Ohio, the region north of the Ohio River and south of the Great Lakes,
was originally controlled by various native tribes. At the time of
European colonization, the Iroquois claimed the region including the
modern territory of Ohio as a hunting ground. However, locally, the
region was populated by several other peoples, principally the Miamis,
Wyandots, Delawares, Shawnees, Ottawas, and Eries. During the 18th
century, the French set up a system of trading posts to control the fur
trade in the region.
As a result of the French and Indian War,1754, Treaty of Paris, the
French ceded control of Ohio and the old Northwest to Great Britain.
Britain soon passed the Proclamation of 1763, which prohibited the
American colonists from settling in Ohio Country. British control of the
region ended with the American victory in the American Revolution, after
which the British ceded claims to Ohio and the territory in the West to
the Mississippi River to the United States.
Although Ohio's population numbered only 45,000 in December 1801,
Congress determined that the population was growing rapidly and Ohio
could begin the path to statehood. On February 19, 1803, President
Jefferson signed an act of U.S. Congress that recognized Ohio as the
17th state. The current custom of Congress declaring an official date of
statehood did not begin until 1812, with Louisiana's admission. So, on
August 7, 1953 (the year of Ohio's 150th anniversary), President
Eisenhower signed an act that officially declared March 1, 1803 the date
of Ohio's admittance into the Union.
Ohio was the first and eastern-most state admitted to the Union under
the Northwest Ordinance. Ohio is an Iroquois word meaning "great water."
The name refers to the Ohio River that forms its southern border.
.
