State Overview - Alabama

Alabama was admitted to the Union on December 14, 1819, becoming the 22nd state.

Alabama's capital city is Montgomery

Alabama ranks 30th in size with an area of 52,419 miles^2.

Alabama has a median household income of $62,200 ranking 44th.

Demonym of people from Alabama are Alabamans.

Alabama is divided into 67 counties. The most populous county is Jefferson County with a population around 674K people. Alabama's most populous city is Huntsville.

The creation of the Mississippi Territory had quickly prompted debates on how it was going to be divided. Just like most of pre-19th century America, slavery was a hot topic. Many white southerners wanted 2 slave states. On March 3, 1817, Congress split the Mississippi Territory in half creating the Alabama Territory. The territorial capital of Alabama was St. Stephens. Cotton was found to be highly successful on Alabama's rich and fertile soil.

Alabama had provided universal suffrage for white men in its constitution. Many plantation owners went to the Black Belt, building Alabama's economy around cotton and farming. The population of Alabama grew from 10,000 in 1810 to 300,000 by 1830.

By 1860, Alabama contained over 400,000 enslaved black men, women, and children. On January 11, 1861, Alabama seceded from the United States joining the CSA. Montgomery was initially the Confederate Capital before it moved to Richmond, Virginia. In 1868, Alabama wrote a new constitution during reconstruction which had established the state's first public school system and had expanded women's rights.

During reconstruction, organized insurgents attempted to suppress the free men and Republicans in Alabama. These groups included the Ku Klux Klan, Red Shirts, and the White League. Reconstruction ended in Alabama in 1874 and the Democrats regained control of Alabama through an election full of fraud and violence. In 1875 Alabama passed legeslation that called for racially-segregated schools.

In 1901, Alabama had passed laws making it harder for African Americans, Native Americans, and Poor European Americans to vote. In the early 1900s many people left Alabama for both racial purposes and a farming disaster. Alabama began gerrymandering the state based on race. The Supreme Court ruled that the racial gerrymandering was unconstitutional. From 1955-56, the state faced the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

In 2001, Alabama Supreme Court chief justice Roy Moore installed the 10-Commandments in Montgomery, however the monument was removed in 2003 despite public protests wanting the statue to stay.

Montgomery is the capital of Alabama. Montgomery was named after Major-General Richard Montgomery, who served as a major general for the Continental Army during the American Revolution. Montgomery is the 3rd largest city in Alabama by population.

Mobile is a key port city for the state of Alabama. Following an annexation of another city in 2023, Mobile was the 2nd largest city in Alabama by population. Mobile is known for Mardi Gras. Mobile was named after the Mobile Tribe.

Birmingham is a large city in Alabama known for being "The Pittsburgh of The South." Birmingham was founded during Reconstruction in 1873, merging three smaller communities together.

Alabama made the first 911 call

The first Mardi Gras celebration in the US was in Mobile

Alabama was the first to declare Christmas as a legal holiday

Alabama's official State Beverage is Alcohol making it the only state to do so

The Saturn V Rocket was built in Huntsville

The Wright Brothers created the first flight school in Montgomery, Alabama