WI Michigan gets Toledo and Wisconsin gets Upper Pensinsula

What would have been the effects if the Toledo War had been resolved differently (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toledo_War) and the Toledo strip wound up in Michigan and not Ohio, while the western and central Upper Peninsula went to Wisconsin?

One point to note is that Wisconsin would not have gotten the entire Upper Peninsula. The eastern portion, around the straights, was already part of Michigan territory and would have remained in Michigan. This is roughly equivalent to Chippewa, Luke, and Mackinac counties. The remaining upper peninsular counties have a population of roughly 250,000, while Michigan would be gaining roughly 500,000 people from Ohio through the retention of the Toledo Strip.
 
What would have been the effects if the Toledo War had been resolved differently (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toledo_War) and the Toledo strip wound up in Michigan and not Ohio, while the western and central Upper Peninsula went to Wisconsin?

One point to note is that Wisconsin would not have gotten the entire Upper Peninsula. The eastern portion, around the straights, was already part of Michigan territory and would have remained in Michigan. This is roughly equivalent to Chippewa, Luke, and Mackinac counties. The remaining upper peninsular counties have a population of roughly 250,000, while Michigan would be gaining roughly 500,000 people from Ohio through the retention of the Toledo Strip.

As a proud Wisconsinite: Utopia :)

In all honesty, this a question that I've long thought about. I'm not sure that the Upper Peninsula is going to be more populated in this scenario. However, its certainly going to be culturally and economically isolated from its state in the ATL.

The economic benefits are going to be fascinating; and i wish I was an economic historian so I could speak more about them. In OTL, most of the mining companies in the UP were from either the lower peninsula or Indiana and Ohio. In the ATL I could see the possibility of more Wisconsin firms getting involved. This could have some impact on manufacturing communities such as Green Bay and Milwaukee in particular.

In OTL, the UP's economy was largely colonial - resources were taken from the region and processed elsewhere, meaning that much of the wealth inherent to the land was never reinvested locally. This may still be the case in the ATL - though I'm suspecting that this will be an issue which Wisconsin Progressives try to tackle in the late 19th and early 20th century.
 
Top