Why is the geo. area including Indiana, Illinois, Ohio and etc called the "Midwest"?

Question

If you look on a map of the U.S. it's obvious this area is actually the "mideast" or "heartland" yet most people call it the "midwest". Many people from the NE are puzzled by this nick-name also, especially when Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin and etc are included, yet many news and weather reporters insist on calling it the midwest.
I heard that many years ago when the U.S. was young, St. Louis, MO was as far west as civilization went, therefor it was the "West". Later, when the west was moved farther west and eventually to the west coast the west was moved but, the midwest stayed in place. Don't know if this is true or not.

Answer 1

You are absolutely correct. It is called the "Midwest" because the Mississippi River was as far WEST as many people had ever been and the what we call "west" now was unexplored. So when the west coast was inhabited it was then called the midway point...or the MIDWEST. In St. Louis they have the Arch which is the "Gateway to the West."

It doesn't make much sense now, knowing what we now about United States geography, but at the time I'm sure it made perfect sense. It has just stuck around.

Here is more information (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midwest)

Answer 2

It goes back to the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 during the Articles of Confederation. At the close of the American Revolution (1783), Britain ceded the Northwest Territory to the new United States. It included the land north of the Ohio River and east of the Mississippi as far north as Canada.

Eventually, and especially after the Erie Canal (1820) opened up the West, this region became the states of Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Minnesota.

What was once the Northwest became a large part of the Midwest. Everything beyond the Mississippi was the West, and eventually everything beyond the Rockies became the Far West.

Answer 3

Your answer is basically right; the Midwest signifies the cultural/geographical boundary between the east (the first European-settled part) coast of the continental United States. As the country expanded westward, the west -- and therefore the Midwest -- moved FURTHER west. Although it's technically the Dakotas and our southern neighbors now, "Midwest" has never quite gotten out of the cultural vernacular as designating Indiana, Illinois, etc. because they were first. It's just linguistic laziness.

Answer 4

You hit the nail on the head with it being considered "west" (btw California did exist- hence 49ers gold rush 1849). I think the name has stuck with "Midwest" instead of "Mideast," for one "Mideast" might be confused with the middle east connected to Asia (Iraq, Iran, Holy land, etc). But more importantly, I think Midwest stuck because of how we as Americans view westward movement and Manifest destiny and the frontier, a sense of adventure, the wild blue yonder, over the horizon. It was such a part in the making of American culture and the self made man. (I am not denying that people groups were hurt along the way of this self made man discovery).

Answer 5

Hi,
You kind of answered your own question, the Midwest is called just that because it was the midway point between the East coast and the West coast.

Answer 6

It is called the Midwest because, I think, it is in the middle of the Western Hemisphere of the Earth as Mideast is in the middle of the Eastrn Hemishpere. I am probably wrong though.

Answer 7

Can't call it the mideast as that is already taken!