摘要
The borders of Illinois were established when Illinois became a state in 1818. The western border was delineated using the Mississippi River, and the Ohio River was used as the southern border. The eastern border was formed by the Ohio and Wabash Rivers plus the line along latitude 42030＇30＇＇ connecting the Wabash River to Lake Michigan. As initially proposed, the northern border of Illinois would have been 82 km （51 mi） to the south of the current longitude line of 87~31 ＇. This 2,160,000 ha （5,440,000 ac） addition to Illinois resulted in the territory having the required minimum of 40,000 people to qualify as a state. The northern border was moved to allow the linkage of the Great Lakes shipping route to the Illinois and Mississippi River navigation channels. Illinois thus gained a valuable shoreline on Lake Michigan and a location for a shipping port hub which became Chicago. Initially the transfer of goods between these waterways required a portage, but later a shipping canal was created to link the waterways. During the Civil War, Union forces used the connected waterway systems as a northern supply route to avoid the contested Ohio River.
