"Creating the Land of Lincoln" is a worthwhile read for anyone interested in Illinois history, constitutional and legislative history, and how events and personalities can bring out about major change or stifle efforts at reform. The author focuses on the period from 1818 (statehood) to 1870, the passage of a state constitution that would remain largely unchanged for a hundred years. A fact that the author found surprising and quite important in his research, and which I found surprising as well, is that original proposed northern boundary of the State of Illinois was 60 miles south of its final location, which means that Chicago would be part of Wisconsin. Quite a few people today would be fine with the idea of Chicago and the collar counties not being part of Illinois, but as the author explains, the presence of Chicago, and more specifically the access to Lake Michigan and the building of the Illinois and Michigan Canal, was what enabled Illinois to become such a prosperous and influential state later in the 19th Century.

The author discusses in detail the various proposals and debates on the proposals for the State Constitutions of 1818, 1848, and 1870. One practice the delegates adopted was to have potentially controversial provisions of the proposed Constitution put to a separate vote by the general electorate in order to increase the odds of the proposed Constitution being ratified. At the special elections to approve the proposed Constitution, the voters would vote whether or not to ratify the proposed Constitution and also whether to ratify specific provisions to be included in the Constitution. Of particular interest were some of the proposals that failed, such as a proposed article in the 1848 Constitution that would have provided a system of common schools throughout the state, free to all children in the state, as well as created the position of State Superintendent of the schools, with county and local superintendents, among other provisions. However, the Chairman of the Education Committee objected to the proposal for electing the State Superintendent and the proposed article never made it into the Constitution.

The delegates drafting the 1870 Constitution agreed to submit a separate question to the voters as to whether woman should be granted the right to vote in the State Constitution. However, reportedly due in part to antagonizing lectures by suffrage leaders, the delegates later changed their minds, voting 33-28 (with 22 abstentions) not to include the question. Whether voters would have approved the separate question is unknown, but the State of Illinois missed out on the opportunity to allow female suffrage in 1870, decades before the 19th Amendment made it the law of the land.

I received a copy of the e-book via NetGalley in exchange for a review.

A must for those who want to know how the conscience of modern America was achieved. A well researched and readable book.

Very informative book about a piece of American history that I was unfamiliar with. A very interesting read.

The title of this book intrigued me enough to want to read it and once I had read the first few pages, I was hooked. As I progressed page by page I realised that I was a) enjoying the writing style, b) realizing that my knowledge on many of the topics raised was sorely lacking and c) learning how smart and driven some of the politicians and businessmen were in the emerging and developing Territory/State of Illinois.

From the very start, the different communities that started to settle in the areas that became the state of Illinois split the emerging state in both political and social viewpoints on a North/South split and reflected the origins of those communities. What I found fascinating was that the split went through all levels of communities and lasted for decades into what seems to be entrenched opinions with the growing city of Chicago becoming an entity unto itself.

Fortunately, there were enough men of foresight who pushed through the huge project of the Erie Canal despite contra pressures from some politicians and what seems to have been an extraordinary high cost of the project. As was proved in some very short years, the Erie Canal proved to be the critical factor that has led to Illinois becoming the powerhouse it is today.

The early years of Abraham Lincoln and his subsequent election to the Presidency set in the context of the emergence of the new State of Illinois was a perspective that I had not been exposed to before. It afforded the reader a better understanding of the man and his approach to life, the law and to people that was reflected in his actions until his untimely death.

A thoroughly enjoyable book that should be read by anyone who thinks they have an understanding on important periods of American History.