Alabama
is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland waterways. The state ranks 23rd in population with almost 4.6 million residents in 2006. [1]
From the American Civil War until World War II, Alabama, like many Southern states, suffered economic hardship, in part because of continued dependence on agriculture. White rural interests dominated the state legislature until the 1960s, while urban interests and African Americans were underrepresented. [2] Following World War II, Alabama experienced significant recovery as the economy of the state transitioned from agriculture to diversified interests in heavy manufacturing, mineral extraction, education, and technology, as well as the establishment or expansion of multiple military installations, primarily those of the U.S. Army and U.S. Air Force. The state has heavily invested in aerospace, education, health care, and banking, and various heavy industries including automobile manufacturing, mineral extraction, steel production and fabrication.
Alabama is unofficially nicknamed the Yellowhammer State
, which is also the name of the state bird. Alabama is also known as the "Heart of Dixie". The state tree is the Longleaf Pine, the state flower is the Camellia. The capital of Alabama is Montgomery, and the largest city by population is Birmingham. The largest city by total land area is Huntsville. The oldest city is Mobile.
|
ALABAMA - THE BAND TICKETS
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Etymology of state name
The
Alabama, a
Muskogean tribe, which resided just below the confluence of the
Coosa and
Tallapoosa Rivers on the upper reaches of the
Alabama River,
[3] served as the
etymological source of the names of the river and state. In the
Alabama language, the word for an Alabama person is
Albaamo
(or variously
Albaama
or
Albàamo
in different dialects; the plural form "Alabama persons" is
Albaamaha
).
[4] The word
Alabama
is believed to have originated from the
Choctaw language [5] and was later adopted by the Alabama tribe as their name.
[6] The spelling of the word varies significantly between sources.
The first usage appears in three accounts of the
Hernando de Soto expedition of 1540 with Garcilasso de la Vega using
Alibamo
while the Knight of Elvas and Rodrigo Ranjel wrote
Alibamu
and
Limamu
, respectively.
As early as 1702, the tribe was known to the
French as
Alibamon
with French maps identifying the river as
Rivière des Alibamons
.
Other spellings of the appellation have included
Alibamu
,
Alabamo
,
Albama
,
Alebamon
,
Alibama
,
Alibamou
,
Alabamu
, and
Allibamou
.
Although the origin of
Alabama
was evident, the meaning of the tribe's name was not always clear. An article without a
byline appearing in the
Jacksonville Republican
on July 27, 1842, originated the idea that the meaning was "Here We Rest."
This notion was popularized in the 1850s through the writings of
Alexander Beaufort Meek.
Experts in the
Muskogean languages have been unable to find any evidence that would support this translation.
It is now generally accepted that the word comes from the Choctaw words
alba
(meaning "plants" or "weeds") and
amo
(meaning "to cut", "to trim", or "to gather").
This results in translations such as "clearers of the thicket"
or even "herb gatherers"
which may refer to clearing of land for the purpose of planting crops
or to collection of medicinal plants by
medicine men.
History
Among the
Native American people once living in the area of present day Alabama were
Alabama (
Alibamu
),
Cherokee,
Chickasaw,
Choctaw,
Creek,
Koasati, and
Mobile.
[12] Trade with the Northeast via the
Ohio River began during the Burial Mound Period (1000 BC-700 AD) and continued until
European contact.
[13] The agrarian
Mississippian culture covered most of the state from 1000 to 1600 AD, with one of its major centers being at the
Moundville Archaeological Site in
Moundville, Alabama.
[14] [15] Artifacts recovered from archaeological excavations at Moundville were a major component in the formulation of the
Southeastern Ceremonial Complex.
[16] Contrary to popular belief, this development appears to have no direct links to
Mesoamerica, but developed independently. This Ceremonial Complex represents a major component of the
religion of the Mississippian peoples, and is one of the primary means by which their religion is understood.
[17]
The French founded the first European settlement in the state with the establishment of
Mobile in 1702.
[18] Southern Alabama was French from 1702 to 1763, part of British West Florida from 1763 to 1780, and part of Spanish West Florida from 1780 to 1814. Northern and central Alabama was part of British Georgia from 1763 to 1783 and part of the American Mississippi territory thereafter. Its statehood was delayed by the lack of a coastline; rectified when
Andrew Jackson captured Spanish Mobile in 1814.
[19] Alabama was the twenty-second state, admitted to the Union in 1819. Its constitution provided for universal suffrage for white men.
Alabama was part of the new frontier in the 1820s and 1830s. Settlers rapidly arrived to take advantage of fertile soils. Planters brought slaves with them, and traders brought in more from the Upper South as the cotton plantations expanded. The economy of the central "
Black Belt" featured large cotton plantations whose owners built their wealth on the labor of enslaved African Americans. It was named for the dark, fertile soil.
Elsewhere poor whites were subsistence farmers. According to the 1860 census, enslaved Africans comprised 45% of the state's population of 964,201. There were only 2,690 free persons of color.
In 1861 Alabama declared its secession from the Union and joined the
Confederate States of America. While few battles were fought in the state, Alabama contributed about 120,000 soldiers to the Civil War. All the slaves were freed by 1865.
[20] Following
Reconstruction, Alabama was restored to the Union in 1868.
After the Civil War, the state was still chiefly rural and tied to cotton. Planters resisted working with free labor and sought to re-establish controls over African Americans. Whites used paramilitary groups,
Jim Crow laws and segregation to reduce freedoms of African Americans and restore their own dominance.
In its new constitution of 1901, the legislature effectively disfranchised African Americans through voting restrictions. While the planter class had engaged poor whites in supporting these efforts, the new restrictions resulted in disfranchising poor whites as well. By 1941, a total of more whites than blacks had been disfranchised: 600,000 whites to 520,000 blacks. This was due mostly to effects of the cumulative poll tax.
[21]
The damage to the African-American community was pervasive, as nearly all its citizens lost the ability to vote. In 1900, fourteen Black Belt counties (which were primarily African American) had more than 79,000 voters on the rolls. By June 1, 1903, the number of registered voters had dropped to 1,081. In 1900, Alabama had more than 181,000 African Americans eligible to vote. By 1903, only 2,980 had managed to "qualify" to register, although at least 74,000 black voters were literate. The shut out was long-lasting.
The disfranchisement was ended only by African Americans leading the
Civil Rights Movement and gaining Federal legislation in the mid-1960s to protect their voting and civil rights. The
Voting Rights Act of 1965 also protected the suffrage of poor whites.
The rural-dominated legislature continued to underfund schools and services for African Americans in the segregated state, but did not relieve them of paying taxes.
[22] Continued racial discrimination, agricultural depression, and the failure of the cotton crops due to
boll weevil infestation led tens of thousands of African Americans to seek out opportunities in northern cities. They left Alabama in the early 20th century as part of the
Great Migration to industrial jobs and better futures in northern industrial cities. The population growth rate in Alabama (see "Historical Populations" table below) dropped by nearly half from 1910–1920, reflecting the effect of outmigration.
At the same time, many rural whites and blacks migrated to the city of
Birmingham for work in new industrial jobs. It experienced such rapid growth that it was nicknamed "The Magic City". By the 1920s, Birmingham was the 19th largest city in the U.S. and held more than 30% of the population of the state. Heavy industry and mining were the basis of the economy.
Despite massive population changes in the state from 1901 to 1961, the rural-dominated legislature refused to reapportion House and Senate seats based on population. They held on to old representation to maintain political and economic power in agricultural areas. In addition, the state legislature gerrymandered the few Birmingham legislative seats to ensure election by persons living outside of Birmingham.
One result was that Jefferson County, home of Birmingham's industrial and economic powerhouse, contributed more than one-third of all tax revenue to the state. Urban interests were consistently underrepresented in the legislature. A 1960 study noted that because of rural domination, "A minority of about 25 per cent of the total state population is in majority control of the Alabama legislature."
Because of the long disfranchisement of African Americans, the state continued as one-party Democratic for decades. It produced a number of national leaders. Industrial development related to the demands of
World War II brought prosperity.
Cotton faded in importance as the state developed a manufacturing and service base. In the 1960s under Governor
George Wallace, many whites in the state opposed integration efforts.
During the Civil Rights Movement, African Americans achieved a protection of voting and other civil rights through the passage of the national
Civil Rights Act of 1964,
[23] and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
De jure
segregation ended in the states as
Jim Crow laws were invalidated or repealed.
[24]
Under the Voting Rights Act of 1965, cases were filed in Federal courts to force Alabama to properly redistrict by population both the state legislature House and Senate. In 1972, for the first time since 1901, the legislature implemented the Alabama constitution's provision for periodic redistricting based on population. This benefited the many urban areas that had developed, and all in the population who had been underrepresented for more than 60 years.
After 1972, the state's white voters shifted much of their support to Republican candidates in presidential elections (as also occurred in neighboring southern states). Since 1990 the majority of whites in the state have also voted increasingly Republican in state elections, although Democrats are still the majority party in both houses of the legislature.
[25]
Geography
Alabama is the thirtieth largest state in the United States with 52,423 square miles (135,775 km²) of total area: 3.19% of the area is water, making Alabama twenty-third in the amount of surface water, also giving it the second largest inland waterway system in the United States.
[26] About three-fifths of the land area is a gentle plain with a general descent 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.
[27]
The states bordering Alabama are
Tennessee to the north;
Georgia to the east;
Florida to the south; and
Mississippi to the west. Alabama has coastline at the
Gulf of Mexico, in the extreme southern edge of the state.
Alabama generally ranges in elevation from
sea level at
Mobile Bay to over 1,800 feet (550 m) in the
Appalachian Mountains in the northeast. The highest point is
Mount Cheaha (
see map
), at a height of 2,407 ft (733 m). Alabama's land consists of of
forest or 67% of total land area.
[28] Suburban
Baldwin County, along the Gulf Coast, is the largest county in the state in both land area and water area.
[29]
Areas in Alabama administered by the
National Park Service include
Horseshoe Bend National Military Park near
Alexander City;
Little River Canyon National Preserve near
Fort Payne;
Russell Cave National Monument in
Bridgeport;
Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site in
Tuskegee; and
Tuskegee Institute National Historic Site near
Tuskegee.
[30] Additionally, Alabama has four
National Forests including
Conecuh,
Talladega,
Tuskegee, and
William B. Bankhead.
[31] Alabama also contains the
Natchez Trace Parkway, the
Selma To Montgomery National Historic Trail, and the
Trail Of Tears National Historic Trail. A notable natural wonder in Alabama is
"Natural Bridge" rock, the longest
natural bridge east of the
Rockies, located just south of
Haleyville, in
Winston County.
A -wide meteorite impact crater is located in
Elmore County, just north of Montgomery. This is the
Wetumpka crater, which is the site of "Alabama's greatest natural disaster".
[32] A -wide meteorite hit the area about 80 million years ago.
The hills just east of downtown
Wetumpka showcase the eroded remains of the impact crater that was blasted into the bedrock, with the area labeled the Wetumpka crater or astrobleme ("star-wound") because of the concentric rings of fractures and zones of shattered rock that can be found beneath the surface.
[33] In 2002, Christian Koeberl with the Institute of Geochemistry University of Vienna published evidence and established the site as an internationally recognized impact crater.
Urban areas
| Rank
| Metropolitan Area
| Population (2008 estimates)
|
| 1
| Birmingham-Hoover
| 1,117,608
|
| 2
| Mobile
| 404,406
|
| 3
| Huntsville
| 386,632
|
| 4
| Montgomery
| 365,962
|
| 5
| Tuscaloosa
| 205,218
|
| 6
| Decatur
| 150,125
|
| 7
| Florence-Muscle Shoals
| 143,791
|
| 8
| Dothan
| 139,499
|
| 9
| Auburn-Opelika
| 130,516
|
| 10
| Anniston-Oxford
| 113,103
|
| 11
| Gadsden
| 103,217
|
| Total
| 3,260,077
|
| Rank
| City
| Population
(2008 estimates)
|
| 1
| Birmingham
| 228,798
|
| 2
| Montgomery
| 202,696
|
| 3
| Mobile
| 191,022
|
| 4
| Huntsville
| 176,645
|
| 5
| Tuscaloosa
| 90,221
|
| 6
| Hoover
| 71,020
|
| 7
| Dothan
| 66,505
|
| 8
| Auburn
| 56,088
|
| 9
| Decatur
| 56,068
|
| 10
| Madison
| 38,714
|
Climate
The
climate of Alabama is described as
temperate with an average annual temperature of 64 °F (18 °C). Temperatures tend to be warmer in the southern part of the state with its close proximity to the Gulf of Mexico, while the northern parts of the state, especially in the Appalachian Mountains in the northeast, tend to be slightly cooler.
[34] Generally, Alabama has very hot summers and mild winters with copious precipitation throughout the year. Alabama receives an average of of rainfall annually and enjoys a lengthy growing season of up to 300 days in the southern part of the state.
Summers in Alabama are among the hottest in the United States, with high temperatures averaging over throughout the summer in some parts of the state. Alabama is also prone to
tropical storms and even
hurricanes. Areas of the state far away from the Gulf are not immune to the effects of the storms, which often dump tremendous amounts of rain as they move inland and weaken.
South Alabama reports more
thunderstorms than any part of the U.S. The Gulf Coast, around Mobile Bay, averages between 70 and 80 days per year with thunder reported. This activity decreases somewhat further north in the state, but even the far north of the state reports thunder on about 60 days per year. Occasionally, thunderstorms are severe with frequent
lightning and large
hail – the central and northern parts of the state are most vulnerable to this type of storm. Alabama ranks seventh in the number of deaths from lightning and ninth in the number of deaths from lightning strikes per capita.
[35] Sometimes
tornadoes occur – these are common throughout the state, although the peak season for tornadoes varies from the northern to southern parts of the state. Alabama shares the dubious distinction, with
Kansas, of having reported more
F5 tornadoes than any other state – according to statistics from the
National Climatic Data Center for the period January 1, 1950 to October 31, 2006. An F5 tornado is the most powerful of its kind.
[36] Several long – tracked F5 tornadoes have contributed to Alabama reporting more tornado fatalities than any other state except for
Texas and
Mississippi. The
Super Outbreak of March, 1974, badly affected Alabama. The northern part of the state – along the Tennessee Valley – is one of the areas in the US most vulnerable to violent tornadoes. The area of Alabama and Mississippi most affected by tornadoes is sometimes referred to as
Dixie Alley, as distinct from the
Tornado Alley of the Southern Plains. Alabama is one of the few places in the world that has a secondary tornado season (November and December) in addition to the Spring severe weather season.
Winters are generally mild in Alabama, as they are throughout most of the
southeastern United States, with average January low temperatures around in Mobile and around in Birmingham. Snow is a rare event in much of Alabama. Areas of the state north of Montgomery may receive a dusting of snow a few times every winter, with an occasional moderately heavy snowfall every few years. In the southern Gulf coast, snowfall is less frequent, sometimes going several years without any snowfall.
| Monthly normal high and low temperatures for various Alabama cities [37]
|
| Month
| Jan
| Feb
| Mar
| Apr
| May
| Jun
| Jul
| Aug
| Sep
| Oct
| Nov
| Dec
|
| City
| temp
| °F
| °C
| °F
| °C
| °F
| °C
| °F
| °C
| °F
| °C
| °F
| °C
| °F
| °C
| °F
| °C
| °F
| °C
| °F
| °C
| °F
| °C
| °F
| °C
|
| Birmingham
| high
| style="text-align:center; background:#e5afaa; color:Black;"
| style="text-align:center; background:#e5afaa; color:Black;"
| style="text-align:center; background:#e5afaa; color:Black;"
| style="text-align:center; background:#e5afaa; color:Black;"
| style="text-align:center; background:#e5afaa; color:Black;"
| style="text-align:center; background:#e5afaa; color:Black;"
| style="text-align:center; background:#e5afaa; color:Black;"
| style="text-align:center; background:#e5afaa; color:Black;"
| style="text-align:center; background:#e5afaa; color:Black;"
| style="text-align:center; background:#e5afaa; color:Black;"
| style="text-align:center; background:#e5afaa; color:Black;"
| style="text-align:center; background:#e5afaa; color:Black;"
|
| low
| style="text-align:center; background:#c5dfe1; color:Black;"
| style="text-align:center; background:#c5dfe1; color:Black;"
| style="text-align:center; background:#c5dfe1; color:Black;"
| style="text-align:center; background:#c5dfe1; color:Black;"
| style="text-align:center; background:#c5dfe1; color:Black;"
| style="text-align:center; background:#c5dfe1; color:Black;"
| style="text-align:center; background:#c5dfe1; color:Black;"
| style="text-align:center; background:#c5dfe1; color:Black;"
| style="text-align:center; background:#c5dfe1; color:Black;"
| style="text-align:center; background:#c5dfe1; color:Black;"
| style="text-align:center; background:#c5dfe1; color:Black;"
| style="text-align:center; background:#c5dfe1; color:Black;"
|
| Huntsville
| high
| style="text-align:center; background:#e5afaa; color:Black;"
| style="text-align:center; background:#e5afaa; color:Black;"
| style="text-align:center; background:#e5afaa; color:Black;"
| style="text-align:center; background:#e5afaa; color:Black;"
| style="text-align:center; background:#e5afaa; color:Black;"
| style="text-align:center; background:#e5afaa; color:Black;"
| style="text-align:center; background:#e5afaa; color:Black;"
| style="text-align:center; background:#e5afaa; color:Black;"
| style="text-align:center; background:#e5afaa; color:Black;"
| style="text-align:center; background:#e5afaa; color:Black;"
| style="text-align:center; background:#e5afaa; color:Black;"
| style="text-align:center; background:#e5afaa; color:Black;"
|
| low
| style="text-align:center; background:#c5dfe1; color:Black;"
| style="text-align:center; background:#c5dfe1; color:Black;"
| style="text-align:center; background:#c5dfe1; color:Black;"
| style="text-align:center; background:#c5dfe1; color:Black;"
| style="text-align:center; background:#c5dfe1; color:Black;"
| style="text-align:center; background:#c5dfe1; color:Black;"
| style="text-align:center; background:#c5dfe1; color:Black;"
| style="text-align:center; background:#c5dfe1; color:Black;"
| style="text-align:center; background:#c5dfe1; color:Black;"
| style="text-align:center; background:#c5dfe1; color:Black;"
| style="text-align:center; background:#c5dfe1; color:Black;"
| style="text-align:center; background:#c5dfe1; color:Black;"
|
| Mobile
| high
| style="text-align:center; background:#e5afaa; color:Black;"
| style="text-align:center; background:#e5afaa; color:Black;"
| style="text-align:center; background:#e5afaa; color:Black;"
| style="text-align:center; background:#e5afaa; color:Black;"
| style="text-align:center; background:#e5afaa; color:Black;"
| style="text-align:center; background:#e5afaa; color:Black;"
| style="text-align:center; background:#e5afaa; color:Black;"
| style="text-align:center; background:#e5afaa; color:Black;"
| style="text-align:center; background:#e5afaa; color:Black;"
| style="text-align:center; background:#e5afaa; color:Black;"
| style="text-align:center; background:#e5afaa; color:Black;"
| style="text-align:center; background:#e5afaa; color:Black;"
|
| low
| style="text-align:center; background:#c5dfe1; color:Black;"
| style="text-align:center; background:#c5dfe1; color:Black;"
| style="text-align:center; background:#c5dfe1; color:Black;"
| style="text-align:center; background:#c5dfe1; color:Black;"
| style="text-align:center; background:#c5dfe1; color:Black;"
| style="text-align:center; background:#c5dfe1; color:Black;"
| style="text-align:center; background:#c5dfe1; color:Black;"
| style="text-align:center; background:#c5dfe1; color:Black;"
| style="text-align:center; background:#c5dfe1; color:Black;"
| style="text-align:center; background:#c5dfe1; color:Black;"
| style="text-align:center; background:#c5dfe1; color:Black;"
| style="text-align:center; background:#c5dfe1; color:Black;"
|
| Montgomery
| high
| style="text-align:center; background:#e5afaa; color:Black;"
| style="text-align:center; background:#e5afaa; color:Black;"
| style="text-align:center; background:#e5afaa; color:Black;"
| style="text-align:center; background:#e5afaa; color:Black;"
| style="text-align:center; background:#e5afaa; color:Black;"
| style="text-align:center; background:#e5afaa; color:Black;"
| style="text-align:center; background:#e5afaa; color:Black;"
| style="text-align:center; background:#e5afaa; color:Black;"
| style="text-align:center; background:#e5afaa; color:Black;"
| style="text-align:center; background:#e5afaa; color:Black;"
| style="text-align:center; background:#e5afaa; color:Black;"
| style="text-align:center; background:#e5afaa; color:Black;"
|
| low
| style="text-align:center; background:#c5dfe1; color:Black;"
| style="text-align:center; background:#c5dfe1; color:Black;"
| style="text-align:center; background:#c5dfe1; color:Black;"
| style="text-align:center; background:#c5dfe1; color:Black;"
| style="text-align:center; background:#c5dfe1; color:Black;"
| style="text-align:center; background:#c5dfe1; color:Black;"
| style="text-align:center; background:#c5dfe1; color:Black;"
| style="text-align:center; background:#c5dfe1; color:Black;"
| style="text-align:center; background:#c5dfe1; color:Black;"
| style="text-align:center; background:#c5dfe1; color:Black;"
| style="text-align:center; background:#c5dfe1; color:Black;"
| style="text-align:center; background:#c5dfe1; color:Black;"
|
Demographics
| Historical populations
|
| Census
| Pop.
|
| %±
|
| 1800
| | | |
| 1810
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| 1820
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| 1830
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| 1840
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| 1930
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| 2000
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