A Bit of Michigan History

January 11, 1805, President Thomas Jefferson created the Michigan Territory.

The story of the Michigan Territory began on April 30, 1802, when the U.S. Congress passed an act allowing the people of Ohio to write a constitution and form a state government. (At the time, Ohio was part of the Northwest Territory.)After Ohio joined the Union as a state in May1803, the rest of the Northwest Territory (which included Michigan) became known as the Indiana Territory. The territorial capital was Vincennes, a settlement on the Wabash River in south western Indiana. At the time, most Michiganians lived in Detroit. No one had asked Detroiters about the territorial ehange. Detroiters soon discovered being part of the Indiana Territory was a problem. It was more than On October 13, 1804, Detroiters gathered at a town meeting and signed a petition calling for the creation of a separate territory. The petition said it was the "unanimous opinion" of the people liv-ing in Detroit that "good order and prosperity"depended on creating a new territory. The petition carried more than 300 signatures, about half of the adult males living in Detroit. (Only men signed petitions at the time.) Jefferson's followers in Congress agreed with the Detroiters and passed the act that the president signed on January 11, 1805.President Jefferson then appointed William Hull Michigan's first territorial governor. This52-year-old lawyer and veteran of the American Revolution arrived in Detroit shortly before the territory's official first day (June 30, 1805).Hull realized the Michigan Territory would have a rough beginning. Only three weeks earlier, a fire had destroyed Detroit, the new territorial capital.350 miles from Detroit to Vincennes, and there were no roads, only trails. It also did not appear that the government officials in Vincennes took Detroiters seriously.When Indiana territorial governor William Henry Harrison ordered an election to be held in the territory, the order never reached Detroit and Detroiters never voted.When the Michigan Territory was founded in 1805,il included the Lower Peninsula and the eastern strip of the Upper Peninsula.— with [Kevin Clark]