WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.279 Welcome back to the Deep Dive. Our mission here 00:00:02.279 --> 00:00:04.759 is, well, you know, it's pretty simple. We take 00:00:04.759 --> 00:00:07.719 this huge stack of source material, all the articles 00:00:07.719 --> 00:00:09.539 and data that you've shared with us. And we try 00:00:09.539 --> 00:00:12.019 to distill it. We do. We try to pull out the 00:00:12.019 --> 00:00:14.560 most compelling, the most counterintuitive, and 00:00:14.560 --> 00:00:17.480 the most essential nuggets of knowledge. And 00:00:17.480 --> 00:00:19.820 today we are deep diving into a place that's 00:00:19.820 --> 00:00:22.280 often called the land of Lincoln. The prairie 00:00:22.280 --> 00:00:25.489 state. Right. But it's... Fundamentally, I think 00:00:25.489 --> 00:00:28.649 a perfect, complicated microcosm of the entire 00:00:28.649 --> 00:00:32.109 American experience, Illinois. It really is an 00:00:32.109 --> 00:00:34.530 ideal subject for a deep dive, mainly because 00:00:34.530 --> 00:00:36.869 of those contradictions. I mean, Illinois represents 00:00:36.869 --> 00:00:39.469 the whole American journey from ancient civilizations 00:00:39.469 --> 00:00:42.670 to to industrial might, from agricultural wealth 00:00:42.670 --> 00:00:45.390 all the way to global finance. So, yeah, we're 00:00:45.390 --> 00:00:47.350 going to try and synthesize its complex geography, 00:00:47.649 --> 00:00:51.899 its deep, often violent history. It's it's. powerful 00:00:51.899 --> 00:00:54.859 economy. If largest, right. If largest GDP. Yeah. 00:00:55.119 --> 00:00:58.420 And it's perpetually paradoxical political and 00:00:58.420 --> 00:01:00.979 demographic makeup. And when you look at the 00:01:00.979 --> 00:01:03.479 fundamentals, you realize pretty fast this isn't 00:01:03.479 --> 00:01:06.640 just another state. This is an absolute powerhouse 00:01:06.640 --> 00:01:08.620 sitting, you know, right in the middle of the 00:01:08.620 --> 00:01:10.439 country. It is. We're talking about the sixth 00:01:10.439 --> 00:01:13.239 largest population in the U .S. and maybe more 00:01:13.239 --> 00:01:15.540 tellingly, that fifth largest gross domestic 00:01:15.540 --> 00:01:18.400 product. Yeah. If Illinois were its own country, 00:01:18.560 --> 00:01:21.629 it would be a top 20 economy in the world. Easy. 00:01:21.980 --> 00:01:24.920 And that massive economic weight, it comes directly 00:01:24.920 --> 00:01:27.340 from its position. It's the absolute linchpin 00:01:27.340 --> 00:01:30.280 of the Midwest and the Great Lakes region. Geographically, 00:01:30.299 --> 00:01:32.680 it's just perfectly placed. Perfectly. It borders 00:01:32.680 --> 00:01:34.680 Lake Michigan, which is critical for shipping. 00:01:34.879 --> 00:01:37.680 You've got Wisconsin to the north, and then its 00:01:37.680 --> 00:01:39.980 western and southern boundaries are literally 00:01:39.980 --> 00:01:42.719 defined by the country's greatest rivers. The 00:01:42.719 --> 00:01:45.079 Mississippi. The mighty Mississippi to the west, 00:01:45.159 --> 00:01:47.120 and then the confluence of the Wabash and Ohio 00:01:47.120 --> 00:01:50.480 rivers down south. This pivotal location is really 00:01:50.480 --> 00:01:52.370 the key to understand. understanding why everything 00:01:52.370 --> 00:01:55.629 from rail to air travel routes through Illinois 00:01:55.629 --> 00:01:57.930 today. Before we get into the, you know, the 00:01:57.930 --> 00:02:00.150 really deep history, let's just quickly touch 00:02:00.150 --> 00:02:03.069 on the name Illinois. Because I think everyone 00:02:03.069 --> 00:02:05.069 who grew up there probably heard the same myth 00:02:05.069 --> 00:02:07.909 about what it meant. Oh, yeah. But the real origin 00:02:07.909 --> 00:02:12.590 our sources highlight is it's a fascinating linguistic 00:02:12.590 --> 00:02:15.509 correction. It's a great example of how historical 00:02:15.509 --> 00:02:18.110 misinterpretations just get cemented as fact. 00:02:18.560 --> 00:02:21.020 The state name is, of course, the modern French 00:02:21.020 --> 00:02:23.840 spelling for the Illinois Native Americans, the 00:02:23.840 --> 00:02:27.280 Illinoic. For decades, American scholars claimed 00:02:27.280 --> 00:02:30.120 the name meant man or men. That was the common 00:02:30.120 --> 00:02:32.479 wisdom, yeah. They linked it to the word Irinoic. 00:02:32.539 --> 00:02:34.280 They did, but that was a historical assumption. 00:02:34.659 --> 00:02:37.199 Modern linguistic analysis has pretty much debunked 00:02:37.199 --> 00:02:39.919 it. They've shown the actual word for man. in 00:02:39.919 --> 00:02:42.460 the Miami, Illinois language is Irenuwa. So a 00:02:42.460 --> 00:02:44.599 totally different word. A different word. And 00:02:44.599 --> 00:02:47.280 the consensus now is way more interesting. The 00:02:47.280 --> 00:02:49.159 name Illinois actually comes from the Miami, 00:02:49.259 --> 00:02:52.139 Illinois verb Irenuwa. Okay, so what does Irenuwa 00:02:52.139 --> 00:02:55.439 mean? It translates to he speaks the regular 00:02:55.439 --> 00:02:57.889 way. Essentially, it was a way to distinguish 00:02:57.889 --> 00:03:01.889 people who spoke the accepted or common dialect 00:03:01.889 --> 00:03:03.969 from other groups. So it's more about a shared 00:03:03.969 --> 00:03:06.330 language. Exactly. It's an identity marker. That 00:03:06.330 --> 00:03:08.849 term passed through the Ojibwe language, becoming 00:03:08.849 --> 00:03:11.650 Ilynwyk. And then the French just adopted that 00:03:11.650 --> 00:03:14.050 and applied their common spelling for the we 00:03:14.050 --> 00:03:17.990 sound, which is qua. So Illinois is really rooted 00:03:17.990 --> 00:03:20.669 in a linguistic self -identification. Those who 00:03:20.669 --> 00:03:23.159 speak our tongue. Not just a simple translation 00:03:23.159 --> 00:03:25.819 of man. OK, let's unpack the really deep roots 00:03:25.819 --> 00:03:27.819 of this state, because before the French, before 00:03:27.819 --> 00:03:30.800 any American settlers, Illinois was home to this 00:03:30.800 --> 00:03:35.360 massive, organized metropolis that I think completely 00:03:35.360 --> 00:03:38.099 redefines our idea of pre -Columbian America. 00:03:38.340 --> 00:03:41.240 It's absolutely crucial context. The area around 00:03:41.240 --> 00:03:43.180 the Illinois River Valley has this staggering 00:03:43.180 --> 00:03:45.659 temporal depth. You've got the coaster site, 00:03:45.759 --> 00:03:47.580 for instance, which has archaeological evidence 00:03:47.580 --> 00:03:51.770 of over 7000 years of continuous. human habitation. 00:03:51.810 --> 00:03:54.550 7 ,000 years. Yeah. Continue. It shows incredible 00:03:54.550 --> 00:03:57.469 adaptability. But the real headline grabber is 00:03:57.469 --> 00:04:00.069 Cahokia Mounds near modern day Collinsville. 00:04:00.289 --> 00:04:02.770 This is the largest regional chiefdom of the 00:04:02.770 --> 00:04:05.069 pre -Columbian Mississippian culture. And when 00:04:05.069 --> 00:04:06.849 we say Cahokia, we're talking about an actual 00:04:06.849 --> 00:04:09.030 planned urban center, right? Not just a bunch 00:04:09.030 --> 00:04:11.659 of villages. Oh, absolutely. The scale puts it 00:04:11.659 --> 00:04:14.740 in the same league as like early European or 00:04:14.740 --> 00:04:17.819 Mesopotamian cities. At its peak around 1050 00:04:17.819 --> 00:04:21.379 to 1350 AD, Cahokia's population might have hit 00:04:21.379 --> 00:04:24.420 15 ,000, maybe as high as 40 ,000 if you include 00:04:24.420 --> 00:04:26.339 all its satellite towns. Which would make it 00:04:26.339 --> 00:04:29.350 the largest city north of Mexico. By far. The 00:04:29.350 --> 00:04:31.509 largest population center north of the massive 00:04:31.509 --> 00:04:35.329 empires of central Mexico. It had over 100 mounds, 00:04:35.329 --> 00:04:38.089 all arranged in a planned design that reflected 00:04:38.089 --> 00:04:40.509 their cosmology and their political structure. 00:04:40.649 --> 00:04:43.560 And the centerpiece, the Grand Plaza. The size 00:04:43.560 --> 00:04:46.079 of that is almost impossible to grasp. It really 00:04:46.079 --> 00:04:48.860 is. The Grand Plaza, their main public gathering 00:04:48.860 --> 00:04:51.939 space, covered 50 acres. You mentioned 35 football 00:04:51.939 --> 00:04:54.220 fields earlier. And that's the kind of visualization 00:04:54.220 --> 00:04:56.379 you need to even get your head around the scope 00:04:56.379 --> 00:04:58.660 of the public works here. This was a center for 00:04:58.660 --> 00:05:01.879 ritual, for trade, for political assembly. And 00:05:01.879 --> 00:05:04.160 towering over all of that was Monk's Mound. Give 00:05:04.160 --> 00:05:05.920 us the dimensions on that because it sounds like 00:05:05.920 --> 00:05:07.759 something from another continent. It's the largest 00:05:07.759 --> 00:05:09.819 pre -Columbian earthwork in the Americas period. 00:05:10.139 --> 00:05:12.620 Moncks Mound stands 100 feet high and covers 00:05:12.620 --> 00:05:15.740 an astonishing 13 .8 acres at its base. All built 00:05:15.740 --> 00:05:19.199 by hand. All by hand. They estimate it took 22 00:05:19.199 --> 00:05:22.620 million cubic feet of earth, all moved in baskets 00:05:22.620 --> 00:05:25.399 over generations. And when it was topped with 00:05:25.399 --> 00:05:27.860 its massive ceremonial building, the peak would 00:05:27.860 --> 00:05:30.829 have been 150 feet above the plaza. This wasn't 00:05:30.829 --> 00:05:33.910 just a hill. It was a visible symbol of immense 00:05:33.910 --> 00:05:36.449 political power. And that level of coordination 00:05:36.449 --> 00:05:40.610 of specialized labor, it just speaks to a societal 00:05:40.610 --> 00:05:43.629 complexity that we rarely attribute to this region's 00:05:43.629 --> 00:05:46.790 ancient history. Precisely. The archaeology reveals 00:05:46.790 --> 00:05:49.449 a highly stratified society. We find evidence 00:05:49.449 --> 00:05:52.230 of specialized crafts, finely crafted tools, 00:05:52.509 --> 00:05:55.050 elaborate ceramics and, you know, high status 00:05:55.050 --> 00:05:57.750 materials like copper and shell engraving. These 00:05:57.750 --> 00:05:59.689 weren't just farmers. They were urban specialists, 00:06:00.069 --> 00:06:02.990 artisans and a powerful religious and military 00:06:02.990 --> 00:06:06.930 elite. But then this huge urban center just vanishes 00:06:06.930 --> 00:06:09.250 by the 15th century. What are the theories on 00:06:09.250 --> 00:06:11.990 why civilization that powerful collapsed? It 00:06:11.990 --> 00:06:14.560 was likely multifaceted. Environmental factors 00:06:14.560 --> 00:06:16.019 definitely played a role. They would have needed 00:06:16.019 --> 00:06:18.220 a ton of wood for construction and fuel, leading 00:06:18.220 --> 00:06:20.540 to deforestation and resource depletion. But 00:06:20.540 --> 00:06:22.639 there was more to it than that. Oh, yeah. Our 00:06:22.639 --> 00:06:25.420 sources also point to a huge increase in social 00:06:25.420 --> 00:06:28.480 stress. There's unsettling evidence from sites 00:06:28.480 --> 00:06:30.620 in the central Illinois River Valley that suggest 00:06:30.620 --> 00:06:34.399 high levels of intertribal warfare. One third 00:06:34.399 --> 00:06:37.259 of all adult skeletons examined showed evidence 00:06:37.259 --> 00:06:40.939 of violent injuries. One third. Wow. Yeah. That's 00:06:40.939 --> 00:06:43.319 a clear indicator of severe social breakdown 00:06:43.319 --> 00:06:46.740 or intense external conflict. So the remnants 00:06:46.740 --> 00:06:48.920 of this complex society eventually broke down 00:06:48.920 --> 00:06:50.699 into smaller groups, and those were the ones 00:06:50.699 --> 00:06:52.740 the Europeans first encountered. Exactly. The 00:06:52.740 --> 00:06:55.279 main group was the Illinois Confederation, or 00:06:55.279 --> 00:06:57.579 the Illini, an alliance that numbered over 10 00:06:57.579 --> 00:07:00.920 ,000 people. And it was into this landscape that 00:07:00.920 --> 00:07:03.259 the French arrived. Marquette and Joliet. Right. 00:07:03.319 --> 00:07:05.439 Jacques Marquette, a Jesuit missionary, and Louis 00:07:05.439 --> 00:07:08.300 Joliet, a French -Canadian explorer. They were 00:07:08.300 --> 00:07:10.800 the first to really map and document the Illinois 00:07:10.800 --> 00:07:14.220 River region back in 1673. And this area became 00:07:14.220 --> 00:07:16.360 known as the Illinois Country. part of New France. 00:07:16.779 --> 00:07:19.199 It sounds like the French saw its strategic value 00:07:19.199 --> 00:07:21.889 immediately. They absolutely did. They established 00:07:21.889 --> 00:07:25.009 a presence very quickly, building Fort St. Louis 00:07:25.009 --> 00:07:28.370 on top of Starved Rock in 1682, and they kept 00:07:28.370 --> 00:07:31.730 posts all along the river systems. They used 00:07:31.730 --> 00:07:34.209 this territory as a crucial link between their 00:07:34.209 --> 00:07:36.689 holdings in Canada and their settlements down 00:07:36.689 --> 00:07:38.990 the Mississippi in Louisiana. And this remained 00:07:38.990 --> 00:07:41.829 French territory for nearly a century. Until 00:07:41.829 --> 00:07:45.750 1763, when European politics intervened. The 00:07:45.750 --> 00:07:47.990 British won the Seven Years' War, and the territory 00:07:47.990 --> 00:07:50.060 east of the Mississippi was transferred over 00:07:50.060 --> 00:07:52.160 to Great Britain. Which caused a bit of an exodus 00:07:52.160 --> 00:07:55.000 among the French settlers. It did. A lot of the 00:07:55.000 --> 00:07:56.899 French who had put down roots in the Illinois 00:07:56.899 --> 00:07:59.459 country just refused to live under British rule. 00:07:59.579 --> 00:08:02.120 So they packed up and migrated across the Mississippi 00:08:02.120 --> 00:08:05.139 to Spanish -controlled territories, places like 00:08:05.139 --> 00:08:07.839 St. Genevieve and St. Louis in modern -day Missouri. 00:08:08.220 --> 00:08:10.800 And then during the Revolutionary War, the Americans 00:08:10.800 --> 00:08:14.350 made their claim. Right. In 1778, George Rogers 00:08:14.350 --> 00:08:17.350 Clark, leading a small force for Virginia, captured 00:08:17.350 --> 00:08:21.170 key British posts, including Kaskaskia. So Virginia 00:08:21.170 --> 00:08:24.069 claimed the whole territory. But after the war, 00:08:24.209 --> 00:08:26.449 Virginia ceded its claim to the new U .S. government, 00:08:26.610 --> 00:08:29.310 and the area just became part of the vast Northwest 00:08:29.310 --> 00:08:32.049 Territory. OK, now we get to what our sources 00:08:32.049 --> 00:08:34.450 call the most critical political maneuver in 00:08:34.450 --> 00:08:37.309 Illinois history, the boundary shift of 1818, 00:08:37.450 --> 00:08:41.389 right before statehood. A move of 51 miles sounds 00:08:41.389 --> 00:08:43.590 so minor, but it changes absolutely everything. 00:08:43.850 --> 00:08:45.970 It's the difference between Illinois being just 00:08:45.970 --> 00:08:48.570 another agrarian landlocked state and becoming 00:08:48.570 --> 00:08:50.769 the logistical backbone of the entire continent. 00:08:51.029 --> 00:08:53.870 The original boundary set by the Northwest Ordinance 00:08:53.870 --> 00:08:56.049 would have put Illinois' northern border on the 00:08:56.049 --> 00:08:58.490 same latitude as the southern tip of Lake Michigan. 00:08:58.730 --> 00:09:01.330 Meaning no lake access at all? None. It would 00:09:01.330 --> 00:09:03.149 have completely excluded Illinois from the Great 00:09:03.149 --> 00:09:05.610 Lakes. So who is the visionary behind this last 00:09:05.610 --> 00:09:07.840 -minute land grab? That would be Nathaniel Pope, 00:09:08.019 --> 00:09:10.539 the Illinois delegate to Congress. When Illinois 00:09:10.539 --> 00:09:13.580 applied for statehood in 1818, Pope successfully 00:09:13.580 --> 00:09:16.960 lobbied to amend the bill. He argued very forcefully 00:09:16.960 --> 00:09:19.419 that the state needed to extend its border 51 00:09:19.419 --> 00:09:22.740 miles north to 42 degrees, 30 minutes north latitude. 00:09:23.039 --> 00:09:25.679 It was a purely strategic move. What did that 00:09:25.679 --> 00:09:28.429 51 -mile extension... actually give them. It 00:09:28.429 --> 00:09:31.009 was a massive geographical and economic win. 00:09:31.309 --> 00:09:34.570 First, it added 8 ,500 square miles of valuable 00:09:34.570 --> 00:09:37.590 land. Second, it secured the lead mining region 00:09:37.590 --> 00:09:40.549 near Galena in the northwest. Third, it delivered 00:09:40.549 --> 00:09:43.370 almost 50 miles of Lake Michigan shoreline. And 00:09:43.370 --> 00:09:45.809 maybe most importantly for the future, it fully 00:09:45.809 --> 00:09:48.230 encompassed the Chicago River system. That was 00:09:48.230 --> 00:09:50.639 the linchpin. Pope and others saw the future 00:09:50.639 --> 00:09:52.320 in connecting the Great Lakes shipping network 00:09:52.320 --> 00:09:55.139 to the Mississippi River Basin, and the key was 00:09:55.139 --> 00:09:57.559 the proposed Illinois and Michigan Canal. Which 00:09:57.559 --> 00:09:59.360 would be impossible without the Chicago River. 00:09:59.559 --> 00:10:02.870 Exactly. Without incorporating the river, Illinois 00:10:02.870 --> 00:10:05.070 would have no access point to start the canal 00:10:05.070 --> 00:10:08.929 and no port city on Lake Michigan. Had Pope failed, 00:10:09.230 --> 00:10:11.669 Chicago would almost certainly be part of Wisconsin 00:10:11.669 --> 00:10:13.970 today, and Illinois would have been fundamentally 00:10:13.970 --> 00:10:16.289 cut off from the dynamic trade flowing through 00:10:16.289 --> 00:10:19.029 the Great Lakes. It was a singular moment of 00:10:19.029 --> 00:10:21.509 foresight that basically guaranteed the state's 00:10:21.509 --> 00:10:25.029 industrial destiny. So state it arrives in 1818, 00:10:25.129 --> 00:10:27.409 built on that brilliant strategic land grab. 00:10:27.830 --> 00:10:30.409 But the first few decades were spent just trying 00:10:30.409 --> 00:10:33.179 to find a foothold. both geographically and politically. 00:10:33.480 --> 00:10:35.539 The Capitol, for instance, it moved around a 00:10:35.539 --> 00:10:38.360 lot. A lot of early uncertainty there. Kaskaskia 00:10:38.360 --> 00:10:40.279 was the first Capitol, but it was quickly seen 00:10:40.279 --> 00:10:42.279 as too remote, too exposed on the Mississippi. 00:10:42.580 --> 00:10:44.659 They operated out of a small rented building. 00:10:44.840 --> 00:10:47.139 Then they shifted to Vandalia. And they had to 00:10:47.139 --> 00:10:49.059 build three different buildings there. Three 00:10:49.059 --> 00:10:52.220 separate Capitol buildings between 1820 and 1837 00:10:52.220 --> 00:10:54.740 because the state kept outgrowing them or, you 00:10:54.740 --> 00:10:56.940 know, just deciding to move again. And the final 00:10:56.940 --> 00:10:59.340 move, the one to Springfield. That seems to have 00:10:59.340 --> 00:11:02.159 been driven by one particularly influential legislator. 00:11:02.240 --> 00:11:05.879 It was. In 1837, the move to the more centrally 00:11:05.879 --> 00:11:08.340 located Springfield was authorized, and it was 00:11:08.340 --> 00:11:10.440 largely thanks to the lobbying of a powerful 00:11:10.440 --> 00:11:13.179 group of legislators called the Long Nine, led 00:11:13.179 --> 00:11:15.759 by a young, ambitious guy from Sangamon County 00:11:15.759 --> 00:11:19.200 named Abraham Lincoln. We mentioned earlier that 00:11:19.200 --> 00:11:21.879 Illinois was technically a free state under the 00:11:21.879 --> 00:11:25.029 Northwest Ordinance. But the reality on the ground 00:11:25.029 --> 00:11:26.970 was, well, it was a lot more complicated than 00:11:26.970 --> 00:11:28.809 that, especially with so many early settlers 00:11:28.809 --> 00:11:31.169 coming from the South. This is a really dark 00:11:31.169 --> 00:11:33.710 and complex chapter of the state's history. While 00:11:33.710 --> 00:11:35.850 the Northwest Ordinance banned slavery, that 00:11:35.850 --> 00:11:38.250 ban was often just ignored for people who already 00:11:38.250 --> 00:11:40.779 held slaves. When Illinois became a state in 00:11:40.779 --> 00:11:43.840 1818, there were about 900 people legally held 00:11:43.840 --> 00:11:46.360 as slaves, mostly in the southern counties along 00:11:46.360 --> 00:11:48.940 the Ohio River. Which helps explain that little 00:11:48.940 --> 00:11:51.279 Egypt nickname we'll get to. It does. So how 00:11:51.279 --> 00:11:54.259 did the state manage to avoid fully legalizing 00:11:54.259 --> 00:11:57.519 slavery given that southern influence? It took 00:11:57.519 --> 00:12:00.350 a massive focused political effort. In 1824, 00:12:00.690 --> 00:12:03.190 there was a major push to amend the state constitution 00:12:03.190 --> 00:12:06.789 to fully legalize slavery. Governor Edward Coles, 00:12:06.789 --> 00:12:08.929 who had actually freed his own inherited slaves 00:12:08.929 --> 00:12:11.330 when he moved to Illinois from Virginia, led 00:12:11.330 --> 00:12:13.669 a really successful campaign to block it. And 00:12:13.669 --> 00:12:15.929 the voters rejected it. They did. The residents 00:12:15.929 --> 00:12:19.389 voted against the extension of slavery, 6 ,640 00:12:19.389 --> 00:12:23.750 to 4 ,972. It was a narrow, hard -fought victory 00:12:23.750 --> 00:12:26.289 that preserved the state's constitutional status 00:12:26.289 --> 00:12:29.230 as free. But that victory didn't exactly... extend 00:12:29.230 --> 00:12:32.169 rights or welcoming conditions to free black 00:12:32.169 --> 00:12:34.649 individuals. Far from it. The state had very 00:12:34.649 --> 00:12:37.889 strict racial codes. The 1848 state constitution 00:12:37.889 --> 00:12:41.429 even allowed for exclusionary laws. And in 1853, 00:12:41.649 --> 00:12:44.710 the legislature passed a notorious law championed 00:12:44.710 --> 00:12:46.970 by figures like John A. Logan, which prohibited 00:12:46.970 --> 00:12:49.909 all African -Americans free or enslaved from 00:12:49.909 --> 00:12:51.610 settling in the state. What happened if they 00:12:51.610 --> 00:12:53.350 did? If they were caught residing in Illinois, 00:12:53.590 --> 00:12:56.190 they could be fined, arrested, or even sold into 00:12:56.190 --> 00:12:58.029 temporary servitude just to pay their fines. 00:12:58.190 --> 00:13:00.429 It was an incredibly hostile environment that 00:13:00.429 --> 00:13:02.570 really shows the stark contrast between legal 00:13:02.570 --> 00:13:05.409 freedom and societal prejudice. And while they 00:13:05.409 --> 00:13:07.549 were grappling with all these political and moral 00:13:07.549 --> 00:13:10.730 issues, the pioneers were also facing just relentless 00:13:10.730 --> 00:13:13.629 natural hardship. The stories of those early 00:13:13.629 --> 00:13:16.370 winters are absolutely brutal. They really define 00:13:16.370 --> 00:13:19.309 the frontier struggle. Two events stand out as 00:13:19.309 --> 00:13:21.919 almost legendary markers of hardship. The winter 00:13:21.919 --> 00:13:25.779 of the deep snow in 1830 -31, where a massive 00:13:25.779 --> 00:13:28.700 sudden snow event blanketed the state and trapped 00:13:28.700 --> 00:13:31.940 settlers, leading to widespread famine. And then 00:13:31.940 --> 00:13:34.580 there was the winter of the sudden freeze. Yeah, 00:13:34.600 --> 00:13:38.279 in 1836, temperatures dropped so fast that livestock 00:13:38.279 --> 00:13:41.159 and even travelers were reportedly frozen solid 00:13:41.159 --> 00:13:43.840 right where they stood. These winters became 00:13:43.840 --> 00:13:46.200 the defining benchmarks of resilience for the 00:13:46.200 --> 00:13:48.580 next century of settlers. And that nickname, 00:13:48.840 --> 00:13:50.980 Little Egypt, which is still used for... Southern 00:13:50.980 --> 00:13:53.080 Illinois, that comes from one of those periods 00:13:53.080 --> 00:13:55.519 of natural disaster. It does. It goes back to 00:13:55.519 --> 00:13:57.720 the biblical story of Joseph providing grain 00:13:57.720 --> 00:14:00.419 during a famine. During some of the early, really 00:14:00.419 --> 00:14:03.740 harsh crop failures in the 1820s and 30s, the 00:14:03.740 --> 00:14:05.759 northern parts of the state suffered terribly. 00:14:05.759 --> 00:14:08.639 But the South was okay. Southern Illinois, because 00:14:08.639 --> 00:14:10.700 of its slightly warmer climate and proximity 00:14:10.700 --> 00:14:14.139 to the rivers, often had better harvests. They 00:14:14.139 --> 00:14:16.659 shipped their surplus grain north to feed the 00:14:16.659 --> 00:14:19.299 starving population, and that's how the region 00:14:19.299 --> 00:14:22.759 earned the nickname Little Egypt. It really highlights 00:14:22.759 --> 00:14:24.720 the regional differences that have always been 00:14:24.720 --> 00:14:27.620 there. The early 1830s also marked the final 00:14:27.620 --> 00:14:30.100 organized confrontation with the indigenous people 00:14:30.100 --> 00:14:32.899 who had occupied the land for millennia. That 00:14:32.899 --> 00:14:36.909 would be the Black Hawk War of 1832. This contract 00:14:36.909 --> 00:14:39.509 was basically the final armed attempt by Native 00:14:39.509 --> 00:14:42.230 American tribes, mainly the Sauk and Fox led 00:14:42.230 --> 00:14:45.009 by Chief Blackhawk, to resist displacement and 00:14:45.009 --> 00:14:47.690 reclaim their ancestral lands east of the Mississippi. 00:14:47.950 --> 00:14:50.470 Lands they had lost in a pretty questionable 00:14:50.470 --> 00:14:53.289 treaty. A highly disputed 1804 treaty, yeah. 00:14:53.549 --> 00:14:56.809 The U .S. militia, backed by allied tribes, decisively 00:14:56.809 --> 00:14:59.450 defeated Blackhawk's forces. The remaining survivors 00:14:59.450 --> 00:15:02.340 were forced west into Iowa. This war formally 00:15:02.340 --> 00:15:04.600 ended significant Native American armed resistance 00:15:04.600 --> 00:15:07.000 in northern Illinois and just cleared the path 00:15:07.000 --> 00:15:09.039 for unchecked American settlement and the growth 00:15:09.039 --> 00:15:11.600 of Chicago. And then there's this really bizarre 00:15:11.600 --> 00:15:15.120 interruption in Illinois' growth story, Nauvoo. 00:15:15.919 --> 00:15:18.539 It's so strange to think that at one point, this 00:15:18.539 --> 00:15:21.320 religious utopia was briefly bigger than the 00:15:21.320 --> 00:15:23.580 city that would become Chicago. It's one of those 00:15:23.580 --> 00:15:26.490 amazing footnotes in history. Nauvoo, founded 00:15:26.490 --> 00:15:28.490 by Joseph Smith and the Latter -day Saints in 00:15:28.490 --> 00:15:31.870 1839 on the Mississippi, was an economic and 00:15:31.870 --> 00:15:34.970 social phenomenon. Through sheer dedication and 00:15:34.970 --> 00:15:37.649 organization, the city grew explosively. And 00:15:37.649 --> 00:15:39.889 by 1844, it was the biggest city in the state. 00:15:40.029 --> 00:15:43.570 By 1844, it had a population of around 12 ,000, 00:15:43.570 --> 00:15:46.269 which, yes, temporarily surpassed Chicago. But 00:15:46.269 --> 00:15:48.509 that reign was incredibly short. It collapsed 00:15:48.509 --> 00:15:51.009 the same year its founder was killed. Joseph 00:15:51.009 --> 00:15:53.830 Smith and his brother were murdered in 1844 in 00:15:53.830 --> 00:15:56.409 nearby Carthage jail, which led to a succession 00:15:56.409 --> 00:15:59.820 crisis and immense persecution. Under Brigham 00:15:59.820 --> 00:16:01.580 Young's leadership, the vast majority of the 00:16:01.580 --> 00:16:03.919 Saints began their historic migration west to 00:16:03.919 --> 00:16:06.779 Utah, and Nauvoo just rapidly declined, leaving 00:16:06.779 --> 00:16:09.539 the path wide open for Chicago's rise. And Chicago's 00:16:09.539 --> 00:16:11.700 rise was, as we established, all about logistics. 00:16:11.879 --> 00:16:13.799 How quickly did it go from a small port town 00:16:13.799 --> 00:16:16.919 to the undisputed national hub? It was an exponential 00:16:16.919 --> 00:16:20.080 rise, completely driven by strategic infrastructure. 00:16:20.559 --> 00:16:24.110 The city was incorporated in 1833. But its real 00:16:24.110 --> 00:16:26.250 takeoff started with the opening of the Illinois 00:16:26.250 --> 00:16:29.490 and Michigan Canal in 1848. Fulfilling Nathaniel 00:16:29.490 --> 00:16:32.990 Pope's vision. Exactly. 30 years later, the canal 00:16:32.990 --> 00:16:34.889 connected the Great Lakes to the Mississippi 00:16:34.889 --> 00:16:37.769 River Basin, allowing goods to flow seamlessly 00:16:37.769 --> 00:16:40.370 from the East Coast all the way down to New Orleans. 00:16:40.629 --> 00:16:42.649 And then the railroads just magnified that effect 00:16:42.649 --> 00:16:46.269 tenfold. Oh, completely. By the 1860s, Chicago 00:16:46.269 --> 00:16:49.149 had established itself as the single most critical 00:16:49.149 --> 00:16:52.490 railroad junction in North America. Every major 00:16:52.490 --> 00:16:55.350 line went through it. This central nexus drove 00:16:55.350 --> 00:16:57.570 industrial growth in meatpacking, lumber, green 00:16:57.570 --> 00:17:00.129 processing. Yeah. It made Chicago the fastest 00:17:00.129 --> 00:17:02.289 growing city in the world for a time. This industrial 00:17:02.289 --> 00:17:04.650 mic then made Illinois strategically indispensable 00:17:04.650 --> 00:17:06.690 during the Civil War. Absolutely indispensable. 00:17:07.450 --> 00:17:10.509 The state contributed over 250 ,000 soldiers, 00:17:10.769 --> 00:17:13.690 ranking fourth among all Union states. And crucially, 00:17:13.869 --> 00:17:16.430 the southern geography played a huge role. The 00:17:16.430 --> 00:17:18.970 city of Cairo, at the absolute southern tip where 00:17:18.970 --> 00:17:21.150 the Ohio meets Mississippi, became the Union 00:17:21.150 --> 00:17:23.450 Army's most important strategic supply base. 00:17:23.730 --> 00:17:26.710 And generals like Grant used it as a launch pad. 00:17:26.970 --> 00:17:30.289 Exactly. Grant used Cairo as a base of operations 00:17:30.289 --> 00:17:32.829 to control the river systems, which were the 00:17:32.829 --> 00:17:35.490 main invasion route into the Confederacy. As 00:17:35.490 --> 00:17:37.549 all these factories and mines exploded across 00:17:37.549 --> 00:17:39.869 the state, especially the coal fields in central 00:17:39.869 --> 00:17:42.309 and southern Illinois, the state also become 00:17:42.309 --> 00:17:44.890 a major stage for the American labor movement. 00:17:44.990 --> 00:17:47.970 The growth came with intense friction. Illinois 00:17:47.970 --> 00:17:50.109 is home to some of the most profound and often 00:17:50.109 --> 00:17:53.230 violent episodes in American labor history. You 00:17:53.230 --> 00:17:57.029 have the Haymarket Riot in 1886 in Chicago, which 00:17:57.029 --> 00:17:59.410 became a massive setback for the eight hour day 00:17:59.410 --> 00:18:01.029 movement. And then there was the Pullman Strike 00:18:01.029 --> 00:18:04.670 a bit later. The Pullman strike of 1894 was arguably 00:18:04.670 --> 00:18:06.809 even more significant because of the federal 00:18:06.809 --> 00:18:09.650 intervention. It began when workers at the Pullman 00:18:09.650 --> 00:18:12.710 Palace Car Company protested drastic wage cuts. 00:18:12.910 --> 00:18:15.890 The strike paralyzed rail traffic across the 00:18:15.890 --> 00:18:17.769 nation. And the federal government stepped in. 00:18:18.109 --> 00:18:20.589 President Grover Cleveland sent in federal troops 00:18:20.589 --> 00:18:23.230 to break the strike. It resulted in violence 00:18:23.230 --> 00:18:25.490 and it really cemented the federal government's 00:18:25.490 --> 00:18:27.930 willingness to use force against organized labor. 00:18:28.230 --> 00:18:30.990 These events solidified Illinois' identity as 00:18:30.990 --> 00:18:33.089 a state where industrial power was constantly 00:18:33.089 --> 00:18:35.250 being contested by the workers who built it. 00:18:35.390 --> 00:18:38.609 And finally, the ultimate dramatic punctuation 00:18:38.609 --> 00:18:42.359 mark on that 19th century boom. The Great Chicago 00:18:42.359 --> 00:18:45.819 Fire of 1871. A truly catastrophic event. The 00:18:45.819 --> 00:18:48.200 fire destroyed four square miles of the heart 00:18:48.200 --> 00:18:50.839 of Chicago, just consuming all the wooden structures 00:18:50.839 --> 00:18:53.460 built too quickly during that boom. But while 00:18:53.460 --> 00:18:55.579 it was devastating, it wasn't an end. It was 00:18:55.579 --> 00:18:58.420 a furious catalyst. A chance to rebuild. Exactly. 00:18:58.720 --> 00:19:01.740 The city used the disaster to redesign, modernize, 00:19:01.740 --> 00:19:04.599 and rebuild with steel and stone, which led directly 00:19:04.599 --> 00:19:06.740 to the architectural golden age that defined 00:19:06.740 --> 00:19:08.839 the modern Chicago skyline and its continued 00:19:08.839 --> 00:19:11.170 growth. As we move into the 20th century, Illinois 00:19:11.170 --> 00:19:13.369 continued to be this magnet for growth. It hit 00:19:13.369 --> 00:19:16.490 12 .4 million people by the year 2000. And this 00:19:16.490 --> 00:19:18.589 influx of people drove a huge transformation 00:19:18.589 --> 00:19:21.000 in culture and infrastructure. The demographic 00:19:21.000 --> 00:19:23.420 engine of the 20th century was really twofold. 00:19:23.839 --> 00:19:26.599 First, you had the continued European immigration 00:19:26.599 --> 00:19:29.420 that had characterized the 19th century German, 00:19:29.599 --> 00:19:31.920 Polish, Irish populations filling the cities. 00:19:32.319 --> 00:19:34.980 Second, and crucially, was the African -American 00:19:34.980 --> 00:19:37.500 Great Migration. Which changed the face of Chicago. 00:19:37.819 --> 00:19:40.279 It established a large politically and culturally 00:19:40.279 --> 00:19:43.680 foundational black community centered overwhelmingly 00:19:43.680 --> 00:19:46.680 in Chicago. And the state kept solidifying its 00:19:46.680 --> 00:19:49.240 role as the ultimate national logistics center. 00:19:49.869 --> 00:19:52.250 leveraging every physical advantage it had. That 00:19:52.250 --> 00:19:54.569 geographic strategy that Nathaniel Pope initiated 00:19:54.569 --> 00:19:57.230 came to full fruition in the mid -20th century. 00:19:57.829 --> 00:20:00.690 The 1959 opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway, 00:20:00.829 --> 00:20:03.369 coupled with the Illinois waterway system, means 00:20:03.369 --> 00:20:06.289 Chicago has dual access to global shipping. To 00:20:06.289 --> 00:20:08.490 the Atlantic and the Gulf. Exactly. It connects 00:20:08.490 --> 00:20:10.470 to the Atlantic Ocean via the Great Lakes and 00:20:10.470 --> 00:20:12.369 to the Gulf of Mexico via the Mississippi River 00:20:12.369 --> 00:20:15.109 system. This duality makes the Port of Chicago 00:20:15.109 --> 00:20:19.230 completely unique. and indispensable if the railroads 00:20:19.230 --> 00:20:21.630 were the 19th century veins i guess air travel 00:20:21.630 --> 00:20:24.490 became the 20th century arteries o 'hare international 00:20:24.490 --> 00:20:27.130 airport is a monument to this o 'hare's dominance 00:20:27.130 --> 00:20:29.869 is hard to overstate it was built for the jet 00:20:29.869 --> 00:20:32.089 age and it quickly became the world's busiest 00:20:32.089 --> 00:20:35.450 airport a title it held from 1962 all the way 00:20:35.450 --> 00:20:38.009 to 1998 and it's still one of the busiest today 00:20:38.349 --> 00:20:40.789 It is. Even if it's often surpassed by Atlanta 00:20:40.789 --> 00:20:43.470 in passenger volume, it remains a top global 00:20:43.470 --> 00:20:46.890 hub, a primary base for both United and American 00:20:46.890 --> 00:20:49.890 Airlines, linking the central U .S. to every 00:20:49.890 --> 00:20:52.430 major world market. What's so fascinating to 00:20:52.430 --> 00:20:54.690 me is that while logistics defined its economic 00:20:54.690 --> 00:20:57.849 muscle, Illinois also became ground zero for 00:20:57.849 --> 00:21:00.150 the scientific revolution that defined the modern 00:21:00.150 --> 00:21:02.849 world, the birth of the nuclear age. That whole 00:21:02.849 --> 00:21:05.210 transformation began in secrecy and science. 00:21:05.920 --> 00:21:08.660 In 1942, deep beneath the University of Chicago 00:21:08.660 --> 00:21:11.460 Stagfield, the world's first artificial self 00:21:11.460 --> 00:21:13.619 -sustaining nuclear chain reaction took place. 00:21:13.799 --> 00:21:16.259 Chicago Pile 1. That's the one. The conceptual 00:21:16.259 --> 00:21:18.420 and physical star of the Manhattan Project and 00:21:18.420 --> 00:21:21.440 the entire nuclear era. That moment permanently 00:21:21.440 --> 00:21:24.240 cemented Illinois' role in global history. And 00:21:24.240 --> 00:21:26.380 this wasn't just a historical footnote. It evolved 00:21:26.380 --> 00:21:29.500 into a massive, ongoing industrial and research 00:21:29.500 --> 00:21:32.400 complex. It created a direct lineage of scientific 00:21:32.400 --> 00:21:35.359 infrastructure that's still here today. Argonne 00:21:35.359 --> 00:21:38.059 National Laboratory, founded just west of the 00:21:38.059 --> 00:21:40.819 city, activated the U .S.'s first experimental 00:21:40.819 --> 00:21:44.779 nuclear power generating system in 1957. Later, 00:21:44.900 --> 00:21:47.740 in Batavia, Fermilab opened its massive particle 00:21:47.740 --> 00:21:49.920 accelerator. Which was the biggest in the world 00:21:49.920 --> 00:21:53.339 for decades. For over 40 years, yeah. This shows 00:21:53.339 --> 00:21:55.880 an immense, sustained state commitment to high 00:21:55.880 --> 00:21:58.039 energy physics and atomic research. And on the 00:21:58.039 --> 00:22:00.680 commercial side, Illinois is just... dominated 00:22:00.680 --> 00:22:03.140 by nuclear power. It leads all states in total 00:22:03.140 --> 00:22:06.400 nuclear capacity and generation. By 2007, nearly 00:22:06.400 --> 00:22:09.339 half 48 percent of the state's total electricity 00:22:09.339 --> 00:22:12.180 came from its 11 commercial nuclear reactors. 00:22:12.460 --> 00:22:15.140 That is an astounding reliance. And it creates 00:22:15.140 --> 00:22:17.980 other infrastructure needs. It does. The fact 00:22:17.980 --> 00:22:20.039 that the Morris operation is the country's only 00:22:20.039 --> 00:22:22.880 de facto long term high level radioactive waste 00:22:22.880 --> 00:22:25.539 storage site just underlines how central Illinois 00:22:25.539 --> 00:22:28.700 is to America's atomic present and future. Let's 00:22:28.700 --> 00:22:30.779 pivot to the physical state itself. When people 00:22:30.779 --> 00:22:32.960 think of Illinois, they just think flat. But 00:22:32.960 --> 00:22:35.140 the topography actually has significant variation 00:22:35.140 --> 00:22:37.740 that shapes its regional identity. Right. The 00:22:37.740 --> 00:22:40.480 state is mostly within the interior plains, which 00:22:40.480 --> 00:22:42.809 gives it that classic prairie look. But there 00:22:42.809 --> 00:22:45.250 are crucial differences. In the extreme northwest, 00:22:45.690 --> 00:22:48.789 you have the rugged, unglaciated terrain of the 00:22:48.789 --> 00:22:50.730 Driftless area. Which is where the highest point 00:22:50.730 --> 00:22:53.450 is. That's where Charles Mound, the state's highest 00:22:53.450 --> 00:22:57.609 point, reaches 12 ,235 feet. And you contrast 00:22:57.609 --> 00:23:00.509 that with the far south near Cairo, where the 00:23:00.509 --> 00:23:02.549 confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers 00:23:02.549 --> 00:23:06.150 creates the lowest elevation point at just 279 00:23:06.150 --> 00:23:09.319 feet. That range of nearly 1 ,000 feet defines 00:23:09.319 --> 00:23:12.059 microclimates and regional economies. And to 00:23:12.059 --> 00:23:14.420 really understand the politics and the culture, 00:23:14.539 --> 00:23:16.880 you have to understand the state's three distinct 00:23:16.880 --> 00:23:20.039 geographical and cultural divisions. These three 00:23:20.039 --> 00:23:22.319 divisions explain so much of the state's internal 00:23:22.319 --> 00:23:24.460 tensions. First, you've got Northern Illinois 00:23:24.460 --> 00:23:27.220 or Chicagoland. That's the city in the six surrounding 00:23:27.220 --> 00:23:28.799 collar counties. And that's where most of the 00:23:28.799 --> 00:23:31.160 people are. About 65 % of the state's population 00:23:31.160 --> 00:23:34.779 lives there. It's a dense, diverse, cosmopolitan, 00:23:34.779 --> 00:23:37.599 and wealthy economic engine. Second, central 00:23:37.599 --> 00:23:40.500 Illinois, the heart of Illinois. This is your 00:23:40.500 --> 00:23:44.309 historical agricultural prairie. A vast swath 00:23:44.309 --> 00:23:46.670 of fertile land with medium -sized cities like 00:23:46.670 --> 00:23:49.809 Peoria, the capital Springfield, and the academic 00:23:49.809 --> 00:23:52.690 center of Champaign -Urbana. It's economically 00:23:52.690 --> 00:23:55.650 tied to farming, manufacturing, and state government. 00:23:55.849 --> 00:23:58.890 And finally, Southern Illinois, or Little Egypt. 00:23:59.150 --> 00:24:02.089 This region has a really distinct identity. It 00:24:02.089 --> 00:24:05.170 borders Missouri and Kentucky. It shares a warmer, 00:24:05.329 --> 00:24:08.529 more humid, subtropical climate. And it features 00:24:08.529 --> 00:24:11.630 more rugged terrain. It also contains the Metro 00:24:11.630 --> 00:24:14.829 East area, which is geographically and economically 00:24:14.829 --> 00:24:17.869 tied to St. Louis. It feels in many ways like 00:24:17.869 --> 00:24:20.250 a gateway to the South. And the term downstate, 00:24:20.309 --> 00:24:21.670 which you hear all the time, it seems to just 00:24:21.670 --> 00:24:24.130 mean not Chicago, but it's more about political 00:24:24.130 --> 00:24:26.390 identity than actual geography. That's exactly 00:24:26.390 --> 00:24:29.220 it. While geographically downstate is south of 00:24:29.220 --> 00:24:31.880 Chicago, culturally and politically, it refers 00:24:31.880 --> 00:24:33.960 to everything outside the Chicagoland sphere 00:24:33.960 --> 00:24:37.019 of influence. A staunchly Republican rural voter 00:24:37.019 --> 00:24:39.500 in Rockford or DeKalb, which are geographically 00:24:39.500 --> 00:24:41.660 northern, will often call themselves downstate 00:24:41.660 --> 00:24:43.339 because they feel culturally and politically 00:24:43.339 --> 00:24:45.640 aligned against the metropolitan machine of Chicago. 00:24:45.980 --> 00:24:49.059 It's a term of political demarcation. The climate 00:24:49.059 --> 00:24:51.819 itself also reflects that central position, making 00:24:51.819 --> 00:24:54.019 it susceptible to some really devastating weather 00:24:54.019 --> 00:24:56.930 extremes. Being so deep in the continent, Illinois 00:24:56.930 --> 00:24:59.609 gets significant temperature swings, hot, humid 00:24:59.609 --> 00:25:02.490 summers, and very cold winters. But the most 00:25:02.490 --> 00:25:05.490 alarming factor is its vulnerability to tornadoes. 00:25:05.490 --> 00:25:08.710 The state averages about 54 tornadoes a year. 00:25:08.890 --> 00:25:10.930 And you can't talk about Illinois weather without 00:25:10.930 --> 00:25:13.329 mentioning the tri -state tornado. Impossible. 00:25:13.430 --> 00:25:16.789 The tri -state tornado of 1925 remains the deadliest 00:25:16.789 --> 00:25:20.119 single tornado in U .S. history. It killed 695 00:25:20.119 --> 00:25:23.599 people across three states, but 613 of those 00:25:23.599 --> 00:25:26.200 deaths happened in Illinois alone. It left a 00:25:26.200 --> 00:25:28.039 permanent scar on the memory of the southern 00:25:28.039 --> 00:25:30.539 and central regions. Moving to the economic engine, 00:25:30.680 --> 00:25:33.079 we know the state is agricultural, but the scale 00:25:33.079 --> 00:25:35.920 is just incredible. Illinois is a global agricultural 00:25:35.920 --> 00:25:38.920 superpower. It's consistently first or second 00:25:38.920 --> 00:25:41.779 in soybean production and second in corn, yielding 00:25:41.779 --> 00:25:44.839 over 1 .5 billion bushels of corn every year. 00:25:45.079 --> 00:25:48.119 That vast output underpins the whole economy 00:25:48.119 --> 00:25:50.500 of central Illinois. You see that heritage in 00:25:50.500 --> 00:25:52.599 companies like John Deere, headquartered in Moline. 00:25:52.880 --> 00:25:55.319 But it's also a major manufacturing state. The 00:25:55.319 --> 00:25:57.779 fourth most productive manufacturing state, though 00:25:57.779 --> 00:25:59.900 the economic shift towards high value services 00:25:59.900 --> 00:26:02.559 centered in Chicago is undeniable. And those 00:26:02.559 --> 00:26:04.759 high value services mean finance and logistics. 00:26:04.900 --> 00:26:07.910 Right. Chicago is the global center for derivatives 00:26:07.910 --> 00:26:10.710 trading, home to the Chicago Mercantile Exchange. 00:26:11.109 --> 00:26:13.650 It started as a market for agricultural futures, 00:26:13.690 --> 00:26:15.990 but now handles complex financial instruments 00:26:15.990 --> 00:26:20.589 worldwide. Law, medicine, tech, logistics. It 00:26:20.589 --> 00:26:22.809 all clusters heavily there, driving the vast 00:26:22.809 --> 00:26:25.509 majority of the state's GDP. OK, let's dive into 00:26:25.509 --> 00:26:28.630 what you call the most astonishing economic contradiction. 00:26:29.509 --> 00:26:33.720 The coal paradox. Illinois is sitting on geological 00:26:33.720 --> 00:26:36.140 wealth, but it imports energy. This is maybe 00:26:36.140 --> 00:26:38.960 the most glaring paradox of all. Illinois has 00:26:38.960 --> 00:26:42.460 an estimated 211 billion tons of bituminous coal. 00:26:42.720 --> 00:26:45.019 According to the Illinois State Geological Survey, 00:26:45.200 --> 00:26:47.559 the total heating value of this reserve is greater 00:26:47.559 --> 00:26:49.660 than the estimated oil deposits in the entire 00:26:49.660 --> 00:26:52.339 Arabian Peninsula. That's an incredible amount 00:26:52.339 --> 00:26:54.460 of energy. It is one of the world's great energy 00:26:54.460 --> 00:26:56.240 reserves. So why aren't they running their power 00:26:56.240 --> 00:26:58.880 plants on that cheap local fuel? The chemical 00:26:58.880 --> 00:27:01.829 composition is the problem. Illinois coal is 00:27:01.829 --> 00:27:05.630 notoriously high in sulfur. And when you burn 00:27:05.630 --> 00:27:08.450 high sulfur coal, it releases large amounts of 00:27:08.450 --> 00:27:11.910 sulfur dioxide, which causes acid rain and is 00:27:11.910 --> 00:27:14.289 subject to really stringent federal environmental 00:27:14.289 --> 00:27:16.509 regulations. And the power plants aren't equipped 00:27:16.509 --> 00:27:19.250 for it. Many of the older Illinois power plants 00:27:19.250 --> 00:27:22.150 lack the sophisticated equipment, the scrubbers, 00:27:22.289 --> 00:27:24.710 needed to process those high sulfur coal emissions 00:27:24.710 --> 00:27:27.589 efficiently or affordably. So it's actually cheaper 00:27:27.589 --> 00:27:29.970 to ship coal across the country than to scrub 00:27:29.970 --> 00:27:32.880 their own. Precisely. It became far more cost 00:27:32.880 --> 00:27:35.500 effective for Illinois utilities to import millions 00:27:35.500 --> 00:27:38.920 of tons of low sulfur coal from Wyoming's Powder 00:27:38.920 --> 00:27:41.900 River Basin. So most of the coal produced in 00:27:41.900 --> 00:27:43.940 Illinois is exported to other places that have 00:27:43.940 --> 00:27:46.660 the right technology, while Illinois itself imports 00:27:46.660 --> 00:27:49.160 cleaner coal. Which has devastated local mining 00:27:49.160 --> 00:27:51.480 towns. Absolutely. The ones that relied on selling 00:27:51.480 --> 00:27:53.579 their fuel domestically. And offsetting this 00:27:53.579 --> 00:27:56.420 fossil fuel reality, Illinois has also become 00:27:56.420 --> 00:27:59.140 a leader in biofuels, connecting back to that 00:27:59.140 --> 00:28:01.859 corn dominance. It has. The state ranks third 00:28:01.859 --> 00:28:04.359 in the US for ethanol production. The global 00:28:04.359 --> 00:28:06.940 leader in corn ethanol, Archer Daniels Midland, 00:28:07.119 --> 00:28:09.859 is headquartered in Illinois. The state has fully 00:28:09.859 --> 00:28:11.759 embraced converting its agricultural product 00:28:11.759 --> 00:28:14.779 into fuel, further diversifying its energy portfolio. 00:28:15.259 --> 00:28:17.359 Okay, before we move on to politics, we should 00:28:17.359 --> 00:28:20.099 touch on the tax environment, which is complex 00:28:20.099 --> 00:28:22.559 and often characterized by high rates. Illinois 00:28:22.559 --> 00:28:25.400 has a very difficult fiscal position. It relies 00:28:25.400 --> 00:28:27.940 on a flat personal income tax and a relatively 00:28:27.940 --> 00:28:30.920 high corporate tax. The sales tax is high, too. 00:28:31.220 --> 00:28:33.559 Chicago has one of the highest combined rates 00:28:33.559 --> 00:28:36.700 for a major US city. And on top of that, The 00:28:36.700 --> 00:28:38.539 state has the second highest rate of real estate 00:28:38.539 --> 00:28:40.960 tax in the entire country. Which is an immense 00:28:40.960 --> 00:28:43.359 burden on property owners. It is, and it's the 00:28:43.359 --> 00:28:45.960 tradeoff. Illinois has the third most interstate 00:28:45.960 --> 00:28:48.440 mileage in the U .S. and the most primary interstates 00:28:48.440 --> 00:28:51.220 passing through it, 13 of them. But it also ranks 00:28:51.220 --> 00:28:53.559 high in miles of toll roads, which just shows 00:28:53.559 --> 00:28:55.759 the high cost of maintaining that central hub 00:28:55.759 --> 00:28:58.900 status. The attempted fix to broaden the tax 00:28:58.900 --> 00:29:01.839 base, the graduated income tax proposal, failed 00:29:01.839 --> 00:29:04.940 in 2020, which is the perfect segue to the state's 00:29:04.940 --> 00:29:07.299 deep political divides. Let's turn our attention 00:29:07.299 --> 00:29:09.460 to the people in the politics, because this is 00:29:09.460 --> 00:29:11.420 where Illinois truly lives up to its billing 00:29:11.420 --> 00:29:14.220 as a microcosm of America. It is, you could argue, 00:29:14.380 --> 00:29:17.579 the Midwest's most diverse state. The demographics 00:29:17.579 --> 00:29:20.660 reflect decades of both internal migration and 00:29:20.660 --> 00:29:23.119 global immigration. And while the population 00:29:23.119 --> 00:29:26.380 dips slightly in the 2020 census, that diversity 00:29:26.380 --> 00:29:29.900 is foundational. It leads to stark cultural and 00:29:29.900 --> 00:29:32.640 economic contrasts, often clustered geographically. 00:29:33.220 --> 00:29:36.279 Cook County, home to Chicago, is the only majority 00:29:36.279 --> 00:29:38.539 minority county in the state. Let's break down 00:29:38.539 --> 00:29:40.119 the major groups, starting with the Hispanic 00:29:40.119 --> 00:29:42.740 and Latino population. They're the largest minority 00:29:42.740 --> 00:29:45.940 group in Illinois, about 19 .0 % of the state. 00:29:46.029 --> 00:29:49.490 And a crucial detail here is their origin. Over 00:29:49.490 --> 00:29:52.250 75 % of the Hispanic population is Mexican -American. 00:29:52.349 --> 00:29:54.410 That gives Illinois the largest population of 00:29:54.410 --> 00:29:56.430 Mexican descent outside of the western United 00:29:56.430 --> 00:29:58.849 States. And they're concentrated mostly in Chicagoland. 00:29:59.210 --> 00:30:01.849 Mostly, yes. Suburban Kane County, just west 00:30:01.849 --> 00:30:03.970 of Cook, has the highest concentration at 33 00:30:03.970 --> 00:30:07.089 .5%. But despite their numbers, this group faces 00:30:07.089 --> 00:30:09.750 really severe economic challenges. They report 00:30:09.750 --> 00:30:12.349 the lowest per capita income of any major group 00:30:12.349 --> 00:30:17.250 in the state, around $28 ,541. Next, the Black 00:30:17.250 --> 00:30:20.029 and African American population, the second largest 00:30:20.029 --> 00:30:23.440 minority group. They make up about 13 .3 % of 00:30:23.440 --> 00:30:26.299 the state. And while the majority live in Chicagoland, 00:30:26.619 --> 00:30:29.019 they are heavily concentrated in specific areas, 00:30:29.220 --> 00:30:32.400 largely due to historical and ongoing residential 00:30:32.400 --> 00:30:35.259 segregation. Our sources highlighted a really 00:30:35.259 --> 00:30:38.039 alarming statistic about that segregation. Yes. 00:30:38.519 --> 00:30:41.359 The Chicago metropolitan area has the third highest 00:30:41.359 --> 00:30:43.559 level of black -white residential segregation 00:30:43.559 --> 00:30:46.839 among major metro areas in the entire country. 00:30:47.160 --> 00:30:49.920 And this is a profound structural issue that 00:30:49.920 --> 00:30:52.000 concentrates poverty and limits opportunities, 00:30:52.359 --> 00:30:54.460 mostly on the south and west sides of Chicago 00:30:54.460 --> 00:30:57.299 and in specific south suburbs. But the black 00:30:57.299 --> 00:30:59.299 population is also historically important down 00:30:59.299 --> 00:31:00.950 in southern Illinois, right? That's correct. 00:31:01.109 --> 00:31:03.769 The Little Egypt region, especially Pulaski and 00:31:03.769 --> 00:31:06.309 Alexander counties, has a significant black population 00:31:06.309 --> 00:31:09.849 around 32 % in both counties. Economically, this 00:31:09.849 --> 00:31:11.789 community carries the highest overall poverty 00:31:11.789 --> 00:31:14.930 rate in the state at 23%. And moving to the fastest 00:31:14.930 --> 00:31:17.539 growing demographic. Asian Americans. Making 00:31:17.539 --> 00:31:20.579 up 7 .1 % of the population, the Asian -American 00:31:20.579 --> 00:31:23.420 community is also the most affluent. They have 00:31:23.420 --> 00:31:25.900 the highest per capita income of any group in 00:31:25.900 --> 00:31:30.480 the state at $54 ,122. The largest groups are 00:31:30.480 --> 00:31:33.500 Indian, Filipino, and Chinese. And what's interesting 00:31:33.500 --> 00:31:36.559 is their geographical concentration. That's not 00:31:36.559 --> 00:31:38.819 in the city. Right. The highest share is in suburban 00:31:38.819 --> 00:31:41.200 Dupich County, where they represent almost 15 00:31:41.200 --> 00:31:43.819 % of the population. And then finally a word 00:31:43.819 --> 00:31:46.099 on the European ancestry that still forms the 00:31:46.099 --> 00:31:48.630 numerical majority. German ancestry is the single 00:31:48.630 --> 00:31:51.589 largest group at 15 .8%, spanning both northern 00:31:51.589 --> 00:31:54.390 and southwestern Illinois. And Illinois has the 00:31:54.390 --> 00:31:56.890 largest Polish -American population of any state, 00:31:57.049 --> 00:32:00.210 over 750 ,000 residents, largely in Chicago. 00:32:00.349 --> 00:32:03.029 We also see a significant Middle Eastern population, 00:32:03.390 --> 00:32:05.089 including the largest Palestinian population 00:32:05.089 --> 00:32:07.349 in the U .S., clustered in the southern Chicago 00:32:07.349 --> 00:32:09.509 suburbs. When you look at those income figures, 00:32:09.690 --> 00:32:12.230 the racial income inequality just leaps off the 00:32:12.230 --> 00:32:15.000 page. Asian and white incomes are nearly double 00:32:15.000 --> 00:32:17.519 that of black and Hispanic residents. And this 00:32:17.519 --> 00:32:20.619 stark economic disparity, it feeds directly into 00:32:20.619 --> 00:32:22.480 the political landscape, which has undergone 00:32:22.480 --> 00:32:25.339 a radical transformation. It really has. For 00:32:25.339 --> 00:32:27.400 decades, Illinois was a political bellwether. 00:32:27.460 --> 00:32:29.279 It often voted for the national presidential 00:32:29.279 --> 00:32:32.859 winner. Today, that's gone. Illinois is now a 00:32:32.859 --> 00:32:35.480 solid, non -negotiable Democratic stronghold, 00:32:35.579 --> 00:32:38.519 part of the national blue wall. So what exactly 00:32:38.519 --> 00:32:41.440 drove that decisive shift from bellwether to 00:32:41.440 --> 00:32:44.230 blue bastion? It really boils down to suburban 00:32:44.230 --> 00:32:47.029 realignment. The Democratic dominance starts 00:32:47.029 --> 00:32:49.450 with overwhelming votes from Cook County, of 00:32:49.450 --> 00:32:52.009 course. But the real change came from the collar 00:32:52.009 --> 00:32:55.450 counties, DuPage, Lake, Will, McHenry and Kane. 00:32:55.769 --> 00:32:58.750 These wealthy, educated suburbs were historically 00:32:58.750 --> 00:33:00.950 the bedrock of the Republican Party in Illinois. 00:33:01.210 --> 00:33:03.960 And they just started shifting left. Why? As 00:33:03.960 --> 00:33:06.420 the National Republican Party embraced more socially 00:33:06.420 --> 00:33:09.099 conservative positions, these affluent, educated, 00:33:09.359 --> 00:33:12.180 and increasingly diverse suburban voters started 00:33:12.180 --> 00:33:14.619 prioritizing social issues. They broke away from 00:33:14.619 --> 00:33:17.339 traditional fiscal conservatism, and that cemented 00:33:17.339 --> 00:33:19.660 Democratic control statewide. This polarization 00:33:19.660 --> 00:33:22.000 is the engine of the state's modern politics, 00:33:22.220 --> 00:33:25.000 and it has completely isolated the heavily Republican 00:33:25.000 --> 00:33:27.480 rural downstate region. You feel politically 00:33:27.480 --> 00:33:30.079 powerless. Completely dominated by Chicago. Despite 00:33:30.079 --> 00:33:33.500 that current polarization. Illinois still boasts 00:33:33.500 --> 00:33:36.359 an impressive presidential pedigree. An incredibly 00:33:36.359 --> 00:33:39.099 strong one. Three U .S. presidents were elected 00:33:39.099 --> 00:33:41.380 while they were residents of Illinois. Abraham 00:33:41.380 --> 00:33:44.519 Lincoln, obviously. Ulysses S. Grant, who was 00:33:44.519 --> 00:33:46.960 living in Galena when he ran. And Barack Obama, 00:33:47.180 --> 00:33:49.759 who launched his career in Chicago. Not to mention 00:33:49.759 --> 00:33:51.779 Ronald Reagan was born there and Hillary Clinton 00:33:51.779 --> 00:33:53.980 grew up there. Exactly. Illinois has had this 00:33:53.980 --> 00:33:56.259 outsized role in supplying national leaders. 00:33:56.500 --> 00:33:58.339 Okay, now we have to get to the state's most 00:33:58.339 --> 00:34:02.380 infamous calling card. It's pervasive and persistent 00:34:02.380 --> 00:34:05.380 history of political corruption. It's almost 00:34:05.380 --> 00:34:07.720 a character in itself in Illinois. It is deeply 00:34:07.720 --> 00:34:10.739 embedded, almost cyclical. The state has an unparalleled 00:34:10.739 --> 00:34:13.199 record of high -profile corruption that has led 00:34:13.199 --> 00:34:15.559 to a profound public cynicism about government. 00:34:15.780 --> 00:34:18.119 We've seen some incredible examples, even very 00:34:18.119 --> 00:34:20.840 recently. The successive convictions of two governors 00:34:20.840 --> 00:34:23.300 are the most staggering examples. Absolutely 00:34:23.300 --> 00:34:25.579 unprecedented. You had former Governor George 00:34:25.579 --> 00:34:28.159 Ryan, a Republican convicted of racketeering 00:34:28.159 --> 00:34:31.199 and fraud. Then his Democratic successor, Rod 00:34:31.199 --> 00:34:34.559 Blagojevich, was impeached, removed from office 00:34:34.559 --> 00:34:36.980 and convicted on federal corruption charges for, 00:34:37.179 --> 00:34:40.219 among other things, trying to sell Barack Obama's 00:34:40.219 --> 00:34:42.599 vacant Senate seat. Two consecutive governors. 00:34:43.179 --> 00:34:45.599 Convicted and imprisoned. It just it speaks to 00:34:45.599 --> 00:34:47.699 a structural problem. And the cycle isn't new. 00:34:47.900 --> 00:34:50.619 It has deep historical roots. It's a pattern 00:34:50.619 --> 00:34:53.159 that goes back over a century. We can talk about 00:34:53.159 --> 00:34:55.940 Congressman Dan Rostenkowski, Governor Otto Kerner 00:34:55.940 --> 00:34:58.820 Jr., State Auditor Orville Hodge all serve time 00:34:58.820 --> 00:35:01.639 for financial crimes. Historically, the machine 00:35:01.639 --> 00:35:04.300 politics, particularly in Chicago, relied on 00:35:04.300 --> 00:35:06.559 patronage and pay to play schemes that just became 00:35:06.559 --> 00:35:08.880 institutionalized. And that culture is often 00:35:08.880 --> 00:35:11.820 maintained by powerful political dynasties. Dynasties 00:35:11.820 --> 00:35:29.809 thrive in Illinois. Let's pivot to infrastructure, 00:35:30.090 --> 00:35:32.090 starting with education, which is another area 00:35:32.090 --> 00:35:35.139 defined by really stark inequity. The issue here 00:35:35.139 --> 00:35:37.940 is fundamentally structural, and it's tied directly 00:35:37.940 --> 00:35:40.039 to those high property tax rates we discussed. 00:35:40.360 --> 00:35:43.099 Illinois schools are funded primarily by local 00:35:43.099 --> 00:35:46.199 property taxes, not by substantial equalized 00:35:46.199 --> 00:35:48.860 state contributions. And this creates enormous 00:35:48.860 --> 00:35:51.679 wealth disparities between districts. What does 00:35:51.679 --> 00:35:55.130 that disparity look like on the ground? In affluent 00:35:55.130 --> 00:35:57.489 suburban districts, like in DuPage County, the 00:35:57.489 --> 00:36:00.110 high property values generate massive tax revenue, 00:36:00.230 --> 00:36:02.889 so per -pupil spending soars. They get superior 00:36:02.889 --> 00:36:06.150 facilities, resources, teachers. Conversely, 00:36:06.210 --> 00:36:08.909 inner -city or deeply rural, downstate districts 00:36:08.909 --> 00:36:11.269 with lower property values struggle immensely. 00:36:11.630 --> 00:36:14.250 They have significantly lower per -pupil spending. 00:36:14.590 --> 00:36:17.369 One study called Illinois, despite its wealth, 00:36:17.510 --> 00:36:20.010 the stingiest in its support for education. In 00:36:20.010 --> 00:36:22.280 attempts to fix it, have failed. They've been 00:36:22.280 --> 00:36:24.599 stymied by opposition from the wealthy communities 00:36:24.599 --> 00:36:27.179 who fear their local control and funding advantages 00:36:27.179 --> 00:36:29.900 would be diluted. This persistent inequity is 00:36:29.900 --> 00:36:31.800 one of the state's biggest long term challenges. 00:36:32.000 --> 00:36:35.119 And yet, despite that structural challenge, Illinois 00:36:35.119 --> 00:36:38.260 is home to some truly world class academic institutions. 00:36:38.599 --> 00:36:41.429 The list is formidable. The University of Chicago 00:36:41.429 --> 00:36:43.449 and Northwestern University are consistently 00:36:43.449 --> 00:36:45.750 ranked among the world's elite. The University 00:36:45.750 --> 00:36:48.210 of Illinois Urbana -Champaign is celebrated globally, 00:36:48.409 --> 00:36:50.710 especially for its engineering school. So you 00:36:50.710 --> 00:36:53.210 have this paradox of systemic funding inequity 00:36:53.210 --> 00:36:56.269 coexisting with these beacons of elite academic 00:36:56.269 --> 00:36:58.909 excellence. And finally, let's circle back to 00:36:58.909 --> 00:37:01.550 its lifeblood transportation. Illinois is still 00:37:01.550 --> 00:37:04.329 the undisputed national crossroads. As we noted, 00:37:04.489 --> 00:37:07.329 third most interstate mileage, the most primary 00:37:07.329 --> 00:37:10.469 interstates running through it. Crucially, Chapago 00:37:10.469 --> 00:37:12.789 is the nation's largest and most active freight 00:37:12.789 --> 00:37:15.989 rail hub, where all six Class I railroads meet. 00:37:16.130 --> 00:37:20.269 This dense network air, rail, water, road ensures 00:37:20.269 --> 00:37:22.690 that Illinois continues to be the essential logistics 00:37:22.690 --> 00:37:25.469 engine driving the national economy. And tying 00:37:25.469 --> 00:37:27.909 that strong metropolitan identity together is 00:37:27.909 --> 00:37:30.449 the state's rich sports culture. Sports provide 00:37:30.449 --> 00:37:33.489 this unifying identity for Chicagoland that projects 00:37:33.489 --> 00:37:36.690 nationally. You've got two MLB teams, the Cubs 00:37:36.690 --> 00:37:39.269 and the White Sox, the Bears, the Blackhawks, 00:37:39.329 --> 00:37:42.090 and of course the iconic Chicago Bulls, whose 00:37:42.090 --> 00:37:44.670 Michael Jordan era dominance really shaped global 00:37:44.670 --> 00:37:47.550 basketball culture. And beyond the pros, you 00:37:47.550 --> 00:37:51.190 have 13 NCAA Division I programs with the Fight 00:37:51.190 --> 00:37:53.750 Ingelini and Northwestern Wildcats in the Big 00:37:53.750 --> 00:37:56.130 Ten. We've traveled from the ancient power of 00:37:56.130 --> 00:37:59.030 Cahokia through that strategic engineering of 00:37:59.030 --> 00:38:01.360 the the 51 -mile border shift that created Chicago, 00:38:01.559 --> 00:38:03.659 into the heart of American industrialization, 00:38:03.940 --> 00:38:06.099 the birth of the nuclear age, and the complexities 00:38:06.099 --> 00:38:08.500 of modern demographics. And what emerges from 00:38:08.500 --> 00:38:10.619 this deep dive is a state that's really defined 00:38:10.619 --> 00:38:13.280 by these magnificent contradictions, the city 00:38:13.280 --> 00:38:16.159 of contrasts. It has the massive economic output 00:38:16.159 --> 00:38:19.159 of the fifth largest GDP, driven by immense diversity 00:38:19.159 --> 00:38:21.780 and high -value services, yet at the same time, 00:38:21.780 --> 00:38:24.340 it's hampered by a structural political culture 00:38:24.340 --> 00:38:27.239 of persistent corruption, severe residential 00:38:27.239 --> 00:38:30.469 segregation. and deep unresolved internal political 00:38:30.469 --> 00:38:32.769 and fiscal turmoil. And that leads us directly 00:38:32.769 --> 00:38:34.369 to the final thought we want to leave you with. 00:38:34.570 --> 00:38:36.989 one that really encapsulates the state's central 00:38:36.989 --> 00:38:40.289 paradox. We establish that the state's wealth 00:38:40.289 --> 00:38:43.230 and political power are concentrated overwhelmingly 00:38:43.230 --> 00:38:46.409 in the Chicagoland area, a region that relies 00:38:46.409 --> 00:38:48.989 on high value services and votes overwhelmingly 00:38:48.989 --> 00:38:52.090 Democratic. Right. And conversely, the vast geographic 00:38:52.090 --> 00:38:55.429 expanse downstate Illinois remains heavily Republican 00:38:55.429 --> 00:38:58.309 and economically tied more to agriculture and 00:38:58.309 --> 00:39:00.750 these distressed resource sectors like high sulfur 00:39:00.750 --> 00:39:03.630 coal mining. This profound geographic and economic 00:39:03.849 --> 00:39:06.090 chasm really came to a head in 2020 when the 00:39:06.090 --> 00:39:08.269 state firmly rejected the proposed constitutional 00:39:08.269 --> 00:39:10.989 amendment to implement a graduated income tax. 00:39:11.349 --> 00:39:13.590 The arguments for it were about funding schools 00:39:13.590 --> 00:39:16.650 and easing the burden on the poor. And the arguments 00:39:16.650 --> 00:39:19.469 against centered on a deep distrust of corrupt 00:39:19.469 --> 00:39:22.469 Springfield politicians and fear among high earners 00:39:22.469 --> 00:39:24.230 that they'd be taxed right out of the state. 00:39:24.530 --> 00:39:26.570 So given that the measure failed, preserving 00:39:26.570 --> 00:39:29.289 the status quo of high property taxes and inequitable 00:39:29.289 --> 00:39:31.969 school funding, what does this ongoing fiscal 00:39:31.969 --> 00:39:34.889 polarization reveal about the deep, unresolved 00:39:34.889 --> 00:39:37.230 cultural and economic identity crisis in the 00:39:37.230 --> 00:39:39.590 land of Lincoln? And what will be the catalyst 00:39:39.590 --> 00:39:41.849 that forces a political solution to reconcile 00:39:41.849 --> 00:39:44.510 the needs of its cosmopolitan core with those 00:39:44.510 --> 00:39:47.519 of its It's a question that really defines the 00:39:47.519 --> 00:39:48.099 state's future.