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Capital Madison
Nickname The Badger State
Official Language English
Governor Scott Walker, R
Senator Herb Kohl, D
(202) 224-5653
Senator Ron Johnson, R
(202) 224-5323
Flag of Wisconsin Motto: Forward
Geographic map of Wisconsin

Wisconsin, the "Badger State", or unofficially "America's Dairyland", was the thirtieth state to enter the union, on May 29, 1848. The capital city of Wisconsin is Madison.

The town of Ripon in Wisconsin was "The Birthplace of the Republican Party" in 1854.

The state tree is the sugar maple, the state song is "On Wisconsin", the state flower is the wood violet, the state bird is the American robin, the state animal is the badger, the state fossil is the trilobite, and the state fish is the muskellunge.[1]


The state attracted fur trappers before the American Revolution, and enjoyed a lead mining boom in the 1830s. Wisconsin was a mining state before it was a farm state. Metallic lead could be picked up from the ground without digging. Cornish miners (from Britain) were some of the earliest European settlers of the state.[2]

Southwestern Wisconsin is now a less heavily populated agricultural region, but for a while it was the economic center of the state. The first territorial capital was Belmont,[3] located about thirty miles from Dubuque, Iowa). Lead mining peaked in the mid-1840s, and the California gold rush of 1849 drew many miners away. The current population of Belmont is 891.[4] The Southeast, which includes Milwaukee and the suburban corridor running south to Chicago, is now the most populous section of the state.

Wisconsin cannot be stereotyped politically. It is often associated with the name of anti-communist crusader of the 1950s Joseph McCarthy, but is equally tied to that of Robert M. La Follette and his Progressive faction of the Republican Party and the Progressive Party. Socialists flourished in Germania in Milwaukee, typified by Victor Berger, the first Socialist Party candidate elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. Frank Zeidler, the Mayor of Milwaukee from 1948-1960 was the last in a string of twelve socialist mayors of Milwaukee, whose emphasis on the basics of municipal service led them to be called "sewer socialists."[5] The state is usually a battleground in presidential elections. Its Republicans tend to be moderates, such as Tommy Thompson, who served as a four-term governor from 1987 to 2001, then entered the cabinet. Currently, Republicans control the Wisconsin Senate by a 19-14 seat margin and the State Assembly by a 60-38-1 margin.


The Carnegie Library in Ripon, built 1910

Elected Officials




Wisconsin's legislative branch consists of a senate and an assembly.

However, in February 2011, 14 Democratic senators left the state to boycott a controversial Senate vote. [1]

See Wisconsin budget controversy.

Sports in Wisconsin

Milwaukee is home to three professional sports teams. The Brewers (baseball), the Bucks (basketball), and the Admirals (hockey). Wisconsin is also home to the Green Bay Packers football team which has largest following of any professional sports team. Wisconsin is also home to various college sports programs, most notably the Wisconsin Badgers and the Marquette Golden Eagles.

Abortion in Wisconsin


"Wisconsin Right to Life is ecstatic that Wisconsin abortion numbers continue to decline," Barbara Lyons, the group's director, told LifeNews.com in a statement.
In the statement, Wisconsin Right to Life[7] suggests that the abortions are on the decline because of its work and pro-life legislation the state has enacted and polls showing that younger Americans are more pro-life than previous generations. ...



  • Richard Current, Wisconsin: A History (2001)
  • Larry Gara; A Short History of Wisconsin 1962

Detailed scholarly studies

  • Schafer, Joseph. "The Yankee and Teuton in Wisconsin", Wisconsin Magazine of History, Vol. 6, No. 2, Dec. 1922, pp. 125-145, compares Yankee and German settlers

Primary sources


  1. http://www.legis.state.wi.us/senate/scc/kids/facts.htm
  2. Lead Mining in Southwestern Wisconsin
  3. Belmont Wisconsin town website
  4. Belmont profile, idcide website.
  5. Milwaukee Sewer Socialism, Wisconsin State Historical Association
  6. Steven Ertelt, LifeNews.com (Apr. 9, 2007) http://www.lifenews.com/state2218.html
  7. http://www.wisconsinrighttolife.org