The Story of Illinois
University of Chicago Press, 1950. Second printing. Hardcover/dust jacket. 284 pp. Includes a short section on Mormons in Illinois.
Here is the story of the heritage of contemporary Illinois. This one-volume history of the state-the only one of its kind intended for an adult audience-has stood the test of a quarter-century of critical reading. Now it has been revised and brought completely up to date.
The story of Illinois begins in Europe with the groping of navigators for a route to Asia and comes to focus on the explorations of Marquette and Joliet and the imperialistic adventures of La Salle and Tonty in the wilderness later to become Illinois.
Here are depicted the motives which led white men to the territory and the political and military conflicts among England, France, and, later, the United States for control of the lands. The true version of the highly romanticized story of George Rogers Clark's conquest of the Northwest for America and of the critical thirty-eight years when Britain considered retaking this territory form an exciting episode.
Illinois' admission to statehood-after the War of 1812 had secured American sovereignty-makes a significant chapter.
A last-minute extension of boundaries to include the Galena lead mines was necessary to gain sufficient population for statehood-a change that put Chicago in Illinois instead of Wisconsin.
The author introduces the reader to the social and political leaders of the Reconstruction Era, when Illinois shared in the North's prosperity, and to those of the following period when the administration of John P. Altgeld, the Haymarket Riot, and the Pullman strike stand out as high points in the story.
With a summary of events in the last half-century, Mr. Pease carries the narrative to the end of World War II. Thirty-two pictures and maps illustrate the text of this one-volume history. Condition: Very good. Item #39501
Price: $15.00