In 1634, Jean Nicolet from France came to Green Bay. This made him the first European to visit this northern area that had so many lakes. The area later became Wisconsin. In 1763, the French and Indian Wars finally ended, and all the trading for the region went under British control until the United States won its independence from Britain. However, Britain kept trying to control the fur trade in the whole northern area until the War of 1812.
Even though the United States had control over the area, the Native Americans were strongly against the settlers who were making the area their permanent home. Then in 1836, the northern area was separated into territories, and Wisconsin was set apart. By 1840, Wisconsin had more than 130,000, but the people voted against making it a state four times because they were afraid that higher taxes would come. Nevertheless, on May 29, 1848, Wisconsin citizens voted for Wisconsin to become a state, so that they could have the same wealth that their neighboring states were enjoying because they had government support.
