| Territory of Illinois | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Organized incorporated territory of the United States | |||||||||||
| 1809–1818 | |||||||||||
 | |||||||||||
| Capital | Kaskaskia | ||||||||||
| Population | |||||||||||
• 1810 | 12,282 | ||||||||||
| Government | |||||||||||
| • Type | Organized incorporated territory | ||||||||||
| Governor | |||||||||||
• 1809–1818 | Ninian Edwards | ||||||||||
| Secretary | |||||||||||
• 1809–1816 | Nathaniel Pope | ||||||||||
• 1816–1818 | Joseph Phillips | ||||||||||
| History | |||||||||||
• Established by Congress | 1 March 1809 | ||||||||||
• Military Tract of 1812 created in western Illinois | May 6, 1812 | ||||||||||
• Granted statehood | 3 December 1818 | ||||||||||
| |||||||||||
The Territory of Illinois was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 1, 1809,[1] until December 3, 1818, when the southern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Illinois. Its capital was the former French village of Kaskaskia on the Mississippi River (which is still a part of the State of Illinois). The northern half of the territory, modern Wisconsin and parts of modern Minnesota and Michigan became part of the Territory of Michigan in 1818.