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IOWA - USA
Iowa is the 29th state of the United States,
having joined the union on December 28, 1846. The U.S. Post Office
abbreviation for the state is IA.
The official (long) name of the state: "State of Iowa."
The state is named for the Native American Iowa people.
History
Marquette and Joliet find Iowa lush and green
In the summer of 1673, French explorers Louis Joliet and Father Jacques
Marquette traveled down the Mississippi River past the land that was to
become the state of Iowa. The two explorers, along with their five crewmen,
stepped ashore near where the Iowa river flowed into the Mississippi. It is
believed that the 1673 voyage marked the first time that white people
visited the region of Iowa. After surveying the surrounding area, the
Frenchmen recorded in their journals that Iowa appeared lush, green, and
fertile. For the next 300 years, thousands of white settlers would agree
with these early visitors: Iowa was indeed lush and green; moreover, its
soil was highly productive. In fact, much of the history of the Hawkeye
State is inseparably intertwined with its agricultural productivity. Iowa
stands today as one of the leading agricultural states in the nation, a fact
foreshadowed by the observation of the early French explorers.
The Indians
Before 1673, however, the region had long been home to many Native Americans.
Approximately 17 different Indian tribes had resided here at various times
including the Ioway, Sauk, Mesquaki, Sioux, Potawatomi, Oto, and Missouri.
The Potawatomi, Oto, and Missouri Indians had sold their land to the federal
government by 1830 while the Sauk and Mesquaki remained in the Iowa region
until 1845. The Santee Band of the Sioux was the last to negotiate a treaty
with the federal government in 1851.
The Sauk and Mesquaki constituted the largest and most powerful tribes in
the Upper Mississippi Valley. They had earlier moved from the Michigan
region into Wisconsin and by the 1730s, they had relocated in western
Illinois. There they established their villages along the Rock and
Mississippi Rivers. They lived in their main villages only for a few months
each year. At other times, they traveled throughout western Illinois and
eastern Iowa hunting, fishing, and gathering food and materials with which
to make domestic articles. Every spring, the two tribes traveled northward
into Minnesota where they tapped maple trees and made syrup.
In 1829, the federal government informed the two tribes that they must leave
their villages in western Illinois and move across the Mississippi River
into the Iowa region. The federal government claimed ownership of the
Illinois land as a result of the Treaty of 1804. The move was made but not
without violence. Chief Black hawk, a highly-respected Sauk leader,
protested the move and in 1832 returned to reclaim the Illinois village of
Saukenauk. For the next three months, the Illinois militia pursued Black
Hawk and his band of approximately 400 Indians northward along the eastern
side of the Mississippi River. The Indians surrendered at the Bad Axe River
in Wisconsin, their numbers having dwindled to about 200. This encounter is
known as the Black Hawk War. As punishment for their resistance, the federal
government required the Sauk and Mesquaki to relinquish some of their land
in eastern Iowa. This land, known as the Black Hawk Purchase, constituted a
strip 50 miles wide lying along the Mississippi River, stretching from the
Missouri border to approximately Fayette and Clayton Counties in
Northeastern Iowa.
Today, Iowa is still home to one Indian group, the Mesquaki, who reside on
the Mesquaki Settlement in Tama County. After most Sauk and Mesquaki members
had been removed from the state, some Mesquaki tribal members, along with a
few Sauk, returned to hunt and fish in eastern Iowa. The Indians then
approached Governor James Grimes with the request that they be allowed to
purchase back some of their original land. They collected $735 for their
first land purchase and eventually they bought back approximately 3,200
acres (13 km²).
Iowa's first white settlers
The first official white settlement in Iowa began in June 1833, in the Black
Hawk Purchase. Most of Iowa's first white settlers came from Ohio,
Pennsylvania, New York, Indiana, Kentucky, and Virginia. The great majority
of newcomers came in family units. Most families had resided in at least one
additional state between the time they left their state of birth and the
time they arrived in Iowa. Sometimes families had relocated three or four
times before they reached Iowa. At the same time, not all settlers remained
here; many soon moved on to the Dakotas or other areas in the Great Plains.
Iowa's earliest white settlers soon discovered an environment different from
that which they had known back East. Most northeastern and southeastern
states were heavily timbered; settlers there had material for building homes,
outbuildings, and fences. Moreover, wood also provided ample fuel. Once past
the extreme eastern portion of Iowa, settlers quickly discovered that the
state was primarily a prairie or tall grass region. Trees grew abundantly in
the extreme eastern and southeastern portions, and along rivers and streams,
but elsewhere timber was limited.
In most portions of eastern and central Iowa, settlers could find sufficient
timber for construction of log cabins, but substitute materials had to be
found for fuel and fencing. For fuel, they turned to dried prairie hay, corn
cobs, and dried animal droppings. In southern Iowa, early settlers found
coal outcroppings along rivers and streams. People moving into northwest
Iowa, an area also devoid of trees, constructed sod houses. Some of the
early sod house residents wrote in glowing terms about their new quarters,
insisting that "soddies" were not only cheap to build but were warm in the
winter and cool in the summer. Settlers experimented endlessly with
substitute fencing materials. Some residents built stone fences; some
constructed dirt ridges; others dug ditches. The most successful fencing
material was the osage orange hedge until the 1870s when the invention of
barbed wire provided farmers with satisfactory fencing material.
Transportation: railroad fever
As thousands of settlers poured into Iowa in the mid-1800s, all shared a
common concern for the development of adequate transportation. The earliest
settlers shipped their agricultural goods down the Mississippi River to New
Orleans, but by the 1850s, Iowans had caught the nation's railroad fever.
The nation's first railroad had been built near Baltimore in 1831, and by
1860, Chicago was served by almost a dozen lines. Iowans, like other
Midwesterners, were anxious to start railroad building in their state.
In the early 1850s, city officials in the river communities of Dubuque,
Clinton, Davenport, and Burlington began to organize local railroad
companies. City officials knew that railroads building west from Chicago
would soon reach the Mississippi River opposite the four Iowa cities. With
the 1850s, railroad planning took place which eventually resulted in the
development of the Illinois Central, the Chicago and North Western, reaching
Council Bluffs in 1867. Council Bluffs had been designated as the eastern
terminus for the Union Pacific, the railroad that would eventually extend
across the western half of the nation and along with the Central Pacific,
provide the nation's first transcontinental railroad. A short time later a
fifth railroad, the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul, and Pacific, also
completed its line across the state.
The completion of five railroads across Iowa brought major economic changes.
Of primary importance, Iowans could travel every month of the year. During
the latter ninetieth and early twentieth centuries, even small Iowa towns
had six passenger trains a day. Steamboats and stagecoaches had previously
provided transportation, but both were highly dependent on the weather, and
steam boats could not travel at all once the rivers had frozen over.
Railroads also provided year-round transportation for Iowa's farmers. With
Chicago's pre-eminence as a railroad center, the corn, wheat, beef, and pork
raised by Iowa's farmers could be shipped through Chicago, across the nation
to eastern seaports, and from there, anywhere in the world.
Railroads also brought major changes in Iowa's industrial sector. Before
1870, Iowa contained some manufacturing firms in the eastern portion of the
state, particularly all made possible by year-around railroad transportation.
Many of the new industries were related to agriculture. In Cedar Rapids,
John and Robert Stuart, along with their cousin, George Douglas, started an
oats processing plant. In time, this firm took the name Quaker Oats. Meat
packing plants also appeared in the 1870s in different parts of the state:
Sinclair Meat Packing opened in Cedar Rapids and John Morrell and Company
set up operations in Ottumwa.
The Civil War
By 1860, Iowa had achieved statehood (December 28, 1846,the 29th state), and
the state continued to attract many settlers, both native and foreign-born.
Only the extreme northwestern part of the state remained a frontier area.
But after almost 30 years of peaceful development, Iowans found their lives
greatly altered with the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861. While Iowans had
no battles fought on their soil, the state paid dearly through the
contributions of its fighting men. Iowa males responded enthusiastically to
the call for Union volunteers and more than 75,000 Iowa men served with
distinction in campaigns fought in the East and in the South. Of that number,
13,001 died in the war, many of disease rather than from battle wounds. Some
men died in the Confederate prison camps, particularly Andersonville,
Georgia. A total of 8,500 Iowa men were wounded.
The political arena
The Civil War era brought considerable change to Iowa and perhaps one of the
most visible changes came in the political arena. During the 1840's, most
Iowans voted Democratic although the state also contained some Whigs. Iowa's
first two United States Senators were Democrats as were most state
officials. During the 1850s, however, the state's Democratic Party developed
serious internal problems as well as being unsuccessful in getting the
national Democratic Party to respond to their needs. Iowans soon turned to
the newly emerging Republican Party; the political career of James Grimes
illustrates this change. In 1854, Iowans elected Grimes governor on the Whig
ticket. Two years later, Iowans elected Grimes governor on the Republican
ticket. Grimes would later serve as a Republican United States Senator from
Iowa. Republicans took over state politics in the 1850s and quickly
instigated several changes. They moved the state capital from Iowa City to
Des Moines, they established the University of Iowa and they wrote a new
state constitution. From the late 1850s until well into the twentieth
century, Iowans remained strongly Republican. Iowans sent many highly
capable Republicans to Washington, particularly William Boyd Allison of
Dubuque, Jonathan P. Dolliver of Ft. Dodge, and Albert Baird Cummins of Des
Moines. These men served their state and their nation with distinction.
Another political issue facing Iowans in the 1860s was the issue of women's
suffrage. From the 1860s on, Iowa contained a large number of women, and
some men, who strongly supported the measure and who worked endlessly for
its adoption. In keeping with the general reform mood of the latter 1860s
and 1870s, the issue first received serious consideration when both houses
of the General Assembly passed a women's suffrage amendment in 1870. Two
years later, however, when the legislature had to consider the amendment
again before it could be submitted to the general electorate, interest had
waned, opposition had developed, and the amendment was defeated. Finally, in
1920, after both houses of the United States Congress passed the measure and
it had been approved by the proper number of states, woman's suffrage became
a reality for American women everywhere.
Iowa: home for immigrants
While Iowans were debating the issues of women's suffrage in the post Civil
War period, the state itself was attracting many more people. Following the
Civil War, Iowa's population continued to grow dramatically, from 674,913
people in 1860 to 1,194,020 in 1870. Moreover, the ethnic composition of
Iowa's population also changed substantially. Before the Civil War, Iowa had
attracted some foreign-born settlers, but the number remained small. After
the Civil War, the number of immigrants increased. In 1869, the state
encouraged immigration by printing a 96-page booklet entitled Iowa: The Home
of Immigrants. The publication gave physical, social, educational, and
political descriptions of Iowa. The legislature instructed that the booklet
be published in English, German, Dutch, Swedish, and Danish.
Iowans were not alone in their efforts to attract more northern and western
Europeans. Throughout the nation, Americans regarded these new comers as
"good stock" and welcomed them enthusiastically. Most immigrants from these
countries came in family units. Germans constituted the largest group,
settling in every county within the state. The great majority became
farmers, but many also became craftsmen and shopkeepers. Moreover, many
German-Americans edited newspapers, taught school, and headed banking
establishments. In Iowa, Germans exhibited the greatest diversity in
occupations, religion, and geographical settlement.
Iowa also attracted many other people from Europe, including Swedes,
Norwegians, Danes, Dutch, and many emigrants from the British Isles. After
1900, people also emigrated from southern and eastern Europe. In many
instances, immigrant groups were identified with particular occupations. The
Scandinavians, including Norwegians, who settled in Winneshiek and Story
Counties; Swedes, who settled in Boone County; and Danes, who settled in
southwestern Iowa; were largely associated with farming. Many Swedes also
became coal miners. The Hollanders made two major settlements in Iowa, the
first in Marion County, and the second in northwest Iowa.
Proportionately far more southern and eastern immigrants, particularly
Italians and Croatians, went into coal mining than did western and northern
Europeans. Italian emigration differed from earlier emigration in that it
tended to be male dominated. Typically, the Italian male emigrated with
financial support of family or friends. Once in Iowa, he worked in the mines
to pay back his sponsors; then he began to save to bring his wife and family
from Italy. For two generations, Italian males worked in coal mines
scattered throughout central and southern Iowa. Beginning around 1925,
however, the Iowa coal industry began to decline. By the mid-1950s only a
few underground mines remained in the state.
The majority of blacks who migrated to Iowa during the late nineteenth and
early twentieth centuries also worked as coal miners. Before the Civil War,
Iowa had only a small black population, but in the 1880s that number
increased considerably. Unfortunately, many of the early blacks were hired
as strike breakers by Iowa coal operators. In later decades, however, coal
companies hired blacks as regular miners.
Vast changes
In 1917, the United States entered World War I and farmers as well as all
Iowans experienced a wartime economy. For farmers, the change was
significant. Since the beginning of the war in 1914, Iowa farmers had
experienced economic prosperity. Along with farmers everywhere, they were
urged to be patriotic by increasing their production. Farmers purchased more
land and raised more corn, beef, and pork for the war effort. It seemed that
no one could lose as farmers expanded their operations, made more money, and
at the same time, helped the Allied war effort.
After the war, however, Iowa farmers soon saw wartime farm subsidies
eliminated. Beginning in 1920, many farmers had difficulty making the
payment for debts they had incurred during the war. The 1920s were a time of
hardship for Iowa's farm families and for many families, these hardships
carried over into the 1930s.
As economic difficulties worsened, Iowa farmers sought to find local
solutions. Faced with extremely low farm prices, including corn at 10 cents
a bushel and pork at three cents a pound, some Iowa farmers joined the Farm
Holiday Association. This group, which had its greatest strength in the area
around Sioux City, tried to withhold farm products from markets. They
believed this practice would force up farm prices. The Farm Holiday
Association had only limited success as many farmers did not cooperate and
the withholding itself did little to raise prices. Farmers experienced
little relief until 1933 when the federal government, as part of Franklin
Roosevelt's New Deal, created a federal farm program.
In 1933, native Iowan Henry A. Wallace went to Washington as secretary of
agriculture and served as principle architect for the new farm program.
Wallace, former editor of the Midwest's leading farm journal, Wallace's
Farmer, believed that prosperity would return to the agricultural sector
only if agricultural production was curtailed. Further, he believed that
farmers would be monetarily compensated for withholding agricultural land
from production. These two principles were incorporated into the
Agricultural Adjustment Act passed in 1933. Iowa farmers experienced some
recovery as a result of the legislation but like all Iowans, they did not
experience total recovery until the 1940s.
Since World War II, Iowans have continued to undergo considerable economic,
political, and social change. In the political area, Iowan experienced a
major change in the 1960s when liquor by the drink came into effect. During
both the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Iowans had strongly
supported prohibition, but in 1933 with the repeal of national prohibition,
Iowans established a state liquor commission. This group was charged with
control and regulation of Iowa's liquor sales. From 1933 until the early
1960s, Iowans could purchase packaged liquor only. In the 1970s, Iowans
witnessed a reapportionment of the General Assembly, achieved only after a
long struggle for an equitably-apportioned state legislature. Another major
political change was in regard to voting. By the mid-1950s, Iowa had
developed a fairly competitive two-party structure, ending almost 100 years
of Republican domination within the state.
In the economic sector, Iowa also has undergone considerable change.
Beginning with the first farm-related industries developed in the 1870s,
Iowa has experienced a gradual increase in the number of business and
manufacturing operations. The period since World War II has witnessed a
particular increase in manufacturing operations. While agriculture continues
to be the state's dominant industry, Iowans also produce a wide variety of
products including refrigerators, washing machines, fountain pens, farm
implements, and food products that are shipped around the world.
Strong traditions
At the same time, some traditions remain unchanged. Iowans are still widely
known for their strong educational systems, both in secondary as well as in
higher education. Today, Iowa State University and the University of Iowa
continue to be recognized nationally and internationally as outstanding
educational institutions. Iowa remains a state composed mostly of farms and
small towns, with a limited number of larger cities. Moreover, Iowa is still
a place where most people live stable, comfortable lives, where family
relationships are strong and where the quality of life is high. In many
peoples' minds, Iowa is "middle America." Throughout the years, Iowans have
profited from their environment and the result is a progressive people and a
bountiful land.
Law and government
The state capital is Des Moines. The current Governor is Tom Vilsack
(Democrat) and the two U.S. Senators are Chuck Grassley (Republican) and Tom
Harkin (Democrat). The five U.S. Congressmen are Jim Leach (Republican), Jim
Nussle (Republican), Steve King (Republican), Tom Latham (Republican), and
Leonard Boswell (Democrat).
Geography
Iowa is bordered by Minnesota on the north, Nebraska and South Dakota on the
west, Missouri on the south, and Wisconsin and Illinois on the east.
The Mississippi River forms the eastern boundary of the state. The boundary
along the west is formed by the Missouri River south of Sioux City and by
the Big Sioux River north of Sioux City. The topography of the state is
gently rolling plains. Loess hills lie along the western border of the
state. Some of these are several hundred feed thick. There are few natural
lakes in the state, most notably Spirit Lake, Lake Okoboji and West Lake
Okoboji in northwest Iowa.
The point of lowest elevation is Keokuk in southeast Iowa. The point of
highest elevation is Hawkeye Point, located in a feedlot north of Sibley in
northwest Iowa. Considering the size of the state, there is very little
elevation difference.
National parks, etc.
Effigy Mounds National Monument
Herbert Hoover National Historical Site
Economy
The state's total gross state product for 1999 was $85 billion placing Iowa
30th in the nation. Its per capita income for 2000 was $26,723. Iowa's main
agricultural outputs are hogs, corn, soybeans, oats, cattle and dairy
products. Its industrial outputs are food processing, machinery, electric
equipment, chemical products, publishing and primary metals.
State income
Major industries/products: agriculture, insurance, manufacturing.
state taxes
Demographics
The 2000 population was 2,926,324.
state population: 2,926,324 (2000 census)
racial/ethnic makeup of state
religious makeup of state
Education
Iowa has a strong emphasis on education, which is shown in standardized
testing scores. In 2003, Iowa had the second highest average SAT scores by
state, and tied for second highest average ACT (examination) scores in
states where more than 20% of graduates were tested. The national office of
ACT is in Iowa City, and the ITBS and ITED testing programs used in many
states are provided by the University of Iowa.
State universities
Iowa State University
University of Iowa
University of Northern Iowa
Independent colleges and universities
Briar Cliff University
Buena Vista University
Central College
Clarke College
Coe College
Cornell College
Divine Word College
Dordt College
Drake University
Emmaus Bible College
Faith Baptist Bible College
Graceland University
Grand View College
Grinnell College
Iowa Wesleyan College
Loras College
Luther College
Maharishi University of Management
Morningside College
Mount Mercy College
Northwestern College
Simpson College
Saint Ambrose University
The Franciscan University
University of Dubuque
Upper Iowa University
Vennard College
Waldorf College
Wartburg College
William Penn University
Community colleges
Clinton Community College
Des Moines Area Community College
Ellsworth Community College
Hawkeye Community College
Indian Hills Community College
Iowa Central Community College
Iowa Lakes Community College
Iowa Western Community College
Kirkwood Community College
Marshalltown Community College
Muscatine Community College
North Iowa Area Community College
Northeast Iowa Community College
Northwest Iowa Community College
Scott Community College
Southeastern Community College
Southwestern Community College
Western Iowa Community College
Professional business and technical colleges and universities
American Institute of Business
Allen College of Nursing
Hamilton College
Kaplan College
Mercy College of Health Sciences
Palmer College of Chiropractic
St. Luke's College of Nursing and Health Sciences
University of Osteopathic Medicine and Health Sciences
Vatterott College
Professional sports teams
The Minor League baseball teams are:
Iowa Cubs
Cedar Rapids Kernels
Burlington Bees
Chariton A's (collegiate summer)
Clinton LumberKings
Swing of the Quad Cities
Waterloo Bucks (collegiate summer)
The Minor League hockey teams are:
Iowa Stars
Cedar Rapids RoughRiders
Waterloo Black Hawks
Des Moines Buccaneers
Sioux City Musketeers
The Minor League soccer teams are:
Des Moines Menace
U.S. senators from Iowa
List of United States Senators who have represented Iowa:
(Seat 1):
Chuck Grassley, Republican, 1981present
John Culver, Democrat, 19751981
Harold E. Hughes, Democrat, 19691975
Bourke B. Hickenlooper, Democrat, 19451969
Guy M. Gillette, Democrat, 19361945
Richard Louis Murphy, Democrat, 19331936
Smith W. Brookhart, Republican, 19271933
David W. Stewart, Republican, 19261927
Albert B. Cummins, Republican, 19081926
William B. Allison, Republican, 18731908
James Harlan, Republican, 18671873
Samuel J. Kirkwood, Republican, 18651867
James Harlan, Free Soil and Republican, 18551865
Augustus C. Dodge, Democrat, 18481855
(Seat 2):
Tom Harkin, Democrat, 1985present
Roger Jepsen, Republican, 19791985
Dick Clark, Democrat, 19731979
Jack R. Miller, Republican, 19611973
Thomas E. Martin, Republican, 19551961
Guy M. Gillette, Republican, 19491955
George A. Wilson, Republican, 19431949
Clyde L. Herring, Republican, 19371943
L.J. Dickinson, Republican, 19311937
Daniel F. Steck, Democrat, 19261931
Smith W. Brookhart, Republican, 19221926
Charles A. Rawson, Democrat, 19221922
William S. Kenyon, Republican, 19111922
Lafayette Young, Democrat, 19101911
Jonathan P. Dolliver, Republican, 19001910
John H. Gear, Republican, 18951900
James F. Wilson, Republican, 18831895
James W. McDill, Republican, 18811883
Samuel J. Kirkwood, Republican, 18771881
George G. Wright, Republican, 18711877
James B. Howell, Republican, 18701871
James W. Grimes, Republican, 18591869
George W. Jones, Democrat, 18481859
Iowa caucus
The state gets considerable attention every four years because of its
presidential caucus, a gathering of voters which, along with the New
Hampshire primary a week later, has become the starting gun for choosing the
two major-party candidates for U.S. president. The caucus, held in January
of the election year, involves people gathering in homes or public places
and choosing their candidate, rather than casting secret ballots, as in done
in a primary or election.
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