Alabama is a state located in the Southern United States.

History

Main article: History of Alabama

The memory of the Native American presence is particularly strong in Alabama. Among Native American people once living in present Alabama were Alabama (Alibamu), Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, Koasati, and Mobile. Trade with the Northeast via the Ohio River began during the Burial Mound Period (1000 BC-A.D. 700) and continued until European contact. Meso-American influence is evident in the agrarian Mississippian culture that followed.

The French established the first European settlement in the state with the establishment of Mobile in 1702. Southern Alabama was French from 1702–1763, part of British West Florida from 1763–1780, and part of Spanish West Florida from 1780–1814. Northern and central Alabama was part of British Georgia from 1763–1783 and part of the American Mississippi territory thereafter. Its statehood delayed by the lack of a coastline (rectified when Andrew Jackson captured Spanish Mobile in 1814), Alabama became the 22nd state in 1819.

The state of Alabama seceded from the Union on January 11, 1861 and became the Alabama Republic and on February 18 1861 became a Confederate state. While not many battles were fought in the state, it contributed about 120,000 soldiers to the Civil War. After the war a provisional government was set up in 1865 and Alabama was officially readmitted to the Union on July 14 1868.

The cradle of the Confederacy during the Civil War, Alabama was at stage center in the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s.

Law and government

Main article: Law and Government of Alabama

Local & County Government

Alabama has 67 counties, each having its own elected legislative branch, usually called the Board of Commissioners, which usually also has executive authority in the county. Due to the restraints placed in the Alabama Constitution, all but 7 counties (Jefferson, Lee, Mobile, Madison, Montgomery, Shelby, and Tuscaloosa) in the state have little to no home rule. Instead, most counties in the state have to lobby to the Local Legislation Committee the state legislature to get simple local policies such as waste disposal to land use zoning.

Political Climate

The current governor of the state is Bob Riley and the two U.S. senators are Jefferson B. Sessions III and Richard C. Shelby (all three from the Republican Party). The current Alabama Constitution was adopted in 1901.

During Reconstruction following the American Civil War, Alabama was occupied by federal troops of the Third Military District under General John Pope. In 1877, the Reconstruction period ended with the recognition of Rutherford B. Hayes as President-elect. White Southerners assumed control of the government and passed laws to segregate and disenfranchise black residents. The state became part of the "Solid South," a one-party system in which the Democratic Party became essentially the only political party in every Southern state. For nearly 100 years, local and state elections in Alabama were decided in the Democratic Party primary, with generally no Republican challenger running.

From 1876 through 1956, Alabama supported only Democratic presidential candidates, by margins as high as 73 percentage points. In 1960, Alabama gave most of its electoral votes to racist candidate Harry F. Byrd. In 1964, the national Republican Party began to win more votes in the South by following a "Southern Strategy" which emphasized "states' rights" and the increasing liberalism of the national Democratic Party. The first such candidate was conservative Barry Goldwater, who became the first Republican candidate supported by Alabama. In 1968, Alabama supported native son and American Independent Party (Segregationist) candidate George Wallace.

The last Democratic candidate to win Alabama's votes in a presidential election was Southerner Jimmy Carter in 1976. Today, the Republican party has become increasingly dominant in conservative Alabama politics. However, in local politics, Democrats still control many offices, including majorities in both houses of the Legislature, and registered Democrats outnumber Republicans in the state. In 2004, George W. Bush won Alabama's nine electoral votes by a margin of 25 percentage points with 62.5% of the vote. The only 11 counties voting Democratic were Black Belt counties, where African Americans are in the majority.

• U.S. presidential election, 2004, in Alabama

Geography

Main article: Geography of Alabama

Alabama is the 30^th largest state in the United States with 135,775 km² (52,423 mi²) of total area. 3.19% of that is water, making Alabama 23^rd in the amount of surface water, also giving it the second largest inland waterway system in the United States. About three-fifths of the land area is a gentle plain with a general incline towards the Mississippi River and the Gulf of Mexico. The North Alabama region is mostly mountainous, with the Tennessee River cutting a large valley creating numerous creeks, streams, [rivers]], mountains, and lakes. The lowest point east of the Mississippi River lies in Dekalb County along a creek cutting tower ridges, and creating Buck's Pocket State Park. Another natural wonder is "Land Bridge" the longest natural bridge span east of the Mississippi River. Alabama generally ranges in elevation from sea level at Mobile Bay, to a little more than 1800 feet or 550 meters in the Appalachian mountains in the northeast. The highest point is Mount Cheaha.

Economy

According to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, the 2003 total gross state product was $132 billion. The per capita income for the state was $26,505 in 2003. Alabama's agricultural outputs are poultry and eggs, cattle, nursery stock, peanuts, cotton, vegetables, milk, and soybeans. Its industrial outputs are paper, lumber and wood products, mining, rubber and plastic products, transportation equipment and apparel.

Demographics

For more details on this topic, see Demographics of Alabama.

As of 2004, Alabama's population was estimated to be 4,530,182. The state had 108,000 foreign-born (2.4% of the state population), of which an estimated 22.2% were illegal aliens (24,000).

Race and ancestry

The racial makeup of the state and comparison to the prior census:

The largest reported ancestry groups in Alabama: American (17.0%), English (7.8%), Irish (7.7%), German (5.7%), and Scotch-Irish (2.0%). 'American' includes those reported as Native American or African American.

Religion

The major religions of Alabama:

• Christian – 92%
  • Protestant – 79%
    • Baptist – 49%
    • Methodist – 10%
    • Presbyterian – 3%
    • Episcopalian – 2%
    • Church of God – 2%
    • Church of Christ – 2%
    • Pentecostal – 2%
    • Lutheran – 2%
    • Other Protestant – 7%
  • Catholic – 13%
• Other religions – 1%
• Non-religious – 7%

Culture and interests

Culture and interests

• Noccalula Falls Park

External links

• Alabama.gov - Official website.
• TourAlabama.org - Alabama Department of Tourism and Travel
• Archives.state.al.us - Alabama Department of Archives and History
  • All About Alabama at the Archives Department site
• Code of Alabama 1975 - at the Alabama Legislature site
• Alabama QuickFacts from the U.S. Census Bureau
• County Maps of Alabama - Full color maps. List of cities, towns and county seats

Notes

¹ The phrase The Heart of Dixie is required by state law to be included on standard state license plates, but has recently been reduced to a very small size and eclipsed by the phrase Stars Fell on Alabama.

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