# 1664 - 1976 13c State Flags: Minnesota

U.S. 1664
1976 Minnesota
State Flags
American Bicentennial Series

• First time a sheet 50 had all different stamp designs
• Part of the American Bicentennial Series

Stamp Category: Commemorative
Series: American Bicentennial Series
Value: 13¢ First-class postage rate
First Day of Issue: February 23, 1976
First Day City(s): Washington, DC
Quantity Issued: 8,720,100 (panes of 50)
Printed by: Bureau of Engraving and Printing
Printing Method: Photogravure
Format: Sheet of 50
Perforations: 11

Why the stamp was issued: The United States Postal Service celebrated the American Bicentennial with a full pane of the Union’s fifty state flags.

About the stamp design:
    It was 1893 and Minnesota was without a state flag. Each of the 44 states was invited to enter an exhibit at the Chicago World's Fair, a flag was needed right away.

    The Minnesota Women's Auxiliary sponsored a flag design contest, awarding Amelia Hyde Center $15 for her prize-winning design. Norwegian immigrants Pauline and Thomane Fjelde stitched the first flag.

    Featured on the original design, and still on the flag today, is a farmer plowing a field near the Mississippi River, with his axe in a tree stump. These images symbolize three resources that were vital to the state's development, grain, water, and timber.

About the printing process:
    Printed by the Bureau of Engraving and Printing on their seven-color Andreotti gravure press (601) which was their work horse for multicolored stamps.

About the American Bicentennial Series:
    In the 1970s, America celebrated its 200th anniversary with hundreds of national events commemorating the heroes and historic events that led to our nation’s independence from Great Britain. The U.S. Postal Service issued 113 commemorative stamps over a six-year period in honor of the U.S. bicentennial, beginning with the American Revolution Bicentennial Commission Emblem stamp (U.S. #1432). As a group, the Bicentennial Series chronicles one of our nation’s most important chapters, and remembers the events and patriots who made the U.S. a world model for liberty.

    Several of the stamps honored colonial life – craftsmen and communication. Other stamps honored important battles including Lexington and Concord, Bunker Hill, and Saratoga. Significant events such as the Boston Tea Party, the meeting of the First Continental Congress, and the Declaration of Independence were featured as well. The stamps also honored many significant people such as George Washington, Sybil Ludington, Salem Poor, and the Marquis de Lafayette.

    Many of the stamps feature classic artwork. For instance, the set of four souvenir sheets picture important events recreated by noted artists such as John Trumbull. The Bicentennial Series also includes an important US postal first – the first 50-stamp se-tenant – featuring all 50 state flags. The format proved to be popular with collectors, and has been repeated many times since.

    The American Bicentennial Series is packed with important US history – it tells the story of our nation’s fight for independence through stamps.

History the stamp represents:
    Minnesota was admitted to the Union on May 11, 1858.

    When the first Europeans arrived in Minnesota in the second half of the 1600s, the Sioux Indians dominated the northern portion of the state. By the mid-1700s, Chippewa Indians moved into the area from the east, pressured by the expanding population of Europeans, and displaced the Sioux to the south. The Sioux were forced into a nomadic lifestyle, wandering the southern plains.

    Around 1660, the French fur traders Pierre Esprit Radisson and Médard Chouart, Sieur des Groseilliers, became the first Europeans to reach Minnesota. French adventurer Daniel Greysolon, Sieur Du Lhut – also simply called Duluth – entered the area in 1679, looking for a water route to the Pacific Ocean. Duluth landed on the western shore of Lake Michigan and claimed the entire area for King Louis XIV, naming it Louisiana in his honor. In 1680, Sioux Indians captured the Belgian missionary Father Louis Hennepin and his two companions while they were exploring Illinois. The Sioux brought the men to Minnesota. Although captives, the men were able to see much of the region, and were the first whites to reach the site of today’s Minneapolis. When Duluth learned Hennepin and his men had been captured, he found the Indians and bartered for their release.

    Spain acquired all of France’s land west of the Mississippi – the Louisiana Territory. This included much of present-day Minnesota. However, Spain did very little to explore and promote settlement. As a result, French trappers continued to expand their prosperous fur trade there. When the French and Indian War ended in 1763, the British gained control of all French lands east of the Mississippi, which includes eastern Minnesota. In 1783, when the American Revolutionary War ended, Great Britain gave the United States all of its lands south of the Great Lakes and east of the Mississippi. This area became part of the Northwest Territory. However, British fur traders continued to control the area. The U.S. gained control of the Northwest Territory at the conclusion of the War of 1812.

    Before 1849, Minnesota’s boundaries had changed many times, including parts of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Missouri, and Wisconsin. On March 3, 1849, the Territory of Minnesota was created. Its northern, eastern, and southern boundaries were the same as the states are today. However, its western limits extended to the Missouri and White Earth rivers, which includes most of the state of North Dakota. About 4,000 people lived in Minnesota when it became a U.S. territory.

    In 1851, the U.S. government forced the Sioux Indians to leave their lands west of the Mississippi. The majority of this land was in southern Minnesota. Many white settlers quickly poured into the newly vacated area.

    This influx of settlers led many to call for statehood. It was delayed for some time because there was great debate over whether Minnesota should be admitted as a slave or free state. Even the people of Minnesota were split on the issue, with representatives from each side drafting their own constitutions and refusing to sign the others. Eventually, Minnesota was admitted as a free state on May 11, 1858 with state had a population of about 150,000.