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Professor: Roger Rosentreter

History 320

History of Michigan

Why Michigan history?

Few states have a past that rivals Michigan’s past. Almost 400 years ago, Europeans began exploring the Great Lakes. (Michigan’s earliest record European visitor was Etienne Brule, who reached present-day Sault Ste. Marie in 1622.) The interaction of Native Americans and the French, then the British and finally the Americans, has created a rich legacy.

Although some Michigan stories are depressing (abuse of Native Americans, discrimination of African Americans or natural resource exploitation), the positive outweighs the negative. Over the past 150 years, Michiganians have saved the Union, ended slavery, made the Industrial Revolution a reality, put Americans on the road, changed American eating habits and won World War II. And that is only a partial list.

In this class, we will come to understand the important role Michiganians played in this country’s development.