WI: Northwest Ordinance set borders at the 42nd Parallel

What happens if the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 set the Illinois-Wisconsin, the Indiana-Michigan, and the Ohio-Michigan border at the 42nd Parallel?
 
My girlfriend would be a Hoosier! The horror! The shame! :eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek:

Honestly, not much. There isn't much in Michigan south of 42 and there's nothing to upset the political balance of power in IN, OH, or MI.
 
But what about the politics in Illinois or Wisconsin?

Oh, sorry, forgot about that. Looking at the map, Wisconsin would probably be slightly more conservative(they'd pick up Waukegan but this would be more than balanced out by some affluent outer suburbs and a lot of farmland) and Illinois would be ever so slightly more liberal.

This would've been enough to tip Wisconsin to Bush in 2004(IOTL he lost by 11,400 votes, it was the closest state that year).

The differences in Ohio and Indiana are a more even split.
 
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It would have interesting ramifications for Illinois and Wisconsin. A 42nd parallel border would split the modern day Chicago area in two, and the area is a natural place for a large city considering how easy it is to pass between the Mississippi and Great Lakes watersheds in that area. You could easily look at a twin city of sorts developing, though the core of the area would still be in Illinois.
 
It would have interesting ramifications for Illinois and Wisconsin. A 42nd parallel border would split the modern day Chicago area in two, and the area is a natural place for a large city considering how easy it is to pass between the Mississippi and Great Lakes watersheds in that area. You could easily look at a twin city of sorts developing, though the core of the area would still be in Illinois.

Why not Evanston(or it's TTL equivalent)? It's in a relatively good spot of it's own and if developed well enough, might be able to hit at least a million, TBH.
 
What happens if the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 set the Illinois-Wisconsin, the Indiana-Michigan, and the Ohio-Michigan border at the 42nd Parallel?

If I may modify your question a bit...
WI Congress had insisted that the northern border of Ohio, Indiana and Illinois follow the line surveyed east and west from the southern-most point of Lake Michigan (approx. 41°35N)? After all, that is where the southern boundary of Michigan Territory was set in 1805.
 
Why not Evanston(or it's TTL equivalent)? It's in a relatively good spot of it's own and if developed well enough, might be able to hit at least a million, TBH.

Evanston would be a decent spot, but it would probably end up getting merged with OTL's Roger's Park. What's now the West Ridge and Roger's Park neighborhoods used to be one separate municipality that eventually voted to join Chicago in the 1890s, IIRC. They would have access to the North Branch of the Chicago River, but I can tell you from personal experience that they would have to widen the river to make it navigable. Potentially doable, though. I have my doubt that *Evanston would end up directly holding over a million people, but I could see the Wisconsin side of the con-urban area easily holding that many.

This probably would end up affecting the developing of Milwaukee (possibly lowering the population, but who knows?), as well as the space between OTL Chicagoland and the Milwaukee Metropolitan area. While Milwaukee and Chicago are often grouped together as one urban area, there are decent stretches of fairly rural land. With a southern population anchor on the Wisconsin side, you could see the suburbs stretch further north, creating a more continuous urban area.

What I think would be interesting is if three cities ended up developing in that little corner of Lake Michigan, *Evanston, *Chicago, and an *Gary, in Indiana. The Tri-Cities?
 
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