By the 18th century, they were part of a larger global economy brought about by European entry into the fur trade. They subsisted on agriculture ( corn, sunflowers, beans, etc.) supplemented by seasonal hunts. Many of these Ohio-country nations were multi-ethnic (sometimes multi-linguistic) societies born out of the earlier devastation brought about by disease, war, and subsequent social instability. After the devastation of epidemics and war in the mid-17th century, which largely emptied the Ohio country of indigenous people by the mid-to-late 17th century, the land gradually became repopulated by the mostly Algonquian. After the Beaver Wars in the mid-17th century, the Iroquois claimed much of the Ohio country as hunting and, more importantly, beaver-trapping ground. Indians in the Ohio Valley were greatly affected by the aggressive tactics of the Iroquois Confederation, based in central and western New York. The Mississippian Culture were close to and traded extensively with the Fort Ancient people. It is also possible that the Monongahela held no land in Ohio during the Colonial Era. The Shawnees may have absorbed the Fort Ancient people. All three cultures disappeared in the 17th century. There were three other cultures contemporaneous with the Mississippians: the Fort Ancient people, the Whittlesey Focus people and the Monongahela Culture. Many Siouan-speaking peoples from the plains and east coast claim them as ancestors and say they lived throughout the Ohio region until approximately the 13th century. The Mississippian Culture rose as the Hopewell Culture declined. The Hopewell disappeared from the Ohio Valley about 600 AD. They were also a prolific trading society, their trading network spanning a third of the continent. Their complex, large and technologically sophisticated earthworks can be found in modern-day Marietta, Newark, and Circleville. Iroquois conquests during the Beaver Wars (mid-1600s), which largely depopulated the upper and mid- Ohio River valleyĪround 100 BC, the Adena evolved into the Hopewell people who were also mound builders. 1.3.1 Rufus Putnam, the "Father of Ohio".This has led to it receiving the moniker "the Mother of Presidents". Seven presidents of the United States have come from Ohio. The state is known for its status as both a swing state and a bellwether in national elections. Ohio occupies 16 seats in the United States House of Representatives. The government of Ohio is composed of the executive branch, led by the governor the legislative branch, consisting of the bicameral Ohio General Assembly and the judicial branch, led by the state Supreme Court. Although Ohio has transitioned to a more information- and service-based economy in the 21st century, it remains an industrial state, ranking seventh in GDP as of 2019, with the third largest manufacturing sector and second largest automobile production.
Ohio was the first post-colonial free state admitted to the union, and became one of the earliest and most influential industrial powerhouses during the 20th century. It was partitioned from the resulting Northwest Territory, which was the first frontier of the new United States, and became the 17th state admitted to the Union on March 1, 1803, and the first under the Northwest Ordinance. Ohio arose from the lands west of Appalachia that were contested from colonial times through the Northwest Indian Wars of the late 18th century. The state takes its name from the Ohio River, whose name in turn originated from the Seneca word ohiːyo ', meaning "good river", "great river", or "large creek". Its state flag is the only non-rectangular flag of all the U.S. Ohio is historically known as the "Buckeye State" after its Ohio buckeye trees, and Ohioans are also known as "Buckeyes". Ohio is bordered by Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the west, and Michigan to the northwest. The state's capital and largest city is Columbus, with the Columbus metro area, Greater Cincinnati, and Greater Cleveland being the largest metropolitan areas. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. Ohio ( / oʊ ˈ h aɪ oʊ/ ( listen)) is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States.