City Of Chicago, Illinois

Chicago, Illinois, a beautiful city containing abstract architecture and creative sculptures. Many people stand in awe against the presence of the Bean on Randolph St. Gawking at the sight of the Willis Tower located on S Walker Dr. But nothing compares to Navy Pier. Boats docked ready to give you ride across Michigan lake. Vendors ready to feed you delicious sweets and fatty foods. Others waiting for you to turn around and take pictures of you only to charge you nearly .

The people, oh how the people communicate in the crowded streets. The city streets never sleep. There’s an abundance of culturally diverse people walking, jogging, running, and even skating down the streets. But It wasn’t always this crowded and full of life. The Indian removal act playing a great role in the shaping Chicago into what we see today in our modern world.

Andrew Jackson, Jean Baptiste Pointe du Sable, and John Ross. All very important parts of Chicago’s rich history.

The humble origins of Chicago go back to a free black man. The first permanent settler in Chicago was a black man named Jean Baptiste Point DuSable. He was born on the island of Haiti around 1745 to an African mother and a French mariner. He settles along the northern bank of the Chicago river nearby Lake Michigan. Jean developed a prosperous trading post due to the location of his cabin. At his trading post he served Native Americans, British, and French explorers. He was multilingual, speaking Spanish, French, English, and several Native American dialects.

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This served him well because he then became an entrepreneur and mediator. Then Fort Dearborn was built in 1803 because of Indian unrest. It was a stockade and block house named after Henry Dearborn, a revolutionary war hero.

The fort was evacuated in 1812 because the garrison party was massacred by Potawatomi Indians down the shore south along the Lake Michigan shore.  The fort was burned but later rebuilt in 1916. Only to be abandoned in 1836. Another great thing that happened was the Illinois and Michigan canal. It turned a fur trading town into a thriving town. The canal connected the great lakes and the Mississippi river. The canal never reached its full potential because soon after the canal came the railroads came also and took most of the profitable business. Even though the railroads had come in-between the canal and its business, lumber and many manufacture goods continued to move west on the canal and much grain moved east. Despite the competition, traffic in the Illinois and Michigan canal peaked in 1882 at more than 1 million tons’ but soon after dropped sharply.

Now, sections of the canal have been preserved for historical and recreational purposes. Moving on to the early architecture of Chicago, Chicago became a center for architectural experimentation and innovation, home to many buildings that were at one time the tallest in the world. Due to the constant wind in the city it was nicknamed the windy city. In order to build taller and sturdier buildings, these architects applied state-of-the-art engineering and construction processes. In place of the cast iron that had contributed to the devastating fire, engineers introduced steel. English inventor, Henry Bessemer, patented a modern process for manufacturing steel in 1856, calling it the Bessemer process. The Bessemer process consisted of refining raw iron in a hot furnace to reduce impurities and make it into more durable steel.

This helped the city of Chicago majorly. It created a safer, sturdy, and reliable resource for building railroads and bridges. Ultimately revolutionizing engineering and construction to a whole new level. Not everything in Chicago was about skyscrapers and the city. Chicago also became home to many architects, who eventually formed their own community. Chicago is known mostly for its specific “Chicago school”; as well as the prairie and international school styles. William Le Baron Jenney sonly became knows as the father of the American skyscraper because of his early contributions to designing and constructing many important Chicago buildings in the 1870s and 1880s. Jenney and his form became responsible for creating a foundation for a “commercial style” the departed from the 19th century architecture. Commercial style buildings were taller and had less ornamentation on the exterior.

With the inner construction built with steel, this allowed the glass panes to be used as windows and the side of the building. Later on this style became widely recognized and was developed into a full fledged Chicago school of architecture. From the school, Louis Sullivan practiced the philosophy of “form follows function” which would omit decoration from his designs and promoting a practical, clean and strong impression. Lastly, the Indian removal act passed right through early Chicago. Andrew Jackson spent years leading brutal campaigns against the Creeks in Georgia and Alabama and the Seminoles in Florida–campaigns which resulted in the transfer of hundreds of thousands of acres of land from Indian nations to white farmers. Jackson signed the Indian Removal Act, which gave the federal government the power to exchange Native-held land in the cotton kingdom east of the Mississippi for land to the west, in the “Indian colonization zone”.

The United States had acquired as part of the Louisiana Purchase. The Indian removal act caused an event named the trail of tears. The federal government drove the creeks away from their land for the last time. Not knowing 3500 of the 15000 creeks that set out for Oklahoma did not make the trip. The Cherokees on the other hand were divided. Some wanted to stay and fight other wanted to leave. nearly 16000 Cherokees signed John Ross’ petition to the U.S senate protesting the treaty. Lastly, the bloody Blackhawk war. Blackhawk was born in Illinois. He was appointed leader once his fierce and courageous reputation became known. He became very angered when he realized his people were being threated by the large growing number of white coming and settling by his land. The U.S army built forts and more settlers came therefor making Blackhawk increasingly angry.

He waves off a petition earlier signed allowing the government do what they wanted to on his land because he stated it was signed by drunk Indian representatives. Soonly after, a war broke out between the Americans and Blackhawk’s tribe. Finally, the win for the Blackhawk’s greatly demoralized the Americans. In conclusion, modern day Chicago wouldn’t be how we see it to be now with out the great architects and fighters we have in our past. The city as a whole has a beautiful past and will keep making memories, good and bad. Architecture will only get better from now due to the Great Chicago Fire of 1871. It only gets better from now.