(Photo By Flickr User COD Newsroom)

The Land of Lincoln celebrated its 200th birthday on December 3, 2018, it must be asked: how did Illinois become a state?

According to WAND-TV, the effort started in 1817, the year before Illinois became the 21st state. Daniel Pope Cook, a politician and newspaper publisher who lived in Edwardsville, started that effort late in the year. His uncle, Congressman Nathaniel Pope, introduced legislation in early 1818 that would ban slavery in the Illinois territory (the elder Pope also famously got Illinois’ northern border pushed north to include about 50 miles of coast with Lake Michigan).

In April 1818, President James Monroe signed a measure that allowed residents to start the statehood process. President James Monroe then signed off on Illinois becoming the 21st state in the United States that December. Fewer than 35,000 people lived in Illinois at the time.

Kaskaskia, located along the Mississippi River about 80 miles south of St. Louis, was named the state’s first capitol. However, it was then moved to Vandalia in 1820. An effort to move the capitol closer to the geographical middle of the state led to it being moved to Springfield in 1839.

You can learn more about Illinois’ bicentennial by logging online to illinois200.com, right now!