Operation AXIOM: Yes, M!ch!gan!

Si Quæris Peninsulam Amœnam Circumspice
("If you seek a pleasant peninsula, look about you")

One hundred eighty-one years ago to the day, 26 January 1837, Michigan was admitted to the Union as the twenty-sixth of the United States. Under the prevailing conditions of the Missouri Compromise, Michigan's admission as a free state balanced Arkansas's 1836 admission as the slave state. The Michigan Territory's state constitution was approved by a convention in 1835, but Congressional approval was delayed until after the resolution of a border controversy with the State of Ohio, which saw the "Toledo Strip" awarded to Ohio & what is now called the Upper Peninsula (U.P.) given to Michigan as compensation.

Michigan is unique among the several states in being composed of two peninsulas (thus, the state motto at the top of this post). In addition to Michigan being surrounded by four of the five Great Lakes, there are almost sixty-five thousand lakes & ponds within these pleasant peninsulas. Within sacred Michigan, one is never more than six miles from a natural water source nor more than eighty-five miles from a Great Lake. The name Michigan originates in an Ojibwe language word, mishigamaa, usually translated as "large water."

I have bemused memories of the sesquicentennial celebration of Michigan's statehood in 1987, when I was in elementary school. To this day, the word "sesquicentennial" makes me smile. Last year, 2017, saw the bicentennial of the University of Michigan (Wayback Machine). Let us all look forward to the bicentennial of the State of Michigan, due in 2037, should the Good Lord permit this world to perdure.

Michigan was admitted to the Union, 26 January 1837, one hundred eighty-one years ago today.

Bonus! Song o' Michigan's Statehood
John Linnell, "Michigan" from State Songs (The Last Angry Wolverine)

Commentary:

"O Michigan! Exemplar of unchecked replication,
O Michigan! O Michigan! the tank the fishes are in,
Expansionist in spirit, in letter borders obtain,
Don't hold us back! Don't hold us back! We must eat Michigan's brain!
Now, grow back, Michigan, we miss you again!"

The Wayback Machine Tour of Michigan's Statehood
180 Years—2017