December 11 will be, for most, an ordinary Tuesday; work, school, library, coffee shop, lunch, perhaps shopping at the mall just two weeks before Christmas. Regardless of how you choose to spend your day, odds are you’ll be doing it here in Indiana. That would please our Hoosier forefathers immensely because December 11th is exceedingly important to the history of our home state.
On Wednesday, December 11, 1811, the Indiana Territorial Assembly sent its first official petition to Congress to admit Indiana into the Union. After all, in 1811, the Indiana Territory was riding high, flush with territorial Governor William Henry Harrison’s victory over the tribal forces in the Battle of Tippecanoe at Prophetstown. Surely now was the perfect time to become the newest state.
No sooner had the ink dried on the parchment of those application papers, than a powerful earthquake shook the Hoosier heartland like no quake before or since. On the night of December 11, 1811, the New Madrid Earthquake shook the Midwest. The earthquake measured between 8 and 9 on the Richter Scale. Okay, okay, there was no Richter Scale back in those days, this is just an estimate made by modern day geologists. True, it’s just a number, but the area of the New Madrid earthquake was ten times larger than the 1906 San Francisco earthquake that nearly destroyed the entire city. The quake was so large that it was felt in every part of the country except the Pacific coast. A bad omen for the prospect of Hoosier statehood to be sure.
Well, James Madison and the Congress were in no hurry to act on the Indiana Statehood petition. They had their hands full with the War of 1812 and the madness of King George III. Having heard nothing from Washington, exactly two years later on December 11, 1813, Corydon was established as the capital of the Indiana Territory. Corydon won out over Madison and Jeffersonville to become the new seat of power. That year, construction on the first state capitol was begun with the intention of it being used as an assembly building for the territorial legislature. Soon the official seat was moved from Vincennes to Corydon.
The war with Britain ended in February and the country was infused with patriotism. America had a new hero in General Andrew Jackson and every American walked around humming a catchy tune written by Francis Scott Key during the late war called the “Star Spangled Banner.” It seemed like a good time for Hoosiers to take another shot at statehood. On Monday, December 11 1815, four years to the day after the first attempt, the Territorial Assembly again petitioned Congress to admit Indiana into the Union. Surely this time they would succeed.
Another year creeped by without a word. Then suddenly on Wednesday, December 11, 1816, five years after that first petition for statehood, President James Madison gave his approval to make the Indiana Territory the 19th State. This official designation gave Indiana the ability to build a lasting infrastructure and improve roads through better tax collection. There was one last hoop to jump through, though — they had to prove that 60,000 people lived In Indiana before it could become a state. No problem — Indiana had over 64,000 settlers living here in 1816.
The mystical Hoosier date’s significance was reaffirmed when the borderline between Indiana and Illinois was officially confirmed by a joint resolution of the State Legislature on December 11, 1821. Corydon remained the state capital until the seat of government moved to Indianapolis on, yes, you guessed it, December 11, 1825. By now Hoosiers from the most powerful legislator to the lowest government clerk were well aware that December 11th was a significant day for the state of Indiana. And so it would remain until the Civil War, and the date began to gradually fade from the spotlight.
The date maintained its significance to historians of the Hoosier state, though. This fact is illustrated best by the Indiana Historical Society’s choice of December 11, 1830 to charter their organization. Several prominent Indianapolis businessmen started the society, just fourteen years after we became a state, by immediately searching out objects considered integral to the state’s history. The group’s purpose was to hold a “collection of all materials calculated to shed light on the natural, civil, and political history of Indiana, the promotion of useful knowledge and the friendly and profitable intercourse of such citizens of the state as are disposed to promote the aforesaid objects.” To this day, the headquarters of the Indiana Historical Society remains in Indianapolis.
For most Hoosiers, the 11th of December is just another day in the Christmas countdown. Depending on your point of view, December 11th is either 14 days of excitement or 2 weeks of humbug. Regardless of your viewpoint, take at least one moment out of your Tuesday to remember that while Americans have their 4th of July, we have our 11th of December. A great day to be a Hoosier.
