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ALABAMA , a See also:southern See also:state of the See also:American See also:Union, situated between 84° 51' and 88° 31' W. See also:long. and about 30° 13' and 350 N. See also:lat., bounded N. by See also:Tennessee, E. by See also:Georgia, S. by See also:Florida and the Gulf of See also:Mexico, and W. by See also:Mississippi. Its See also:total See also:area is 51,998 sq. m., of which 719 are See also:water See also:surface. See also:Physical Features.—The surface of Alabama in the N. and N.E., embracing about two-fifths of its area, is diversified and picturesque; the remaining portion is occupied by a gently undulating See also:plain having a See also:general incline See also:south-westward toward the Mississippi and the Gulf. Extending entirely across the state of Alabama for about 20 M. S. of its N. boundary, and in the See also:middle stretching 6o m. farther S., is the See also:Cumberland See also:Plateau, or Tennessee Valley region, broken into broad table-lands by the See also:dissection of See also:rivers. In the N. See also:part of this plateau, W. of See also:Jackson See also:county, there are about loon sq. m. of level See also:highlands from 700 to 800 ft. above the See also:sea. South of these highlands, occupying a narrow See also:strip on each See also:side of the Tennessee See also:river, is a delightful See also:country of See also:gentle See also:rolling lowlands varying in See also:elevation from 500 to Boo ft. To the N.E. of these highlands and lowlands is a rugged See also:section with steep See also:mountain-sides, deep narrow coves and valleys, and See also:flat mountain-tops. Its elevations range from 400 to 1800 ft. In the See also:remainder of this region, the S. portion, the most prominent feature is Little Mountain, extending about 8o m. from E. to W. between two valleys, and rising precipitously on the N. side 500 ft. above them or r000 ft. above the sea. Adjoining the Cumberland Plateau region on the S.E. is the Appalachian Valley (locally known as Coosa Valley) region, which is the S. extremity of the See also:great Appalachian Mountain See also:system, and occupies an area within the state of about 8000 sq. m. This is a See also:limestone See also:belt with parallel hard See also:rock ridges See also:left See also:standing by erosion to See also:form mountains. Although the general direction of the mountains, ridges and valleys is N.E. and S.W., irregularity is one of the most prominent characteristics. In the N.E. are several flat-topped mountains, of which See also:Raccoon and Lookout are the most prominent, having a maximum elevation near the Georgia See also:line of little more than 1800 ft. and gradually decreasing in height toward the S.W., where See also:Sand Mountain is a continuation of Raccoon. South of these the mountains are marked by steep N.W. sides, See also:sharp crests and gently sloping S.E. sides. South-See also:east of the Appalachian Valley region, the See also:Piedmont Plateau also crosses the Alabama border from the N.E. and occupies a small triangular-shaped section of which See also:Randolph and See also:Clay counties, together with the N. part of Tallapoosa and See also:Chambers, form the See also:principal portion. Its surface is gently undulating and has an elevation' of about loco ft. above the sea. The Piedmont Plateau is a See also:lowland worn down by erosion on hard crystalline rocks, then uplifted to form a plateau. The remainder of the state is occupied by the coastal plain. This is crossed by See also:foot-hills and rolling prairies in the central part of the state, where it has a mean elevation of about 600 ft., becomes See also:lower and more level toward the S.W., and in the extreme S. is flat and but slightly elevated above the sea. The Cumberland Plateau region is drained to the W.N.W. by the Tennessee river and its tributaries; all other parts of the state are drained to the S.W. In the Appalachian Valley region the Coosa is the principal river; and in the Piedmont Plateau, the Tallapoosa. In the Coastal Plain are the Tombigbee in the W., the Alabama (formed by the Coosa and Tallapoosa) in the W. central, and in the E. the Chattahoochee, which forms almost See also:half of the Georgia boundary. The Tombigbee and Alabama unite near the S.W. corner of the state, their See also:waters discharging into See also:Mobile See also:Bay by the Mobile and Tensas rivers. The See also:Black See also:Warrior is a considerable stream which joins the Tombigbee from the E. The valleys in the N. and N.E. are usually deep and narrow, but in the Coastal Plain they are broad and in most cases rise in three successive terraces above the stream. The See also:harbour of Mobile was formed by the drowning of the lower part of the valley of the Alabama and Tombigbee rivers as a result of the sinking of the See also:land here, such sinking having occurred on other parts of the Gulf See also:coast. The See also:fauna and See also:flora of Alabama are similar to those of the Gulf states in general and have no distinctive characteristics. See also:Climate and See also:Soil.—The climate of Alabama is temperate and fairly See also:uniform. The See also:heat of summer is tempered in the S. by the winds from. the Gulf of Mexico, and in the N. by the elevation above the sea. The See also:average See also:annual temperature is highest in the S.W. along the coast, and lowest in the N.E. among the highlands. Thus at Mobile the annual mean is 67° F., the mean for the summer 81°, and for the See also:winter 52°; and at Valley See also:Head, in De See also:Kalb county, the annual mean is 59°, the mean for the summer 75°, and for the winter 410. At See also:Montgomery, in the central region, the average annual temperature is 66°, with a winter average of 490, and a summer average of 81°. The average winter minimum for the entire state is 35°, and there is an average of 35 days in each See also:year in which the thermometer falls below the freezing-point. At extremely rare intervals the thermometer has fallen below zero, as was the See also:case in the remarkable See also:cold See also:wave of the 12th–13th of See also:February 1899, when an See also:absolute minimum of 17° was registered at Valley Head. The highest temperature ever recorded was 109° in See also:Talladega county in 1902. The amount of precipitation is greatest along the coast (62 in.) and evenly distributed through the See also:rest of the state (about 52 in.). During each winter there is usually one fall of See also:snow in the S. and two in the N.; but the snow quickly disappears, and sometimes, during an entire winter, the ground is not covered with snow. See also:Hail-storms occur in the See also:spring and summer, but are seldom destructive. Heavy fogs are rare, and are confined chiefly to the coast. Thunderstorms occur through-out the year, but are most See also:common in the summer. The prevailing winds are from the S. As regards its soil, Alabama may be divided into four regions. Extending from the Gulf northward for one See also:hundred and fifty See also:miles is the See also:outer belt of the Coastal Plain, also called the " See also:Timber Belt," whose soil is sandy and poor, but responds well to fertilization. See also:North of this is the inner lowland of the Coastal Plain, or the " Black See also:Prairie," which includes some 13,000 sq. m. and seventeen counties. It receives its name from its soil (weathered from the weak under-lying limestone), which is black in See also:colour, almost destitute of sand and See also:loam, and See also:rich in limestone and See also:marl formations, especially adapted to the See also:production of See also:cotton; hence the region is also called the " Cotton Belt." Between the " Cotton Belt " and the Tennessee Valley is the See also:mineral region, the " Old Land " area—" a region of resistant rocks "—whose soils, also derived from weathering in situ, are of varied fertility, the best coming from the granites, sandstones and limestones, the poorest from the gneisses, See also:schists and slates. North of the mineral region is the " Cereal Belt," embracing the Tennessee Valley and the counties beyond, whose richest soils are the red See also:clays and dark loarns of the river valley; north of which are less fertile soils, produced by siliceous and See also:sandstone formations. A griculture.—Agriculture is the principal occupation in Alabama, giving employment to 64'5% of the See also:population. The See also:farm acreage in 1900 was 20,685,427 acres (62% of the entire surface of the state), of which 8,654,991 acres (41.8%) were improved. Under the system of slave labour which existed before 1860, the average See also:size of the plantations tended to increase, but since 186o the See also:reverse has been true, the average See also:plantation in 186o being 346 acres, and in 1900 92.7 acres. The average value per See also:acre of farm land was $11.86 in 186o and $8.67 in 1900. As to method of cultivation, 36.3 per cent of the farms were in 1900 managed by the owners, 33.3% by See also:cash renters, 24'4% by See also:share tenants, and the remaining 6% by other methods. The See also:chief product is cotton, cultivated extensively in the " Black Belt " and less extensively in the other portions of the state. Cotton has always been the principal source of See also:wealth, the amount of its exports at Mobile increasing from 7000 See also:bales in 1818 to 25,000 bales in 1821, and the total product of the state in 1840 being See also:double that of 1830. This was accompanied by an extensive employment of slave labour, and from 182o until 1860 the See also:rate of increase of the blacks was greater than that of the whites. The success of the economic system was such that in 186o the cotton See also:crop of Alabama was nearly 1,000,000 bales (989,955 bales), being 18.4% of the entire cotton product of the See also:United States. The disorganization of labour resulting from the See also:Civil See also:War and the emancipation of slaves, was the cause of a temporary decline in the cotton crop. In 1889 the crop again approximated to 1,000,000 bales (915,210 bales, being 12.2% of the entire crop of the United States), and in 1899 it exceeded that amount, Alabama being See also:fourth among the states of the entire country. The total value of the farm products of Alabama in 1899 was $91,387,409; in 1889, $66,240,190; and in 1879, $56,872,994. The average yield per acre has also increased under the system of See also:free labour. In See also:recent years there has been a tendency to diversify crops, See also:Indian See also:corn, See also:wheat and oats being raised extensively in the " Cereal Belt." In 1906, according to the Year-See also:Book of the See also:Department of See also:Agriculture, the following were the acreages, yields and values of Alabama's more import-See also:ant crops (excepting cotton):—Indian corn, 2,990,387 acres, 47,849,392 bushels, $30,623,611; wheat, 98,639 acres, 1,085,029 bushels, $1,019,927; oats, 184,179 acres, 3,167,879 bushels, $1,615,618; See also:hay, 56,350 acres, 109,882 tons, $1,461,431.
Minerals.—The chief feature of Alabama's See also:industrial See also:life since 188o has been the exploitation of her See also:iron and See also:coal resources. The iron ore (found chiefly in the region of which See also:Birmingham is the centre) is primarily red See also:haematite and (much less important) See also: In 1895 it was demonstrated that Alabama See also:pig-iron could be sent to See also:Liverpool and sold cheaper than the See also:English product, and Birmingham (Alabama) came consequently to See also:rank next to Middlesborough and See also:Glasgow among the See also:world centres of the pig-iron See also:trade. The pig-iron produced in the state in 186o was valued at $64,590, in 187o at $210,258, in 188o at $1,405,356, in 1900 at $13,487,769, and in 1905 at $16,614,577. In the production of foundry pig-iron Alabama held first rank both in 1900 and in 1905. The manufacture of steel, though in its See also:infancy, gave promise of equalling that of iron, and the See also:coke See also:industry is also of growing importance, the product of Alabama during the five years from 1896 to 1901 showing a greater increase, relatively, than that of the other states. In 19oo the state ranked sixth and in 1905 fifth among the states of the United States in the manufactures of iron and steel. In 1905 the value of the product was 2.7 % of the value of the total iron and steel product of the country, and 22.6 % of the value of all the state's factory products. In 1900 and in 1905 Alabama ranked second among 1 The See also:special See also:census of manufactures taken in 1905 was confined to manufacturing establishments conducted under the so-called " factory system." According to this census the capital invested was $105,382,859, and the value of products was $109,169,922. The corresponding figures for 1900, if the same See also:standard be taken for purposes of comparison, would be $60,165,904 and $72,109,929. During the five years, therefore, the capital invested in establishments under the factory system increased 75.2 %, and the value of products 51.4 %.the states of the Union in the production of coke, its product being more than one-tenth of that for the whole country, and more than one-twentieth (5.2 %o in 'goo; 5.7 %o in 1905) of all the factory products of the state. The demand for coke is due to the rapidly growing iron and steel industry. Great possibilities were also shown for the production of See also:lumber and See also:naval stores. Approximately three-fourths of the total area of the state is See also:wood-land. In the " Timber Belt " the forests of long See also:leaf See also:pine have an estimated stand of 21,192 million ft.; and in 1905 the product of sawed lumber was valued at $13,563,815. Of this, yellow pine represented $11,320,909, See also:oak $886,746, and See also:poplar $627,686. In the See also:decade 1890–1900 the number of See also:turpentine factories increased from 7 to 152, and their product in 1900 and in 1905 ranked Alabama third among the states in that industry. The value of the turpentine and See also:rosin products in 1905 was $2,434,365.
The manufacture of cotton goods has also See also:developed rapidly. As See also:late as 1890 there were only 13 cotton See also:mills in Alabama, one more than the number in 185o; in 1900 there were 31, representing a capital of $11,638,757 and an annual product valued at $8,153,136, an increase of 272.2 % over the product ($2,190,771) of 189o; in 1905 there were 46 establishments, representing a capital of $24,758,049 (an increase of 112.7 % over that of 1900), and having a product (for the year) of $16,760,332, an increase of 105.6 % over that for 1900. To encourage the See also:establishment of cotton mills the legislature of 1896–1897 exempted from See also:taxation during the succeeding ten years all capital that should be invested in the manufacture of cotton, provided that $50,000 or more be invested in buildings and machinery. Other See also:industries of less importance are See also:flour, fertilizers and tanned See also:leather.
Communications.—The navigable mileage of the Alabama rivers is 2000 m., but obstructions often prevent the formation of a continuous route, notably the " Muscle Shoals " of the Tennessee, extending from a point 10 m. below See also:Decatur to See also:Florence, a distance of 38 m. To remove or circumvent these impediments, and to improve the Mobile harbour, the United States See also:government spent, between 1870 and 1904, approximately $12,000,000. As the streams in the mineral region are not navigable, the See also:rail-ways are the See also:carriers of-its products .2 Here all the large systems of the southern states find an entrance, the Mobile & See also:Ohio, the Southern (See also:Queen & See also:Crescent Route), the See also:Louisville & See also:Nashville, and the 'Frisco system affording communication with the Mississippi and the See also:west, and the Southern, Seaboard See also:Air Line, See also:Atlantic Coast Line, and the Central of Georgia forming connexions with northern and Atlantic states. Mobile, the only seaport of the state, has a channel 30 ft. deep, on which the See also:national government spends large sums of See also:money; yet an increasing amount of Alabama cotton is sent to New See also: Population.—In 188o the inhabitants of Alabama numbered 1,262,505; in 1890, 1,513,017, an increase of 17 %; in 1900, 1,828,697, a further increase of 20 %. This population is notable for its large proportion of negroes (45.23 %), its insignificant See also:foreign See also:element (.o8 %), and the small percentage of See also:urban in-habitants (10 %). As regards See also:
judiciary six years, provided for quadrennial sessions of the legislature, and introduced the See also:office of See also:lieutenant-See also:governor. The passage of See also:local or special bills by the legislature was prohibited. A See also:provision intended to prevent See also:lobbying is that no one except legislators and the representatives of the See also:press may be admitted to the See also:floor of the See also:House except by unanimous See also:vote. No executive See also:official can succeed himself in office, and the governor cannot be elected or appointed to the United States See also:Senate, or to any state office during his term as governor, or within one year thereafter. Sheriffs whose prisoners suffer See also:mob violence may be impeached. The constitution eliminated the See also:negro from politics by a See also:suffrage clause which went into effect in 1903. This limits the right to vote to those who can read and write any See also:article of the constitution of the United States, and have worked or been regularly engaged in some lawful employment, business or occupation, trade or calling for the greater part of the twelve months next preceding the See also:time they offer to See also:register, unless prevented from labour or ability to read and write by physical See also:disability, or who own See also:property assessed at $300 upon which the taxes have been paid; but those who have served in the See also:army or See also:navy of the United States or of the See also:Con-federate States in time of war, their lawful descendants in every degree, and persons of See also:good See also:character " who understand the duties and obligations of citizenship under a republican form of government," are relieved from the operation of this See also:law provided they registered See also:prior to the loth of December 1902. The second of these exceptions is known as the " Grandfather Clause." No See also:man may vote in any See also:election who has not by the 1st of February next preceding that election paid all See also:poll taxes due from him to the state. In 1902 nine-tenths of the negroes in the state were disqualified from voting.' The constitution of 1901 (like that of 1867) and special statutes require See also:separate See also:schools for See also: State officials are forbidden to accept railway passes from rail-way companies, and individuals are forbidden to receive See also:freight rebates. The constitution of 1901 exempted a See also:homestead of 8o acres of farm land, or of a house and See also:lot not exceeding $2000 in value, from liability for any See also:debt contracted since the 3oth of See also:July 1868 except for a mortage on it to which the wife consented; See also:personal property to the value of $r000 is exempted. Under the civil See also:code of 1897 the earnings of a wife are her separate property, and it is provided that " no woman, nor any boy under See also:age of twelve years, shall be employed to See also:work or labour in or about any mine in this state." By acts of 1903 See also:child labour under 12 years is forbidden in any factory unless for support of " a widowed See also:mother or aged or disabled See also:father," or unless the child is an indigent See also:orphan; " no child under the age of ten years shall be so employed under any circumstances." Certificates of children's ages are necessary before a child is employed; false certification is forbidden under penalty of a See also:fine of from $5 to $See also:loo or hard labour not exceeding three months. No child under 13 may do See also:night work at all. No child ' In See also:Giles v. See also:Harris, 189 U.S. 474, a negro asked that the See also:defendant board of registry be required to enrol his name and the names of other negroes on the See also:registration lists, and that certain sections of the constitution of Alabama be declared void as being contrary to the fourteenth and fifteenth amendments to the federal constitution. The Supreme See also:Court dismissed the bill on the grounds that See also:equity has no See also:jurisdiction over See also:political matters; that, assuming the fraudulent character of the objectionable constitutional provisions, the court was in effect asked to assist in administering a See also:fraud; and that See also:relief " must be given by them [the See also:people of the state] or by the legislative and political departments of the government of the United States." The case attracted much See also:attention; and it is often erroneously said that the court upheld the disfranchising clauses of the Alabama constitution.under 16 may do more than 48 See also:hours a See also:week of night work. No child of less than 12 is allowed to work more than 66 hours in any one week. An able-bodied See also:parent who does not work when he has the opportunity, unless " idle under strike orders, or See also:lock-outs," and who hires out his See also:minor children, is declared a vagrant and may be fined $500 and imprisoned or sentenced to hard labour for not more than six months. All amendments to the constitution must be approved by a three-fifths vote of each house of the legislature and then ratified by the people. The legislature of 1900-19o1 established a department of archives and See also:history whose aim is to preserve documents and See also:historical records. See also:Education.—Public education for Mobile was authorized by the legislature of 1826, but it was not provided until 1852. Two years later (1854) a school system for the entire state was inaugurated. Its support was derived from public land given by the United States to the state of Alabama for educational purposes in 1819, and special taxes or tuition fixed by each township. The Civil War demoralized the nascent system. An important step in its revival seemed to be made in the constitution of 1868, which forbade any private recompense for instruction in the public schools and appropriated one-fifth of the state's revenue to common schools. But the See also:attempt to See also:teach whites and blacks in the same schools, and the corruption in the See also:administration of funds, made the results unsatisfactory. The constitution of 1875 abolished the one-fifth revenue provision, made the support of the schools, except that derived from the land See also: The percentage of illiterates declined from 5o.97 % in 188o to 41 % in 1890, and 34 % in 1900, when Alabama ranked third among the states in illiteracy.
There are also a number of institutions for higher education in Alabama. The most important of these 'ire the university of Alabama (co-educational—opened in 1831), at Tuscaloosa, the institution being part of the public school system maintained by the state; the Alabama See also:Polytechnic See also:Institute at See also:Auburn, a " state See also:college for the benefit of agriculture and the mechanic arts," organized in 1872 according to the United States land grant See also:act for the promotion of industrial education; the Southern University (incorporated 1856—Methodist Episcopal, South), at See also:Greensboro; See also:Howard College (Baptist), at East See also:Lake (Birmingham); Spring See also: A law forbidding under severe penalties a labourer from See also:hiring himself to a second employer without giving See also:notice of a prior contract, and an employer from hiring a labourer known by him to be bound by such a contract, had aided in the development of the system, though it had been enacted for a different purpose. The Federal authorities, as soon as the existence of peonage became known, took active See also:measures to See also:stamp it out, and were supported by the press and by the leading citizens of the state. Up to 1907 the state licensed the See also:sale of liquor, and liquor See also:licence fees were partly turned over to the public school fund; there was a dispensary system in some counties; and in 1907 one-third of the counties of the state (22 out of 67) were " dry." Besides, saloons had been forbidden within 5 M. of certain churches and school-houses, so that liquor was sold scarcely at all except in incorporated towns, where in many cases local dispensaries were established. In the 1907 state legislature a county local See also:option bill was passed in February, and immediately afterward the Sherrod See also:anti-See also:shipping bill was enacted forbidding the See also:acceptance of liquors for shipment, transportation or delivery to See also:prohibition districts, and penalising the soliciting of orders for liquor in " dry " districts with a See also:punishment of $500 fine and six months' imprisonment with hard labour. In a special session of the legislature in See also:November 1907 a law was passed forbidding the sale of liquor within the state, this prohibition to come into effect on the 1st of See also:January 1909. See also:Finance.—One-half of the income of the state is derived from general taxes, the other See also:sources of revenue being licences, a special school tax, poll tax and the See also:lease of the convicts. The state debt, for which legislative corruption in the years 1868–1872 was largely responsible, amounted on the 1st of See also:October 1906 to $9,057,000. Measures for its refunding, but not for its extinction, have been taken. The constitution of 1901 prohibits the increase of the debt for any other purposes than the suppression of insurrection or resistance to invasion, and the See also:assumption of corporate debts by cities and towns is also restricted. All See also:banks, except national banks, are subject to examination by a public official, and their charters expire within twenty years of their issue. History.—The first Europeans to enter the limits of the present state of Alabama were Spaniards, who claimed this region as a part of Florida. It is possible that a member of Panfilo de See also:Narvaez's expedition of 1528 entered what is now southern Alabama, but the first fully authenticated visit was that of Hernando de See also:Soto, who made an arduous but fruitless See also:journey along the Coosa, Alabama and Tombigbee rivers in 1539. The English, too, daimed the region north of the Gulf of Mexico, andthe territory of See also:modern Alabama was included in the See also:province of Carolina, granted by See also: Georgia likewise claimed all the lands between the 31st and 35th See also:parallels from its present western boundary to the Mississippi river, and did not surrender its claim until 1802; two years later the boundaries of the Mississippi Territory were extended so as to include all of the Georgia cession. In 1812 Congress annexed to the Mississippi Territory the Mobile District of West Florida, claiming that it was included in the Louisiana See also:Purchase; and in the following year General See also: With the encroachment of the white settlers upon their See also:hunting-grounds the Creek
Indians began to grow restless, and the great See also:Shawnee chief See also:Tecumseh, who visited them in 1811, fomented their discontent. When the outbreak of the second war with Great See also:Britain in 18r2 gave the Creeks assurance of See also:British aid they See also:rose in arms, massacred several hundred settlers who had taken See also:refuge in Fort Mims, near the junction of the Alabama and Tombigbee rivers, and in a short time no white See also:family in the Creek country was safe outside a palisade. The See also:Chickasaw and See also:Choctaw Indians, however, remained the faithful See also:allies of the whites, and See also:volunteers from Georgia, South Carolina and Tennessee, and later United States troops, marched to the See also:rescue of the threatened settlements. In the See also:campaign that followed the most distinguished services were rendered by General See also:Andrew Jackson, whose vigorous measures See also:broke for ever the power of the Creek Confederacy. By the treaty of Fort Jackson (9th of See also:August 1814) the Creeks ceded their claims to about one-half of the present state; and cessions by the Cherokees, See also:Chickasaws and See also:Choctaws in 1816 left only about one-fourth of Alabama tc the Indians. In 1832 the national government provided for the removal of the Creeks ; but before the terms of the contract were effected, the state legislature formed the Indian lands into counties, and settlers flocked in. This caused a disagreement between Alabama and the United States authorities; although it was amicably settled, it engendered a feeling that the policy of the national government might not be in See also:harmony with the interests of the state—a feeling which, intensified by the See also:slavery agitation, did much to cause See also:secession in 1861.
The political history of Alabama may be divided into three periods, that prior to r86o, the years from r86o to 1876, and the See also:period from 1876 onwards.
The first of these is the only period of altogether healthy political life. Until 1832 there was only one party in the state, the Democratic, but the question of See also:nullification caused a See also:division that year into the (Jackson) Democratic party and the State's Rights (See also:Calhoun Democratic) party; about the same time, also, there arose, chiefly in those counties where the proportion of slaves to freemen was greater and the freemen were most aristocratic, the Whig party. For some time the Whigs were nearly as numerous as the Democrats, but they never secured See also:control of the state government. The State's Rights men were in a minority; nevertheless under their active and persistent See also:leader, See also: See also:Yancey (1814-1863), they prevailed upon the Democrats in 1848 to adopt their most See also:radical views. During the agitation over the introduction of slavery into the territory acquired from Mexico, Yancey induced the Democratic State See also:Convention of 1848 to adopt what is known as the " Alabama See also:Platform," which declared in substance that neither Congress nor the government of a territory had the right to interfere with slavery in a territory, that those who held opposite views were not Democrats, and that the Democrats of Alabama would not support a See also:candidate for the See also:presidency if he did not agree with them on these questions. This platform was endorsed by conventions in Florida and See also:Virginia and by the legislatures of Georgia and Alabama. Old party lines were broken by the See also:Compromise of 1850. The State's Rights party, joined by many Democrats, founded the Southern Rights party, which demanded the See also:repeal of the Compromise, advocated resistance to future encroachments and prepared for secession, while the Whigs, joined by the remaining Democrats, formed the party known as the " Unionists," which unwillingly accepted the Compromise and denied the " constitutional " right of secession. The " Unionists " were successful in the elections of 1851 and 1852, but the feeling of uncertainty engendered in the south by the passage of the See also:Kansas-See also:Nebraska Bill and the course of the slavery agitation after 1852 led the State Democratic convention of 1856 to revive the " Alabama Platform "; and when the " Alabama Platform " failed to secure the formal approval of the Democratic National convention at See also:Charleston, South Carolina, in 1860, the Alabama delegates, followed by those of the other cotton " states," withdrew. Upon the election of See also:Abraham See also:Lincoln, Governor Andrew B. See also:Moore, according to previous instructions of the legislature, called a state convention on the 7th of January186r. After long debate this convention adopted on the rrth of January an See also:ordinance of secession, and Alabama became one of the Confederate states of See also:America, whose government was organized at Montgomery on the 4th of February 1861. Yet secession was opposed by many prominent men, and in North Alabama an attempt was made to organize a neutral state to be called Nickajack; but with See also:President Lincoln's See also:call to arms all opposition to secession ended. In the early part of the Civil War Alabama was not the See also:scene of military operations, yet the state contributed about 120,000 men to the Confederate service, practically all her white population capable of bearing arms, and See also:thirty-nine of these attained the rank of general. In 1863 the Federal forces secured a foothold in northern Alabama in spite of the opposition of General Nathan B. See also:Forrest, one of the ablest Confederate See also:cavalry leaders. In 1864 the defences of Mobile were taken by a Federal See also:fleet, but the city held out until See also:April 1865; in the same See also:month Selma also fell. According to the presidential See also:plan of reorganization, a provisional governor for Alabama was appointed in See also:June 1865; a state convention met in September of the same year, and declared the ordinance of secession null and void and slavery abolished; a legislature and a governor were elected in November, the legislature was at once recognized by the National government, and the inauguration of the governor-elect was permitted after the legislature had, in December, ratified the thirteenth See also:amendment. But the passage, by the legislature, of See also:vagrancy and See also:apprenticeship See also:laws designed to control the negroes who were flocking from the plantations to the cities, and its rejection of the fourteenth amendment, so intensified the congressional hostility to the presidential plan that the Alabama senators and representatives were denied their seats in Congress. In 1867 the congressional plan of reconstruction was completed and Alabama was placed under military government. The negroes were now enrolled as voters and large See also:numbers of white citizens were disfranchised.' A Black Man's Party, composed of negroes, and political adventurers known as "See also:carpet-baggers," was formed, which co-operated with the Republican party. A constitutional convention, controlled by this element, met in November 1867, and framed a constitution which conferred suffrage on negroes and disfranchised a large class of whites. The Reconstruction Acts of Congress required every new constitution to be ratified by a See also:majority of the legal voters of the state. The whites of Alabama therefore stayed away from the polls, and, after five days of voting, the constitution wanted 13,550 to secure a majority. Congress then enacted that a majority of the votes See also:cast should be sufficient, and thus the constitution went into effect, the state was admitted to the Union in June 1868, and a new governor and legislature were elected. The next two years are notable for legislative extravagance and corruption. The state endorsed railway bonds at the rate of $12,000 and $16,000 a mile until the state debt had increased from eight millions to seventeen millions of dollars, and similar corruption characterized local government. The native white people united, formed a Conservative party and elected a governor and a majority of the lower house of the legislature in 1870; but, as the new administration was largely a failure, in 1872 there was a reaction in favour of the Radicals, a local term applied to the Republican party, and affairs went from See also:bad to worse. In 1894, however, the power of the Radicals was finally broken, the Conservative Democrats electing all state officials. A See also:commission appointed to examine the state debt found it to be $25,503,000; by compromise it was reduced to $15,000,000. A new constitution was adopted in 1875, which omitted the guaranty of the previous constitution that no one should be denied suffrage on account of race, colour or previous See also:condition of servitude, and forbade the state to engage in See also:internal improvements or to give its credit to any private enterprise. Since 1874 the Democratic party- has had See also:constant control of the state administration, the Republicans failing to make nominations for office in 1878 and 188o and endorsing the See also:ticket The enrolment was 104,518 blacks and 61,295 whites. of the Greenback party in 1882. The development of See also:mining and manufacturing was accompanied by economic See also:distress among the farming classes, which found expression in the Jeffersonian Democratic party, organized in 1892. The See also:regular Democratic ticket was elected and the new party was then merged into the Populist party. In 1894 the Republicans united with the Populists, elected three congressional representatives, secured control of many of the counties, but failed to carry the state, and continued their opposition with less success in the next See also:campaigns. Partisanship became intense, and charges of corruption of the ignorant negro electorate were made. Consequently after division on the subject among the Democrats themselves, as well as opposition of Republicans and Populists, a new constitution with restrictions on suffrage was adopted in 19o1. The following is a See also:list of the territorial and state See also:governors of Alabama: Governor of the Territory. William See also:Wyatt Bibb I 1817–1819 Governors of the State.
William Wyatt Bibb See also: See also:Watts See also:Lewis E. See also:Parsons
See also:Robert M. See also:Patton See also:Wager Swayne .
William H. See also: See also: Information concerning the history of the state may be obtained in William G. Brown's History of Alabama (New See also:York, 1900) ; See also:Newton W. See also:Bates's History and Civil Government of Alabama (Florence, See also:Ala., 1892) ; See also:Willis See also:Brewer's Alabama: Her History, Resources, Was See also:Record and Public Men (Montgomery, 1872) ; A. See also:Davis Smith's and T. A. Deland's Northern Alabama, Historical and See also:Biographical ' William Wyatt Bibb died in 1820, and Thomas Bibb, then president of the state senate, filled the unexpired term of one year (182o). ' In 1837 Governor Clay was elected United States Senator, and Hugh M'Vay, the president of the state senate, filled the unexpired term. ' Until 1845 the term of state officials was one year; from then until 1901 it was two years; since 1901 it has been four years.(Birmingham, 1888) ; See also:Albert J. Pickett's History of Alabama (5th ed., 2 vols., Birmingham-, Ala., 1900), which contains a valuable compilation of the " See also:Annals of Alabama from 1819 to 1900," by Thomas M. See also:Owen; and See also:Walter L. See also:Fleming's Civil War and Reconstruction in Alabama (New York, 1905). In addition, W. G. See also:Clark's History of Education in Alabama (See also:Washington, 1889) ; W. E. Martin's Internal Improvements in Alabama (See also:Baltimore, 1902; Johns See also:Hopkins University Studies, See also:series 2o, No. 4) ; and W. L. Martin's Code of Alabama (2 vols., See also:Atlanta,Ga., 1897) may be consulted. Information concerning the aboriginal remains in the state may be found in two papers by See also:Clarence B. Moore, " Certain Aboriginal Remains of the Tombigbee River " and " Certain Aboriginal Remains of the Alabama River," published in the See also:Journal of the Academy of Natural Sciences, series 2, vol. ii. (See also:Philadelphia, 1900). " ALABAMA " See also:ARBITRATION.—This is one of those arbitrations on pecuniary claims, made by one state, on behalf of its subjects, against another state, which are referred to in the article ARBITRATION, See also:INTERNATIONAL. The case is important, both from a historical and a juridical point of view, and affords a conspicuous example of the value of arbitration as a means of averting war. The facts are as follows: In 1861 the Southern States of North America seceded from the rest on the slavery question and set up a separate government under President Jefferson Davis. Hostilities began with the See also:capture of Fort See also:Sumter by the Confederates on the 13th of April 1861. On the 29th of April President Abraham Lincoln declared a See also:blockade of the southern ports. On the 14th of May the British government issued a proclamation of See also:neutrality, by which the Confederates were recognized as belligerents. This example was followed shortly afterwards by See also:France and other nations. The blockade of the southern ports was not at first effective, and blockade-See also:running soon became an active industry. The Con-federates established agencies in England for the purchase of arms, which they despatched in See also:ordinary See also:merchant vessels to the See also:Bahamas, whence they were transhipped into fast steamers especially constructed for the purpose. In June 1862 the See also:vessel, the " Alabama," originally known as " No. 290," was being built by Messrs. See also:Laird at See also:Birkenhead. She was See also:theft 'nearly completed and was obviously intended for a man-of-war. On the 23rd of June Mr C. F. See also: The second was in respect of breaches of neutrality in allowing the " Alabama," the " Florida " (originally the " Oreto "1, the " See also:Shenandoah " and other Confederate vessels to be built and equipped on British territory. See also:Correspondence ensued extending over several years. At length in February 1871 a commission was appointed to sit at Washington in order, if possible, to arrive at some common understanding as to the mode in which the 1819—182o 1820—1821 182I—1825 1825–1829 1829–1831 1831 1831–1835 1835–1837 1837 1837–1841 1841–1845 1845–1847 1847–1849 1849–1853 1853–1857 1857–1861 1861–1863 1863—1865 1865 1865–1867 1867–1868 1868–1870 1870—1872 1872–1874 1874–1878 1878–1882 1882–1886 1886–1890 1890—1894 1894–1896 1896–1900 1900—1901 1901–1907 1907 Democrat. Provisional Governor. Republican. Military Governor. Republican. Democrat. Republican. Democrat. questions at issue might be settled. With respect to the "Alabama" claims the British commissioners suggested that they should be submitted to arbitration. The American commissioners refused " unless the principles which should govern the arbitrators in the See also:consideration of the facts could be first agreed upon." After some discussion the British commissioners consented that the three following rules should apply. A neutral government is bound—(1) to use due See also:diligence to prevent the fitting out, arming or equipping within its jurisdiction of any vessel, which it has reasonable ground to believe is intended to cruise or to carry on war against a power with which it is at peace, and also to use like diligence to prevent the departure from its jurisdiction of any vessel intended to cruise or carry on war as above, such vessel having been specially adapted, in whole or in part, within such jurisdiction, to warlike use; (2) not to permit or suffer either belligerent to make use of its ports or waters as the See also:base of naval .operations against the other, or for the purpose of the renewal or See also:augmentation of military supplies or arms or the recruitment of men; (3) to exercise due diligence in its own ports and waters, and as to all persons within its jurisdiction to prevent any violation of the foregoing See also:obligation and duties. The arrangements made by the commission were embodied in the treaty of Washington, which was signed on the 8th of May 1871, and approved by the Senate on the 24th of May. Article 1, after expressing the regret See also:felt by Her See also:Majesty's government for the, See also:escape, in whatever circumstances, of the "Alabama" and other vessels from British ports, and for the depredations committed by these vessels, provided that " the claims growing out of the acts of the said vessels, and generically known as the ` Alabama ' claims " should be referred to a tribunal composed of five arbitrators, one to be named by each of the contracting parties and the remaining three by the See also: C. See also:Bancroft Davis as agent. The British government appointed Sir See also: The inclusion of the indirect losses and the other matters just referred to caused great excitement in England. That they were within the treaty was disputed, and it was argued that, if they were, thetreaty should be amended or denounced. In October 1872 Lord See also:Granville notified to General Schenck, the United States See also:minister, that the British government did not consider that the indirect losses were within the submission, and in April the British See also:counter-case was filed without See also:prejudice to this contention. On the 15th of June the tribunal reassembled and the Arierican argument was filed. The British agent then applied for an See also:adjournment of eight months, ostensibly in order that the two governments might conclude a supplemental convention, it having been meanwhile privately arranged between the arbitrators that an extra-judicial See also:declaration should be obtained from the arbitrators on the subject of the direct claims. On the loth of June Count Sclopis intimated on behalf of all his colleagues that, without intending to See also:express any See also:opinion upon the See also:interpretation of the treaty, they had arrived at the conclusion that " the indirect claims did not constitute upon the principles of international law applicable to such cases a good foundation for an award or computation of damages between nations. In consequence of this intimation Mr Bancroft Davis informed the tribunal on the 25th of June that he was instructed not to press those claims; and accordingly on the 27th of June Lord Tenter-den withdrew his application for an adjournment, and the arbitration was allowed to proceed. The discussion turned mainly on the question of the measure of " due diligence." The United States contended that it must be a diligence commensurate with the emergency or with the magnitude of the results of See also:negligence. The British government maintained that while the measure of care which a government is bound to use in such cases must be dependent more or less upon circumstances, it would be unreasonable to require that it should exceed that which the governments of civilized states were accustomed to employ in matters concerning their own security or that of their citizens. The tribunal adopted the view suggested by the United States. It found that Great Britain was legally responsible for all the depredations of the " Alabama " and " Florida " and for those committed by the " Shenandoah " after she left See also:Melbourne. In the case of the " Alabama " the court was unanimous; in the case of the " Florida " Sir A. Cockburn alone, in that of the " Shenandoah " he and Baron d'Itajuba, dissented from the majority. In the cases of the other vessels the See also:judgment was in favour of Great Britain. The tribunal decided to award a sum in gross, and (Sir A. Cockburn again dissenting) fixed the damages at $15,500,000 in gold. On the 14th of September the award was formally published, and signed by all the arbitrators except Sir A. Cockburn, who filed a lengthy statement of his reasons. The stipulation that the three rules should be jointly submitted by the two powers to foreign nations has never been carried out. For this the British government has been blamed by some. But the general view of See also:continental publicists is, that the See also:language of the rules was not sufficiently precise to admit of their being generally accepted as a See also:canon of neutral obligations. (M. H. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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