Wisconsin enters the Union | May 29, 1848 | HISTORY

HomeThis Day in HistoryMay 29Wisconsin enters the UnionThis Day In History: May 29May | 291848Following approval of statehood by the territory’s citizens, Wisconsin enters the Union as the 30th state.In 1634, French explorer Jean Nicolet landed at Green Bay, becoming the first European to visit the lake-heavy northern region that would later become Wisconsin. In 1763, at the conclusion of the French and Indian Wars, the region, a major center of the American fur trade, passed into British control.Two decades later, at the end of the American Revolution, the region came under U.S. rule and was governed as part of the Northwest Territory. However, British fur traders continued to dominate Wisconsin from across the Canadian border, and it was not until the end of the War of 1812 that the region fell firmly under American control.In the first decades of the 19th century, settlers began arriving via the Erie Canal and the Great Lakes to exploit Wisconsin’s agricultural potential, and in 183...