The first people to live in the area now called Ohio were American Indians They migrated to the area as early as 13,000 years ago By the 1600s the native people of Ohio were expert hunters and farmers That was around the time the first Europeans arrived in the area They depended on the native people to show them how to obtain animal furs which were very valuable Europeans established trading posts to sell these furs Over time some of the posts became permanent settlements The presence of Europeans was a disaster for the American Indians The settlers brought new diseases Having never experienced these diseases the native people got sick very easily and many died Tensions increased as more and more white settlers moved onto land that belonged to the native people Many American 6
7 Tribes such as the Shawnee lived in what is now Ohio prior to the arrival of white settlers Indians were killed or forced to leave in wars such as the French and Indian War 1754 1763 At the war's end Ohio belonged to Great Britain In 1775 the Revolutionary War broke out between the American colonists and the British After the American victory in 1783 Ohio became part of the United States It officially became a state in 1803 The name Ohio comes from an Iroquois word meaning Great River
In 1860 Ohio was the third-most populous state in the nation When the US Civil War broke out in 1861 Ohio played a key role in the conflict More than 100,000 Ohioans signed up for service in the first year of the war In total more than 300,000 took part in the war Only two states sent more soldiers to battle One of the Ohioans who served was General Ulysses S Grant After the war he went on to become the president of the United States Four other Ohio veterans of the war also became president In all seven people born in Ohio have THINK ABOUT IT Why do you think people consider Ohio a bellwether state What about Ohio would make it a good representation of the rest of the country 8
Ulysses S Grant was born in Point Pleasant Ohio and became the 18th US president held the office For this reason Ohio is known as The Mother of Presidents Ohio also plays an important role in elections From 1964 to 2016 every person elected US president won the state of Ohio The state is sometimes referred to as The Bellwether State 9
