CHICAGO | A CITY WORTH LIVING_1
The city of Chicago is an anomaly on the global stage due to its rapid expansion from a podunk settlement on a smelly swamp to the American metropolis we see today. Over the next few weeks, we will be analyzing where we came from, where we are at today and will argue on the issues destined to define where we’re going.
CHICAGO: A PLACE WHERE ONLY THE WHITE MAN IS CRAZY ENOUGH TO LIVE
When Europeans first pushed into the great plains region of North America, the economic potential of the region was self-evident. The first explorers were greeted with enormous swaths of fertile land with exceptional access to the world’s largest freshwater ecosystem. Further, when water levels were high, the region is connected by water to the Atlantic Ocean via the St. Lawrence waterway, and the Gulf of Mexico via the Mississippi River. If the area were to develop, it would maintain the ability to ship previously unseen quantities of agricultural goods to the rest of the world. To do this, any development would need to leverage new technologies in the right order to maximize returns.
The first Europeans to explore the area were Jacques Marquette and Louis Joliet. In 1673 they first traversed the south branch of the Chicago River. The end of the river was a sub-continental divide left as a remnant of the last ice age. While being extremely low as far as divides go, this mound around Chicago dictates whether the water flows to the Gulf of Mexico or the Atlantic Ocean. Native Americans would make a slight portage across this mound to get from the Chicago River to Illinois and eventually the Mississippi. The two explorers recognized the value of connecting the Great Lakes to the Mississippi and predicted the importance of digging a canal. Little did they know but this would be the first important piece in creating a metropolis.
THE FIRST IMPORTANT PEOPLE
It wasn’t until the 1780s that Chicago would receive its first non-native settler, Jean point du Sable. Not much is known about him but he occupied the area for the better part of twenty years working as a fur trader and trapper. While there were many settlements and trading posts in the area at the time, what du Sable created can be directly tied to what would expand to become modern Chicago. In 1804, he sold his home to John Kinzie, who was until more recently credited as the first white settler. Kinzie was a British loyalist who hailed from Canada and, interestingly, is considered Chicago’s first murderer. The War of 1812 saw heightened tensions in the northwest territories between the British and Americans. Kinzie was known for his relationships with the natives of the area and worked at Ft. Dearborn. He and his family would go on to survive the Ft. Dearborn massacre and his son, John H. Kinzie, later ran against William Butler Ogden in Chicago’s first mayoral election.
William Ogden oversaw Chicago’s incorporation as a municipality in 1837 and was among Chicago’s largest boosters. He was what could be referred to as a mans-man, in that as a single individual, so much of Chicago’s history is connected to him. Amond his accomplishments are the design of the first local swingbridge, donating the land for Rush Medical Group, and founding the Chicago Board of Trade. Coming from New York, Ogden promoted the creation of the Illinois Michigan Canal which finally connected the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico in 1848. The canal was a huge economic stimulus for the region and drew thousands of workers to Chicago. While the value of the canal cannot be overstated, Ogden’s most important involvement was in the creation of the first Chicago railroad.
RAILWAYS AND ALL THEY ENABLED
The value the railway would bring to Chicago was what cemented Chicago to the national and global stage. As commercial shipping via the waterways came to a head during the 19th century, they would soon be replaced at the national level by trains as the preeminent mode of transportation. Ogden personally oversaw the financing of a railway connecting Chicago to Galena, and eventually Wisconsin. Gaining quick, cheap access to Galena connected Chicago to the plains. Before the railways, plains farmers had to make a large trek into town to sell a relatively modest amount of wares. By utilizing the rails, farmers could send bulk quantities to the market more easily. This would simply be the first step in Chicago’s rapid industrialization.
While the area now had an effective means to access local and national markets, a further push in the direction of industrialization would be the advent of Cyrus McCormick’s reaper. With his invention, farmers were able to better utilize their land and tend greater areas. Wheat farming, in particular, benefitted as cutting it by hand meant a farmer could only harvest one acre a day. The reaper allowed him to harvest ten acres. This increase in output was a huge boon for the region. Though it can be argued that the Reaper’s real legacy came as a consequence of need and McCormick’s savvy.
Before the Reaper, if someone needed to purchase something, they needed to pay upfront. For the plains farmers though, this was challenging as they didn’t have the capital needed to purchase a reaper until after their harvest. At which point, what’s the point in purchasing something which will sit all winter. McCormick recognized an opportunity in this and lent the farmers the machinery on credit. Now, a farmer could maximize his output and end up ahead financially. A dramatic increase in output led to a greater need for railways and Chicago found itself in an upward growth cycle. Invention created new markets, which would, in turn, generate new inventions that would create new markets…
At a point, Chicago hit a critical mass in becoming the city it is today. A much greater need for the railways caused by the reaper, in turn, created a much greater need for lumber and labor. Industries began to pour into Chicago to support the growth of other industries. Soon, Chicago became the confluence point for everything traveling East or West in the United States. With this infrastructure in place, new ideas like the mail order catalog and the mass processing of meat were allowed to expand and eventually dominate.
References:
City of Big Shoulders by Robert E. Spinney
Chicago: City of the Century by PBS
