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Kaskaskia

Kaskaskia

The Kaskaskia were one of the several cognate tribes that made up the Illiniwek Confederation. Their first contact with Europeans reportedly occurred near present-day Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Illiniwek are reported to have asked the French to send a missionary to them in their home country. In any event, Jesuit Father Jacques Marquette and French-Canadian explorer Louis Jolliet undertook the journey and became the first Europeans to meet the Illiniwek (and the Kaskaskia in particular) in their own land near present-day Des Moines, Iowa. The land controlled by the Confederation was approximately the same as present-day Illinois. The fate of the Kaskaskia,and the rest of the Illiniwek/Illinois, was irrevocably tied up with that of France. When the Seven Years War (called the French and Indian War in North America) ended, the Kaskaskia and other Illiniwek tribes were greatly in decline. The original population estimate reported by early French explorers varied from 6 to 20,000+. But at the conclusion of the French and Indian War, the number was a fraction of the original. The causes of decline are many and varied (See the work of Emily Blasingham, Indiana University, published in Ethnohistory journal). The Illiniwek made war with their French allies against the most formidable native nations: to the east, the Iroquois; to the northwest, the Sioux and the Fox; to the south, the Chickasaw and Cherokee; to the west, the Osage Nation. Add to combat losses the inevitable losses to European diseases. In 1796, a Peoria warrior killed Pontiac, which brought down upon the Kaskaskia and other Illinois tribes, the wrath of the Great Lakes tribes. The Ottawa, Sauk, Fox, Miami, Kickapoo and Potawatomi devastated the Illiniwek and occupied their old tribal range along the Illinois River. The remnant of the Kaskaskia live in Oklahoma under the banner of the Confederated Peoria Tribe of Oklahoma. It is believed that not a single full-blooded Illinois Indian lives today. The term "Kaskaskia" lives on in Illinois. The Kaskaskia River, whose headwaters are near Champaign in central Illinois, and whose mouth is near Chester, Illinois, still carries the name of this native nation who once settled throughout its estuarial plain. Kaskaskia College is located in Centralia, Illinois, in Marion County. The city of DuQuoin, Illinois, carries the name of Jean Baptiste DuQuoin (sometimes DuQuoigne), a notable Kaskaskia chieftain of their later history. Kaskaskia, Illinois was the first capital of Illinois. Also the Kaskaskia Baptist Association located in Patoka, Illinois carries this name. Category:Native American tribes

Illiniwek Confederation

:You may be looking for Chief Illiniwek, a symbol of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. :For the passenger train called the Illini, see Illini (Amtrak). The Illiniwek (also known as the Illini, Illinois, Illinois Confederacy, etc.) were a group of six Native American tribes in the upper Mississippi River valley of North America. The most populous tribes were the Kaskaskia, the Cahokia, the Peoria, the Tamaroa, Moingwena and the Michigamea. When French explorers first journeyed to the region from Canada in the early 17th century, they found the area inhabited by a vigorous, populous Algonquian nation who called themselves "Illiniwek", which means "men." This the French rendered as "Illinois". What we know today about the Illiniwek comes to us mainly from the Jesuit Relations. The Relations were the reports which these missionaries who lived among the various native nations sent back to their superiors in France. In the seventeenth century, the Illiniwek suffered due to a combination of European diseases and the expansion of the Iroquois into the eastern Great Lakes region. The Iroquois had hunted out their traditional lands and sought more productive hunting and trapping areas. They needed these furs to purchase European trade goods, upon which they had grown dependent. When the Ottawa war chief Pontiac was murdered in Cahokia by an Illiniwek warrior, terrible retribution followed. Several northern tribes flooded into Illiniwek lands. The Potawatomi, Miami, Kickapoo, Sauk, and Fox drove out the Illinois and occupied their erstwhile lands. They all but destroyed the Illiniwek Confederacy. They drove the remnant into what is today southern Illinois. By the early nineteenth century, this area was somewhat settled by United States pioneers from the eastern U.S. As a consequence of Indian Removal, the descendents of the Illiniwek are now found in Ottawa County, Oklahoma as the Confederated Peoria Tribe.

External links


- [http://dig.lib.niu.edu/prairiefire/insucc.html Illinois Confederacy]
- [http://www.museum.state.il.us/muslink/nat_amer/post/htmls/il.html The Illinois]
- [http://www.usgennet.org/usa/mo/county/stlouis/native/1stcontact.htm Tribes of the Illinois/Missouri Region at First]
- [http://http://www.members.tripod.com/~RFester/html The Illini: Lords of the Mississippi Valley Contact (1673)]
- [http://www.rootsweb.com/~itquapaw/illinois/illinois.html The Tribes of The Illinois Confederacy]
- [http://www.peoriatribe.com/ Peoria Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma] Category:Native American tribes Category:Native American history



Jesuit

The Society of Jesus (Societas Iesu/Jesu (S.J.) in Latin) is a Christian religious order of the Roman Catholic Church in direct service to the Pope. Its members, known as Jesuits since the Protestant Reformation, have been called "Footsoldiers of the Pope" in part because the Society's founder, Saint Ignatius of Loyola, was a Basque nobleman and soldier before his conversion. Today, Jesuits number over 20,000 and comprise the largest religious order in the Catholic Church. Jesuit priests and brothers are engaged in ministries in 112 nations on six continents. Their work is focused on education and intellectual contributions, primarily at colleges and universities, as well as missionary work and ministry in human rights and social justice. The Society of Jesus is consecrated under the patronage of Madonna Della Strada, a title of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and is led by a Superior General, presently Peter Hans Kolvenbach. The General Curia of the Society is headquartered in Rome. Its historic complex of buildings includes the Church of the Gesu, the Jesuit Mother Church.

Foundation

Mother Church On August 15, 1534, Ignatius (born Iñigo López de Loyola) and six other students (Francis Xavier, a fellow Basque, Alfonso Salmeron, James Lainez, and Nicholas Bobadilla, Spaniards, Peter Faber from France and Simon Rodrigues, a Portuguese) met in Montmartre outside Paris, probably near the modern Chapel of St Denys, Rue Antoinette, and binding themselves by a vow of poverty and chastity, founded the Society of Jesus – to "enter upon hospital and missionary work in Jerusalem, or to go without questioning wherever the pope might direct". In 1537 they travelled to Italy to seek papal approval for their order. Pope Paul III gave them a commendation, and permitted them to be ordained priests. They were ordained at Venice by the bishop of Arbe (June 24). They devoted themselves to preaching and charitable work in Italy, as the renewed war between the emperor, Venice, the pope and the Ottoman Empire rendered any journey to Jerusalem inadvisable. With Faber and Lainez, Ignatius made his way to Rome in October 1538, to have the pope approve the constitution of the new order. A congregation of cardinals reported favorably upon the constitution presented, and Paul III confirmed the order through the bull Regimini militantis (September 27, 1540), but limited the number of its members to sixty. This limitation was removed through the bull Injunctum nobis (March 14, 1543). Ignatius was chosen as the first superior-general. He sent his companions as missionaries around Europe to create schools, colleges, and seminaries. Ignatius wrote the Jesuit Constitutions, adopted in 1554, which created a monarchical organization and stressed absolute self-abnegation and obedience to Pope and superiors (perinde ac cadaver, "[well-disciplined] like a corpse" as Ignatius put it). His main principle became the unofficial Jesuit motto: Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam ("for the greater glory of God"). This phrase is designed to reflect the idea that any work that is not evil can be meritorious for the spiritual life if it is performed with this intention, even things considered normally indifferent. The Society of Jesus is classified among institutes as a mendicant order of clerks regular, that is, a body of priests organized for apostolic work, following a religious rule, and relying on alms, or donations, for support.

The name "Jesuit"

The term "Jesuit" (of fifteenth-century origin, meaning one who used too frequently or appropriated the name of Jesus), was first applied to the Society in reproach (1544-52), and was never employed by its founder, though members and friends of the Society in time accepted the name in its positive meaning.

Early works

52 The Jesuits were founded just before the Counter-Reformation, a movement whose purpose was to reform the Roman Catholic Church from within and to counter the Protestant Reformers, whose teachings were spreading throughout Catholic Europe. As part of their service to the Roman Church, the Jesuits encouraged people to continue their obedience both to scripture and also Roman Catholic doctrine. Ignatius himself used hyperbole when he wrote the following sentence: :"I will believe that the white that I see is black if the hierarchical Church so defines it." But his hyperbole relativizes propositional claims defined by the hierarchical Church. For him, the important things in life are not propositional definitions, but the spiritual movements within oneself. Ignatius and the early Jesuits did recognize, though, that the hierarchical Church was in dire need of reform, and some of their greatest struggles were against the corruption, venality, and spiritual lassitude within the Roman Catholic Church. As a result, in spite of their loyalty, Ignatius and his successors often tangled with the pope and the Roman Catholic Curia. Over the 450 years since its founding, the Society has both been called the papal "elite troops" and been forced into suppression. St. Ignatius and the Jesuits who followed him believed that the reform of the Church had to begin with the conversion of an individual’s heart. One of the main tools the Jesuits have used to bring about this conversion has been the Ignatian retreat, called the Spiritual Exercises. During a four-week period of silence, individuals undergo a series of directed meditations on the life of Christ. During this period, they meet regularly with a spiritual director, who helps them understand whatever call or message God has offered in their meditations. The retreat follows a Purgative-Illuminative-Unitive pattern in the tradition of the mysticism of John Cassian and the Desert Fathers. Ignatius' innovation was to make this style of contemplative mysticism available to all people in active life, and to use it as a means of rebuilding the spiritual life of the Church. The Jesuits’ contributions to the late Renaissance were significant in their roles both as a missionary order and as the first religious order to operate colleges and universities as a principal and distinct ministry. By the time of Ignatius' death in 1556, the Jesuits were already operating a network of 74 colleges on three continents. A precursor to liberal education, the Jesuit plan of studies incorporated the Classical teachings of Renaissance humanism into the Scholastic structure of Catholic thought. In addition to teaching faith, the Ratio Studiorum emphasized the study of Latin, Greek, classical literature, poetry, and philosophy as well as non-European languages, sciences and the arts. Furthermore, Jesuit schools encouraged the study of vernacular literature and rhetoric, and thereby became important centers for the training of lawyers and public officials. The Jesuit schools played an important part in winning back to Catholicism a number of European countries which had for a time been predominantly Protestant, notably Poland. Today, Jesuit colleges and universities are located in over one hundred nations around the world. Following the Roman Catholic tradition that God can be encountered through created things and especially art, they encouraged the use of ceremony and decoration in Catholic ritual and devotion. Perhaps as a result of this appreciation for art, coupled with their spiritual practice of "finding God in all things", many early Jesuits distinguished themselves in the visual and performing arts as well as in music. The Jesuits were able to obtain significant influence in the Early Modern Period because Jesuit priests often acted as confessors to the Kings of the time. They were an important force in the Counter-Reformation and in the Catholic missions, in part because their relatively loose structure (without the requirements of living in community, saying the divine office together, etc.) allowed them to be flexible to meet the needs of the people at the time.

Expansion

divine office Early missions in Japan resulted in the government granting the Jesuits the feudal fiefdom of Nagasaki in 1580. This was removed in 1587, however, due to fears over their growing influence. Francis Xavier arrived in Goa, in Western India in 1541 to consider evangelical service in the Indies. He passed away after a decade of evangelism in Southern India. Under Portuguese royal patronage, the order thrived in Goa and until 1759 successfully expanded its activities to education and healthcare. On 17 December 1760, Marquis of Pombal, Secretary of State in Portugal expelled the Jesuits from India. Two Jesuit missionaries, Gruber and D'Orville, reached Lhasa in Tibet in 1661. Jesuit missions in Latin America were very controversial in Europe, especially in Spain and Portugal, where they were seen as interfering with the proper colonial enterprises of the royal governments. The Jesuits were often the only force standing between the Indians and slavery. Together throughout South America but especially in present-day Brazil and Paraguay they formed Christian-Indian city-states, called reductions (Spanish Reducciones). These were societies set up according to an idealized theocratic model. It is partly because the Jesuits protected the Indians whom certain Spanish and Portuguese colonizers wanted to enslave that the Society of Jesus was suppressed. Jesuit priests such as Manoel da Nóbrega and José de Anchieta founded several towns in Brazil in the 16th century, including São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, and were very influential in the pacification, religious conversion and education of Indian nations Jesuit mission in China brought about the Chinese Rites controversy in the early 18th century. Jesuit scholars working in these foreign missions to the "heathens" were very important in understanding their unknown languages and strived for producing Latinicized grammars and dictionaries, the first organized efforts at linguistics. This was done, for instance, for Japanese (see Nippo jisho also known as Vocabvlario da Lingoa de Iapam, a Japanese-Portuguese dictionary written 1603) and Tupi-Guarani (a language group of South American aborigines).

Suppression and Restoration

Tupi-Guarani See article Suppression of the Jesuits The Suppression of the Jesuits in Portugal, France, the Two Sicilies, Parma and the Spanish Empire by 1767 was troubling to the Society's defender, Pope Clement XIII. Following a decree signed by Pope Clement XIV in July 1773, the Jesuits were suppressed in all countries (other than Russia, where the Russian Orthodox government refused to recognize papal authority). Because millions of Catholics (including many Jesuits) lived in the Polish western provinces of the Russian Empire, the Society was able to maintain its legal existence and carry on its work all through the period of suppression. The period following the Restoration of the Jesuits in 1814 was marked by tremendous growth, as evidenced by the large number of Jesuit colleges and universities established in the 19th century. In the United States, 22 of the Society's 28 universities were founded or taken over by the Jesuits during this time. Some claim that the experience of suppression served to heighten orthodoxy among the Jesuits upon restoration. While this claim is debatable, Jesuits were generally supportive of Papal authority within the Church, and some members were associated with the Ultramontanist movement and the declaration of Papal Infallibility in 1870. The 20th century witnessed both aspects of growth and decline. Following a trend within the Catholic priesthood at large, Jesuit numbers peaked in the 1950s and have declined steadily since. Meanwhile the number of Jesuit institutions has grown considerably, due in large part to a later 20th century focus on establishing of Jesuit secondary schools in inner-city areas. Among the notable Jesuits of the 20th century, John Courtney Murray, SJ, was called one of the "architects of the Second Vatican Council" and drafted what eventually became the council's endorsement of religious freedom,[http://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_decl_19651207_dignitatis-humanae_en.html Dignitatis Humanae Personae].

Jesuits today

Second Vatican Council in Chicago, Illinois.]] Second Vatican Council The Jesuits today represent the largest religious order in the Catholic Church, with over 20,000 members serving in 112 nations on six continents. The current Superior General of the Jesuits is Peter Hans Kolvenbach. The Society is characterized by its ministries in the fields of missionary work, human rights, social justice and, most notably, higher education. It operates colleges and universities in various countries around the world and is particularly active in the Philippines and India. In the United States alone, it maintains over 50 colleges, universities and high schools. A typical conception of the mission of a Jesuit school will often contain such concepts as proposing Christ as the model of human life, the pursuit of excellence in teaching and learning and life-long spiritual and intellectual growth.[http://www.staloysius.nsw.edu.au/about/mission.asp] In Latin America, Jesuits have had significant influence in the development of liberation theology, a movement which has been highly controversial in the Catholic theological community, condemned by Pope John Paul II on several fundamental aspects. Under Superior General Pedro Arrupe, social justice and the preferential option for the poor emerged as dominant themes of the work of the Jesuits. Nearly a decade after the assassination of Bishop Oscar Romero, on November 16, 1989, six Jesuit priests; Ignacio Ellacuria, Segundo Montes, Ignacio Martin-Baro, Joaquin Lopez y Lopez, Juan Ramon Moreno, and Amado Lopez; their housekeeper, Elba Ramos, and her daughter, Celia Marisela Ramos, were murdered by the Salvadoran military on the campus of the University of Central America in San Salvador, El Salvador. Due to their unwavering defense of the poor, they had been labeled as subversives by the Salvadorian government. The assassinations galvanized the Society's peace and justice movements, including annual protests at the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation at Fort Benning, Georgia, where the assassins were trained under US government sponsorship. In 2002, Boston College president William P. Leahy, SJ, initiated the Church in the 21st Century program as a means of moving the Church "from crisis to renewal." The initiative has provided the Society with a platform for examining issues brought about by the worldwide Roman Catholic Church sex abuse scandal, including the priesthood, celibacy, sexuality, women's roles, and the role of the laity. In April 2005, Thomas J. Reese, SJ, editor of the American Jesuit weekly magazine America, resigned at the request of the Society. The move was widely published in the media as the result of pressure from the Vatican, following years of criticism by the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith on articles touching subjects such as HIV/AIDS, religious pluralism, homosexuality and the right of life for the unborn. Reese is currently on a year-long sabbatical at Santa Clara University.

Controversies

The Jesuits have frequently been described by Catholic and Protestant enemies as engaged in various conspiracies. They have also been accused of using casuistry to obtain justifications for the unjustifiable. In several languages, "Jesuit" or "Jesuitical" therefore acquired a secondary meaning of "devious." The Jesuits have also been targeted by many anti-Catholics like Jack Chick, Avro Manhattan, and Alberto Rivera. Among other things they point to the text of an extreme oath allegedly taken by advanced members of the order, which essentially justifies any action including infiltration of other faiths as legitimate in the name of the "greater good". The Jesuits have been accused of murdering Popes and presidents, causing wars, and toppling governments. There is also a claim common among many anti-Catholics that the Jesuit Superior General rules the Vatican behind the scenes. Proving these claims would be difficult, given the secrecy with which both the Vatican and the Jesuits conduct their affairs. In any event, the supposed "power behind the throne" is now thought to be wielded by another order, Opus Dei, with the Jesuits having lost much of their influence.

Famous Jesuits

Opus Dei] Opus Dei] Opus Dei] Opus Dei Opus Dei] Among many distinguished early Jesuits was St. Francis Xavier, a missionary to Asia who converted more people to Catholicism than anyone in Catholic history before him. Other famous Jesuits include:
- José de Acosta, Spanish Historian,Natural and Moral History of the Indies
- Francois d'Aguillon, Belgian Mathematician and Physicist
- Giulio Alenio, Italian Missionary to China, "Confucius of the West"
- Jean Joseph Marie Amiot, French Missionary to China
- José de Anchieta, founder of Sao Paulo, Brazil
- Juan Andres, Prolific 18th Century Spanish Writer
- Pedro Arrupe, Former Superior General of the Society
- Xabier Arzalluz, Spanish Basque leader, later left the Society
- Jakob Balde, German latinist, court chaplain to Maximillian I
- Abbé Augustin Barruél, French writer
- St. Robert Bellarmine, a Doctor of the Catholic Church
- St. John Berchmans, Jesuit Seminarian from Holland
- Daniel Berrigan, American Political Activist
- St. Andrew Bobola , Polish Missionary, killed by the Cossacks
- Ruđer Josip Bošković (aka Roger Boscovich), Croatian atomic physicist, forerunner of Faraday
- Giovanni Botero, Italian thinker, discharged from the Society in 1579
- Louis Bourdaloue, French Preacher and Orator
- St. Edmund Campion, English martyr
- St. Petrus Canisius, Doctor of the Church
- John Carroll, first bishop of the United States
- Giuseppe Castiglione, artist to Chinese Emperor
- Michel de Certeau, French Cultural Theorist
- St. Peter Claver, Saint to the Slave Ships in South America
- Frederick Copleston, English writer of a definative History of Western Philosophy (vol 1-12)
- Jacques Courtois, French Painter in 17th Century
- John Dear, American Jesuit Peace Activist and Spiritual Author
- Horacio De La Costa Philippine historian and the first Filipino Jesuit provincial superior in the Philippines
- Jeremiah Delgado
- Alfred Delp, German Jesuit hanged for his opposition to Hitler
- Alexandre de Rhodes, missionary to Vietnam
- Robert Drinan, only Catholic priest ever to serve in the US Congress
- Avery Dulles, American theologian and cardinal
- Jacques Dupuis, Belgian theologian and expert on Inter-Religious Diologue
- Ignacio Ellacuría, Rector of University of Central America, El Salvador - shot dead in 1989
- Peter Faber, Highly Esteemed companion of Ignatius, Apostle of Germany
- Father Leonard Feeney, Controversial Ultra-Conservative American Jesuit
- Luis Frois, Portugese Missionary to Japan, wrote History of Japan
- St. Henry Garnett, First English Provincial, executed after being falsely implicated in the 'Gunpowder Plot'
- Heiner Geißler,
- St. Aloysius Gonzaga
- Gerard Manley Hopkins, renowned English poet
- St. Alberto Hurtado, Chilean social reformer
- Eusebio Francisco Kino
- Athanasius Kircher
- Bernard Lonergan, Canadian philosopher and theologian
- Amando López
- Joaquín López y López
- Louis Maimbourg
- Ignacio Martín-Baró
- Segundo Montes
- Juan Ramón Moreno
- Jacques Marquette
- Anthony de Mello, controversial Indian Spiritual Writer
- John Courtney Murray, drafter of the Second Vatican Council
- Roberto de Nobili, missionary to India
- Manoel da Nóbrega, Portuguese Jesuit, founder of Rio De Janeiro, Brazil
- Gian Paolo Oliva, General of the Order, 1664–1681
- Walter J. Ong, American cultural historian and spiritual writer
- Karl Rahner, one of the most significant 20th century theologians
- Matteo Ricci, famed missionary to China
- St. José María Rubio, Spanish Jesuit, canonised by the late Pope John Paul II in 2003
- Thomas Ewing Sherman, son of a US Civil War Union Army Major General William T. Sherman
- Ignacije Szentmartony, Croatian mathematician and Astronomer
- Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, French paleontologist and spiritual writer
- Frans Jozef van Beeck, theologian
- José María Vélaz, founder of Fe y Alegria.
- Ferdinand Verbiest, Belgian missionary to China
- Johann Adam Schall von Bell, missionary to China
- Oswald von Nell-Breuning
- Edmund A. Walsh, founder of the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University
- Alessandro Valignano, Italian Jesuit, missionary to Japan and East Asia
- John II Casimir Vasa, king of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
- Petrus Josephus Zoetmulder, an expert in the Old Javanese language and literature
- Antonio Vieira, (1608-1697), missionary and diplomat.
- Romeo Intengan, Philippine Jesuit and surgeon by training, jailed during the dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos for his views against the dictatorship
- James Reuter, considered as the father of Catholic mass communications in the Philippines
- Jaime Bulatao, professor of psychology at Ateneo de Manila University in the Philippines, considered as the father of "Filipino psychology" See also: the Canadian Martyrs and Jesuit China missions
Note: Father Gabriel Richard briefly was in the US Congress in the 1820s, but as a territorial representative. Under guidelines released by Pope John Paul II, Catholic clergy are expected not to serve in positions of civil authority.

Jesuit institutions

Jesuits have founded and/or managed a number of institutions, notably universities, which have produced many well-known alumni. The most prominent of these universities are in the United States where they are organized as the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities. In Latin America they are organized in the Asociación de Universidades Confiadas a la Compañía de Jesús en América Latina (Association of Universities Entrusted to the Jesuits in Latin America). In the Philippines, the Jesuit universities are grouped under the Jesuit University System in the Philippines. The system groups Ateneo de Manila University, Ateneo de Naga University, Xavier University-Ateneo de Cagayan, Ateneo de Zamboanga University and Ateneo de Davao University. An affiliated grouping, Mindanao Consortium of Ateneo Universities, groups all of the Jesuit universities located in Mindanao island with the purpose of promoting Muslim-Christian unity and dialogue as well as to exchange knowledge and expertise in various academic fields.

Jesuit buildings

Mindanao Many buildings and ruins give witness to the order's construction activity world-wide. Among these are:
- Ruins of Saint Paul's Cathedral in Macau
- Ruins of San Ignacio Church in the Philippines
- Basilica of Bom Jesus near Panaji, Goa in India
- Church of the Gesu in Rome, Italy
- Ateneo de Manila University Church of the Gesu in the Philippines
- La Santisima Trinidad de Parana in Paraguay








See also


- Superior General of the Society of Jesus
- Acta Sanctorum
- Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities
- Bollandist
- Catholicism in China
- Catholicism in Japan
- Jesuit Ivy
- Jesuit pre-modern China missions
- Laying on of hands
- Madonna Della Strada
- Misiones Province, Argentina
- Ratio Studiorum

External links

Ratio Studiorum of the Society of Jesus in Rome]]

Jesuit Documents


- [http://www.bc.edu/bc_org/avp/ulib/digi/ratio/ratiohome.html The Jesuit Ratio Studiorum of 1599]
- [http://duels.doshisha.ac.jp:88/denshika/jesuit/139/imgidx139.html The Jesuit Mission Press in Japan, 1591-1610]
- [http://www.bc.edu/bc_org/rvp/pubaf/05/letter-G8.pdf Letter of the Jesuit Social Justice Secretariat to the leaders of the G8, July 2005]

Sites


- [http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14081a.htm J.H. Pollen, "The Jesuits (Society of Jesus)"] in the Catholic Encyclopedia (1912)
- [http://www.ateneo.net/ Jesuit University system in the Philippines]
- [http://www.jesuits.ca/ Jesuits in Canada]
- [http://www.jesuits.ph/ Jesuits in the Philippines]
- [http://www.jesuit.org/ United States Jesuit Conference]
- [http://www.jesuitvolunteers.org/ Jesuit Volunteers of America]
- [http://www.jesref.org/ Jesuit Refugee Service]
- [http://www.ajcunet.edu/ Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities]
- [http://www.jesuit.org.uk/ Jesuits in the United Kingdom]
- [http://www.jesuit.ie/main/ Jesuits in Ireland]
- [http://www.provindo.org/ Jesuits in Indonesia]
- [http://www.jesuit.org.au/ Jesuits in Australia]
- [http://www.sj.org.za Jesuits in South Africa]
- [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mission_(movie) The Mission(Movie)]: The Mission is a 1986 film which tells the story of a Spanish Jesuit priest who goes into the South American jungle to convert the Native Americans, who must defend his charges against the cruelty of Portuguese colonials.
- [http://www.sacredspace.ie Sacred Space]: famous Jesuit prayer site, in 18 different languages, maintained by Jesuits of the Irish Province

Media


- [http://www.jesuits-chi.org/videos/A_Millenium_Perspective.wmv Documentary by the Society of Jesus Province of Chicago (Windows Media Player)]
- [http://www.jesuitswisprov.org/jesuits_video.htm Contemporary Jesuits speak about their vocations, the vows, and the mission of the Society of Jesus (Real Player)] zh-min-nan:Iâ-so·-hōe ko:예수회 ja:イエズス会

Jacques Marquette

Father Jacques Marquette (French: Père Jacques Marquette) (10 June, 1637 – May 18, 1675) and Louis Jolliet were the first Europeans to see and map the Mississippi River. Father Marquette was a Jesuit missionary born in Laon, France, who joined the Society of Jesus at age seventeen. After working and teaching in France for several years, he was dispatched to Quebec in 1666 to preach to the Native Americans, where he showed great proficiency in the local languages, especially Huron. Huron In 1668 Father Marquette was redeployed by his superiors to missions farther up the St. Lawrence River in the western Great Lakes. He worked at Sault Ste. Marie and at the Mission of the Holy Spirit in La Pointe, on Lake Superior, near the present-day town of Ashland, Wisconsin. Here, he came into contact with members of the Illinois tribes, who told him of the existence of the Mississippi River and invited him to come teach further south. Due to wars between the Hurons at La Pointe and the neighboring Dakota people, however, Father Marquette had to relocate to the Mackinac Straits, where he informed his superiors about the rumored river, and requested permission to explore it. Leave was granted, and in 1673 Marquette was joined by Louis Joliet, a French Canadian explorer. They departed from Mackinac on May 17, with two canoes and five other voyageurs of French-Indian ancestry. They followed Lake Michigan to the Bay of Green Bay and up the Fox River. From here, they portaged to the Wisconsin River, which they were told led to the river they sought. On June 17 they entered the Mississippi near Prairie du Chien, becoming the first Europeans to enter the river. Prairie du Chien The Joliet-Marquette expedition travelled to within 435 miles (700 km) of the Gulf of Mexico, but turned back at the mouth of the Arkansas River. By this point they had encountered a number of natives carrying European trinkets, and they feared any encounter with explorers or colonists from Spain. They followed the Mississippi back to the mouth of the Illinois River, which they learned from local natives was a shorter route back to the Great Lakes. They returned to Lake Michigan at the point of modern-day Chicago, Illinois. Marquette stopped at the mission of St. Francis Xavier in Green Bay in September, while Joliet returned to Quebec to relate the good news of their discoveries. Marquette returned to the Illinois River in 1674 to found a mission among the Illinois people at Kaskaskia, and preached at Starved Rock. Returning north, his party wintered on the shore of Lake Michigan, the first Europeans to visit the site of modern-day Michigan Avenue in Chicago. A bout of dysentery picked up during the Mississippi expedition, however, had sapped his health. On the return trip to Mackinack he died near the modern town of Ludington, Michigan, although the precise date and location are unknown. Father Marquette is memorialized in several towns and rivers that bear his name (such as Marquette, Michigan), as well as the Father Marquette National Memorial near St. Ignace, Michigan. He is also the namesake of Marquette University in Milwaukee.

External links


- [http://www.biographi.ca/EN/ShowBio.asp?BioId=34519 Biography at the Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online]
- [http://puffin.creighton.edu/jesuit/relations/ The Jesuit Relations and Allied Documents 1610 to 1791, including Marquette's journal] Marquette, Jacques Marquette, Jacques Marquette, Jacques Marquette, Jacques Marquette, Hacques Marquette, Jacques Marquette, Jacques Marquette, Jacques Marquette, Jacques

French Canadian

:"Canadiens" redirects here. For the ice hockey team, see Montreal Canadiens. French Canadian is a term that has several different connotations. In general, it refers to inhabitants of Canada who are francophone (French speaking) or whose ancestry is French Canadian and who identify with their French-Canadian heritage. With the exception of the Acadians who have a distinct shared history, most French Canadians find their ancestry among agriculturalists from France who colonized the area that is now Quebec during Canada's colonial period starting in the 17th century. Franco-Canadian is a similar term but does not imply longstanding ancestry on Canadian soil. It is sometimes used to designate recent immigrants from France or other French-speaking countries. Francophone Canadians are found across Canada. Six million of Canada's French speakers are found in the province of Quebec, where they constitute the majority language group, and another one million are distributed throughout the rest of Canada. Roughly 31 per cent of Canadian citizens are French-speaking and 25 per cent are of French-Canadian descent. Not all French speakers are of French descent, especially in modern-day Quebec, and not all people of French-Canadian heritage are exclusively or primarily French-speaking. Francophone cultures are an integral part of Canadian culture and Canadian literature.

French Canadian groups

A number of distinct groups of French Canadians may be identified. The largest is the Québécois, many of whom no longer self-identify as Canadiens-français (French Canadians). Others include:
- Franco-Albertans, province of Alberta
- Franco-Ontarians, province of Ontario
- Franco-Manitobans, province of Manitoba
- Fransaskois, province of Saskatchewan
- Franco-Columbians, province of British Columbia There are smaller populations in every other province and territory, as well as in the United States (particularly in New England). The Acadians of New Brunswick and Métis are not classified as French Canadians, but as distinct francophone peoples. In popular English-Canadian and American usage, the terms for provincial subgroups, if used at all, are usually defined solely by province of residence, with all of the terms being strictly interchangeable with French Canadian. This is, in fact, offensive to many Canadians of French descent who identify strongly with the terms Québécois, Franco-Ontarian, etc., as cultural identities which are not casually interchangeable with each other. For example, a woman from Quebec who moved to Winnipeg, Manitoba, would likely be referred to by many English Canadians as Franco-Manitoban or simply French Canadian. However, she would invariably consider herself a Québécoise living in Manitoba, and would likely reject both Franco-Manitoban and French Canadian as identities. Conversely, a Franco-Ontarian who moved to Montreal would not consider himself Québécois, but a Franco-Ontarian living in Montreal. Consequently, French-Canadian individuals and communities should ordinarily be referred to by their appropriate provincial subgrouping (e.g. Céline Dion should be referred to as Québécoise, Hearst, Ontario, should be referred to as a Franco-Ontarian community, etc.) rather than as simply French Canadian. The term French Canadian should only be used when it is necessary to refer to all of the groups collectively, or where a specific province of origin cannot be determined or would not be accurate (e.g. in a historical context). There are many urban and small centres in Canada outside of Quebec that have significant populations of francophone speakers and/or residents of French Canadian descent. They include, but are not restricted to the following;
- Port-Aux-Basques, Newfoundland and Labrador
- Moncton, New Brunswick
- Ottawa, Ontario
- Cornwall, Ontario
- Sudbury, Ontario
- Windsor, Ontario
- Winnipeg, Manitoba

History

The French were the first Europeans to colonize Canada. (See French colonization of the Americas.) Their colonies of New France stretched across what today are the Maritime provinces, southern Quebec and Ontario, as well as the entire Mississippi River Valley. The first permanent European settlement in Canada was at Port Royal in 1605. The territories of New France were Canada, Acadia, and Louisiana. The inhabitants of Canada called themselves the Canadiens, the inhabitants of Acadia, the Acadiens, and the inhabitants of Louisiana, the Louisianais. Many French Canadians are the descendants of the King's Daughters of this era. After the 1760 British conquest of New France in the French and Indian War, the French-Canadian population remained important in the life of the colonies. The British, who had gained Acadia by the Treaty of Utrecht (1713), deported 75% of the Acadian population to other British colonies at the beginning of the French and Indian War. The French Canadians escaped this fate in part because of the capitulation act that made them British subjects. It took the 1774 Quebec Act for them to regain the French civil law system, and in 1791 French Canadians in Lower Canada were introduced to the British parliamentary system when an elected Legislative Assembly was created. The Legislative Assembly having no real power, the political situation degenerated into the Lower Canada Rebellion of 1837–1838, after which Lower Canada and Upper Canada were unified. One of the motivations for the union was to limit French Canadian political power. After many decades of British immigration, the Canadiens became a minority in the Province of Canada in the 1850s. French-Canadian contributions were essential in securing responsible government for The Canadas and in undertaking Canadian Confederation. However, over the course of the late 19th and 20th centuries, French Canadians' discontent grew with their place in Canada. (See Quebec, History of Canada and Politics of Canada.) During the latter part of the 19th and early 20th centuries, approximately 1 million French Canadians emigrated from the province of Quebec to settle in New England. The reason for this exodus was mostly economic, though also political. Since 1968, French has been one of Canada's two official languages. It is the sole official language of Quebec and one of the official languages of New Brunswick, the Northwest Territories, and Nunavut. The dialects of French spoken in Canada are quite distinct from those of France. See Canadian French.

French-Canadian flags

Image:FlagofFranco-Albertains.png|Franco-Albertains Image:Quebec flag.png|Quebec Image:Acadia flag.png|Acadia Image:FlagofFranco-Manitobains.png|Franco-Manitobains Image:Franco-Ontarian_flag.png|Franco-Ontarian Image:FlagofFranco-Tereneuviens.png|Franco-Terreneuviens Image:FlagofFranco-Yukonnais.png|Franco-Yukonnais Image:FlagofFrancoTenois.png|Franco Tenois Image:FlagofFransaskois.png|Fransaskois Image:Ca-f-nu.gif|Franco-Nunavois

See also


- Category:Ethnic groups of Canada

Des Moines, Iowa

Des Moines (french for 'Some Monks') (pronounced in English, Image:ltspkr.png in French) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Iowa. (Originally, the capital of Iowa was in Iowa City) It was incorporated on September 22, 1851 as Fort Des Moines, until it was shortened to "Des Moines" in 1857.[http://www.ci.des-moines.ia.us/departments/AC/Information/AChistoricalinfo.htm] It is the county seat of Polk County. According to the 2000 census, the population of the city is 198,682. Des Moines is located in the south central part of the state. The Des Moines River and the Raccoon River meet just south of the downtown and serve as the city's primary water supply. Many insurance companies are headquartered in Des Moines, including the Principal Financial Group, Equitable of Iowa, Allied Insurance, and American Republic Insurance Company. In 2004, it replaced Hartford, CT, as the number one city for insurance in the United States. As a center of financial and insurance services, the metro area appears to be well poised for continued growth.

History

Des Moines was founded in May 1843 when Captain James Allen built a garrison (fort) on the site where the Des Moines and Raccoon River merge. Allen wanted to use the name Fort Raccoon, but the American War Department told him to name it Fort Des Moines. The original origin of the name Des Moines is uncertain. It could have referred to the river of the Moingonas, named after an Indian tribe that resided in the area and built burial mounds. Others see it as referring to Trappist monks, some of whom lived in huts at the mouth of the river, or connected to the phrase de moyen in French, meaning middle, because of its location between the Mississippi and Missouri rivers. Settlers came and lived near the fort, and on September 22, 1851, it was incorporated as a city after its town charter was approved in a vote on October 18. In 1857, the name Fort Des Moines was shortened to Des Moines alone and it was made the capital of Iowa.

Geography

Iowa Des Moines is located at 41°35'27" North, 93°37'15" West (41.590939, -93.620866). According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 200.1 km² (77.2 mi²). 196.3 km² (75.8 mi²) of it is land and 3.8 km² (1.5 mi²) of it is water. The total area is 1.88% water.

Metropolitan area

The Des Moines metropolitan area consists of five central Iowa counties: Polk, Dallas, Warren, Madison, and Guthrie. The area had a 2000 census population of 481,394. The Des Moines-Newton-Pella Combined Statistical Area consists of those five counties plus Jasper and Marion counties; the 2000 census population of this area was 550,659. (Before metropolitan areas were redefined in 2003, the Des Moines metropolitan area only consisted of Polk, Dallas, and Warren counties.) Recently, Des Moines annexed certain parcels of land in the northeast, southeast, and southern corners of Des Moines, particularly areas which border the recent highway "bypass" that has been constructed.

Suburbs

Des Moines's suburbs include Altoona, Ankeny, Bondurant, Carlisle, Clive, Grimes, Johnston, Norwalk, Pleasant Hill, Polk City, Urbandale, Waukee, West Des Moines, and Windsor Heights. Des Moines' suburbs are growing economically and physically at enormous rates, especially the largest suburb, West Des Moines, which is home to the Jordan Creek Towncenter, and an enormous number of Wells Fargo institutions, soon to include their corporate headquarters. It was ranked by Forbes Magazine as being the "Number 8 Metropolitan Area in the United States," on the basis of standard of living, growth potential for business, etc.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there are 198,682 people, 80,504 households, and 48,704 families residing in the city. The population density is 1,012.0/km² (2,621.3/mi²). There are 85,067 housing units at an average density of 433.3/km² (1,122.3/mi²). The racial makeup of the city is 82.29% White, 8.07% Black or African American, 0.35% Native American, 3.50% Asian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 3.52% from other races, and 2.23% from two or more races. 6.61% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race. There are 80,504 households out of which 29.5% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 43.7% are married couples living together, 12.6% have a female householder with no husband present, and 39.5% are non-families. 31.9% of all households are made up of individuals and 10.2% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.39 and the average family size is 3.04. In the city the population is spread out with 24.8% under the age of 18, 10.6% from 18 to 24, 31.8% from 25 to 44, 20.4% from 45 to 64, and 12.4% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 34 years. For every 100 females there are 93.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 90.5 males. The median income for a household in the city is $38,408, and the median income for a family is $46,590. Males have a median income of $31,712 versus $25,832 for females. The per capita income for the city is $19,467. 11.4% of the population and 7.9% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 14.9% of those under the age of 18 and 7.6% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.

Government

Des Moines currently operates under a council-manager form of government. The council consists of a mayor (who, as of 2005, is Frank Cownie), two at-large members, and four members representing each of the city's four wards. A plan to merge the governments of Des Moines and Polk County was rejected by voters during the November 2, 2004, election. The consolidated city-county government would have had a full-time mayor and a 15-member council that would have been divided among the city and its suburbs. Each suburb would have still retained its individual government but had the option to join the consolidated government at any time. Although a full merger was soundly rejected, many city and county departments and programs have been consolidated.

Transportation

Most residents of Des Moines get around the region by car. Interstate 235 cuts through the city, and Interstate 35 and Interstate 80 both pass through the Des Moines metropolitan area. U.S. Highway 65 and Iowa Highway 5 form a freeway loop to the east and south of the city. U.S. Highways 6 and 69 and Iowa Highways 28, 141, and 163 are also important routes to and within the city. Des Moines's public transit system, operated by the Des Moines Metropolitan Transit Authority, consists entirely of buses, including regular in-city routes and express and commuter buses to outlying suburban areas. Downtown Des Moines features a 3.5 mile-long (5.6 km) skywalk system, allowing people to move between buildings without going out of doors. Greyhound Bus Lines and Jefferson Lines run long-distance, inter-city bus routes to Des Moines. The nearest Amtrak train station is in Osceola, about 40 miles (64 km) south of Des Moines. Trains on the route that passes through Osceola, the California Zephyr, go east to Chicago, Illinois and as far west as Oakland, California. The Des Moines International Airport (DSM), located in the southern part of Des Moines, on Fleur Drive, offers non-stop service to destinations within the United States, including to major hub airports such as Chicago O'Hare, Atlanta Hartsfield and Dallas-Ft. Worth International Airport. Despite its name, there are no direct flights, as of 2005, between the airport and destinations outside of the United States.

Colleges and universities


- AIB College of Business
- College of Podiatric Medicine and Surgery
- Des Moines Area Community College
- Drake University
- Grand View College
- Hamilton College
- [http://www.mchs.edu Mercy College of Health Sciences]
- Simpson College
- Des Moines University and College of Osteopathic Medicine

Culture

Media

AM radio stations


- WOI-AM 640, NPR affiliate (generally talk)
- [http://www.praise940.com KPSZ] 940, christian music and programming
- WHO 1040, news, talk radio, University of Iowa sports
- [http://www.kwky.com/welcome.htm KWKY] 1150, christian talk, music
- [http://www.1350krnt.com KRNT] 1350, "Great Songs, Great Memories"
- KXNO 1460, sports talk, Iowa State University sports

FM radio stations


- WOI-FM 90.1, NPR Affiliate (Generally music) Classical, Jazz, Public Broadcasting
- KJJY 92.5, country music
- KIOA "Oldies 93.3", oldies
- KGGO 94.9, classic rock
- KHKI 97.3 "The Hawk", country music
- KWQW 98.3 "Wow FM", talk radio (Formerly KRKQ 98 Rock)
- KZZQ Positive Hits "Q99.5 KZZQ" Christian CHR
- KMXD 100.3 "My 100", mixture of 1980s, 1990s, and current hits
- KSTZ "Star 102.5," hot adult contemporary
- KAZR "Lazer 103.3," hard rock music
- KLTI "Lite 104.1," soft adult contemporary
- KCCQ 105.1 "Channel Q," top 40 pop and rock
- KDRB "106.3 the Bus," blend of classic hits, similar to Jack FM (changed from its previous hip-hop and R&B format on April 1, 2005)
- KNWI 107.1 "Life 107.1" Christian Music
- KKDM 107.5 "Kiss 107 FM," current popular music

Television stations


- WOI 5, local ABC affiliate
- KCCI 8, local CBS affiliate
- KDIN 11, local PBS member station, Iowa Public Television network flagship
- WHO 13, local NBC affiliate
- KDSM 17 local Fox affiliate
- KPWB 23 local WB affiliate
- KFPX 39 local i affiliate

Print


- Des Moines Register, newspaper
- Cityview, an alternative weekly newspaper
- Des Moines Business Record
- Juice, a weekly publication from the Register targeted toward the 25- to 34-year-old demographic

Points of interest


- Iowa State Fair and Grounds
- [http://www.downtowndsm.info/ Downtown Attractions]
  - Iowa State Capitol, featuring a genuine gold-covered dome
  - The Iowa Events Center
    - Wells Fargo Arena Home of the Iowa Stars Hockey team and other Events
    - Hy-Vee Hall
  - [http://http://www.ci.des-moines.ia.us/departments/CD/NH%20Development/East_Village.htm East Village Shopping Area] at foot of capitol featuring antebellum atmosphere
  - Principal Stadium Home of the Iowa Cubs AAA Baseball
  - [http://www.sciowa.org Science Center of Iowa and IMAX theatre] Court Ave
  - Des Moines Botanical Center
  - [http://www.knowdowntown.com/events/farmersmarket/ Downtown Farmer's Market]
  - [http://www.principal.com/riverwalk Principal Riverwalk]
  - [http://www.desmoinesartsfestival.org Des Moines Art Festival]
  - Des Moines Downtown Skywalk System
  - [http://www.civiccenter.org Des Moines Civic Center]
  - [http://www.hoytsherman.org Hoyt Sherman Place]
  - [http://www.shermanhill.org Sherman Hill Neighborhood], historic district just north of downtown
- [http://www.desmoinesartcenter.org Des Moines Art Center] designed by IM Pei and other International Architects
- The [http://www.blankparkzoo.com Blank Park Zoo]
- Arie den Boer Arboretum
- Lilac Arboretum and Children's Forest
- Merle Hay Mall, one of Iowa's oldest and largest shopping malls
- Terrace Hill, home of the governor of Iowa
- [http://www.jordancreektowncenter.com/ Jordan Creek Towncenter] central Iowas' newest and largest mall
- [http://www.adventureland-usa.com Adventureland] a regional theme park
- [http://www.prairiemeadows.com Prairie Meadows Casino and Thoroughbred Raceway] (Altoona)
- [http://www.valleywestmall.com Valley West Mall Shopping Center] featuring Von Mawr and Younkers
- [http://www.shopsouthridgemall.com Southridge Mall Shopping Center] featuring Target and Younkers
- [http://www.ci.des-moines.ia.us/departments/PR/trails.htm Recreational Trail System]
- [http://www.ci.des-moines.ia.us/departments/PR/grayslake.htm Grays Lake Park]
- [http://www2.mvr.usace.army.mil/Saylorville/ Saylorville Lake]

Sports


- The Iowa Cubs baseball team of the Pacific Coast League, the Class AAA affiliate of the major-league Chicago Cubs. They play their home games at Principal Park (formerly Sec Taylor Stadium).
- The Des Moines Dragons basketball team played in the IBL from 1997-1998 season until the end of the 2000-2001 season. They played at Veterans Memorial Auditorium.
- The Des Moines Menace soccer team plays in Waukee.
- The Des Moines Buccaneers of the United States Hockey League play at Buccaneer Arena in neighboring Urbandale.
- The Iowa Stars of the American Hockey League play at Wells Fargo Arena (part of the Iowa Events Center).
- The Iowa Barnstormers of the Arena Football League moved to New York in 2000 and are now the New York Dragons.

Notable natives


- Bill Bryson, author
- Stephen Collins, actor
- Thomas M. Disch, author
- Rory Freeman, star on television show Survivor: Vanuatu
- Tana Goertz, star on television show The Apprentice 3
- Cloris Leachman, actress
- The McCaughey septuplets, the first surviving set of septuplets, were born in Des Moines to a couple from nearby Carlisle.
- Chris Pirillo, television personality and technology figure
- All of the members of Slipknot, especially Corey Taylor, a heavy metal band.
- Stephen Stucker, actor, best known for his role as the air traffic controller in the 1980 movie, Airplane!
- Tionne "T-Boz" Watkins, member of the singing group, TLC.
- Bill Stewart, well known jazz drummer with Pat Metheny Group.
- Steve Higgins, producer of Saturday Night Live.

References


- [http://www.ci.des-moines.ia.us/departments/AC/Information/AChistoricalinfo.htm City of Des Moines Action Center Historical Guide]

External links

Civic and cultural links


- [http://www.blankparkzoo.com/ Blank Park Zoo]
- [http://www.ci.des-moines.ia.us City of Des Moines]
- [http://www.civiccenter.org/ Civic Center of Greater Des Moines]
- [http://www.desmoinesartcenter.org/ Des Moines Art Center]
- [http://www.desmoinesartsfestival.org/ Des Moines Art Festival]
- [http://www.dmmo.org/ Des Moines Metro Opera]
- [http://www.desmoineslibrary.com Des Moines Public Library]
- [http://www.dmps.k12.ia.us Des Moines Public Schools]
- [http://www.dmsymphony.org/ Des Moines Symphony]
- [http://www.knowdowntown.com/ Downtown Community Alliance]
- [http://www.desmoinesmetro.com/ Greater Des Moines Partnership]
- [http://www.lib.drake.edu/heritage/odm/ Historic Des Moines] Drake University photo collection
- [http://www.iowastatefair.com/ Iowa State Fair]
- [http://www.lhf.org/ Living History Farms]
- [http://www.salisburyhouse.org/ Salisbury House]
- [http://www.sciowa.org/ Science Center of Iowa]

Other links


- [http://www.absolutedsm.com/ absoluteDSM.com]
- [http://www.desmoinesbeat.com/ Des Moines Beat] - Des Moines Nightlife Category:All-America City Category:Cities in Iowa Category:Polk County, Iowa Category:U.S. state capitals ja:デモイン

Illinois

Illinois (pronounced or "ill-i-NOY") was the 21st state to join the United States, located in the former Northwest Territory. Its name was given by the state's French explorers after the indigenous Illiniwek people, a consortium of Algonquin tribes that thrived in the area. The word Illiniwek means simply "the people." The capital of Illinois is Springfield, while its largest city is Chicago. The U.S. postal abbreviation for the state is IL. The USS Illinois was named in honor of this state.

History

Pre-Columbian

Cahokia, the urban center of the pre-Columbian Mississippian culture, was located near present-day Collinsville, Illinois. That civilization vanished circa 1400–1500 for unknown reasons. The next major power in the region was the Illiniwek Confederation, a political alliance among several tribes. The Illiniwek gave Illinois its name. The Illini suffered in the seventeenth century as Iroquois expansion forced them to compete with several tribes for land. The Illini were replaced in Illinois by the Potawatomi, Miami, Sauk, and other tribes.

European exploration

French explorers Jacques Marquette, S.J., and Louis Joliet explored the Illinois River in 1673. As a result of their exploration, Illinois was part of the French empire until 1763, when it passed to the British. George Rogers Clark claimed the Illinois Country for the Commonwealth of Virginia during his military campaigns there in 1778. The area was ceded to the new United States in 1783 and became part of the Northwest Territory.

The 1800s

The Illinois-Wabash Company was an early claimant to much of Illinois. The Illinois Territory was created on February 3, 1809. In 1818, Illinois became the 21st U.S. state. Early U.S. settlement began in the south part of the state and quickly spread northward, driving out the native residents. With the 1832 Black Hawk War, the last native tribes were driven out of northern Illinois. The winter of 1830-1831 is called the "Winter of the Deep Snow". A sudden, deep snowfall blanketed the State, making travel impossible for the rest of the winter. Travelers lucky enough to find shelter had to stay where they were. Many others perished. Several severe winters followed, including the "Winter of the Sudden Freeze". On December 20, 1836, a fast-moving cold front passed through, freezing puddles in minutes, killing many travelers who could not reach shelter. The adverse weather resulted in crop failures in the northern part of the State. The resulting exodus toward the southern part of the State contributed to its name: "Egypt". As early as 1840, Illinois was called the "Sucker State". There are at least three stories behind this name. The first is that, because much of the early population of the State bought land, site unseen, from East Coast land speculators, the population was a bunch of "suckers". One problem with this version is whether the term "sucker" had this meaning as early as 1840. The second story is that, in order to survive on the prairie, early settlers had to obtain water by sucking it through a hollow reed out of a crawdad hole. This also seems unlikely. For one thing, there is no documentation that people actually engaged in this disgusting practice. The early settlers avoided the prairie, and settled along creeks. Moreover, water was plentiful on the Prairie. A third version of the "Sucker Story" is that some of the earliest American settlers worked the mines in Galena, Illinois, on the Mississippi River, in the far northwest corner of the State. At first mining was a seasonal occupation, the miners traveling north on the River in the Spring, and returning in the Fall. The migration of the miners corresponded with the seasonal migration of "suckers", a type of fish. The problem with this version is that the fish today known as a "sucker" does not make this migration. Furthermore, nobody has identified any other fish that made such a migration. Illinois is known as the "Land of Lincoln" because it is here that the 16th President spent most of his life, practicing law and living in Springfield. Chicago gained prominence as a canal port after 1848, and as a rail hub soon afterward. By 1857, Chicago was Illinois' largest city.

The Civil War

During the Civil War, over 250,000 Illinois men served in the Union Army, more than any other northern state except New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio. Beginning with President Lincoln's first call for troops and continuing throughout the war, Illinois mustered 150 infantry regiments, which were numbered from the 7th IL to the 156th IL. Seventeen cavalry regiments were also gathered, as well as two light artillery regiments.

Government

1848 introduced in 2001.]] The state government of Illinois is modeled after the federal government with adaptations originating from traditions cultivated during the state's frontier era. As codified in the state constitution, there are three branches of government: executive, legislative and judicial. The executive branch is led by the Governor of Illinois. Legislative functions are given to the Illinois General Assembly, composed of the 118-member Illinois State House of Representatives and the 59-member Illinois State Senate. The judiciary is comprised of the state supreme court, which oversees the lower appellate courts and circuit courts.
- The Governor of Illinois is Rod Blagojevich (Democrat)
- The Lieutenant Governor of Illinois is Pat Quinn (Democrat)
- The Attorney General of Illinois is Lisa Madigan (Democrat)
- The Secretary of State of Illinois is Jesse White (Democrat)
- The Comptroller of Illinois is Daniel Hynes (Democrat)
- The Treasurer of Illinois is Judy Baar Topinka (Republican)
- The Senior United States Senator is Richard J. Durbin (Democrat)
- The Junior United States Senator is Barack Obama (Democrat) As the birthplace of the Republican Party, the GOP was long dominant in Illinois. This has changed and the state has supported Democratic presidential candidates in the last four elections. John Kerry easily won the state's 21 electoral votes in 2004 by a margin of 11 percentage points with 54.8% of the vote. It is the most liberal of the Midwestern states. Traditionally Chicago, East Saint Louis, and the Quad Cities tend to vote heavily Democratic, along with the Central Illinois population centers of Peoria, Champaign-Urbana, Springfield and Decatur. Rural districts tend to vote more heavily Republican, but some, particularly in the southern part of the state, have voted Democratic as well. It should also be noted that the suburban areas surrounding Chicago vote heavily Republican, although this trend has started to go the other direction in the past 10 years.

Geography

Illinois is in the north-central U.S. and borders on Lake Michigan. Surrounding states are Wisconsin to the north, Iowa and Missouri to the west, Kentucky to the south, and Indiana to the east. Illinois also borders Michigan, but only via a water boundary in Lake Michigan. Illinois has three major geographical divisions. The first is Chicagoland, including the city of Chicago, its suburbs, and the adjoining exurban area into which the metropolis is expanding. This region includes a few counties in Indiana and Wisconsin and stretches across much of northern Illinois toward the Iowa border, generally along Interstates 80 and 90. This region is cosmopolitan, densely populated, industrialized, and settled by a variety of ethnic groups. Southward and westward, the second major division is central Illinois, an area of mostly flat prairie. Known as the Land of Lincoln or the Heart of Illinois, it is characterized by small towns and mid-sized cities. Agriculture, particularly corn and soybeans, figures prominently. Major cities include famously average Peoria, Springfield (the state capital), and Champaign-Urbana (home of the University of Illinois). The third division is southern Illinois, comprising the area south of U.S. Route 50, and including Egypt (sometimes erroneously called Little Egypt), near the juncture of the Mississippi River and Ohio River. This region can be distinguished from the other two by its warmer climate, different mix of crops (including some cotton farming in the past), more rugged topography (unglaciated and older, Illinoian Age, glaciated), as well as small-scale oil deposits and coal mining. The area is a little more populated than the central part of the state with the population centered in two areas: the Greater St. Louis Metropolitan Area (the Illinois suburbs of St. Louis are known as "The Metro-East") and the Carbondale, Marion, West Frankfort, Herrin, Murphysboro, Carterville, Johnston City area which is home to a little over 180,000 residents. Collectively, all of Illinois outside the Chicago Metropolitan area is called "downstate Illinois" (even though a portion is slighter north of Chicago) McLean County is the largest county in terms of land area, at 1,184 sq mi., while Cook County is the largest county in terms of population, at 5,327,777 (both figures are as of 2004). In extreme northwestern Illinois the Driftless Zone, a region of unglaciated and therefore higher and more rugged topography, occupies a small part of the state. Charles Mound, located in this region, is the state's highest elevation above sea level. The floodplain on the Mississippi River from Alton to the Kaskaskia River is the American Bottom, and is the site of the ancient city of Cahokia, and was a region of early French settlement, as well as the site of the first state capital, at Kaskaskia.

Economy

Kaskaskia The 2004 total gross state product for Illinois was $528 billion, placing it 5th in the nation. The 2003 per capita income was $32,965. Illinois' agricultural outputs are corn, soybeans, hogs, cattle, dairy products, and wheat. Its industrial outputs are machinery, food processing, electrical equipment, chemical products, publishing, fabricated metal products, transportation equipment, petroleum and coal.

Demographics

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, as of 2004 the population of Illinois was 12,713,634. This includes 1,682,900 foreign-born (13.3%). At the northern edge of the state on Lake Michigan lies Chicago, the nation's third largest city. In 2000, 23.3% of the population lived in the city of Chicago, 43.3% in Cook County and 65.6% in Illinois's part of Chicagoland, the leading industrial and transportation center in the region, which includes Will, DuPage, and Lake Counties as well as Cook County. The rest of the population lives in the smaller cities and in the rural areas that dot the state's plains. The racial makeup of the state is as follows:
- 67.8% White
- 15.1% Black
- 12.3% Hispanic
- 3.4% Asian
- 0.2% Native American
- 1.9% Mixed Race The top five ancestry groups in Illinois are: German (19.6%), African American (15.1%), Irish (12.2%), Mexican (9.2%), Polish (7.5%), and Filipino (1.2%) . Nearly three in ten whites in Illinois claimed at least partial German ancestry on the Census, making the Germans the largest ancestry group in the state. Blacks are present in large numbers in the city of Chicago, East St. Louis, and the southern tip of the state. Residents of American and British ancestry are especially concentrated in the southeastern part of the state. Metropolitan Chicago has the greatest numbers of people of Irish, Mexican, and Polish ancestry. 7.1% of Illinois' population were reported as under 5, 26.1% under 18, and 12.1% were 65 or older. Females made up approximately 51% of the population.

Religion

Protestants are the largest religious group in Illinois, however unlike the other Midwestern states, Illinois is not overwhelmingly Protestant (less than half of the people identify themselves as Protestants). Roman Catholics, who are heavily concentrated in and around Chicago, account for 30% of the population. The religious affiliations of the people of Illinois are:
- Christian – 80%
  - Protestant – 49%
    - Baptist – 12%
    - Lutheran – 7%
    - Methodist – 7%
    - Presbyterian – 3%
    - Other Protestant or general Protestant – 20%
  - Roman Catholic – 30%
  - Other Christian – 1%
- Other Religions – 4%
- Non-Religious – 16%

Important cities and towns

Roman Catholic Roman Catholic

Counties of Illinois

Education

Illinois State Board of Education

The Illinois State Board of Education or ISBE, autonomous of the governor and the state legislature, administers pu