James F. KasermanSarah J. Kaserman

Illinois

I Save A TreeElectronic Books

"State sovereignty, National union"

Springfield

C 2003 I Save A Tree Inc.

The United States of America

ISBN# 0-9714299-1-X

Table of Contents

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Location 5

History before statehood 7

History since statehood 9

State government 11

State flag 13

Current facts 15

Industry today 17

State landmarks 19

Weather and land 21

Animals in Illinois 23

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State bird 25

State tree 27

State flower 29

Famous people from Illinois 31

Things to do in Illinois 33

Popular sports in Illinois 35

Fast facts 37

Glossary 39

Web sites / books for information 41

Index 43

Credits 45

Location

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Springfield

Illinois is a mid-western state. Riversform its western and southern borders. The Mississippi River is to the west, sep-arating it from Iowa and Missouri.Wisconsin and Lake Michigan form the northern border. The Wabash River joins the Ohio River and forms Illinois south-eastern boundary with Kentucky and Indiana. The state capital is Springfield. It is loc-ated in the south central part of the state.

HistoryBefore Statehood

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Colonial French troops

Indians Head Dress

The Illinois region was once thehome of early Indians called "mound-builders." Many of their mounds arefound in Illinois today. Native Americans

later formed aunion of tribescalled the IllinoisConfederacy.The Frenchcontrolled the areafrom 1675-1765.

After theFrench andIndian War, thearea washanded over toBritain. For awhile, Illinois was considered partof Virginia. In 1800, Illinoisbecame part of the IndianaTerritory. In 1809, a separate Illinois Territory was created.

Illinois became the 21st state onDecember 3, 1818. Canals were animportant part of the state history.Many people moved in to buildthem. The Illinois and Michigan Canalopened awaterway tothe Great Lakes.About 100years later, theSt. Lawrence

HistorySince Statehood

Steamboat

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Fire of 1871

Seaway openedinternationalshipping to Illinois.In 1860, IllinoisianAbraham Lincolnbecame Presidentof the U.S. Heissued the famousEmancipation Proclamation that freedslaves in 1863. Most of Chicago wasdestroyed by fire in 1871. The city rebuilt,and a World's Fair was held there in 1893.

Government

Gov. Rod Blagojevich

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New capitol building

The state government of Illinois isdivided into three branches. GovernorRod Blagojevich is head of theexecutive branch. This branch is in

charge of carrying outthe laws. The legis-lature of I llinois iscalled the GeneralAssembly. It has twoparts, the Senate

and House ofRepresentatives.The third branchis the judicial branch. This branchinterprets the laws.

Illinois has 102 counties. Each has alocal government.

The olive branch stands for peace.The prairie and the rising sun standfor the plains of the state of Illinois. Thestate's namewas placedunder the sealfor greaterrecognition.

The IllinoisState flag wasadopted in1915. The flagis white withthe state seal in the middle. On the seal,an American eagle holds a shield withstars and stripes that stand for theoriginal 13 states of the United States.

State Flag

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Current Facts

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Chicago SkylineDowntown Chicago

Over 12,419,293people live inIllinois. The stateis ranked the 5thlargest state forthe number of

people living in it. Illinois covers 55,593square miles. It is ranked the 24th largeststate in total area in the United States.

Illinois ranksthird in theUnited States inthe number ofinterstatehighways. The state is a transportationhub or center. The state's largest inlandwater-system is Carlyle Lake in thesouthern part of the state.

IndustryToday

Technology lab

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Hog

Illinois is a transportation hubbecause of its location. Manufacturingof machinery, electrical equipment,chemical products, metal products and

transportationequipment takeplace in Illinois.Mining of coal, oil refining

and production of chemical productsare part of the economy of Illinois.Publishing and printing businessesplay a key role in state commerce.Illinois is a major agriculture state. Itproduces corn,soybeans,wheat, hogs,cattle and dairyproducts.

Landmarks

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Statue of Abe Lincoln

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Lincoln's tomb

New Salem StatePark has recreatedthe town in whichAbraham Lincolnlived from 1831 to1837. A replica of the store he owned a part of, as well as the buildingwhere he studied at night, are in the park.

Ulysses S. Grant, a famous Civil Wargeneral and President of the UnitedStates, lived inGalena. Hishome looksthe same aswhen he livedthere. It is a statememorial.

Illinois hascold winters andwarm summers.Temperaturesvary greatly fromday to day in

the winter. Winds can cause tempera-tures to change as much as 20° Fahren-heit in less than an hour.

Weather & Land

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Summertime on the Farm

Winter time

The average yearly precipitation is40 inches from rain and snow. The stateearned the nickname "Prairie State"from its vastgrasslands.The southernregion isopen hills.

In the springand fall, manybirds and ducksfly to Illinois onthe way north orsouth. The IllinoisRiver Valley is

where wild ducks feed and rest duringthese journeys. About 285 kinds of wildbirds live in Illinois.

Animals

In illinois

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Bald Eagle

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Sixty differentkinds of wildanimals live inIllinois. Some ofthese mammals include squirrels,raccoons, rabbits, muskrats and mink.The white-tail deer was named thestate animal in 1982.

State Bird

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Cardinal

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Cardinal

The cardinal(Cardinaliscardinalis) wasnamed the statebird in 1929. The

cardinal is a member of the finch family.It is sometimes called a redbird. Thecardinal grows to about 8 inches in

length and has a crest of feathers onits head. It has a bright red or orangebill. The malecardinal is mostlybright red. Thefemale is gray orbrown in color.

Oak treeshave acornsas a fruit. It isa round,smooth-shelled nut with a cap-shapedcover on one end. Oak trees growslowly and live for a very long time.Oak is a hardwood and is very durable.

State Tree

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Trunk of white oak

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Oak leaf and acorn

In 1973, thewhite oak(Quercus alba)was named thestate tree ofIllinois. Schoolchildren voted in

a special poll to change the state treefrom the native oak to white oak.Oak trees grow in many differentcountries.

State Flower

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Purple violet

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Purple violet

The purpleviolet (Violasororia) wasnamed the stateflower of Illinoisin 1908. Violetsbloom in early

spring. They have small flowers andheart-shaped leaves.Violets may bewhite, yellow, blue or purple in color.

After blooming, the plant producessmall, bud-like flowers on shortstems. These produce most ofthe seeds. Theshowy flowers areedible and areoften used asdecorations oncakes.

Illinois was the home to AbrahamLincoln, one of the greatest ofAmerican Presidents. The state isreferred to as the "Land of Lincoln."

President UlyssesS. Grant was alsofrom Illinois.Ronald WilsonReagan, the 40thU.S. President,

Famous People

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Ulysses S. Grant

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Ernest Hemingway

was born inTampico. OtherIllinoisansinclude authorsCarl Sandburgand ErnestHemingway andindustrialists John Deere, CyrusMcCormick, George Pullman andWilliam Wrigley.

Illinois has asandy shorelinealong LakeMichigan withbeaches andwooded parks

that people enjoy. Illinois also has manyforest preserves and state parks. The lakesand rivers of Illinois are popular for fishing,boating and swimming.

Things to Do

In Illinois

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Canoeing

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Skiing

During the winter, many of these lakesallow for ice skating and other wintersports. Chicagois famous formuseums andsports events.The ZoologicalPark is one ofthe finest in thenation.

SportsIn Illinois

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U.S. Cellular Field

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Fly fishing

The state has many professionalsports teams: Chicago Bears of theNFL, Chicago Black Hawks of the NHL,Chicago Bulls of the NBA, Chicago

White Sox andChicago Cubs of the MLB. ChicagoSpeedway hostsNASCAR, CARTand IRL racingevents.

Professionalhorse racing,harness racing,boxing andwrestling also draw many fans.Some of the outdoor activities includecamping, fishing, boating, huntingand hiking.

Fast Facts

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Governor: Rod BlagojevichCapital: SpringfieldSize: 55,593 square miles, 24th in the U.S.Population: 12,419,293 people, 5th inthe U.S.Major cities: Chicago, Rockford, Aurora,Naperville, Peoria, Springfield and Joliet.Nickname: "Prairie State"State animal: white-tail deerState bird: cardinalState flower: purple violetState tree: white oakState song: "Illinois"State motto: "State Sovereignty,National Union"

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Fountain, downtown Chicago

Baby turtles

Glossary

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bill, the horny part of the jaws of abird; a beak.canal, an artificial waterway built forshipping, travel or irrigation.durable, capable of withstandinghard use.mammal, any of a class of warm-blooded vertebrates that includehuman beings and all other animalsthat nourish their young with milkproduced by mammary gland.

mid-western, a region of the north-central U.S. around the Great Lakes.mound-builders, Native Americanswho built mounds or hills for burialand meeting purposes.poll, the casting and recording ofvotes in an election.recognition, acceptance as true orvalid.replica, a copy or reproduction ofsomething.union, the act of uniting or joiningtogether.

Links & BooksFor more information

42Visit our website @ www.isaveatree.com

Title: The World Book EncyclopediaPublisher: World Book, Inc.Copyright: 2002

Title: The Kid's World Almanac of theUnited StatesAuthor: Dr.Thomas G. AylesworthPublisher: World AlmanacCopyright: 1990

Title: Exploring the 50 StatesAuthor: Marcie AndersonPublisher: Willowisp Press, Inc.Copyright: 1983

Link1Link2Link3Link4Link5

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Index _______________________

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deer, white-tail, 24

cardinal, 25,26canal, 9

Grant, Ulysses S., 20, 31

hub, 16, 17

Illinois Territory, 8

Lincoln, Abraham, 10, 19, 31

mound-builders, 7

oak, white, 27

prairie, 14, 22

region, 7, 22

Blagojevich, Rod, 11

violet, purple, 29

Credits

Photos credits,http://www.100.state.il.usIllinois Department of NaturalResourceswww.arttoday.com_______________________

46I Save A Tree Inc. reserves the right to remove or exchange anyphoto/illustration at any time without notice.

Written by

James F. Kaserman

Sarah J. Kaserman

Produced by

Robert Rance

Technologies

Doug Meyers

Design

Dan Mader

Edited by

Linda Coyner