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Moving
to Alabama - Birmingham, Mobile, Montomgery
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History
of Alabama
Alabama, one of the
southern states of the United States, is largely rectangular in shape
and is landlocked except for a short coastline along the Gulf of Mexico.
It is bordered by Tennessee on the north, by Georgia on the east, by the
Florida panhandle on the south, and by Mississippi on the west. The state
was visited by Spaniards in the early 16th century, but the first permanent
white settlement (present-day Mobile) was not established until 1711.
Alabama became a state in 1819, and during the Civil War it was a member
of the Confederacy. The state was profoundly affected by the civil rights
movement of the 1950s and '60s. Long a primarily agricultural area, Alabama
by the final decades of the century had a diversified economy, dominated
by manufacturing and service industries. The state is named for the Alabama
River, whose name was derived from the Alabama Indians, a small Muskogean-speaking
group that formerly lived on its banks. The word Alabama probably means
"I make a clearing."
LAND AND RESOURCES
About two-thirds of Alabama is made up of a low-lying coastal plain, which
merges, toward the northeast, into regions consisting of medium-altitude
hills and mountains. The highest point in the state is Cheaha Mountain
(733 m/2,405 ft), and the lowest elevation is sea level, along the Gulf
of Mexico.
Physiographic Regions
Alabama may be divided into four physiographic regions. The Gulf Coastal
Plain covers the southern half of the state and much of the northwest.
The plain includes the famous Black Belt, an area of productive prairie
soils that forms a narrow east-west belt across the middle of the state.
The southeast also has good farmland, but the soils of the rest of the
coastal plain are generally deeply weathered and are of limited agricultural
value. A second region, separated from the coastal plain by the fall line,
is the Piedmont Plateau, located in the east central part of the state.
It is rolling to hilly, with highly eroded red soils.
The Appalachian Region encompasses much of northeastern Alabama. Its eastern
portion is an area of sandstone ridges, separated by fertile limestone
valleys. The western portion, a continuation of the Cumberland Plateau,
is a hilly, forested area of poor soils. The fourth region is the Highland
Rim, a section of fertile, rolling plains in the north, astride the Tennessee
River. Numerous sinkholes and caverns have formed in the limestone bedrock
of the Highland Rim and the Appalachians as a result of limestone solution
in the humid climate.
Rivers and Lakes
Alabama has several major rivers. The main rivers flowing north to south
are the Alabama River (507 km/315 mi long), formed by the confluence,
near Montgomery, of the Coosa and Tallapoosa rivers, and the Tombigbee
River, which rises in Mississippi. The Alabama and Tombigbee meet in the
southwestern part of the state and then form the Mobile and Tensaw rivers,
which continue south to Mobile Bay (an inlet of the Gulf of Mexico). Other
important rivers are the Chattahoochee, which forms part of the eastern
border of Alabama, and the Tennessee, which flows west across nearly all
of the northern part of the state. Alabama has no large natural lakes.
Dams on rivers, however, have created several extensive artificial lakes,
the largest being Guntersville Lake (272 sq km/105 sq mi), on the Tennessee
River.
Climate
Alabama has a humid, subtropical climate. Summers are hot (average July
temperature, 27 degrees C/80 degrees F) and humid, with frequent heavy
thunderstorms. Winters are cool (average January temperature, 7 degrees
C/45 degrees F), with considerable precipitation, including some snow
in the north. The amount of annual precipitation generally increases from
north to south, ranging from 1,321 mm (52 in) at Huntsville to 1,600 mm
(63 in) at Mobile. Southern Alabama is occasionally affected by hurricanes
in the late summer. Tornadoes are most common in the months of March and
April.
Vegetation and Animal Life
About two-thirds of Alabama is covered by forests, largely made up of
southern yellow pine, red cedar, and other conifers. The most common deciduous
trees are hickory, sweet gum, and several species of oak. Alabama has
a varied wildlife population with numerous deer, foxes, bobcats, game
birds, and other animals. Large numbers of migratory ducks and geese winter
in the state.
Mineral Resources
Alabama has deposits of several important minerals. Coal, iron ore, and
limestone--all used in the production of iron and steel--are found in
north-central Alabama, notably around Birmingham. Crude-petroleum fields
are in the southwest, and bauxite deposits are in the southeast.
PEOPLE
Alabama has a population of 4,187,000 (1993 est.), giving the state an
average population density of about 32 persons per sq km (82 per sq mi).
In the decade from 1980 to 1990, Alabama's rate of growth was below the
national average. In 1990 about 74 percent of the population were white,
25 percent were black, and there were small numbers of American Indians,
Hispanics, and Asians. After several decades of considerable net out-migration
(mainly a result of blacks leaving Alabama for better opportunities elsewhere),
the state had a net in-migration between 1970 and 1980. After an out-migration
in the early 1980s, there was again an in-migration after 1985. About
two-thirds of the people live in areas defined as urban; the largest cities
are Birmingham, Mobile, Montgomery, Huntsville, and Tuscaloosa. In 1990
only 1.1 percent of the population of Alabama was born outside the United
States. The majority of the people are Protestants.
Education
Alabama established a statewide public school system in 1854, but schools
received inadequate financial support until the 20th century. Almost all
black and white children attended separate public schools until the 1960s.
By 1994, 67 percent of Alabama's residents of 25 years of age or more
were high-school graduates. Alabama's more important institutions of higher
education include Auburn University (founded 1856), main campus at Auburn;
Jacksonville State University (1883), at Jacksonville; Samford University
(1841), at Birmingham; Troy State University (1887), main campus at Troy;
Tuskegee University (1881), at Tuskegee; the University of Alabama (1831),
campuses at Tuscaloosa, Birmingham, and Huntsville; the University of
North Alabama (1872), at Florence; and the University of South Alabama
(1963), at Mobile. (See Alabama, state universities of.)
Cultural Institutions
Among the museums of the state are the Alabama State Museum of Natural
History, at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa; the U.S. Space and
Rocket Center, at Huntsville; and the Birmingham Museum of Art. The decommissioned
World War II battleship Alabama, now anchored in Mobile Bay, also contains
a museum. The largest libraries are the Auburn University Library in Auburn,
the University of Alabama Library, at Tuscaloosa, and the Birmingham Public
Library. Huntsville, Montgomery, and Birmingham have symphony orchestras,
and Birmingham has a ballet company.
Historical Sites
Russell Cave National Monument (near Bridgeport) contains archaeological
records of human habitation dating from at least 7000 BC. At Mound State
Monument (near Moundville) are several large mounds of the Indian Mound
Builder culture, and Horseshoe Bend National Military Park (near Dadeville)
was the site of a decisive defeat (1814) of the Creek Indian Confederacy
by Andrew Jackson. At Tuskegee Institute National Historic Site (Tuskegee)
are early buildings of the noted college founded (1881) for blacks. The
first capitol (the present state capitol) and the first White House of
the Confederacy are both in Montgomery. Alabama has many historic homes,
some built before the Civil War.
Communications
Alabama has numerous commercial radio and television stations, plus the
state has an excellent public radio and television system. Among the more
influential daily newspapers are the Birmingham News, the Huntsville Times,
and the Montgomery Advertiser. The state's earliest newspaper was the
short-lived Mobile Centinel [sic], which first appeared in 1811. The oldest
newspaper still in existence is the Mobile Register, founded in 1813.
ECONOMIC ACTIVITY
Until the late 19th century, when iron and steel mills were established
at Birmingham, Alabama's economy was mostly agricultural, and cotton was
the only major cash crop. By the 1930s industrialization was well under
way, and manufacturing eventually became the dominant sector of the economy.
By the 1990s manufacturing was still the single most dominant sector,
but various service industries combined accounted for a greater portion
of Alabama's gross state product.
Agriculture
In 1990 only about 2 percent of the state's population was engaged in
agriculture, and only about 30 percent of the land area was in farms.
Major crops are soybeans, greenhouse products, cotton, and peanuts. Large
numbers of beef cattle and broiler chickens are also produced.
Forestry and Fishing
Alabama's extensive forests are used to produce much pulpwood and lumber.
A small fishing industry operates mainly in the Gulf of Mexico, and the
catch includes shrimp, oysters, croakers, red snappers, and catfish.
Mining
Alabama's mineral output consists mainly of bituminous coal, crude petroleum,
natural gas, limestone, stone, sand and gravel, and bauxite. Until the
1960s considerable quantities of iron ore were produced in the state.
Manufacturing
Manufacturing firms in Alabama employ nearly one-fourth of the state's
labor force, and the manufacturing sector accounts for about one-fourth
of the gross state product. Principal manufactures include paper, chemical,
and rubber and plastic products; clothing and textiles; food products;
and iron and steel products. New manufactures include computer systems,
compact discs, and automobile assembly. Important manufacturing centers
in the state are in Gadsden, Birmingham, Anniston, Huntsville, Mobile,
Montgomery, and Tuscaloosa.
Tourism
Alabama has a substantial tourist industry. Many vacationers stay at beach
resorts along the Gulf of Mexico, notably at Gulf Shores, east of the
entrance to Mobile Bay. Hunters and anglers are attracted by the state's
ample opportunities for such activity, and many tourists visit Alabama's
historic sites, state parks, and national forests.
Transportation
Extensive transportation facilities exist in Alabama, with Birmingham
the hub of the state's road and rail systems. Major interstate highways
that intersect there include I-65, I-59, and I-20. The Tennessee-Tombigbee
Waterway, which opened in 1985, provides a barge route through Alabama
to Mobile, the state's only seaport, which also has easy access to the
Gulf Intracoastal Waterway. The Alabama-Coosa and Black Warrior-Tombigbee
river systems are also navigable through a system of locks and dams.
Energy
About half of Alabama's electrical capacity and production comes from
private sources. The Alabama Power Company, a private utility, operates
a number of hydroelectric projects on the Alabama, Black Warrior, Coosa,
and Tallapoosa rivers. Much of the remaining electric power comes from
the federally owned Tennessee Valley Authority through its Guntersville,
Wheeler, and Wilson dams. Nuclear power plants and coal-burning or other
fossil-fuel-burning plants also operate in the state.
GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS
Alabama is governed under a 1901 constitution, as amended; previous constitutions
had been adopted in 1819, 1861, 1865, 1868, and 1875. The chief executive
of the state is a governor, popularly elected to a 4-year term; a governor
may not serve more than two consecutive terms. The state has a bicameral
legislature, consisting of a 35-member Senate and a 105-member House of
Representatives; all legislators are elected to 4-year terms. The state's
highest tribunal is the Supreme Court, made up of 9 judges elected to
6-year terms. The 67 counties of Alabama are each governed by a board
of commissioners. The state has 2 senators and 7 representatives in the
U.S. Congress. It has 9 electoral votes.
The Democratic party has long dominated Alabama politics at the state
and local levels. In contests for U.S. president, however, the Democrats
after World War II lost their traditional firm hold on the state's electoral
vote. Since 1948 the state's presidential electoral votes have often gone
either to the Republicans or to minor-party candidates, as in 1968, when
Alabama governor George C. Wallace carried the state as the American Independent
party candidate. Two recent governors, Guy Hunt (1987-93) and Forrest
(Fob) James (elected in 1994) were both elected as Republicans. Alabama
Sen. Richard Shelby switched from the Democratic to the Republican party
a day after the 1994 congressional elections.
HISTORY
Excavations of archaic Indian remains indicate that people lived in the
region of Alabama at least as early as 7000 BC. During the Mound Builder,
or Mississippian, cultural period (AD 700-1700), large temple mounds were
built along the major rivers, notably around Moundville. By the early
16th century this remarkable culture was in decline. At that time, the
main Indian groups in the state were the Chickasaw, in the northwest;
the Cherokee, in the northeast; the Creek, in the center and southeast;
and the Choctaw, in the southwest.
European Exploration and Early Settlement
European contact with the Alabama area began when the Spanish navigator
Alonso Alvarez de Pineda explored Mobile Bay in 1519. In 1540 another
Spaniard, Hernando de Soto, led an army of about 500 men through Alabama;
on Oct. 18, 1540, they crushed a large force of Choctaw under Chief Tuscaloosa.
The Spanish failed to establish a firm foothold in Alabama, and the French
founded (1711) the first permanent white settlement, at present-day Mobile.
The French also established large farms, and in 1719 the first black Africans
arrived to work as slaves.
In 1763, France ceded Alabama to Great Britain, and in 1783 most of it
became part of the United States. The region around Mobile had been taken
by the Spanish during the American Revolution, and it was captured by
the United States in 1813, during the War of 1812. Also during that conflict,
at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend (Mar. 27, 1814), the power of the Creek
Indians was broken by U.S. troops under Andrew Jackson. In the following
25 years nearly all of Alabama's Indians were removed to the western United
States.
Statehood
Alabama was organized as a separate territory in 1817, and on Dec. 14,
1819, it was admitted to the Union as the 22d state. Huntsville was the
first capital; the capital was moved to Cahaba in 1820, to Tuscaloosa
in 1826, and, finally, to Montgomery in 1847. The state's population grew
from 128,000 in 1820 to 964,000 (435,000 of whom were slaves) in 1860.
The economy was dominated by large plantations (mostly in the Black Belt)
that produced cotton for export. The rivers were the prime means of transportation,
although the state's first railroad began operations in 1832, and by 1860
about 1,100 km (683 mi) of railroad track had been laid. The state was
overwhelmingly rural; Mobile, a growing seaport, was the only sizable
city.
The Civil War and Reconstruction
Most white Alabamians viewed slavery as an integral part of their economic
and social systems, and they opposed attempts to abolish it. Soon after
the election of President Abraham Lincoln, perceived by Alabamians as
a particularly strong opponent of slavery, Alabama seceded (Jan. 11, 1861)
from the Union, the fourth state to do so. In February 1861, the Confederate
States of America was organized at Montgomery, and Jefferson Davis was
inaugurated as its president at the Alabama state capitol. Montgomery
remained the Confederate capital until May 1861. Alabama contributed about
100,000 troops to the Confederacy, and perhaps 25 percent of them died
during the Civil War. No major land battle was fought in the state, but
the Union admiral David G. Farragut won an important naval engagement
at Mobile Bay in August 1864. Union armies captured the Tennessee Valley
in 1862 and took Montgomery in early 1865.
The Reconstruction period, which followed the Confederate surrender in
April 1865, was one of confusion in Alabama. Because it refused to ratify
the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, Alabama was placed under
military rule in 1867. After the amendment was ratified, and blacks were
assured citizenship, Alabama reentered (June 1868) the Union. During the
next few years black and white Republicans exercised considerable power,
but by 1874 white Democrats, including numerous former supporters of the
Confederacy, had regained control of the state. In the following years
racial segregation was written into many state and local laws.
Economic Recovery
Although Alabama began large-scale industrialization in the late 19th
century, the economy continued to be dominated by cotton culture. Cotton
was grown mainly by small farmers, largely tenants or sharecroppers, many
of whom became debt-ridden due to low prices paid for the crop. Alabama
was fertile ground for agrarian reformers, and the Populist party had
numerous adherents in the 1890s.
In the early 20th century cotton declined in importance, partly because
boll weevil infestations made farming more precarious; many rural Alabamians
left the state, especially for cities of the northern United States. The
state's economy was rejuvenated by the demands of the American effort
during World War I; steelmaking boomed, and Mobile developed an important
shipbuilding industry. The state was severely affected by the Depression
of the 1930s; many banks failed and unemployment increased drastically.
World War II marked the beginning of a long-term economic upswing.
Civil Rights
Race relations were a major issue in Alabama in the 1950s and '60s, as
civil rights advocates worked to end racial segregation in the state.
During 1955-56, Martin Luther King, Jr., organized a black boycott that
ended racially separate seating on municipal buses in Montgomery. In 1954
the U.S. Supreme Court had ruled racial segregation in public schools
to be unconstitutional, but white officials in Alabama avoided implementing
the decision until 1963, when, after tense confrontations between Gov.
George C. Wallace and federal officials, integration was begun.
In 1963 four black children were killed when a bomb destroyed part of
their Birmingham church. The incident, widely deplored in the nation,
helped create the atmosphere for passage of the landmark federal Civil
Rights Act of 1964. In 1965, King led a march from Selma to Montgomery
to protest discrimination in voter registration. The U.S. Congress responded
with the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which helped add many blacks to the
voting rolls in Alabama and thereby encouraged white politicians in the
state to moderate their views in order to attract black votes.
By the early 1970s most of Alabama's schools had been integrated. Progress
continued for blacks through the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, with Alabama
electing numerous black mayors, county officials, and state legislators.
The Ascent of Two-Party Government
Governor Wallace, whose tenure had spanned the civil rights movement,
retired in 1987 after four (nonconsecutive) terms in office. His successor,
Guy Hunt, was the state's first Republican governor in 112 years. Hunt
was removed from office in 1993 after conviction on ethics charges, but
the election of Republican Fob James in 1994 was evidence of continued
movement toward a two-party system in Alabama.
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