#globalchicago

Chicago started off as nothing and began growing into the metropolis it is today. This city is expanding everyday with its innovations and inventions. Chigagou was first found by the Native Americans, this is before the name of the city was changed to Chicago. “The wild-garlic place” was a place where not many people wanted to settle down in because of its marshy land.

In the late 1600’s the area was seen by Louis Joliet. He saw high potential in Chicago even when nobody else did. The connection of the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers that connect the Gulf of Mexico and the Chicago River caught his eye the most. One of the first innovations made was the Illinois and Michigan canal being dug up. This changed everything, especially the way trade and travel has occurred and developed in the past 175 years. This was one attraction that brought many immigrants to the city which led to a quicker rate of expansion of the population in the area. One of the downfalls throughout the construction of the city was the mud. This led to the almost unbearable smell in the area and that was very unnattractive to the tourists who wanted to see what Chicago was all about. Another complaint that was made was that Chicago didn’t have any entertainment. There were not any places where people who were visiting could just enjoy their time there. When the first bar was developed, it did very well but it was shut down because of conflicting beliefs and opinions on drinking alcohol.

At the time, disregarding the lack of entertainment and the odor, Chicago was the transportation capital, so you could call it. Chicago was connected to other states due to the rivers, but also the invention of trains. In modern day society we use the CTA and the Metra regularly. Ogden found it would be helpful to have another type of transportation that wasn’t water related which was when railroads were built. They had many ways of usage, but trading goods and transportation were the key uses. The only downfall was the deaths that were occurring because of the trains because of the air becoming polluted and the carelessness of those who drove the trains, where people would get hit and were killed. 

The innovations and inventions that happened during this time period were to establish the city of Chicago as a metropolis and those who helped develop the city seemed to be in competition with New York because of New York's success. Chicago wanted to be just an innovative as New York if not more. McCormick invented the reapers which also helped define Chicago as the city to receive foods, such as grains and meats. This also offered many jobs for those who are residents and kept those residents from leaving the city.

This just begins the transformation of the city we live in today. These are a few of the large innovations that is furthering Chicago’s economic growth, even though there is still a need to develop the problems of sanitation. Regardless of all of the downfalls, including the wars between the Native Americans to have this land, or the economic ups and downs, Chicago keeps thriving and pushing to make this city a central tourist spot and one of the greatest cities in the nation.