History of Detroit, Michigan
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The History of Detroit, Michigan, began when French officer Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac founded a fort and settlement at a site, where the modern city currently stands, along the Detroit River in 1701. Originally the settlement was called Fort Pontchartrain du Détroit after the Comte de Pontchartrain, minister of marine under Louis XIV of France, and for the river that connects Lakes St. Clair and Erie. Francois Marie Picoté sieur de Belestre (Montreal 1719 - 1793) was the last French military commander at Fort Detroit (1758-1760), surrendering the fort on November 29, 1760 to British Major Robert Rogers (of Roger's Rangers fame and sponsor of the Jonathan Carver expedition to St.Anthony Falls). The British gained control of the area in 1760 and thwarted an Indian attack three years later during Pontiac's Rebellion. In 1796 Detroit and its surrounding areas passed to the United States.
Detroit was incorporated as a town by the legislature of the Northwest Territory at Chillicothe, Ohio, on January 18, 1802, effective February 1, 1802. Government was administered by a five-person board of trustees and there was no office of mayor. Following this, Ohio became a state and the eastern half of Michigan was attached to the Indiana Territory. Because of the difficulty in traveling from Detroit to the capital of the territory in Vincennes over 400 miles (640 km) away, Michigan Territory was established effective June 30, 1805, as a separate territory with Detroit as the capital.
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[edit] 19th century
[edit] 1805 fire and city incorporation
Before the new territorial government officially began, a fire destroyed nearly all of Detroit on June 11, 1805. The newly appointed governor, William Hull, and the territorial judges (Augustus B. Woodward, Frederick Bates, James Witherell, and John Griffin), constituting the territorial government, essentially established martial law over affairs of the city. They convinced the U.S. Congress to pass an act on April 21, 1806, which authorized them to lay out a town that included all of the old town of Detroit plus an additional 10,000 acres (40 km²) to be used as compensation for persons who lost their house in the fire.
On September 13, 1806, the territorial government passed an act incorporating the new city of Detroit. The governor appointed Solomon Sibley as mayor. Shortly afterward, Sibley resigned and Elijah Brush was appointed in his stead. The mayor was appointed by the governor and, under the act of incorporation, was able to disapprove legislation passed by the popularly elected council without any recourse for overriding the mayor. Because of this, many felt that the real aim of the governor in incorporating the city was to remove the popularly elected town officers and exert a more direct influence over governance of the city. This form of government was extremely unpopular, and was repealed on February 4, 1809. However, to prevent resurrection of the popularly elected town government, on September 16, 1810, an act passed repealing all laws pertaining to Michigan that had been passed by the Legislature of the Northwest Territory. This effectively eradicated any trace of legitimacy for the former popularly elected town government.
[edit] War of 1812
This state of affairs continued through the War of 1812, during which Governor Hull surrendered Detroit to the British. Lewis Cass, who replaced Hull as territorial governor, on October 24, 1815, restored control of local affairs to the people of Detroit, with the election of a five-person board of trustees and enactment of a charter for the city of Detroit.
[edit] Creation of common council
Government under the board of trustees continued until an act of the Territorial Legislature on August 5, 1824, created a Common Council of the City of Detroit. The Council consisted of five aldermen, the mayor, and the recorder. In an act of April 4, 1827, the number of aldermen increased to seven. In 1839, it increased to 14: two aldermen from six wards plus the mayor and recorder. A seventh ward was created in 1848, an eighth in 1849, and the ninth and tenth wards in 1857. Also in 1857, a new city charter provided that the mayor and recorder would no longer sit as members of the council. At this time, the council consisted of 20 members, two aldermen from ten wards. In 1873, a twelfth ward was added and aldermen from an illegally constituted eleventh ward also temporarily sat on the council. In 1875, a properly constituted eleventh ward and a thirteenth ward were added. The city charter of 1883 changed the name of the body to the Board of Aldermen. A few years earlier in 1881, a separately elected ten-person body named Board of Councilmen (also called the City Council), was established. This body was abolished in 1887.
[edit] 20th and 21st centuries
[edit] Henry Ford
A thriving carriage trade set the stage for the work of Henry Ford, who in 1899 built his first automobile factory in Highland Park, an independent city within Detroit. Ford's manufacturing innovations solidified Detroit's status as the world's car capital, and the blossoming industry spurred the city's spectacular growth during the first half of the 20th century.
[edit] Population increase
The development of the automobile industry led to a massive increase in industrial production in the city. This in turn led to rising demands for labor, which were filled by huge numbers of newcomers from Europe and the American South. Between 1900 and 1930, the city's population soared from 265,000 to over 1.5 million. The landscape of the city also changed dramatically. Once known as the "Paris of the Midwest" for its tree-shaded avenues, the city took on a more blue-collar appearance as its riverfront became lined with factories and grain silos. At the same time, Detroit's downtown flourished architecturally, largely under the leadership of Albert Kahn, who designed a number of Art Deco skyscrapers. The city also experienced a cultural flowering, with a major expansion of the Detroit Institute of Arts and the founding of other institutions.
[edit] Labor disputes
With the factories came high-profile labor strife, climaxing in the 1930s as the United Auto Workers initiated bitter battles with Detroit's auto manufacturers. The labor activism established during those years, which brought fame and notoriety to hometown union leaders such as Jimmy Hoffa and Walter Reuther, remains a key feature on the city's cultural and political landscape.
[edit] Urban decline
Detroit endured a painful decline in the early 1970's, and was often held up as a symbol of Rust Belt urban blight. After peaking in 1950 with 1.85 million residents, the city's population plummeted when residents moved to the suburbs.
The 12th Street Riot in 1967 and court-ordered busing accelerated "white flight" from the city. Large numbers of buildings and homes were abandoned, with many remaining for years in states of decay. Recent urban renewal efforts have led to the demolition and renovation of abandoned buildings, the razing of old houses for new housing developments, and an expedited process to remove abandoned homes near schools. Abandoned buildings remain in many blighted areas. With the large number of homes razed, sizeable tracts have reverted back to nature to become a form urban prairie. Wild animals have been spotted migrating from their destroyed former habitat in the suburbs to the city.
The percentage of black residents increased rapidly and the first black mayor, Coleman Young, was elected in 1973. Young's style during his record four terms in office was not well received by many white Detroiters.
During the latter half of the 20th century, Detroit's crime figures were often among the highest in the country. Though those figures have decreased in recent years, the crime rate remains high, and the murder rate — partly caused by gang-related activity — was one of the highest in the United States. Though the 1960s saw the rise of heroin, use leveled off as the population declined. The Detroit gang Young Boys Inc. was formed in the 1970s and introduced a crack cocaine epidemic and produced collateral property crimes. Violence was common as competing drug dealers fought for territory.
[edit] Urban revival
"Renaissance" has been a perennial buzzword among generations of city leaders, particularly during the construction and completion of the Renaissance Center, but it was not until the 1990's that Detroit enjoyed something of a bona fide revival, much of it centered downtown, although the population of the city kept declining. In 1996 a state referendum paved the way for three Detroit casinos — MGM Grand Detroit, Motor City Casino and Greektown Casino — with the goal of increasing tourism and stemming the flow of gambling dollars to nearby Windsor, Ontario.
In 2000, Comerica Park replaced historic Tiger Stadium as the home of the Detroit Tigers, a move that brought some controversy, and in 2002 Ford Field brought football's Detroit Lions back into Detroit from suburban Pontiac. The 2004 opening of the Compuware Center gave downtown Detroit its first significant new office building in a decade. Significant landmarks such as the Fox Theatre, Detroit Opera House, and the Gem Theater have been restored and now host concerts, musicals, and plays. Many downtown centers such as Greektown, Cobo Center and Campus Martius Park, as well as the Michigan State Fairgrounds on the northern border, draw patrons and host activities.
In the early 21st century, the city hosted a number of major events, including the 2005 Baseball All-Star Game and 2006 Super Bowl. Before these events, the city faced the challenge of cleaning up and improving its image for an international audience. However, in 2004, following scandals and legal decisions, a court-ordered reorganization of the Detroit Police Department was implemented under the supervision of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
[edit] Timeline
- 1701 - July 24, Antoine de Lamothe Cadillac, with his lieutenant Alphonse de Tonty and a company of 100 men, establishes a trading post on the Detroit River under orders from the French King Louis XIV. They name it Fort Pontchartrain du Détroit at the present site of Detroit, in homage to the Count of Pontchartrain, the Royal Minister of Marine.
- 1701 - Ste. Anne de Detroit Catholic Church is the first building built in Detroit, started within two days of Cadillac's landing.
- 1760 - Major Robert Rogers and a group of his Rogers' Rangers take formal command of Fort Detroit in the name of Great Britain after the French defeat in the French and Indian War.
- 1763 - Chief Pontiac besieges Detroit during Pontiac's Rebellion.
- 1796 - American control over Detroit is established, thirteen years after it was assigned by treaty to the United States at the end of the American Revolutionary War.
- 1802 - February 1, the town of Detroit is incorporated by the territorial legislature.
- 1805 - June 11, a fire burns virtually the entire city. The city's motto, Speramus meliora; resurget cineribus ("We hope for better things, it will rise from the ashes") dates from this event.
- 1806 - September 13, the city of Detroit is incorporated by the territorial governing council.
- 1809 - February 24, the territorial governing council repeals the 1806 incorporation of the city.
- 1812 - August 16, Detroit surrenders without firing a shot to British army under General Isaac Brock in the War of 1812.
- 1813 - September, The British retreat from Detroit, which served as a base for the invasion of Canada.
- 1815 - October 24, the territorial governing council enacts the charter for the City of Detroit to be governed by a five-person board of trustees.
- 1824 - August 5, the newly formed territorial legislature reorganizes city government, creating the Common Council and office of mayor.
- 1837 - Detroit becomes capital of the State of Michigan (until 1847).
- 1837 to 1838 - Small bands of self-proclaimed "Patriots", some operating from Detroit, invade Canada in the Patriot War.
- 1863 - Anti-draft and race riot in Detroit.
- 1890 - Reforming mayor Hazen Pingree establishes vegetable gardens for the poor, which came to be called Pingree's Potato Patches.
- 1903 - Ford Motor Company is founded by Henry Ford in Detroit.
- 1929 - Ambassador Bridge construction complete.
- 1930 - Detroit-Windsor Tunnel construction complete.
- 1943 - A race riot, spurred by competition among black and white residents for wartime factory jobs, resulted in 34 deaths.
- 1950 - Detroit's population reaches its height at 1.85 million.
- 1961 - Jerome Cavanagh is elected mayor and launches a series of reforms.
- 1963 - Great March to Freedom.
- 1967 - On July 23, the 12th Street Riot, one of the worst riots in United States history, begins on 12th Street in the predominantly African American inner city (43 killed, 342 injured and 1,400 buildings burned).
- 1968 - Focus: HOPE organization is founded by Fr. William Cunningham. The Detroit Tigers defeat the St. Louis Cardinals in the World Series in seven games.
- 1973 - Coleman Young is elected Detroit's first black mayor -- a position he would hold for 20 years.
- 1979 Saddam Hussein made large donations to a Detroit church and received a key to the city. Hussein's relationship with Detroit began in 1979, when the Reverend Jacob Yasso of Chaldean Sacred Heart congratulated Hussein on his presidency. Yasso said that in return his church had received $450,000 from the former Iraqi dictator. [1]
- 1980 - The national economic malaise of the 1970's culminated in Detroit hosting the Republican National Convention which nominated Ronald Reagan who stayed at the Renaissance Center while in Detroit. The Detroit convention kicked off Reagan's campaign to a landslide election.
- 1984 - The Detroit Tigers again win the World Series in five games.
- 1987 - Pope John Paul II visits Detroit.
- 1992 - November 5, black motorist Malice Green dies after struggling with white policemen Larry Nevers and Walter Budzyn during a traffic stop. The officers were later convicted and sentenced to prison. The convictions were overturned, but the officers were retried and convicted of lesser charges.
- 1996 - In November, Michigan votes to allow the operation of three casinos in Detroit.
- 1997 - In June, the Detroit Red Wings win their first Stanley Cup in 42 years.
- 1999 - The Detroit Tigers play their final baseball game in classic Tiger Stadium, which had opened in 1912. The team relocated to the new Comerica Park downtown in 2000. Tiger Stadium is scheduled for demolition in the fall of 2006.
- 2002 - The Detroit Lions football team begin play in the new, state-of-the-art Ford Field, returning to downtown Detroit after 27 years in suburban Pontiac.
- 2004 - The "restored" Campus Martius Park opens in downtown Detroit. Featuring an ice-skating rink, it is the focal point of the city's new Winter Blast festival.
- 2005 - Comerica Park hosts Major League Baseball's All-Star Game.
- 2006 - In February, the city hosts Super Bowl XL, and in October, the Detroit Tigers, only three years after having the worst record in the history of the American League, defeat the Oakland A's in the American League Championship Series, winning the Penant. They then play in their first World Series since 1984, losing to their 1968 series rivals, the St. Louis Cardinals, in five games.
[edit] Notes
- ^ Guess Who Got The Key To Detroit? CBS News (accessed April 20, 2006).
- ↑ Statutes at Large, 9th Congress, 1st Session. American Memory - A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation: U.S. Congressional Documents and Debates, 1774 - 1875 at loc.gov. Page 398.
- ↑ Farmer, Silas (1889). The history of Detroit and Michigan; or, The metropolis illustrated; a full record of territorial days in Michigan, and the annals of Wayne County. Found at hti.umich.edu.
- ↑ Detroit's 'great warrior,' Coleman Young, dies (November 29, 1997). CNN.com.
- ↑ Wild Kingdom. Detroit Blog. Accessed March 8, 2006.
- ↑ Comerica Park has what Tiger Stadium didn't -- in many ways. The Detroit News
- ↑ Ford Field. Detroit Lions.
[edit] Further reading
- Bak, Richard (2001). Detroit Across Three Centuries. Thompson Gale. ISBN 1585360015.
- Burton, Clarence M (1896). Cadillac's Village: A History of the Settlement, 1701-1710. Detroit Society for Genealogical Research. ISBN 0-943112-21-4.
- Burton, Clarence M (1912). Early Detroit: A sketch of some of the interesting affairs of the olden time. Burton Abstracts. ASIN B00085GX94.
- Farmer, Silas (1889). History of Detroit and Wayne County and Early Michigan. Omnigraphics Inc; Reprint edition (October 1998). ISBN 1-55888-991-4.
- Parkman, Francis (1994). The Conspiracy of Pontiac. University of Nebraska Press. ISBN 0-8032-8737-2.
- Poremba, David Lee (2003). Detroit: A Motor City History. Arcadia Publishing. ISBN 0-7385-2435-2.
- Poremba, David Lee (2001). Detroit in Its World Setting (timeline). Wayne State University. ISBN 0-8143-2870-9.
- Powell, L. P (1901). "Detroit, the Queen City," Historic Towns of the Western States (New York).
- Woodford, Arthur M. (2001). This is Detroit 1701-2001. Wayne State University Press. ISBN 0-8143-2914-4.
[edit] External links
- Detroit Historical Museums & Society
- Forgotten Detroit
- Old Detroiter?
- HistoryDetroit
- Detroit Yes
- Experience Detroit
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