Ohio Facts and History

Abbreviated as OH on abbreviationfinder.org, Ohio is one of the central states (of northeast ) Of the North American Confederation, the 35th in decreasing order of width (surface 106,289 sq km), but the 4th for absolute population (6,646,697 inhabitants in 1930) and 70 by population density (62.9 inhabitants per sq. km.). The territory (from 38 ° 27 ′ to 41 ° 57 ′ N. and from 80 ° 34 ′ to 84 ° 50 ′ W) embraces the right side of the river basin of the same name, from the wide elbow that it describes downstream of Pittsburgh to the confluence of the Miami, plus the northwestern edge that sends its waters to Lake Erie. In general it is a flat or slightly undulating region (the maximum elevation, near Akron, reaches 420 m., The lowest, in the south-western corner, 120 m.), Crossed by numerous river currents (Muskingum, Scioto, Miami, Sandusky, Maumee, etc.), that draw wide meanders in it; in the lowlands (bottoms) that accompany them, the soil lends itself well to agriculture, while the marls and sands that distinguish north and northwest the areas invaded by glacial expansions are covered with grasslands and woods (oaks, maples, plane trees, beech trees). The state was called by the Americans the buck – eye state, from an amentacea (Aescula glabra) which formed, and still forms, the most characteristic tree species of its spontaneous flora.

The eastern part of the Ohio territory is part of the great Appalachian coal region; the cultivable fields have an extension of not less than 30 thousand square kilometers; the eastern one contains, in addition to various useful minerals, good oil fields. Communications, wherever easy due to the nature of the terrain, are facilitated by waterways, the main one being the Ohio, by the canals (Miami-Erie, Ohio-Erie) with which it is possible to overcome the unevenness of the bottom of some of those and the proximity of Lake Erie, on which the state has its northern limit.

The climate is generally of a straight continental type, but temperate, especially in the summer heat, from the beneficial influence of the large lakes (Cincinnati: average annual temperature 12 °, 9; January 0 °, 2; July 25 °, 4; Cleveland, on the Erie, 9 °, 4; −3 °, 2; 21 °, 9 respectively). The rains are abundant everywhere (1052 and 907 mm. On average per year in the two stations considered). Agriculture is in bloom. The main products are wheat, oats, potatoes, tobacco. The prairies allow an intense, rational breeding of livestock; the zootechnical patrimony consisted in 1932 in 1.6 million cattle; and in 2,100,000 horsepower. The earnings made by farming are on average more than double those of agriculture (184 million dollars against 86 in 1931). The 1931 mining campaign gave 21, 4 million tons of coal, and 5.3 million barrels of oil. The production of limes and cements is also conspicuous. These favorable conditions and the proximity of large markets have given rapid and intense development to the industry. In 1929 there were 11,815 enterprises in the state with 737,436 workers: although all branches of large industry are represented there, mechanical constructions, leather industries, refining, sumptuary and food industries prevail by far.

The population of the state, which was 272 thousand residents in 1810, it rose to 581,000 in 1820, to 1.9 million in 1850, to 3.2 in 1880, to 4.2 in 1900. Since then the increase has been 14.7% between 1900 and 1910, and 15.4% from 1920 (2,387,125 residents) To 1930. The density is now the highest among the states in the area (the so-called East North Central). Those born abroad represent 9.7% of the total population; of them 14.9% are Germans, 11.1% Italians (68,738 in 1930), 10.7% Czechoslovakians and 10% Poles. Negroes number 309,304 (4.7% of the total population); the Asians 1785. Ohio has 7 inhabited centers with populations over 100,000 residents (Cincinnati, Toledo, Columbus, Akron, Dayton, Youngstown and Canton), as well as Cleveland which, with just under 1 million residents (900,429 in 1930, but it greatly exceeds this figure with the suburbs, which form a single agglomeration along the banks of the Erie), is the sixth Confederation citadel; then there are 18 centers with more than 25,000 residents The urban population, which formed 48.1% of the total population in 1900, rose to 55.9% in 1910, to 63.8% in 1920, to 67.8% in 1930.

History

The territory between lakes Erie, Huron, Michigan and Superior, on one side, and the Ohio River on the other, was only known by explorers in the 1600s. Towards the end of the century the French made claims on it, and in 1749 Céloron de Bienville took formal possession of it. The English, relying on the discovery of the Atlantic coast by the Cabotos, never wanted to recognize these claims, and in 1754 they had a fort built at the confluence of the Ohio with the Alleghany, but were driven out by the French who finished the construction. and they gave it the name of Duquesne. This action was one of the immediate causes of the Seven Years War which, as is well known, ended with the defeat of France and the cession to England of all its rights over continental America. with the exception of Louisiana. The Indian allies, however, did not want to accept the new masters in this area, and rose up under the leadership of the chief Pontiac (v.). With the conquest of Canada, England already foretold the liberation of its coastal colonies, and to prevent the Ohio area from passing into their hands, it wanted to annex it all to Quebec, an act that contributed like no other to alienate the sympathies of the colonies. During the war of the revolution the area passed, after the victorious military action of G. Rogers Clark, to the Americans, who called it the “Northwest” (to modern historians it is generally known as the “old Northwest”, to distinguish it from the territory around Oregon which later had the same name). The privileges with which the kings of England had founded the colonies of Connecticut, Massachusetts and Virginia had granted them the lands of the continent “from the Atlantic to the Pacific”, and in fact to fight the French pretensions England had also made use of this argument; and when the revolution was completed, the same colonies renewed the old claims, which were however bitterly fought by the states that could no longer hope to enlarge their territories, especially Maryland, which had already refused to ratify the “Articles of Confederation” in 1777. except on the condition that the North-West passed to the Union as a whole. As a result, the various states, although reluctant, had in time to give up their claims; the last to surrender was Connecticut, in 1786, who, however, reserved a 120-mile long strip on Lake Erie, known as the Western Reserve, which was finally sold in 1800 without prejudice to the titles granted, up to that date, to private individuals. A small area, between Scioto and Little Miami, was reserved for Virginia for its veterans. On July 13, 1787, Congress passed a law called “Northwest Ordinance” or “1787”, by which it assigned a government to the territory and established that as soon as the population was sufficient, the territory should be divided into several states, no less of three and no more than five. Effectively, the states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan and Wisconsin, and the northeastern corner of Minnesota were formed! In the event (which comes true) that there should be 5 states, the western frontier was to be a line drawn from the mouth of Greater Miami in the north to the intersection with another line from east to west through the southern point of Lake Michigan. An article in the ordinance prohibited slavery.

The state was quickly colonized. As early as 1786, the second Ohio Company was founded in Boston for this purpose. In 1788 this founded Marietta; the following year, settlers from New Jersey founded Cincinnati; the Virginians largely populated the area reserved for them, and in 1796 people of Connecticut founded the city of Cleveland on their reservation on Lake Erie, which flourished after the inauguration of the Erie Canal in 1832. The Northwest Territory had representative institutions in 1799; and the following year, when the Indiana Territory was detached from it, it was reduced to the present borders of the state of Ohio. After a series of fruitless rebellions by the Indians, definitively defeated by General Wayne between 1793 and 1795, the population grew rapidly by immigration from other states, so that the new state could be admitted to the Union as early as 1803. A strict compliance with the borders drawn by the law of 1787 would have deprived the new state of the lake port of Toledo. After a long and bitter dispute, called the “Toledo War,” the northern boundary was set a few miles north of the southern point of Lake Michigan. Until the pre-Civil War movement, Ohio was generally democratic, although slavery was never allowed there, but after the founding in 1854 of the republican (anti-slavery) party, the state has always been republican, at least in the presidential elections, and faithfully supported the Union during the Civil War. Given its large population and party loyalty, Republicans gladly choose an Ohiano as a presidential candidate.

Ohio Facts and History

Cincinnati

According to countryaah.com, Cincinnati is a city of the USA (332.458 residents In 2007), in the State of Ohio, on the river of the same name. The lower area along the shore is occupied by the railway and commercial facilities, while the residential districts have extended on a plateau up to over 200 meters above sea level.

The first inhabited nucleus dates back to 1788. C. is a notable industrial center, with activities in the mechanical (cars, airplanes), electrotechnical and chemical sectors (dominated by the presence of a large multinational such as Procter and Gamble), clothing and musical instruments. Services are also expanding rapidly, especially in the financial, commercial and business consultancy sectors.

Cleveland

City of the USA (438,042 residents In 2007), in the State of Ohio, at 200 m asl, on the southern bank of the Lake Erie, at a point of convergence of many lines of communication. The climate is characterized by a considerable seasonal temperature range (average temperature −2 ° C in January, 22 ° C in July) and rainfall of about 900 mm per year. The secondary activity is highly developed, with a large number of industrial plants, in particular metallurgical and mechanical (automobiles, airplanes). It is also a large tertiary center, favored by the dense network of roads, railways and waterways, by the very active lake port and by three airports. In the city there are also notable cultural institutes (Western Reserve University, founded in 1826; Case Institute of Technology, from 1880; John Carroll University, since 1886), the Public Library (1869), one of the most important in the USA, and, in Wade Park, the museum with famous art collections. Noteworthy is the synagogue and the center of the Jewish community.

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