Yeah!

I am very excited because Monday is my report!!!!!!! We have to do a oral report and a typed report. Here is my typed report. Hope its good!

Illinois was the 21ST
state to join the Union on December 3RD 1818, but that’s not where
the story begins! In 1673 French explorers built a fort and cities in the
area. About 50 years later the French
settlers and British colonists got in a big fight over the land. The Indian people fought with the French but
they still lost. This was called the
French and Indian war. After the
Revolutionary War, all the land became part of the U.S.A. At that time, Illinois was part of the
Northwest Territory until it became a state.
That’s how and when it became a state but we are just beginning!


The biggest city in Illinois is Chicago. Chicago was an important city for the country
because it’s right next to Lake Michigan and people could ship things there
easily. The city grew very quickly and
lots of factories opened. A lot of
people came to get jobs. In 1871 a HUGE
fire burned almost half of the city.
Most people think that it was started by Mrs. O’Leary’s cow kicking over
a lantern. Because almost everything was
made out of wood, it burned for almost two days and thousands of homes and
buildings were destroyed. Stupid Cow!! More than 250 people died! When they rebuilt the city they made
buildings safer by using steel. They
built the first skyscraper in the world.
Today there are many skyscrapers in Chicago including the tallest
building in America. The Sears Tower which is now called the Willis Tower has
110 stories and is about 1,482.6 feet tall.
More than 3,000,000 people live in Chicago today.
There are other cool places in Illinois as
well. The capital is Springfield. Springfield is pretty much in the middle of
the state. Other cities are Peoria,
Rockford, and Nauvoo. Nauvoo was made
by Mormons in 1839. More than 20,000
Mormons came to live there. Soon the
people of Illinois didn’t like them. Their
leader Joseph Smith was put in jail and killed.
He is buried in Nauvoo. In 1846
the Mormons were forced to leave their city and moved to Salt Lake City,
UT.
Illinois can be very humid, so
it’s blazing hot in the summer and wet, icy, and really cold in the
winter. Their snow is soggy and
wet. That’s why they are not the best
place to go sledding or skiing. In
winter the temperature is around 22°
F in the north and 37° F in the south. In
summer the temperatures is about 90 degrees F in the south and 84 degrees F in
the north. In the spring they sometimes
get tornados.
Illinois` nickname is the Prairie
State. Long ago buffalo, wolves, elk,
and bears roamed free! Today most of
these animals are gone. There are still
lots of small animals there like muskrats, groundhogs, beavers, and
rabbits. There are also lots of birds
like pheasant and quail. The Cardinal is
the state bird. There are also many
trees and flowers. The state flower is
the Violet and the tree is the White Oak.
Illinois was one of the first places
to make steel. There are also many
publishing and printing companies.
Chicago is where most of the state’s businesses are and they have a big
stock market. However most of the land
is used for farming.
There are many famous people from
Illinois. Probably the most famous
person who lived there was President Abraham Lincoln. In fact Illinois is often called the Land of Lincoln. He was very famous because he fought the
Civil War to end slavery. Another
President who lived in Illinois (you probably know him) is Barrack Obama. Other famous people are Oprah Winfrey,
Michael Jordan (the basket ball player) Harrison Ford (the actor) and lots of
other musicians, actors, and more.
There are many places to visit in
Illinois. Most of the places are in
Chicago: Lake Michigan, the Shedd
Aquarium, the Field Museum, the Art Institute of Chicago, Wrigley Field,
Soldier Field, Navy Pier, and TONS of other places. Chicago is famous for their deep-dish pizza,
Chicago corn, and Chicago dogs! You can
also visit Nature Parks, President Lincoln’s home, and see where he is
buried.
I think Illinois is great! I have been to Chicago and done a lot of cool
stuff there.