PART II EMIGRANT PERSPECTIVE
Fig. 23.
Chicago 1820
Library of Congress
In 1820 New York speculators had recognized the potential of the fur trading settlement at the Chicago Portage as national transportation hub, bought up property and, on 12 August 1833 , incorporated the Town of Chicago when the population had reached 350 (see Fig 23). 1834. Cork Ship arrives at Grosse Île with High Death Rate from Disease (BNA). Thirty-five deaths among 300 passengers bound for Quebec on Mary of Cork. Twenty-one were infants or children of which twelve were diagnosed with measles. A sobering moment for passengers considering long voyages with children (see Part l). Diseases and accidents were a greater threat to migrants than shipwrecks. 1836. Great Lake Shipping (US, BNA). Commerce escalated along the Lower Great Lakes (Ontario, Erie, and through the St Clair River to lower Huron) as settlers and land- hungry speculators swarmed into new settlements. As a result, the demand for transportation of passengers, supplies and commodities easily exceeded available shipping. In 1836, there were forty-five steamboats operating on the Lakes (Jepson, 2023). 1836. Republic of Texas (US). In 1821 Mexico won its independence from Spain and Mexican Texas was part of the new federalist nation. Texas, being sparsely populated, proved so vulnerable to Indian attack and plunder that Mexico encouraged colonization from the US as a buffer, which produced a majority American Texas population. I n 1835 the Mexican government tried to convert Texas by force from a federalist to a centralist government based in Mexico City, resulting in the 1835-36 Texas Revolution and American defeat at the Alamo. American forces rallied and ultimately won, resulting in formation of the independent Republic of Texas.
108
Copyright John Sutton 2025 All Rights Reserved
Powered by FlippingBook