Why Ohio is considered Midwest?

Why Ohio is considered Midwest?

The North West ordinance region is considered as the heart of the Midwest. This region was the first to eradicate slavery in the United States. It is mentioned in the history that North Eastern United States ceased slavery in 1830. The boundary to this region in Southern part was the Ohio River which is observed as the border of freedom and slavery in American literature. The Midwest or Ohio has the primary road represented by underground rail road which was supposed to have helped the slaves to get freedom by crossing through the Ohio River.

West was the term offered to a territory in the early history of the country. The North West region was bounded by Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. The North West region stays in between the east coast and far-west and the States that were formed from this region were called North West”. In the early part of 19th century, any territory that is situated to the west of the Mississippi River was called as West. Midwest was situated to the East of Mississippi and to the west of Appalachians. After sometime, Midwest was added with Minnesota, Iowa, and Missouri. Later, the Great Plains States which included North Dakota to Kansas were called as Midwest.

Now, people of eastern Colorado, Wyoming and Montana as well as South of Oklahoma consider themselves as part of Midwest. The old North west” is now called as East North Central States” by the United States Central Bureau. The region of States that are situated west of Mississippi and the Great Plain States are known as West North Central States”. It is observed that the territory of north central United States surrounding Great Lakes and upper Mississippi Valley was found to comprise of Ohio, Michigan, Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Indiana, and Illinois. All these places put together constitute Midwest. These areas possess rich farmlands and largely industrialized organizations.