding Coles Creek organizational principles. Contacts across the mid-continent and possibly beyond are attested to have reached a peak between 1050 and 1150 CE. Mill Creek chert from southwestern Illinois , most notably, was used in the production of hoes, a high demand tool for farmers around Cahokia and other Mississippian centers. Cahokia's loose control over distribution, though not production, of these tools
14190-506: The community's decline. Thomas Emerson and Kristin Hedman argue that Cahokia's large immigrant population was a factor in the city's ultimate fragmentation, as differing languages, customs, and religions obstructed the creation of a cohesive Cahokian cultural identity. Analyses of Cahokian burial sites and the associated remains have also shown that many Cahokians were not native to the city or its immediate surrounding region. These immigrants were sometimes buried separately from native residents,
14355-484: The connections between issues are ignored. The legislative mandate of the Institute of Natural Resources was: to investigate practical problems, implement studies, conduct research and provide assistance, information and data relating to the technology and administration of environmental protection; energy; the natural history, entomology, zoology and botany of this State; the geology and natural resources of this State;
14520-405: The dense population, and Cahokia is believed to have become unhealthy from polluted waterways. Because it was such an unhealthy place to live, Snow believes that the town had to rely on social and political attractions to bring in a steady supply of new immigrants; otherwise, the town's death rate would have caused it to be abandoned earlier. By the end of the 12th century two distinct events mark
14685-570: The development of the American labor movement . From Sunday, October 8, 1871, until Tuesday, October 10, 1871, the Great Chicago Fire burned in downtown Chicago, destroying four sq mi (10 km ). At the turn of the 20th century, Illinois had a population of nearly 5 million. Many people from other parts of the country were attracted to the state by employment caused by the expanding industrial base. Whites were 98% of
14850-498: The east, west, north, and south of Monks Mound. To the south of Monks Mound is the Grand Plaza, a large area that covered roughly 50 acres (20 ha) and measured over 1,600 ft (490 m) in length by over 900 ft (270 m) in width. Researchers originally thought the flat, open terrain in this area reflected Cahokia's location on the Mississippi's alluvial flood plain , but instead soil studies have shown that
15015-466: The eastern uplands referred to at the Richland Complex. Intensive farming and textile production occurred in these villages which has been interpreted as supplicant behavior directed towards the central urban core of the city. The novel practices these immigrant communities brought with them have been argued as essential to the creation of the character of Cahokia as a city. One such example,
15180-548: The end of Indian resistance to white settlement in the Chicago region. The Indians had been forced to leave their homes and move to Iowa in 1831; when they attempted to return, they were attacked and eventually defeated by U.S. militia . The survivors were forced back to Iowa. By 1832, when the last Indian lands in Illinois were ceded to the United States, the indigenous population of the state had been reduced by infectious diseases, warfare, and forced westward removal to only one village with fewer than 300 inhabitants. By 1839,
15345-404: The end of the 10th century many of these settlements aggregated into larger groups. These larger villages included the earlier cosmogram layouts complete with large central posts, pits, and/or structures. An extensive nucleated community sprawled across 35-70 hectares in Cahokia proper, with its beginnings at the end in the late 900s CE. By this time it seems a few thousand people were living in
15510-566: The evidence of elaborately planned community, woodhenge, mounds, and burials later in time reveal a complex and sophisticated society. In the centuries preceding 1000 CE American Bottom populations were living in small settlements of 50-100 people that were used for short durations of 5-10 years. At least two of these larger clusters were present at Cahokia. One dating to the mid-7th and 9th centuries. Later in time many began to be constructed along cosmologically organizing principles emphasizing cardinal directions and distinct sectors of society. By
15675-526: The federal government about Illinois' natural resources; disseminate and educate the public about their research and investigations; and maintain relationships between and among the Scientific Surveys and Illinois' public and private colleges and universities. The institute itself is governed by the University of Illinois board of trustees, with its executive director reporting directly to the university's vice chancellor for research. Researchers at
15840-581: The first to leave the city. Many people leaving Cahokia went south into the Cairo Lowlands of southern Illinois and further south in the Central Mississippi Valley some later leaving for The Cumberland Basin in central Tennessee. Finely crafted artifacts from Cahokia such as copper repoussé plates and engraved shell appear at powerful centers such as Moundville and Etowah only after 1250 CE. Another possible cause
16005-1031: The institute are engaged in basic and applied research across a spectrum of disciplines including agriculture and forestry, biodiversity and ecosystem health, atmospheric resources, climate and associated natural hazards, cultural resources and history of human settlements, disease and public health, emerging pests, fisheries and wildlife, energy and industrial technology, mineral resources, pollution prevention and mitigation, and water resources. Examples include impact and control of invasive carp , Lyme disease vector ecology, Illinois water supply quality and quantity investigations, geologic carbon sequestration , development of geospatial tools, discovery and excavation of massive prehistoric settlements surrounding Cahokia in advance of new bridge construction, persistence of estrogens in dairy farm wastewater, electronics re-use to minimize electronic waste , and monitoring atmospheric deposition of radioisotopes in North America following
16170-761: The institute. In 1981 the Illinois Institute of Natural Resources became the Illinois Department of Energy and Natural Resources, whose six divisions were the Illinois State Geological Survey, the Illinois Natural History Survey, the Illinois State Water Survey, Energy Programs, Policy and Planning, and the Illinois State Museum. The Hazardous Waste Research and Information Center (now the Illinois Sustainable Technology Center)
16335-471: The land of the city during the 18th century. St. Louis was defined by the mounds that Cahokian's had constructed across the river, referred to at one point as "Mound City." Nearly all these mounds in Downtown St. Louis were destroyed and used for fill in the growing city's construction in the mid-19th century. As Native Americans were forcibly removed from the land through treaties and war (particularly
16500-399: The landscape was originally undulating ridge and swale topography. In one of the earliest large-scale construction projects, the site had been expertly and deliberately leveled and filled by the city's inhabitants. It is part of the sophisticated engineering displayed throughout the site. It was used for large ceremonies and gatherings, as well as for ritual games, such as chunkey . The game
16665-512: The largest and most complex archaeological site north of the great pre-Columbian cities in Mexico. The city's original name is unknown. The mounds were later named after the Cahokia tribe , a historic Illiniwek people living in the area when the first French explorers arrived in the 17th century. As this was centuries after Cahokia was abandoned by its original inhabitants, the Cahokia tribe
16830-522: The legislatively mandated Illinois Geological Samples Library, a repository for drill-hole samples in Illinois, including cores drilled for mineral exploration and geologic investigations, as well as paleontological collections. The Illinois State Water Survey studies water resources. Founded in 1895, the ISWS was originally tasked with surveying Illinois waters to trace the spread of waterborne disease and help develop sanitary standards for drinking water, over
16995-470: The most important center for the Mississippian culture . This culture was expressed in settlements that ranged along major waterways across what is now the Midwest , Eastern , and Southeastern United States. Cahokia was located in a strategic position near the confluence of the Mississippi , Missouri , and Illinois rivers. It maintained trade links with communities as far away as the Great Lakes to
17160-468: The nation's railroad hub since the 1860s, and its O'Hare International Airport has been among the world's busiest airports for decades. Illinois has long been considered a microcosm of the United States and a bellwether in American culture, exemplified by the phrase Will it play in Peoria? . "Illinois" is the modern spelling for the early French Catholic missionaries and explorers' name for
17325-590: The new social order. All villages either experienced renewal and construction efforts turning them into mound centers or were depopulated to become just a few households or a single farmstead. New settlement types including nucleated settlements, mound centers, small dispersed clusters of houses, and single-family farmsteads appear throughout region. The city's complex construction of earthen mounds required digging, excavation and transportation by hand using woven baskets. Construction made use of 55 million cubic feet (1.6 million cubic meters) of earth, and much of
17490-507: The north and center, and natural resources such as coal, timber, and petroleum in the south. Owing to its central location and favorable geography, the state is a major transportation hub : the Port of Chicago has access to the Atlantic Ocean through the Great Lakes and Saint Lawrence Seaway and to the Gulf of Mexico from the Mississippi River via the Illinois Waterway . Chicago has been
17655-565: The north and the Gulf Coast to the south, trading in such exotic items as copper, Mill Creek chert , shark teeth, and lightning whelk shells. In the years around 1050 CE Cahokia experienced a “Big Bang.” The city proper's three urban precincts: St. Louis, East St. Louis, and Cahokia were constructed at all this time. At the same time an ordered city grid—oriented to the north along the Grand Plaza, Rattlesnake Causeway, and dozens of mounds—was imposed on earlier Woodland settlements. This
17820-631: The northern part of the state. The southern part of the state shipped food north, and this may have contributed to its name, " Little Egypt ", after the Biblical story of Joseph in Egypt supplying grain to his brothers. In 1832, the Black Hawk War was fought in Illinois and present-day Wisconsin between the United States and the Sauk , Fox (Meskwaki) , and Kickapoo Indian tribes. It represents
17985-506: The period of settlement at Cahokia, in roughly 1100–1260 and 1340–1460. While flooding may have occurred early in the rise of the city, it seems not to have deterred the city builders; to the contrary, it appears they took steps such as creating channels, dikes, and levees that protected at least the central city throughout its inhabited history. In another indication of flood mitigation efforts, Cahokians dispersed their agricultural lands among both lowland and upland fields, thereby reducing
18150-399: The population of Illinois was 12,812,508 in the 2020 United States census , moving from the fifth-largest state to the sixth-largest state (losing out to Pennsylvania). Illinois' population slightly declined in 2020 from the 2010 United States census by just over 18,000 residents and the overall population was quite higher than recent census estimates. Illinois is the most populous state in
18315-431: The population reaching a population maximum in 1650 and then declining again in 1700. Dhegiha Siouan migration was in part responsible for the depopulation of Cahokia. The city is where many contemporary Native American communities have their heritage, the former group in particular. Ponca oral tradition specifically to their ancestral time in Cahokia, calling the city or its location "P'ahe zide" [red hill]. Following
18480-615: The present understanding of the national and international significance of the site. The site was designated a National Historic Landmark on July 19, 1964, and listed on the National Register of Historic Places on October 15, 1966. In 1982, UNESCO (the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) designated the site a World Heritage Site . This is the only such self-contained site in Illinois and among 24 World Heritage Sites in
18645-449: The property and attract funds to conduct research on this significant civilization. Cahokia was surrounded by rich agricultural lands. The city has been traditionally thought to have been a maize-centric civilization, the crop having been introduced to the region around AD 900. While maize is often credited with enabling Cahokia's early population growth, more recent research has suggested that Cahokian diets were quite varied, especially in
18810-503: The revolutionary Illinois campaign prefigured American involvement in the region. Following U.S. independence in 1783 , which made the Mississippi River the national boundary, American settlers began arriving from Kentucky via the Ohio River. Illinois was soon part of the United States' oldest territory, the Northwest Territory , and in 1818 it achieved statehood . The Erie Canal brought increased commercial activity in
18975-726: The rights, duties, powers, property, and functions of the Scientific Surveys and the Sustainable Technology Center from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources to the Prairie Research Institute. Under the Scientific Surveys Act, the Scientific Surveys are authorized to investigate, study, conserve and develop Illinois' natural and cultural resources; collaborate with and advise Illinois, other states, and
19140-418: The sacrifice of dozens of women at mound 72 and interment of powerful leaders in ridge top mortuary mounds integrated populations in shared experiences and narratives of their world during the 11th and 12th centuries. One of the major problems that large centers like Cahokia faced was keeping a steady supply of food, perhaps exacerbated by droughts from CE 1100–1250. A related problem was waste disposal for
19305-596: The second-most populous urban area in Illinois with over 700,000 residents. Other major urban areas include the Peoria metropolitan area , Rockford metropolitan area , Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area (home to the University of Illinois ), Springfield metropolitan area , the Illinois portion of the Quad Cities area, and the Bloomington–Normal metropolitan area . The United States Census Bureau found that
19470-612: The selections for 'Illinois 25 Must See Places'. Although some evidence exists of occupation during the Late Archaic period (around 1200 BCE) in and around the site, Cahokia as it is now defined was settled around 600 CE during the Late Woodland period . Mound building at this location began with the emergent Mississippian cultural period, around the 9th century CE. The inhabitants left no written records beyond symbols on pottery, marine shell, copper, wood, and stone , but
19635-423: The southern tip of Lake Michigan. Such a boundary would have left Illinois with no shoreline on Lake Michigan at all. However, as Indiana had successfully been granted a 10 mi (16 km) northern extension of its boundary to provide it with a usable lakefront, the original bill for Illinois statehood, submitted to Congress on January 23, 1818, stipulated a northern border at the same latitude as Indiana's, which
19800-402: The southern tip to around 35 in (889 mm) in the northern portion of the state. Normal annual snowfall exceeds 38 in (965 mm) in the Chicago area, while the southern portion of the state normally receives less than 14 in (356 mm). The all-time high temperature was 117 °F (47 °C), recorded on July 14, 1954, at East St. Louis , and the all-time low temperature
19965-592: The state at the confluence of the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers, served as a strategically important supply base and training center for the Union army. For several months, both General Grant and Admiral Foote had headquarters in Cairo. During the Civil War, and more so afterwards, Chicago's population skyrocketed, which increased its prominence. The Pullman Strike and Haymarket Riot , in particular, greatly influenced
20130-407: The state capital; Quincy ; Decatur ; Bloomington-Normal ; and Champaign - Urbana . The third division is Southern Illinois , comprising the area south of U.S. Route 50 , including Little Egypt , near the juncture of the Mississippi River and Ohio River . Southern Illinois is the site of the ancient city of Cahokia , as well as the site of the first state capital at Kaskaskia , which today
20295-408: The state of Illinois and the surrounding region. The institute also collects and disseminates data on many aspects of the Illinois environment including weather and climate, water resources including surface and groundwater, oil and mineral resources, maps and geospatial data, and the distributions of plants and animals including native and invasive species. Starting in 2009, the institute has hosted
20460-588: The state's population. Bolstered by continued immigration from southern and eastern Europe , and by the African-American Great Migration from the South, Illinois grew and emerged as one of the most important states in the union. By the end of the century, the population had reached 12.4 million. The Century of Progress World's fair was held at Chicago in 1933. Oil strikes in Marion County and Crawford County led to
20625-542: The state, including the lead mining region near Galena . More importantly, it added nearly 50 miles of Lake Michigan shoreline and the Chicago River. Pope and others envisioned a canal that would connect the Chicago and Illinois rivers and thus connect the Great Lakes to the Mississippi. In 1818, Illinois became the 21st U.S. state. The capital remained at Kaskaskia, headquartered in a small building rented by
20790-573: The state. In FY 2018, the state appropriated US$ 14.8 million through the university to fund the institute. In 2008, with the passage of Public Act 95-728 , also known as the Illinois Scientific Surveys Act ( 110 ILCS 425 )), the Illinois State Legislature established the Prairie Research Institute at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The Scientific Surveys Act also transferred all
20955-422: The state. In 1819, Vandalia became the capital, and over the next 18 years, three separate buildings were built to serve successively as the capitol building. In 1837, the state legislators representing Sangamon County , under the leadership of state representative Abraham Lincoln , succeeded in having the capital moved to Springfield , where a fifth capitol building was constructed. A sixth capitol building
21120-448: The state. The Tri-State Tornado of 1925 killed 695 people in three states; 613 of the victims died in Illinois. Chicago is the largest city in the state and the third-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 2,746,388 in 2020. Furthermore, over 7 million residents of the Chicago metropolitan area reside in Illinois. The U.S. Census Bureau currently lists seven other cities with populations of over 100,000 within
21285-511: The state. The Illinois State Geological Survey hosts regular field trips to locations of geological note; field trip guidebooks summarize the features of the destinations. The annual governor's Sustainability Awards, organized by the Illinois Sustainable Technology Center, recognize achievements in sustainability in Illinois, in both the private and public sectors. The institute executive director reports to
21450-479: The state. This includes the Chicago satellite towns of Aurora , Joliet , Naperville , and Elgin , as well as the cities of Rockford , the most populous city in the state outside of the Chicago area; Springfield , the state's capital; and Peoria . The most populated city in the state south of Springfield is Belleville , with 42,000 residents. It is located in the Metro East region of Greater St. Louis ,
21615-493: The three Surveys and related units out of the Illinois State Department of Registration and Education, effective January 1979. The creation of this institute was driven by: a growing awareness that the state's economic and social well-being is dependent on the prudent management of our natural resources and a recognition that resource issues are complex and intertwined and cannot be dealt with successfully if
21780-474: The time. Palisades become popular across parts of the Midwest and mid-South during the 13th century as communities begin living together in much more nucleated settlement types. However, Cahokia's palisade may have been more for ritual or formal separation than for military purposes, but bastioned palisades almost always indicate warfare. As Cahokia's population shrank over the 13th century, Cahokia's palisade
21945-484: The turn of the 13th (the Moorehead phase 1200-1300 CE) was one of change. People stop constructed and using the earlier T and L shaped ritual buildings as well as large circular rotundas. Family homes began to be built larger and storage pits previously located outside of them were moved inside. Ceramic styles and production techniques shifted, with an increase in plates, cord-marking, and solar-themed iconography. There
22110-656: The uplands was a site where the moon, water, femininity, and fertility were venerated; the mounds being aligned to lunar events in its 18.6 year cycle. Immigrant ceramics early in the archaeological record argue that it was central in attracting immigrants as pilgrims. Political control was exercised in the Cahokian hinterlands at distinctive temple complexes consisted of T or L shaped structures and sweatlodges . Distinctive rituals are archaeologically documented involving tobacco, red cedar, agricultural produce, and female Cahokian flint clay figurines . Intense public rituals like
22275-578: The vice chancellor for research and the chancellor of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, as well as the president of the University of Illinois. In July 2008, the Institute for Natural Resource Sustainability was established within the University of Illinois to house four State Scientific Surveys (INHS, ISGS, ISWS, and ISTC). In February 2010, the Illinois Transportation Archaeological Research Program (ITARP), which had been housed within
22440-432: The vice chancellor for research of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and the institute is governed by the board of trustees of the University of Illinois. The Prairie Research Institute Advisory Board is the external advisory body charged with providing input and advice related to the scientific and research agenda, management, and funding of the institute. The board meets twice per year, and transmits findings to
22605-612: The water resources and weather of this State; and the archeological and cultural history of this State. In addition to the three Scientific Surveys, the Illinois Institute of Natural Resources included Divisions of Environmental Management, Resource Development, Resource Extension Service, the Illinois State Museum , plus The General Office in Springfield. The director of the institute was Frank Beal. The Board of Natural Resources and Conservation continued to administer
22770-504: The waterways of the Illinois area for thousands of years before the arrival of Europeans. The Koster Site has been excavated and demonstrates 7,000 years of continuous habitation. Cahokia , the largest regional chiefdom and Urban Center of the Pre-Columbian Mississippian culture , was located near present-day Collinsville, Illinois . They built an urban complex of more than 100 platform and burial mounds ,
22935-526: The west of Cahokia; this discovery increased estimates of historic area population. Archaeologists estimate the city's population at between 6,000 and 40,000 at its peak. If the highest population estimates are correct, Cahokia was larger than any subsequent city in the United States until the 1780s, when Philadelphia's population grew beyond 40,000. Its population may have been larger than contemporaneous London and Paris . Studies of Cahokia's rise see large-scale immigration as an essential contributor to
23100-576: The work was accomplished over decades. Its highly planned large, smoothed-flat, ceremonial plazas, sited around the mounds, with homes for thousands connected by laid out pathways and courtyards, suggest the location served as a central religious pilgrimage city. At the high point of its development, Cahokia was the largest urban center north of the great Mesoamerican cities in Mexico and Central America . Home to about 1,000 people before circa 1050, its population grew rapidly after that date. According to
23265-671: The years the ISWS has expanded to include scientific research and service programs related to water and atmospheric resources in Illinois. The Illinois State Archaeological Survey curates research collections from more than 3,000 Illinois archaeological sites, including The Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site near St. Louis, Missouri. Since its inception in 1985, the Illinois Sustainable Technology Center has been helping implement sustainable solutions to environmental and economic challenges locally and across Illinois by helping both citizens and businesses in Illinois prevent pollution, conserve natural resources, and reduce waste. ISTC continues to be
23430-455: Was Illinois's largest city. With the tremendous growth of mines and factories in the state in the 19th century, Illinois was the ground for the formation of labor unions in the United States . In 1847, after lobbying by Dorothea L. Dix , Illinois became one of the first states to establish a system of state-supported treatment of mental illness and disabilities, replacing local almshouses . Dix came into this effort after having met J. O. King,
23595-408: Was abandoned. Scholars have proposed environmental factors, such as environmental degradation through overhunting, deforestation and pollution, and climatic changes, such as increased flooding and droughts, as explanations for abandonment of the site. However, more recent research suggests that there is no evidence of human-caused erosion or flooding at Cahokia. The late 12th century into
23760-409: Was accompanied by a homogenization of material culture (e.g. pottery and architectural styles) that divided the smaller settlements beforehand. Mound construction increased across the region in the 11th century in the floodplain and, for the first time, in uplands to the east. Some mounds were built on earlier settlement locations arguably by descendants emphasizing their particular ancestral positions in
23925-585: Was adopted in 1970, replacing the 1870 document. The first Farm Aid concert was held in Champaign to benefit American farmers, in 1985. The worst upper Mississippi River flood of the century, the Great Flood of 1993 , inundated many towns and thousands of acres of farmland. Illinois entered the 21st century under Republican Governor George Ryan . Near the end of his term in January 2003, following
24090-531: Was an early claimant to much of Illinois. The Illinois Territory was created on February 3, 1809, with its capital at Kaskaskia , an early French settlement. During the discussions leading up to Illinois's admission to the Union , the proposed northern boundary of the state was moved twice. The original provisions of the Northwest Ordinance had specified a boundary that would have been tangent to
24255-399: Was an elevated embankment about 18 metres (59 ft) wide, roughly 800 metres (2,600 ft) in length and varies in height from 0.5 metres (1.6 ft) to almost 1.3 metres (4.3 ft) as it traverses a low swampy area to the south of the Grand Plaza. It is aligned 5° east of north, a direction thought to mimic the maximum southern moon rise of 5° west of north, albeit in reverse. This
24420-598: Was born and raised in the state. Illinois honors Lincoln with its official state slogan Land of Lincoln . The state is the site of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield and the future home of the Barack Obama Presidential Center in Chicago. Illinois has a highly diverse economy , with the global city of Chicago in the northeast, major industrial and agricultural hubs in
24585-513: Was erected in 1867, which continues to serve as the Illinois capitol today. Though it was ostensibly a " free state ", there was nonetheless slavery in Illinois . The ethnic French had owned black slaves since the 1720s, and American settlers had already brought slaves into the area from Kentucky . Slavery was nominally banned by the Northwest Ordinance, but that was not enforced for those already holding slaves. When Illinois became
24750-459: Was established within the Department of Energy and Natural Resources in 1984. In 1995, Governor Jim Edgar issued an Executive Order to restructure the state's environmental agencies. The Illinois Department of Energy and Natural Resources (in part), Illinois Department of Conservation, Illinois Department of Mines and Minerals, and several other related government units were combined to form
24915-488: Was first protected by the state of Illinois in 1923 when its legislature authorized purchase of a state park. Later designation as a state historic site offered additional protection, but the site came under significant threat from the federal highway building program in the 1950s. The highway program reduced the site's integrity; however, it increased funding for emergency archeological investigations. These investigations became intensive, and today continue. They have resulted in
25080-647: Was important in emphasizing a new agricultural regime. Mississippian culture pottery and stone tools in the Cahokian style were found at the Silvernale site near Red Wing, Minnesota , and materials and trade goods from Pennsylvania, the Gulf Coast, and Lake Superior have been excavated at Cahokia. Cahokians traveled down to the Carson site in Coahoma County, Mississippi and built a settlement during
25245-401: Was later rebuilt, but not for residential purposes. In the same general timeframe around 1175 CE, people constructed the first iteration of the large central palisade around Cahokia's core. People began leaving the city in larger numbers beginning in the late 12th century. In the middle of the succeeding 13th century Cahokia's population had decreased by half if not more, and by 1350 CE the city
25410-673: Was made though nixtamalization that made the maize more nutritious. Recent research indicates that early Cahokians nixtamalized maize but then stopped nixtamalizing maize around CE 1200. Intense reliance on maize that is not nixtamalized may result in pellagra and death. Isotope analysis of burial remains at Cahokia has revealed iron-deficiency anemia and tooth enamel defects potentially stemming from Cahokia's reliance on maize. Together with these factors, researchers found evidence in 2015 of major floods at Cahokia, so severe as to flood dwelling places. Analysis of sediment from beneath Horseshoe Lake has revealed that two major floods occurred in
25575-424: Was mainly built for defensive purposes. Beyond Monks Mound, as many as 120 more mounds stood at varying distances from the city center. To date, 109 mounds have been located, 68 of which are in the park area. The mounds are divided into three different types: platform , conical , and ridge -top. Each appeared to have had its own meaning and function. In general terms, the city center seems to have been laid out in
25740-459: Was named for the community of Trappist monks who resided there for a short time, after Euroamericans settled in the area. Excavation on the top of Monks Mound has revealed evidence of a large building, likely a temple or the residence of the paramount chief , which would have been seen throughout the city. This building was about 105 ft (32 m) long and 48 feet (15 m) wide, and could have been as much as 50 ft (15 m) high. It
25905-420: Was not necessarily descended from the earlier Mississippian-era people. Most likely, multiple indigenous ethnic groups settled in the Cahokia Mounds area during the time of the city's apex. Cahokia Mounds is a National Historic Landmark and a designated site for state protection. It is also one of the 26 UNESCO World Heritage Sites within the United States . The largest pre-Columbian earthen construction in
26070-502: Was played by rolling a disc-shaped chunky stone across the field. The players would throw spears where they thought the chunky stone would land. The game required a great deal of judgment and aim. The major ceremonial north–south 'axis' connects the main precinct with the large ridgetop mortuary mound to its south now known as the Rattlesnake Mound (Mound 66 ). The feature, named the Rattlesnake Causeway by archaeologists,
26235-456: Was rebuilt several times to encompass increasingly-smaller portions of the city. Diseases transmitted among the large, dense urban population are another possible cause of decline. Similarly, health issues like pellagra are known to arise through maize-intense diets like Cahokia's. However, evidence tying nutritional deficiencies to a broader societal collapse has not been conclusively identified. At Cahokia's beginning around CE 1050, hominy
26400-662: Was submerged beneath a shallow sea and located near the Equator. Diverse marine life lived at this time, including trilobites , brachiopods , and crinoids . Changing environmental conditions led to the formation of large coal swamps in the Carboniferous . Illinois was above sea level for at least part of the Mesozoic , but by its end was again submerged by the Western Interior Seaway . This receded by
26565-481: Was supplemented by a $ 245,454 Public Works Administration grant for a new building to house Illinois State Geological Survey and Illinois Natural History Survey operations. The Natural Resources Building, located on Peabody Drive in Champaign, was dedicated on November 15, 1940. Wings were added on the east and west ends of the original building in 1950. As of 2012, the headquarters of the Prairie Research Institute
26730-512: Was topped by a massive 5,000 sq ft (460 m ) building another 50 ft (15 m) high. Early in its history, Cahokia underwent a massive construction boom. Along with the early phase of Monks Mound, an overarching urban layout was established at the site. It was built with a symbolic quadripartite worldview and oriented toward the four cardinal directions with the main east–west and north–south axes defined with Monks Mound near its center point. Four large plazas were established to
26895-614: Was topped by a structure thought to have measured about 105 ft (32 m) in length and 48 ft (15 m) in width, covered an area 5,000 sq ft (460 m ), and been as much as 50 ft (15 m) high, making its peak 150 ft (46 m) above the level of the plaza. The finely crafted ornaments and tools recovered by archaeologists at Cahokia include elaborate ceramics, finely sculptured stonework, carefully embossed and engraved copper and mica sheets, and one funeral blanket for an important chief fashioned from 20,000 shell beads. These artifacts indicate that Cahokia
27060-496: Was truly an urban center, with clustered housing, markets, and specialists in toolmaking, hide dressing, potting, jewelry making, shell engraving, weaving and salt making. The civilization vanished in the 15th century for unknown reasons, but historians and archeologists have speculated that the people depleted the area of resources. Many indigenous tribes engaged in constant warfare. According to Suzanne Austin Alchon, "At one site in
27225-553: Was −38 °F (−39 °C), recorded on January 31, 2019, during the January 2019 North American cold wave at a weather station near Mount Carroll , and confirmed on March 5, 2019. This followed the previous record of −36 °F (−38 °C) recorded on January 5, 1999, near Congerville . Prior to the Mount Carroll record, a temperature of −37 °F (−38 °C) was recorded on January 15, 2009, at Rochelle , but at
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