 Migrations
Despite the
early settlements and exploration of Michigan by Europeans, the state
remained largely unsettled until after the completion of the Erie Canal
in 1825. The Canal connected Lake Erie with the Hudson River, joining
the Great Lakes system with the Atlantic Ocean. This provided an easier
way of transporting passengers and goods from the Eastern Seaboard to
Michigan. Although many New Yorkers and New Englanders had been migrating
to Michigan before the canal's completion, after the canal was finished
migration to Michigan increased.
Federal Census
Records tell the story. In 1800, there were only 3,100 people counted
in Michigan. (This number does not include Native Americans, who were
not counted in the Federal Census until 1860.) In 1820, the population
had grown only to 8,900. But by 1830 it had jumped to 29,000, by 1840
it had hit 210,000, and by 1860 there were three-quarters of a million
people in the state. Between 1870 and 1900 Michigan's population more
than doubled from 1.2 million to 2.4 million.
Other factors
influencing the settlement of Michigan was the availability of cheap land,
the construction of roads from Detroit to the interior of the state, the
mining industry that got underway in the Upper Peninsula in the mid-1840s,
and the lumbering industry that was booming by the late 19th Century.
In the 20th
Century, manufacturing -especially the auto industry - attracted many
people. Henry Ford's announcement in 1914 of a minimum wage of $5 per
eight-hour day prompted workers from central and southeastern Europe as
well as African-Americans and whites from southern states to move to Detroit,
creating the largest industrial complex in the world. By 1990 more than
9 million people lived in Michigan, making it the eighth-largest state.
For more
information about the settlement of Michigan, see Chapter 2 of Michigan
Genealogy.
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