Michigan is a
state in the
United States.
- It's known as the birthplace of the automotive industry. However, it also has a large tourist industry. Destinations like [Traverse City]?, [Mackinac Island]?, and the entire Upper Penninsula draw sportsmen and nature lovers from all over the U.S. and Canada. Michigan has the longest coastline of any state except Alaska and more recreational boats than any other state.
- Once a thriving lumber capital and supplier of iron and copper minerals, Michigan's declining natural resources gave way at the turn of the twentieth century. The birth of the automotive industry with Henry Ford's first plant in the [Highland Park]? suburb of Detroit, marked the beginning of a new era in personal transportation that permanently changed the socio-economic climate of America. Many automotive manufacturing plants remain, however, Detroit lost its grandeur after World War II, as automotive companies abandoned huge industrial parks in the area for the cheaper labor found in Southern U.S. and offshore plants.
- Demography
- Michigan Resident Population (2000 Census): 9,938,444
- racial/ethnic makeup of state
- religious makeup of state
- Economy
- State income
- Major industries/products
- state taxes
- Law/Government? of state [Note that all the U.S. states have similar legal and political systems, so maybe we only need to mention anything that makes the state distinct]
- governor -- current, previous governors
- legislature -- bicameral
- House of Representatives
- Senate
- structure of state judicary
- state constitution [[1]]
- does it have referenda?
- History
- history prior to joining the United States
- 1622 [Etienne Brule]? and his companion Grenoble?, French explorers, were probably the first white men to see Lake Superior.
- 1701? [Antoine de Lamothe Cadillac]?, with his lieutenant [Alphonse de Tonty]?, established a trading post on the Detroit River which they named [Fort Pontchartrain]?; present site of Detroit.
- history after becoming a territory but before becoming a state
- 1805 Michigan Territory was created, with Detroit designated as the seat of government. [William Hull]? appointed as governor. Detroit was destroyed by fire.
- 1828 Territorial Capitol was built at Detroit at a cost of $24,500.
- 1835 First Constitutional Convention. [Stevens T. Mason]? inaugurated as the first Governor. Stevens T. Mason started a war with Ohio over the city of Toledo, (now Toledo, Ohio) known as the Toledo War the same year: Ohio won Toledo but Michigan was given Michigan's upper peninsula which was part of the Territory of Wisconsin at the time.
- Admitted into the union in 1837 as the 26th state, its slave state twin is Arkansas
- major historical events that occured in state
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