The area where Columbus, Ohio is settled was once called the Ohio Country and it was controlled by the French Empire. Oftentimes, the area was a site for battles and violent disputes regarding Native American, European, and American interests. In the early 1750s George Washington was sent to the Ohio Country by the Ohio company to survey and fight for control of the territory. This movement would spark Europe’s Seven Year’s War with the French and Indian War. The war ending Treaty of Paris when French ceded the country to the British Empire in 1763.
It wasn’t until after the American Revolution, when the Ohio Country became part of the Virginia Military District under the control of the United States. When colonists from the East Coast moved in, they found a variety of Indian tribes settled in the area. There were years of bitter conflict until the battle of Fallen Timbers and the Treaty of Greenville which opened the way for new settlements.
During the Civil War, Columbus was a major base for the volunteer Union Army that housed 26,000 troops and held up to 9,000 Confederate prisoners of war at Camp Chose located at what is now the Hilltop neighborhood of west Columbus. Over 2,000 Confederate soldiers remain buried at the site, making it one of the largest Confederate cemeteries in the North.
The city was first laid out in 1812 and incorporated in 1816. Columbus was not the original capital but was eventually chosen due to its central location. The growth of Columbus can be attributed to its proximity to major transportation routes such as the Ohio and Erie Canal. Today Columbus is the capital and largest city in Ohio and the third largest city in the American Midwest. In 2009, BusinessWeek named the city as the best place in the country to raise a family.
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