Illinois
From Conservapedia
| Capital | Springfield |
|---|---|
| Nickname | The Prairie State |
| Official Language | English |
| Governor | Patrick Joseph Quinn, D |
| Senator | Richard Durbin, D (202) 224-2152 Contact |
| Senator | Roland Burris, D (202) 224-2854 Contact |
| Ratification of Constitution/or statehood | December 3, 1818 (21st) |
| Motto: "State" Sovereignty; National Union" |
Illinois was the twenty-first state to enter into the union. Its capital is Springfield, and the largest city is Chicago. Illinois is bordered by Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan,Missouri, Iowa, and Wisconsin. It is considered to be one of the most corrupt states in the nation.
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Politics
Illinois can be viewed as having a more liberal concentration in the northeastern portion of the state. This is often attributed to the large metropolitan area surrounding Chicago. In contrast, the southern and western portions of the state are typically more conservative. The state capitol is Springfield, and there is political tension about state lawmakers who spend too much of their time in either Chicago, Champaign-Urbana, or Springfield.
The population distribution has led Illinois to lean politically to the left in most recent non-local elections. Many consider Illinois to be a liberal stronghold, especially in regard to presidential elections.
Currently, Illinois has a Democratic governor, Patrick Joseph Quinn, but has elected Republican governors in the recent past, such as George Ryan, who controversially emptied the state's death row after an investigation by Northwestern University law students proved that one death row inmate was innocent.[1] Critics charged that he only did so to gain sympathy because he was about to be tried for corruption and selling commercial driver's licenses when he was the Illinois Secretary of State.
Elected Officials
Federal
- Sen. Richard Durbin [D, IL]
- Sen. Roland Burris [D, IL]
- Rep. Bobby Rush [D, IL-1]
- Rep. Mark Kirk [R, IL-10]
- Rep. Deborah Halvorson [D, IL-11]
- Rep. Jerry Costello [D, IL-12]
- Rep. Judy Biggert [R, IL-13]
- Rep. Bill Foster [D, IL-14]
- Rep. Timothy Johnson [R, IL-15]
- Rep. Donald Manzullo [R, IL-16]
- Rep. Phil Hare [D, IL-17]
- Rep. Aaron Schock [R, IL-18]
- Rep. John Shimkus [R, IL-19]
- Rep. Jesse Jackson [D, IL-2]
- Rep. Daniel Lipinski [D, IL-3]
- Rep. Luis Gutiérrez [D, IL-4]
- Rep. Peter Roskam [R, IL-6]
- Rep. Danny Davis [D, IL-7]
- Rep. Melissa Bean [D, IL-8]
- Rep. Janice Schakowsky [D, IL-9]
Further reading
- Buck, Solon J. Illinois in 1818 (1917) excellent history complete text online
- Biles, Roger. Illinois: a history of the land and its people. (2005). very good recent survey DeKalb: Northern Illinois University Press. ISBN 9780875803494. OCLC 58526330.
- Bridges, Roger D. and Davis, Rodney O., eds. Illinois: its history & legacy. (1984). essays by experts .
- Cole, Arthur Charles. The era of the Civil War, 1848-1870 [1919]. excellent history
- Davis, James E. Frontier Illinois. (1998).
- Gove, Samuel Kimball; Nowlan, James Dunlap. Illinois politics & government: the expanding metropolitan frontier (1996) government textbook
- Grossman, James R., Keating, Ann Durkin and Reiff, Janice L. Electronic Encyclopedia of Chicago (2005) (Online ed.).outstanding reference on Chicagoland
- Hallwas, John E., ed Illinois literature: the nineteenth century. (1986).
- Howard, Robert P. Illinois; a history of the Prairie State. (1972). fair textbook
- Jensen, Richard E. Illinois: a history (1977), influential interpretation, stressing traditionalism, modernization and postmodernity
- Keiser, John H. Building for the centuries: Illinois, 1865 to 1898. good survey
- Kleppner, Paul. Political atlas of Illinois (1988) election maps
- Meyer, Douglas K. Making the heartland quilt: a geographical history of settlement and migration in early-nineteenth-century Illinois. (2000).
Primary sources
- Peck, John Mason. A Gazetteer of Illinois, in Three Parts: Containing a General View of the State, a General View of Each County, and a Particular Description of Each (1837) fascinating primary source online
- Sutton, Robert P. ed. The Prairie State; a documentary history of Illinois. (1976). primary and secondard sources
- Walton, Clyde C. ed. An Illinois reader' '(1970). primary and secondary sources
- Works Progress Administration. The WPA guide to Illinois: the Federal Writers' Project guide to 1930s Illinois. (1939), very good primary source
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