Why is Detroit considered the midwest when it is in the east?

Answer 1

East coast states consist of pennsylvannia and east... thus michigan (and therefore detroit) is in the midwest. i have lived on the east coast and in Illinois for all of my life... when i lived on the east coast midwest refered to all the states west of pennsylvannia. Ohio was never considered part of the east coast, and definately not michigan. I have friends from michigan and they don't consider themselves from the east coast, but rather from the midwest.

Answer 2

The British added new territory (that included the site of Detroit) in North America westward beyond their 13 original colonies all the way to the Mississippi River after defeating the French during the French and Indian war in accordance with the Treaty of Paris of 1763. After the US won the Revolutionary War, the Treaty of Paris of 1783 transferred these British lands over to the United States. The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 created a new U.S. territory that was west of the 13 original states, north of the Ohio River, east of the Mississippi River, and south of the Great Lakes. The territory was simply called the Northwest Territory. Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin and a chunk of northeast Minnesota were carved from this territory. So the Midwest was once known as the Northwest. Of course we added more territory with the Louisiana purchase in 1803, pushing the northwest even further away from the original 13 states. With the addition of Oregon Country in 1848, the US now had a Pacific Northwest. So, how does one refer to the area covered by the old Northwest Territory and some of the northern parts of the old Louisiana Purchase that were further west than the Northwest Territory after the northern US boundaries stretched all the way to the Pacific Coast? The Midwest. At no time in US history was Detroit, or Michigan, or any of those states in the old Northwest Territory in a region that included the word "east" in it's name. That's why Detroit has never been labeled as "east."

Answer 3

The term "midwest" dates from the time when the Mississippi was roughly the western boundary of the US. Thus anything beyond the Appalachians was the "west" and Ohio, Indiana, Illinois were "midwest." Funny how it stuck, it doesn't make much sense now.

Answer 4

I once lived near Detroit and I never could figure that out either. The answers here don't make any sense either but here's a star for ya anyway

Answer 5

The "midwest" was a terminology that was developed by easterners who thought that everything west of the 13 original colonies was west, and that anything beyond the Mississippi was way-west.

Answer 6

Well, if you live on the east coast, Detroit is west of you. Not totally west, just mid-west.
It's like, Why is Asia the East, when it is clearly a shorter distance to the West. Answer: Asia is East of Europe. Sailors headed west hit us, not asia.