History of Michigan

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History of Michigan

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 Pre-statehood
 U.S. Civil War
 Since 1900
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The history of human activity in Michigan, a U.S. state in the Great Lakes, began with
settlement of the western Great Lakes region by Paleo-Indians perhaps as early as
11,000 B.C. One early technology they developed was the use of native copper, which
they would fashion into tools and other implements with "hammer stones". [1][2] The first
Europeans to arrive in Michigan were the French. Explorer Etienne Brule traveled
through Michigan in 1618 searching for a route to China. Soon the French laid claim to
the land and began to trade with the local natives for furs. Men called "voyageurs"
would travel the rivers by canoe trading various goods for furs that would bring a high
price back in Europe.
The first French explorer of Michigan, Étienne Brûlé, began in about 1620.[3] The area
was part of French Canada from 1668 to 1763. In 1701, the French officer Antoine de la
Mothe Cadillac, along with fifty-one additional French-Canadians, founded a settlement
called Fort Pontchartrain du Détroit, now the city of Detroit. When New France was
defeated in the French and Indian War, it ceded the region to Britain in 1763. After the
British were defeated in the American Revolutionary War, the Treaty of Paris
 (1783) expanded the United States' boundaries to include nearly all land east of the
Mississippi River and south of Canada. Michigan was then part of the "Old Northwest".
From 1787 to 1800, it was part of the Northwest Territory. In 1800, the Indiana
Territory was created, and most of the current state Michigan lay within it, with only the
easternmost parts of the state remaining in the Northwest Territory. [4] In 1802, when
Ohio was admitted to the Union, the whole of Michigan was attached to the Territory of
Indiana, and so remained until 1805, when the Territory of Michigan was established.
[5]
 Michigan's birthday is on January 26.
The opening of the Erie Canal in 1825 connected the Great Lakes with the Hudson
River and New York City, and brought large numbers of people to Michigan and
provided an inexpensive way to ship crops to market. In 1835 the people approved the
Constitution of 1835, thereby forming a state government, although Congressional
recognition was delayed pending resolution of a boundary dispute with Ohio known as
the Toledo War. Congress awarded the "Toledo Strip" to Ohio. Michigan received the
western part of the Upper Peninsula as a concession and formally entered the Union as
a state on January 26, 1837.
When iron and copper were discovered in the Upper Peninsula, impetus was created for
the construction of the Soo Locks, completed in 1855. Along with mining, agriculture
and logging became important industries.[6] Ransom E.
Olds founded Oldsmobile in Lansing in 1897, and in 1899 Henry Ford built his first
automobile factory in Detroit. General Motors was founded in Flint in 1908. Automobile
assembly and associated manufacturing soon dominated Detroit, and the economy of
Michigan.
The Great Depression of the 1930s affected Michigan more severely than many other
places because of its industrial base. [6] However, the state recovered in the post World
War II years. The Mackinac Bridge connecting the Upper and Lower Peninsulas was
completed and opened in 1957. By the 1960s, racial tensions produced unrest through
the nation, and Detroit experienced a dramatic instance with the 12th Street Riot in
1967. By the 1980s, the state saw a decline in automobile sales and unemployment
climbed. Michigan continues to diversify its economy away from its dependence on the
automobile industry.

Contents

 1Early history
 2From 1763 to 1776
 3From 1776 to 1837
 4From 1837 to 1860
o 4.1Politics
 51860 to 1900
o 5.1Civil War
o 5.2Gilded Age
o 5.3Pingree
 61900 to 1941
 o 6.1Automobiles
o 6.2Immigrants
o 6.3Progressivism
o 6.4Women
o 6.5Depression
o 6.6Unions
 7After 1941
 8Further reading
o 8.1Surveys and reference
o 8.2Historiography
o 8.3Specialty studies
o 8.4Race, ethnicity and immigration
o 8.5Primary sources
 9Other resources
 10See also
 11Notes
 12External links

Early history[edit]
Further information: Pays d'en Haut, Prehistory of Michigan, and History of slavery in
Michigan

Michigan in 1718, Guillaume de L'Isle map, approximate state area highlighted

The area was inhabited from about 1000 B.C.E to 1000 C.E. by the Native
American Hopewell culture. Later, according to Oral histories, Algonquian peoples from
the East Coast were driven west when Iroquoian people migrated to the region from
central Canada and took their original homelands—These being the ancestors of the
Ojibwe, Odawa, Potowatomi, Mascouten & Miami. Archaeology shows that this
probably occurred during the 12th-13th centuries. Originally, the northern peninsula was
largely claimed by the Ojibwe nation, although the border region of Wisconsin was
claimed by the Menominee. Given that one of the oldest recorded names for the tribe
was also the Mackinac, [7] they most likely predate the other Algonquians in the region.
The entire southern peninsula was home to a tribe called the Mascouten[8][9] until
the Beaver Wars, which was probably home to a mixture of Algonquian & Siouan
peoples before. Their southern border seems to very clearly be the Maumee River of
Ohio & their territory extended around Lake Michigan into Indiana. During the Beaver
Wars, the Iroquois of New York pushed other tribes in league with the French hard
against Lake Huron, therefore several tribes migrated into Michigan & declared war on
the Mascouten & Miami. The most likely identity for these tribes were the Erie,
Chonnonton & Anishinaabeg. The Iroquoian tribes quickly continued on into northern &
eastern Ohio & the Anishinaabeg groups seem to have formed the Sauk & Fox tribes by
the time of the oldest surviving maps of the region, 1641. Either this, or the Sauk & Fox
were chased into the region after defeats further east. Due to the Beaver Wars, the
Mascouten migrated down to settle around the Wabash River.
Given the fact that they are culturally related & the Mascouten disappear from maps of
the region around the same time that the new name appears, they may have later
become known as the Wea, or Wabash tribe.[10][11][12]
Afterwards, the Iroquois defeated the other Iroquoian tribes of northern Ohio—the
Chonnonton, Erie & Petun—and continued into southern Michigan by the 1660s. [13] With
the Iroquoians having conquered the southern peninsula for themselves, the other
Algonquians began to refer to the nearby lake as Michigan, which translates to "Big Cat"
in their language. This is most likely supposed to be a reference to the Iroquoian water
deity known as 'Blue Panther', or, more accurately, "Cat which Stalks Below." [14][15] They
defeated the Sauk & Fox, who migrated west and took refuge among the Ojibwe &
Menominee. This caused other wars between Algonquian & Siouan peoples within the
following decades.[16]
Later, the Anishinaabeg tribes north of Lake Superior (who were already allied with the
Huron) migrated down to the Lake Erie region, claiming some land in southern
Michigan. In the U.S., they were known as the Odawa, & in Canada they were known as
the Mississaugas—both deriving from tribal & subtribal names of the Anishinaabeg. The
French migrated west, settling the colony of Illinois around 1680, which claimed all the
land between the Great Lakes, Ohio River, Mississippi River & Appalachian mountains.
Together with their native allies, they chased the Iroquois out of the region by 1701,
forcing them to sign a treaty recognizing the Niagara River & the Ohio-Pennsylvania
borders as the ends of their lands.
In the meantime, other tribes which had settled in Ohio were continuously pushed west
by new settlers. Some settled in southern Michigan, however these were mostly the
Iroquoian Wyandot. Rumor also has it that a group of Piscataway (An Algonquian tribe
from Maryland) called the Conoy migrated into West Virginia & were noted as living
around modern-day Detroit by 1819.[17] If true, they most likely merged with the Odawa.
During the War of 1812, tribes who sided against the United States were punished by
seizure of land. With the Indian Removal Act (best known for causing the Trail of Tears
in the south) of the 1830s, many natives were pushed away from Ohio & Michigan,
many choosing to return to Canada. Despite this, many native tribesmen were able to
remain, if they forwent their tribal allegiances & became American citizens. It was the
later laws of 50 years later, outlawing Native American culture to control other tribes of
the west, which permanently destroyed this heritage. [18]
Map of the British and French settlements in North America in 1750, before the French and Indian War (1754 to
1763)

The Ojibwe called their land Mishi-Anishinaabaki (Mey-shih-Ah-ney-shih-nah-baaah-

key), or Greater Anishinaabe Land. Since Anishinaabe was a collective term for the
Ojibwe, Odawa & Potowatomi/ Nishnabe, who formed a governed confederacy known
as the Three Council Fires,[19] most of the Algonquian peoples around Lake Superior
referred to their lands as 'something Anishinaabaki.' This most likely confused the
French, who chose to simply translate the 'Mishi' part as "Superior." Although the
Anishinaabeg (plural) didn't have a true, organized government (They would usually
elect temporary leaders called Ogidamoo in the moment. [20] ), the sacred site of their
council fire, where they would conduct important political business, was known
as Michilimackinac. Today, it's known as Mackinac Island. The Mascouten are
supposedly so named for calling their original homeland of southern Michigan
"Maskoutenich," or "The Treeless Land," for the Erie Plains region. [21][22]
The first European explorer to visit Michigan was the Frenchman Étienne Brûlé in 1620,
who began his expedition from Quebec City on the orders of Samuel de Champlain and
traveled as far as the Upper Peninsula. Eventually, the area became part of Canada,
one of the large colonial provinces of New France. The first permanent European
settlement in Michigan was founded in 1668 at Sault Ste. Marie by Jacques Marquette,
a French missionary.
The French built several trading posts, forts, and villages in Michigan during the late
17th century. Among them, the most important was Fort Pontchartrain du Détroit in
1701; it became the city of Detroit. Up until this time, French activities in the region were
limited to hunting, trapping, trading with and the conversion of local Indians, and some
limited subsistence farming. By 1760, the Michigan countryside had only a few hundred
white inhabitants.

From 1763 to 1776[edit]

Michigan as part of the Province of Quebec 1774–1776

Territorial disputes between French and British colonists helped start the French and
Indian War as part of the larger Seven Years' War, which took place from 1754 to 1763
and resulted in the defeat of France. As part of the Treaty of Paris, the French ceded all
of their North American colonies east of the Mississippi River to Britain. Thus the future
Michigan was handed over to the British. However, since 1761, the Indigenous peoples
in the area were not happy with the way the British treated them. In 1763, the Native
Americans were furious that Great Britain had gained control of the area and war began
at Fort Detroit under the leadership of Pontiac, and quickly spread throughout the
region. The war was known as Pontiac's War and lasted three years. Eight British forts
were taken; others, including Fort Detroit and Fort Pitt, were held by the British
garrisons. In 1774, the area was made part of the British province of Quebec. During
this period Detroit grew slowly; the rest of Michigan continued to be sparsely populated
because the French were more interested in the fur trade and peace with the natives
than in settlement of the area.[23]

From 1776 to 1837[edit]

Treaty of Paris, by Benjamin West (1783), an unfinished painting of the American diplomatic negotiators of
the Treaty of Paris which brought official conclusion to the Revolutionary War and gave possession of Michigan
and other territory to the new United States

During the American Revolution, the local European population, who were primarily
American colonists that supported independence, rebelled against Britain. The British,
with the help of local tribes, continually attacked American settlements in the region
starting in 1776 and conquered Detroit. In 1781, Spanish raiders led by a French
Captain Eugene Poure travelled by river and overland from St Louis, liberated British-
held Fort St Joseph, and handed authority over the settlement to the Americans the
following day. The war ended with the signing of the Treaty of Paris in 1783, and
Michigan passed into the control of the newly formed United States of America. The
states of New York, Virginia, Massachusetts then Connecticut ceded their territorial
rights over the land. In 1787, the region became part of the Northwest Territory. The
majority of Indians did not recognize the new government and instead formed
the Western Confederacy. General Anthony Wayne with his Kentucky marksmen won
the Battle of Fallen Timbers which led to the end of hostilities and treaties recognizing
federal government sovereignty. The British, however, continued to occupy Detroit and
other fortifications. Under terms negotiated in the 1794 Jay Treaty, Britain withdrew from
Detroit and Michilimackinac in 1796. Questions remained over the boundary for many
years, and the United States did not have uncontested control of the Upper Peninsula
and Drummond Island until 1818 and 1847, respectively.
The land which is now Michigan was made part of Indiana Territory in 1800. Most was
declared as Michigan Territory in 1805, including all of the Lower Peninsula. During
the War of 1812, British forces from Canada captured Detroit and Fort Mackinac early
on, giving them a strategic advantage and encouraging native revolt against the United
States. American troops retook Detroit in 1813 and Fort Mackinac was returned to the
Americans at the end of the war in 1815.
Over the 1810s, the indigenous Ojibwa, Ottawa, and Potawatomi tribes increasingly
decided to oppose white settlement and sided with the British against the U.S.
government.

Map of the original 13 colonies and their territories. Note that Michigan was the object of multiple claims.
Map of the Surveyed Part of the Territory of Michigan by Orange Risdon, 1825

After their defeat in the War of 1812, the tribes were forced to sell all of their land claims
to the U.S. federal government by the Treaty of Saginaw and the Treaty of Chicago.
After the war, the government built forts in some of the northwest territory, such as at
Sault Ste. Marie. In the 1820s, the U.S. government assigned Indian agents to work
with the tribes, including arranging land cessions and relocation. They forced most of
the Native Americans to relocate from Michigan to Indian reservations further west.
In the 1820s and 1830s immigrants from New England began moving to what is now
Michigan in large numbers (though there was a trickle of New England settlers who
arrived before this date).[24] These were "Yankee" settlers, that is to say they were
descended from the English Puritans who settled New England during the colonial era.
[25]
 While most of them came to Michigan directly from New England, there were many
who came from upstate New York. These were people whose parents had moved from
New England to upstate New York in the immediate aftermath of the American
Revolution. Due to the prevalence of New Englanders and New England transplants
from upstate New York, Michigan was very culturally contiguous with early New
England culture for much of its early history. The Yankee migration to Michigan was a
result of several factors, one of which was the overpopulation of New England. The old
stock Yankee population had large families, often bearing up to ten children in one
household. Most people were expected to have their own piece of land to farm, and due
to the massive and nonstop population boom, land in New England became scarce as
every son claimed his own farmstead. As a result, there was not enough land for every
family to have a self-sustaining farm, and Yankee settlers began leaving New England
for the Midwestern United States. This resulted in Michigan's population expanding
rapidly in the 1820s.[26] The Erie Canal caused such an upsurge in immigration from New
England that by 1837 "it seemed as if all New England were coming" according to one
pioneer.[27] New England families considered it a route to the "promised land". [28] As a
result of this heritage, the New England element of Michigan's population would remain
culturally and politically dominant for a long time. [26]
Michigan's oldest university, the University of Michigan was founded in Detroit in 1817
and was later moved to its present location in Ann Arbor. The state's oldest cultural
institution, the Historical Society of Michigan, was established by territorial
governor Lewis Cass and explorer Henry Schoolcraft in 1828.
Rising settlement prompted the elevation of Michigan Territory to that of the present-
day state. In 1835, the federal government enacted a law that would have created a
State of Michigan. A territorial dispute with Ohio over the Toledo Strip, a stretch of land
including the city of Toledo, delayed the final accession of statehood. The disputed zone
became part of Ohio by the order of a revised bill passed by the U.S. Congress and
signed into law by President Andrew Jackson which also gave compensation to
Michigan in the form of control of the Upper Peninsula. On January 26, 1837, Michigan
became the 26th state of the Union.

From 1837 to 1860[edit]

Detroit, c. 1837, after a sketch by Frederick Grain

A map of Michigan by Henry Schenck Tanner, published in 1842, showing such county names as "Negwegon
County," "Okkuddo County," and "Unwattin County," prior to an 1843 legislative action renaming sixteen
counties in northern Michigan[29]

Agriculture remained the main economic activity before 1860. During the early 1840s,
large deposits of copper and iron ores were discovered on the Upper Peninsula.
Michigan became the leading U.S. source of these ores by the end of the century,
thanks to the influx of experienced Cornish miners (from England) to supervise
operations. Michigan remained a frontier society up until around the time of the Civil
War. Michigan pioneers were overwhelmingly of New England origins, including New
England transplants from upstate New York. The amount with which the New England
Yankee population predominated made Michigan unique among frontier states in the
antebellum period. Due to this heritage Michigan was on the forefront of the antislavery
crusade and reforms during the 1840s and 1850s. Another result of this cultural
influence was the strength of the Republican Party in Michigan. Long considered a
"Yankee" party, Michigan would remain heavily Republican from the Civil War until the
1960s. The state's leadership in public education is also directly attributable to the New
England influence. Towns such as Vermontville, Bangor, Hartford, Rochester, Utica,
and Palmyra Michigan were all named after towns in New England where the founders
of those towns were from. The Congregational Church also was very strong in Michigan
from most of Michigan's history, due to the New England origins of the state. New
Englanders and New England transplants from Upstate New York also filled the
overwhelming majority of leadership roles in Michigan's early legislatures. [30]
Politics[edit]
During the Second Party System (1830-1854), Michigan saw highly developed political
parties mobilize the great mass of adult men. The Democratic Party dominated politics
before the Civil War. It comprised numerous competing factions, including the federal
officeholders who tried to control party affairs, local political organizations with their
state legislators and postmasters who managed affairs locally; young anti-slavery
activists, typically energized by pietistic ministers in the Baptist and Methodist churches
—they fueled the Free Soil Party in 1848–52; Jacksonian Democrats who opposed
taxes and government spending; Catholics, Episcopalians and liturgical Germans
annoyed at the moralistic pietists; and residents in the newer western districts who
resented the elitism and power of Detroiters. The outstanding Democratic leader
was Lewis Cass, (1782-1866) who held numerous high offices and was the Democratic
party's losing candidate for president in 1848. Cass was best known for his moderation
and support for democracy through popular sovereignty.[31] Nativism flared up briefly
when the Democrats proposed to allow recent immigrants to vote before they became
citizens, and the Whigs opposed.[32][33] Fifteen of Michigan's first eighteen governors were
of Yankee origins, either being from New England or being born in upstate New York to
parents who were from New England.[34]
The minority Whig party relied on conservative merchants, bankers and prosperous
farmers, and especially on pietistic, moralistic Protestants from evangelical churches.
Nationally, the Whig party collapsed in the 1850s as compromise proved impossible
between the anti-slavery Northerners, and the pro-slavery Southerners. For a few years
in the mid-1850s, nativist fears of foreign immigrants, especially Catholic Irishmen and
Germans, motivated the Know-Nothing movement. It had little success beyond a brief
control of city government in Marshall, Pontiac, Battle Creek, Mt. Clemens, Kalamazoo,
and Grand Rapids.
The collapse of the old political system led to the realignment of voters and parties in
the formation of the Third Party System, which formed in the mid-1850s and lasted until
the mid-1890s. Michigan was dominated for 80 years by the new Republican Party, later
nicknamed the GOP. First established in Jackson and other cities in 1854, it gathered
together anti-slavery elements from the Whig, Know-Nothing and Democratic parties,
and was a majority in Michigan by the end of the decade. The Democrats had always
used equalitarianism as a way to attack the rich elitist Whigs. Now the Republicans
turned the tables by charging that Michigan's Democrats were in bed with the South's
"slave power aristocrats." The Republicans encouraged the moralistic spirit of the
pietists by turning it against slavery and the liquor traffic. [35]

1860 to 1900[edit]
Civil War[edit]
Main article: Michigan in the American Civil War
Michigan actively participated in the American Civil War sending thousands of
volunteers.[36] A study of the cities of Grand Rapids and Niles shows an overwhelming
surge of nationalism in 1861, whipping up enthusiasm for the war in all segments of
society, and all political, religious, ethnic, and occupational groups. However, by 1862
the casualties were mounting and the war was increasingly focused on freeing the
slaves in addition to preserving the Union. Copperhead Democrats called the war a
failure, and it became more and more a partisan Republican effort. [37] Michigan voters
remained evenly split between the parties in the presidential election of 1864. [38]
Gilded Age[edit]
After the war, the local economy became more varied and began to prosper. During the
1870s, the lumbering, railroads, dairy farming and diversified industry grew rapidly in the
state. This led to the rise of several wealthy socialite families such as the Hartwick
family. The population doubled between 1870 and 1890.
Toward the end of the century, the state government established a state school system
on the German model, with public schools, high schools, normal schools or colleges for
training teachers of lower grades, and colleges for classical academic studies and
professors. It dedicated more funds to public education than did any other state in the
nation. Within a few years, it established four-year curricula at its normal colleges for
teachers, and was the first state to establish a full college program for them.
Railroads have been vital in the history of the population and trade of rough and finished
goods in the state of Michigan. While some coastal settlements had previously existed
supplied by sailing ships and steamers on the Great Lakes, the population, commercial,
and industrial growth of the state further bloomed with the establishment of the railroad.
Pingree[edit]
In 1896, Detroit Mayor Hazen Pingree, a Yankee Republican, was elected governor. He
was a social reformer who battled corporations and was an early leader of
the Progressive Movement. During his four-year term, he promoted the regulation of
railroad rates, equal taxation, and municipal ownership of public utilities. He also
supported the direct election of U.S. senators; an eight-hour workday; an income tax;
primary elections; the referendum, the abolition of child labor, and compulsory
arbitration of labor disputes. Opposition from Democrats and business-oriented
Republicans blocked most of his proposals. Pingree expressed the Progressive fear of
corporate power, saying, "I do not condemn corporations and rich men," he said, "but I
would keep them within their proper spheres. It is not safe to entrust the government of
the country to the influence of Wall Street." [39]

1900 to 1941[edit]
Urban Michigan grew rapidly in the early 20th century, pulled along by the automobile
industry in Detroit and vicinity. The breakfast cereal industry was based in Battle Creek
where two Kelloggs and a Post built on the local Seventh-day Adventist heritage and
put the city on the map. Less flamboyantly, thousands of machine shops opened in
medium and small cities across the state.
Automobiles[edit]
During the early 20th century, manufacturing industries became the main source of
revenue for Michigan – in large part, because of the automobile. In 1897, the Olds
Motor Vehicle Company opened a factory in Lansing. In 1903, Ford Motor
Company was also founded nearby in Detroit. In 1904 William Durant of the Flint,
Michigan Durant Coach Works, a maker of horse carriages, set his sights on Buick
Motor Cars which he soon acquired. With the mass production of the Ford Model T,
Detroit became the world capital of the auto industry. General Motors was formed a few
years later as William Durant along with Alfred Sloan purchased Oldsmobile, Cadillac,
Oakland and other car companies. They soon moved their headquarters from Flint,
Michigan to Detroit, Michigan.[40] General Motors is based in Detroit, Chrysler is located
in Auburn Hills, and Ford is headquartered in nearby Dearborn. Both corporations
constructed large industrial complexes in the Detroit metropolitan area, exemplified by
the River Rouge Plant, which have made Michigan a national leader in manufacturing
since the 1910s. This industrial base produced greatly during World War I, filling a huge
demand for military vehicles.
Jackson was home to one of the first car industry developments. Even before Detroit
began building cars on assembly lines, Jackson was busy making parts for cars and
putting them together in 1901. By 1910, the auto industry became Jackson's main
industry. Over twenty different cars were once made in Jackson. Including: Reeves,
Jaxon, Jackson, CarterCar, Orlo, Whiting, Butcher and Gage, Buick, Janney, Globe,
Steel Swallow, C.V.I., Imperial, Ames-Dean, Cutting, Standard Electric, Duck, Briscoe,
Argo, Hollier, Hackett, Marion-Handly, Gem, Earl, Wolverine, and Kaiser-Darrin. Today
the auto industry remains one of the largest employers of skilled machine operators
in Jackson County.
Immigrants[edit]
With the expansion of industry, hundreds of thousands of migrants from the South and
immigrants from eastern and southern Europe were attracted to Detroit. In a short time,
it became the fourth largest city in the country - housing shortages persisted for years
even as new housing was developed throughout the city. Ethnic immigrant enclaves
rapidly developed where churches, groceries, clubs and businesses supported unique
communities. The WPA guide to the city in 1939 noted that there were students
speaking more than 35 languages in the public schools. Ethnic festivals were a regular
part of the city's culture. At the same time, fear of Catholics was strong, and fueled the
nativism of the second Ku Klux Klan which recruited widely in the state. The Klan
peaked in 1925, but membership fell quickly after its internal scandals were
exposed. Reinhold Niebuhr, a German-American Protestant minister trained at Yale
Divinity School became nationally famous as a Detroit minister who attacked the KKK,
which was strong among white Protestants in the city. [41]
Progressivism[edit]
The cities of Michigan were centers of municipal reform during the Progressive Era.
Using Kalamazoo as her base, Caroline Bartlett Crane (1858–1935) became a
nationally famous expert on municipal sanitation. She was nonpolitical, but scientific in
her methods, and energetic in her approach. She made 60 surveys and studies in 14
states that dealt with housing conditions in tenements, of schools, jails, water and sewer
systems. She identified and found solutions for air pollution. Crane had a sharp eye for
inefficiency, waste, and mismanagement, and was always ready to point out
improvements and explain what the best practices were in the nation. [42]
A representative politician was George E. Ellis, mayor of Grand Rapids (1906–16). He
is remembered as the most dynamic and innovative mayor in the city's history, as well
as a powerful political boss who built a coalition of working-class ethnic voters,
combined with middle-class reform elements. He broadened the base of political
participation, and was on the left or liberal side of the political spectrum. [43] Somewhat
more conservative, and much better known, was Mayor Hazen Pingree of Detroit
(1889–1896), who brought progressivism to the governor's mansion with his election in
1896. Pingree was elected mayor in 1889 by promising to expose and end corruption in
city paving contracts, sewer contracts, and the school board. He fought privately owned
utility monopolies, and set up competing companies owned by the city. He fought the
street railway interest, demanding fares be lowered to three cents. When the depression
of 1893 caused large-scale unemployment, Pingree expanded welfare programs,
initiated public works programs for the unemployed, built new schools, parks, and public
baths, and set aside plots of vacant city land for workers to plant their own vegetable
gardens. As the Republican governor, he promoted higher railroad taxes to pay for his
reforms.[44] After Pingree left Detroit in 1897, the local Democratic ward leaders rebuilt
their machine, using an ethnic base. This changed after 1910 as the old-stock Yankee
Protestant business leaders, especially from the automobile industry, led a Progressive
Era crusade for efficiency. They elected their own men to office, typified by
automaker James J. Couzens, who was mayor of Detroit 1919–22, and a powerful US
Senator, 1922–36. The critical change took place in 1918 when the voters 1918
changed the Common Council from a 42-man body elected on a partisan basis from 21
wards, to a nine-man unit, elected on a non-partisan basis from the city at-large. The
ethnics (especially the Germans) and the Democrats lost their political base. [45]
Women[edit]
Most young women took jobs before marriage, then quit. Before the growth of high
schools after 1900, most women left school after the 8th grade at about age 15. Ciani
(2005) shows that type of work they did reflected their ethnicity and marital status.
African American mothers often chose day labor, usually as domestic servants,
because of the flexibility it afforded. Most mothers receiving pensions were white and
sought work only when necessary.[46]
Across the state middle class homemakers shaped numerous new and expanded
charitable and professional associations, and promoted mothers' pensions, and
expanded forms of social welfare. Many of the Protestant homemakers were active in
the temperance and suffrage movements as well. The Detroit Federation of Women's
Clubs (DFWC) promoted a very wide range of activities for civic minded middle-class
women who conformed to traditional gender roles. The Federation argued that safety
and health issues were of greatest concern to mothers and could only be solved by
improving municipal conditions outside the home. The Federation pressured Detroit
officials to upgrade schools, water supplies and sanitation facilities, and to require safe
food handling, and traffic safety. However, the membership was divided on going
beyond these issues or collaborating with ethnic or groups or labor unions; it refused to
stretch traditional gender boundaries, giving it a conservative reputation. [47]
Depression[edit]
The Great Depression caused severe economic hardship in Michigan. Thousands of
auto industry workers were dismissed along with other workers from several sectors of
the state economy. The financial suffering was aggravated by the fact that
remaining copper reserves in the state lay deep underground. With the discovery of
copper finds in other states located in less deep rock layers, local mining fell sharply
and most miners left the region or resigned themselves to short hours and long
unemployment. After decades of GOP dominance, the Democrats came back to power,
as the business-oriented Republican economic policies had failed, the Democrats were
energized, prohibition was discredited, and Franklin D. Roosevelt offered a New Deal.
Washington spent heavily on relief, recovery, and reform, relieved cities of the burden of
relief, and buttressed a political realignment that gave the Democratic Coalition parity
with the Republican Party in Michigan. By 1936 the realignment was secure, as
powerful new industrial labor unions, especially the United Auto Workers turned the
factories from Republican bastions to Democratic strongholds, and the ethnic and black
population had shifter to the Democrats.[48]
Young men from relief families signed up for six-month tours in one of the state's
50 Civilian Conservation Corps camps in rural areas. They were paid five dollars a
month, plus room, board, clothing and medical care, while their families received $25 a
month. The Works Progress Administration was the largest federal agency. It hired
more than 500,000 unemployed people (80% men) in Michigan alone to construct major
public works such as roads, public buildings, and sewer systems—it was a larger labor
force that the state's entire auto industry.