Alabama

Alabama, one of the Southern States of the United States, is known as the Heart of Dixie. Alabama occupies a central place in the history of the South. The Constitution of the Confederacy was drawn up in Montgomery, the state capital, in 1861. The Alabama Capitol served as the first Confederate Capitol. There, Jefferson Davis took office as president of the Confederacy.

Today, Alabama has a vital part in the nation's future. Huntsville, called Rocket City, U.S.A., is the site of the Redstone Arsenal and the George C. Marshall Space Flight Center. Scientists at Huntsville developed many important rockets and space vehicles, including the Saturn 5 rocket system that carried the first astronauts to land on the moon.
Most parts of the South did not become widely industrialized until the 1900's. But heavy industry got a relatively early start in Alabama, mainly because of the state's rich mineral resources. Northern Alabama had all three main raw materials used in making steel--coal, iron ore, and limestone. Blast furnaces for making iron and steel began operating in Birmingham in the 1880's. After that, Birmingham grew rapidly. Today, it is Alabama's largest city, and one of the state's important centers of service industries.
For many years, "King Cotton" ruled Alabama's farm economy. When the cotton crop was poor, or when it sold at low prices, Alabama farmers suffered. But serious crop failures during the early 1900's taught the farmers that they should plant a variety of crops. Then they would not lose all their money if the cotton crop failed. Alabama is still a leading cotton producer. But much livestock and poultry and large crops of corn, peanuts, and soybeans are also raised in the state.
Forest-covered hills and ridges spread over much of northern Alabama. In places where the land has been cleared, bright red clay soils add splashes of color to the landscape. Many dams along rivers and creeks help prevent floods. Hydroelectric power stations at some of the larger dams produce electricity for use in homes and factories.
In the southern part of Alabama, the hills give way to thick pine forests, rolling grasslands, and low croplands.
The Mobile Delta area in the southern part of the state has many swamps and bayous (shallow channels filled with slow-moving water). At the southern tip of Alabama, sandy beaches border Mobile Bay and the Gulf of Mexico.
Mobile, at the mouth of the Mobile River, is a busy seaport. Oceangoing ships unload a wide variety of goods at the Alabama State Docks in Mobile Bay. The goods include minerals and other raw materials to be made into manufactured goods in Alabama factories. The ships carry away Alabama coal and a wide variety of the state's products, including iron and steel, petroleum products, pulp and other wood products, soybeans, and wheat.
The name Alabama comes from the name of an Indian tribe that once lived in the region. These Indians called themselves the Alibamu, meaning I open (or I clear) the thicket. One of Alabama's nicknames, the Yellowhammer State, originated during the Civil War (1861-1865). A company of Alabama troops paraded in uniforms trimmed with bits of bright yellow cloth. The soldiers reminded people of the birds called yellowhammers, which have yellow patches under their wings. After that, Alabama soldiers were known as Yellowhammers.


ALABAMA/People
Population. The 1990 United States census reported that Alabama had 4,062,608 people. The state's population had increased 4 1/2 per cent over the 1980 census figure, 3,893,978. According to the 1990 census, Alabama ranks 22nd in population among the 50 states.
About two-thirds of the people of Alabama live in metropolitan areas. These areas are Anniston, Birmingham, Decatur, Dothan, Florence, Gadsden, Huntsville, Mobile, Montgomery, and Tuscaloosa. The Columbus (Ga.) metropolitan area extends into Alabama.
Alabama has 19 cities with populations of more than 20,000. Birmingham, the largest city, developed as a steelmaking center. Today, Birmingham is an important center of service industries, particularly medical services.
Huntsville is the home of the U.S. Army's Redstone Arsenal, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's George C. Marshall Space Flight Center. During the 1950's, Huntsville's population grew by 340 per cent. Thousands of people moved to the Huntsville area to work on missile and space projects of the United States government.
Birmingham, Huntsville, Mobile, Montgomery, and other cities have kept the attractiveness of small communities, in spite of their rapid growth. Huge oak trees arch over wide boulevards, even in many downtown areas. Stately old homes add to the charm and dignity of these cities.
About a fourth of the people in Alabama are blacks. Other large population groups in the state include people of Irish, English, German, and American Indian descent.
Schools. Alabama established its public school system in 1854. Like most Southern States, Alabama had separate schools for whites and blacks. In 1954, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that school segregation is unconstitutional. In 1963, Alabama began to desegregate its public schools. By 1973, most of these schools had been integrated.
Today, Alabama operates about 130 local public school systems. It also operates a system of secondary-level vocational technical training centers. The superintendent of education heads the state's public school system. The superintendent is appointed by the state board of education. The nine-member board of education establishes policies for the public school system. The governor serves as president of the board. The other eight members are elected by the voters to four-year terms.
Alabama law requires children from age 7 through 15 to attend school. For the number of students and teachers in Alabama, see EDUCATION (table).

Libraries. Alabama's first large library, the Supreme Court Library in Montgomery, was created in 1828. In 1901, the state legislature created the Department of Archives and History--the first state-supported archives in the United States. Today, the largest of Alabama's public libraries are in Birmingham, Huntsville, Mobile, and Montgomery. The public library in Birmingham owns the Rucker Agee collection of rare maps, the Tutwiler collection on Southern history and literature, and a collection of civil rights documents. The University of Alabama's Amelia Gayle Gorgas Library in Tuscaloosa has materials on the history of the region.
Museums. The Anniston Museum of Natural History includes items used by early Indians and displays of birds in their natural surroundings. The George Washington Carver Museum at the Tuskegee University National Historic Site features exhibits that illustrate contributions of blacks to U.S. history. It also displays artwork by African and African American artists. The University of Alabama State Museum of Natural History exhibits a large collection of Indian items. The collection includes prehistoric items found at Mound State Monument. The Historic Mobile Preservation Society has displays on the American Civil War period.
The Birmingham Museum of Art, the Fine Arts Museum of the South in Mobile, the Huntsville Museum of Art, and the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts exhibit chiefly works of art. The helicopter collection of the U.S. Army Aviation Museum at Fort Rucker ranks as one of the largest in the world.
ALABAMA/Visitor's guide
The beaches and hotels along Alabama's Gulf Coast are among the state's major attractions. Many vacationers visit the area each year. Many enjoy saltwater fishing in the Gulf of Mexico and freshwater fishing on inland lakes. Tourists also come to see Alabama's historic homes and beautiful gardens.
One of Alabama's outstanding annual events is the Mardi Gras celebration in Mobile. The festivities begin two weeks before Shrove Tuesday. They include colorful parades through the streets both during the day and in the evening.
During late March and early April, blossoms begin to appear on shrubs along Mobile's famous Azalea Trail. This trail is an automobile route, about 25 miles (40 kilometers) long, through the city. The trail passes many of Mobile's most beautiful homes and gardens. The azaleas and other flowering shrubs are usually loveliest during late March.


ALABAMA/Land and climate
Land regions. Most of southern Alabama lies less than 500 feet (150 meters) above sea level. The surface of the state rises gradually toward the northeast. Alabama has six main land regions: (1) the East Gulf Coastal Plain, (2) the Black Belt, (3) the Piedmont, (4) the Appalachian Ridge and Valley Region, (5) the Cumberland Plateau, and (6) the Interior Low Plateau.
The East Gulf Coastal Plain is Alabama's largest land region. It covers the entire southern two-thirds of the state, except for a narrow strip of land called the Black Belt. In western Alabama, the plain extends north almost to Tennessee.
The plain has several sections. The low, swampy land of the Mobile River Delta makes up the southwestern section. The southeastern part is called the Wiregrass area. It is named for a tough grass that once grew there in pine forests. Today, the Wiregrass area is an important farming region. The northern part of the plain is often called the Central Pine Belt because many pine forests cover its low, rolling hills. In the western part of this section, the soils are gravelly and sandy, and are not good for growing crops.
The Black Belt is a narrow strip of rolling prairie wedged between the northern and southern parts of the East Gulf Coastal Plain. The Black Belt was named for the sticky black clay soils of its rolling uplands. Early in Alabama's history, farmers developed large plantations in this region. Boll weevils came to the Black Belt in 1915, and damaged the cotton crop. Some farmers then changed from growing cotton to raising livestock.
The Piedmont, in east-central Alabama, is an area of low hills and ridges separated by sandy valleys. The clay soils of these hills and ridges have been badly eroded. Most of the land is forested. Cheaha Mountain, the highest point in Alabama, rises 2,407 feet (734 meters) on the northwestern edge of the Piedmont.
Deposits of coal, iron ore, limestone, and marble, together with electric power from projects on the Coosa and Tallapoosa rivers, make the Piedmont an important manufacturing area. Textile production is the main industry in many small cities of the region.
The Appalachian Ridge and Valley Region is an area of sandstone ridges and fertile limestone valleys. It lies northwest of the Piedmont. The region has coal, iron ore, and limestone--the three basic minerals used in making iron and steel. For this reason, Birmingham and other large cities in the region developed as centers of iron and steel production.
The Cumberland Plateau, also known as the Appalachian Plateau, lies northwest of the Appalachian Ridge and Valley Region. The surface varies from flat to gently rolling land. It reaches a height of about 1,800 feet (549 meters) above sea level in the northeast. The land slopes to about 500 feet (150 meters) where it meets the East Gulf Coastal Plain in the southwest. Farmers could not grow large crops in the plateau's sandy soils until the 1880's, when commercial fertilizers came into common use. Today, farmers raise hogs and poultry there, and grow cotton, hay, potatoes, and vegetables.
The Interior Low Plateau lies in the northwestern part of the state. Much of the land is in the valley of the Tennessee River. Farmers in the region grow corn, cotton, and hay. The plateau has water transportation and hydroelectric power, which encourage manufacturing there. Decatur and "The Shoals," the area of Muscle Shoals, Florence, Sheffield, and Tuscumbia, are industrial centers.
Coastline. Alabama's general coastline extends for 53 miles (85 kilometers) along the Gulf of Mexico. The tidal shoreline, which includes small bays and inlets, is 607 miles (977 kilometers) long. Mobile Bay, at the mouth of the Mobile River, is the chief feature of the Alabama coastline. It is an important harbor area. Mississippi Sound borders the coast west of Mobile Bay. Perdido Bay is at the border between Alabama and Florida. The long, sandy peninsula between Mobile and Perdido bays is known as the Gulf Coast. Dauphin Island, Alabama's largest coastal island, lies at the entrance to Mobile Bay. An overseas highway connects the island with the mainland.
Rivers and lakes. Navigable rivers flow through almost every part of Alabama. The Mobile River and its tributaries flow south to the Gulf of Mexico. They form the most important river system in the state. The Alabama and the Tombigbee, Alabama's longest rivers, meet about 45 miles (72 kilometers) north of Mobile and form the Mobile River. The Alabama River begins where the Coosa and Tallapoosa rivers meet, just north of Montgomery. The Tombigbee starts in Mississippi and flows southeast into Alabama. Its main tributary in Alabama is the Black Warrior.
The Chattahoochee River forms much of the border between Alabama and Georgia. The Tennessee River is the most important river in northern Alabama. It flows west across almost the entire width of the state.
Alabama has no large natural lakes, but dams on rivers have created many artificial lakes. The largest of these, Guntersville Lake, covers 110 square miles (285 square kilometers). It is formed by Guntersville Dam on the Tennessee River. Other large artificially created lakes, in order of size, include Wheeler on the Tennessee River, Martin on the Tallapoosa River, and Weiss on the Coosa River.
Plant and animal life. Forests cover about two-thirds of Alabama. Pine forests are the most common type of forest. Besides pines, other trees in the state include cedars, cypresses, hemlocks, and oaks.
In the spring, blooming shrubs and trees cover the Alabama countryside. The state is famous for its azaleas. It also has flowering dogwood, mountain laurel, and rhododendrons. Alabama's wildflowers include asters, Dutchman's-breeches, goldenrods, orchids, pinks, and southern camasses.
Bobcats, deer, red and gray foxes, minks, opossums, rabbits, raccoons, skunks, squirrels, and wild turkeys live in many parts of Alabama. Beaver colonies thrive in the swamps and lowlands. Some alligators can be found in the state's southern swamps and bayous (see BAYOU). These areas also provide winter shelter for ducks, geese, and other water birds that fly north in the spring. Freshwater fish in Alabama streams include bass, bream, buffalo fish, catfish, crappies, garfish, and shad. Drumfish, flounder, mackerel, mullet, red snapper, and tarpon are common in the Gulf of Mexico along Alabama's coast. Shellfish found in the Gulf include crabs, oysters, and shrimps.
Climate. Alabama has a mild climate. January temperatures average about 52 °F (11 °C) in the southern part of the state, and about 46 °F (8 °C) in the north. July temperatures average about 80 °F (27 °C) throughout the state. Alabama's lowest temperature, -27 °F (-33 °C), occurred at New Market on Jan. 30, 1966. The highest temperature, 112 °F (44 °C), was at Centreville on Sept. 5, 1925. Alabama's annual precipitation (rain, melted snow, and other moisture) averages from about 65 inches (165 centimeters) on the coast to 53 inches (135 centimeters) in the north. Snow falls in the north, but is rare on the coast.

ALABAMA/Economy
Service industries, taken together, make up the largest portion of Alabama's gross state product--the total value of all goods and services produced in a state in a year. However, manufacturing is the single leading economic activity in terms of the gross state product. Alabama factories turn out a wide variety of manufactured products. Among the state's leading kinds of manufactured goods are paper products, chemicals, primary metals, and textiles.
Mining and farming also contribute to Alabama's economic output. The state is an important producer of coal and natural gas. Much of its agricultural income is provided by farms that raise livestock.

Natural resources of Alabama include thick pine forests, areas of fertile soil, valuable mineral deposits, and deep rivers.
Soil. Alabama's Black Belt is known for its black clay soils. Parts of the East Gulf Coastal Plain have sandy soils. Red soils cover most other parts of the state. In many areas, these red soils were once covered by gray or yellow topsoil. Much of the fertile topsoil was carried away by erosion after farmers cut down trees and plowed the land. Today, many Alabama farmers help save fertile soils by contour plowing, terracing, and other conservation methods.
Minerals. Valuable deposits of coal and limestone lie fairly close together in the Birmingham area of Alabama. These minerals are used in the production of iron and steel. Alabama's most important coal beds are located in the north-central part of the state. Major deposits of limestone are also found in northern Alabama.
Alabama has important oil and natural gas fields in Choctaw, Escambia, Mobile, and other southwestern counties. Other minerals found in the state include asphalt, bauxite, clay, dolomite, marble, mica, salt, sand and gravel, sandstone, and talc.
Service industries, taken together, contribute the greatest part of the gross state product in Alabama. Most of the service industries are concentrated in the state's metropolitan areas.
Wholesale and retail trade ranks as Alabama's leading service industry in terms of the gross state product. The wholesale trade of groceries, machinery, and mineral products is important in Alabama. Mobile serves as the state's major center of wholesale trade. Major types of retail businesses include automobile dealerships, discount stores, and food stores. Bruno's, one of the South's largest grocery store chains, is headquartered in Birmingham. Retail trade employs many people throughout Alabama.
Community, business, and personal services form the second-ranking service industry in Alabama. This industry consists of a variety of establishments, including doctors offices and private hospitals, law firms, and engineering companies. Blount, one of the nation's largest construction engineering companies, is based in Montgomery.
Government ranks next among the service industries of Alabama. Government services include the operation of public schools, public hospitals, and military establishments. The public school system is a leading employer in Alabama. Major military bases located in the state include Fort McClellan near Anniston and Fort Rucker near Dothan. Gunter and Maxwell Air Force bases lie near Montgomery. The Huntsville area is home to the George C. Marshall Space Flight Center and the Redstone Arsenal. State government offices are based in Montgomery.
Finance, insurance, and real estate form Alabama's fourth-ranking service industry. Birmingham is Alabama's leading financial center. Two of the South's largest banking companies, Amsouth and SouthTrust, have their headquarters in Birmingham. Large financial companies are also based in Montgomery. Real estate is a major part of the economy of Alabama because of the large sums of money involved in the buying and selling of homes. The leasing of buildings is also part of the real estate sector.
Transportation, communication, and utilities rank fifth among service industries in Alabama. Many shipping companies are based in Mobile, which has one of the busiest ports in the United States. Ships transport the state's mineral products and many other types of freight. Trucking and shipping companies also transport much of Alabama's freight. Pipeline companies transport petroleum and natural gas. Telephone companies are the most important part of the communications sector. The headquarters of South Central Bell are in Birmingham. Utility companies provide electric, gas, and water service. More information about transportation and communication appears later in this section.
Manufacturing. Goods manufactured in Alabama have a value added by manufacture of more than $25 billion yearly. Value added by manufacture represents the increase in value of raw materials after they become finished products.
Paper products are the leading category of manufactured goods made in Alabama in terms of value added by manufacture. Pulp and paper are produced at mills in many parts of the state, including the Mobile, Montgomery, and Childersburg areas. Other paper products manufactured in Alabama include cardboard, paper bags, and paper tissue.
Chemicals rank second in value added among Alabama's manufactured products. The state's most important chemical products are used by industry. Alabama factories also produce chemical fibers, fertilizers, and insecticides. Chief chemical production centers in the state include Decatur and Mobile.
Alabama's third-ranking manufactured product, primary metals, is based primarily on the steel industry. Steelmaking is centered in Birmingham, Decatur, and Gadsden.
Textiles are Alabama's fourth-ranking manufactured product. Alabama ranks among the leading textile-producing states. Fabric, thread, yarn, and other textile products are made in many parts of Alabama.
Other products made in Alabama, in order of value added by manufacture, are food products, wood products, machinery, clothing, and rubber and plastic products. The state's major food processing activities include bread baking, meat packing, and soft-drink bottling. Lumber, plywood, and veneers are among the chief wood products. Factories in Birmingham and Montgomery manufacture heating and air conditioning units. Florence is a center for the manufacture of metalworking machinery. Much of the clothing made in Alabama is manufactured in small towns, including Andalusia, Bay Minette, Elba, Eufala, Haleyville, Jasper, and Scottsboro. Important types of clothing made in the state include dresses, men's shirts, and lingerie. Gadsden, Huntsville, Opelika, and Tuscaloosa have large tire factories. Plants near Birmingham and Huntsville make a variety of plastic products.
Agriculture. Farms cover about 30 percent of Alabama's land area. The state has approximately 47,000 farms.
Livestock products account for about three-fourths of Alabama's farm income. Alabama ranks among the leading states in the production of broilers (chickens 5 to 12 weeks old). Broilers are the most valuable farm product in the state. They provide more than 40 percent of the farm income. Counties in the northern part of the state produce the most broilers.
Beef cattle are Alabama's second most valuable farm product. Cattle graze on grasslands throughout the state, but especially in the Black Belt in central Alabama. Eggs and milk are also leading livestock products in the state. Hogs are raised in all parts of the state, but especially in the Wiregrass area. Beekeeping is also an important type of livestock farming in Alabama.
Until the early 1900's, cotton production employed many farmworkers and provided almost all of Alabama's agricultural wealth. Today, cotton is still Alabama's leading crop, and the state is a leading cotton producer. Mechanical pickers harvest much of the cotton crop.
Peanuts are another important crop of Alabama. Other valuable field crops include corn, hay, oats, sorghum, soybeans, tobacco, and wheat. Crimson clover and fescue are the major seed crops of the state.
Cullman and Limestone counties are Alabama's chief strawberry-producing area. Peaches and apples are important crops in Blount and Chilton counties. Alabama farmers also grow pears. The state's leading vegetable crops include beans, cucumbers, potatoes, sweet potatoes, and tomatoes. Alabama farmers also grow many watermelons. Greenhouse and nursery products are also an important source of farm income in the state. Pecans are another valuable farm product.
Mining. Alabama's most valuable mineral products are coal, natural gas, petroleum, crushed stone, and limestone.
Jefferson, Tuscaloosa, and Walker counties in north-central Alabama produce most of the state's coal. The coal is a bituminous (soft) variety that is taken from both underground and surface mines. Natural gas and petroleum are obtained mainly from wells in the southwestern part of the state. The production of methane gas from coal is a major activity in west-central Alabama. Large limestone quarries lie near Birmingham and Huntsville. Limestone is used primarily to make cement and roadbeds.
Alabama is among the leading states in mining bauxite and marble. The state's other mineral products include clays, salt, and sand and gravel.
Fishing industry. Alabama has an annual fish catch valued at about $50 million. The Gulf of Mexico provides most of the catch. Shrimps are Alabama's most valuable saltwater seafood. Oysters rank next in value. Other saltwater products include blue crabs, croakers, and red snappers. Buffalo fish, catfish, and mussels are caught commercially in freshwater streams in Alabama. Grain-fed catfish, raised in artificial ponds on farms, are an important new food crop.
Electric power. Plants that burn coal provide about 70 percent of Alabama's electric power. Nuclear plants provide about 20 percent of the state's electric power. Hydroelectric plants supply almost all of the remaining power. The Tennessee Valley Authority, a government corporation, operates hydroelectric and nuclear plants in northern Alabama.
Transportation. Alabama has about 93,000 miles (150,000 kilometers) of roads and highways. Four major rail lines provide freight service in Alabama. Passenger trains serve Birmingham and two other cities in the state. Most of Alabama's air traffic goes in and out of airports at Birmingham, Huntsville, and Mobile.
About 1,350 miles (2,170 kilometers) of navigable waterways cross the state. They include a section of the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway between Brownsville, Texas, and Carrabelle, Florida. This section is about 60 miles (97 kilometers) long. The Black Warrior-Tombigbee-Mobile river system, 453 miles (729 kilometers) long, is the longest navigable waterway in Alabama. The Tennessee River connects northern Alabama with the Mississippi River system. The 234-mile- (377-kilometer-) long Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway was completed in 1985. This waterway helps link the port at Mobile with inland ports on the Tennessee and Ohio rivers. Alabama has built dock facilities at Decatur, Demopolis, Eufaula, Guntersville, Huntsville, Phenix City, and other towns along waterways.
Mobile, on Mobile Bay, is Alabama's only seaport. The Alabama State Docks at Mobile are among the finest port facilities in the United States. They can handle about 35 oceangoing vessels at a time.
Communication. The Mobile Register, founded in 1813, is Alabama's oldest newspaper. Today, about 130 newspapers, including about 25 dailies, are published in Alabama. The Birmingham News has the largest circulation. Other leading papers include the Birmingham Post-Herald, The Huntsville Times, and The Montgomery Advertiser. About 70 periodicals are also published in Alabama
WAPI of Birmingham is Alabama's oldest commercial radio station. It began in 1922 in Auburn as WMAV. WVTM-TV, the state's first television station, was established in Birmingham in May 1949 as WABT-TV. In 1955, Alabama began operating the first state-owned educational television system in the United States. This system, called Alabama Public Television Network, has stations in several cities, and reaches every county in the state. Alabama has about 300 radio stations and 35 television stations. Cable TV systems serve many areas.
ALABAMA/Government
Constitution of Alabama was adopted in 1901. The state had five earlier constitutions, adopted in 1819, 1861, 1865, 1868, and 1875.
An amendment to the Constitution may be proposed either by the Alabama Legislature or by a constitutional convention. An amendment proposed by the Legislature must be approved by three-fifths of the members in each house. Then it must receive the approval of a majority of the electors voting on the issue.
A majority of the members of each house of the Alabama Legislature and a majority of the voters must approve calling a constitutional convention. An amendment proposed by the convention must be approved by a majority of the people voting on the issue in an election.
Executive. The governor of Alabama is elected to a four-year term. This official can serve more than one term. However, the governor is not allowed to serve three terms in a row.
Alabama's other top executive officials include the lieutenant governor, secretary of state, attorney general, auditor, treasurer, and commissioner of agriculture and industries. Each of these officials is elected to a four-year term.

Legislature consists of a Senate of 35 members and a 105-member House of Representatives. Each of Alabama's 35 senatorial districts elects one senator. Each of the state's 105 representative districts elects one member to the House of Representatives. Senators and representatives serve four-year terms.
The Alabama Legislature holds regular sessions each year. These sessions may not last longer than 105 days, and the Legislature may not meet as a whole on more than 30 of these days. Sessions begin in January during the first year of the legislative term, in February during the second and third years, and in April during the fourth year.
Courts. The highest court in Alabama is the state Supreme Court. It has a chief justice and eight associate justices, and they are all elected to six-year terms. The Court of Criminal Appeals has five judges, and the Court of Civil Appeals has five judges. These judges also are all elected to six-year terms. Lower courts in Alabama include a circuit court, district court, probate court, and municipal courts.
Local government. Alabama has 67 counties. Each is governed by a board of commissioners. The boards are known officially as county commissions. In most counties, the chief official is the probate judge. The probate judge is elected to a six-year term. Other county officials include the sheriff, district attorney, superintendent of education, engineer, tax assessor, and tax collector.
Most Alabama municipalities have a mayor-council form of government. A few cities operate under a city-manager plan. Birmingham, Huntsville, Montgomery, and Tuscaloosa have mayor-council governments. Most small cities and towns also operate under the mayor-council plan.
Revenue. Taxation provides about half of Alabama's general revenue (income). Most of the rest comes from federal grants and interest earned on public accounts. The main sources of tax revenue are personal and corporate income taxes, and general sales and use taxes. Other major sources of tax revenue, in order of importance, include taxes on motor fuels, public utilities, insurance premiums, motor vehicle licenses, and alcoholic beverages.
Politics. As in other Southern states, most candidates elected to national, state, and local offices in Alabama have been Democrats. Most of Alabama's major state and local political battles have traditionally been waged in primary elections for the Democratic nomination. But since the mid-1900's, Alabamians have elected a number of Republican candidates to local offices and to the Congress of the United States. In 1986, Guy Hunt became the first Republican to be elected governor of Alabama since the early 1870's.
Until the 1960's, Alabama voters usually supported Democratic presidential candidates. But in 1964, the state voted for Senator Barry M. Goldwater of Arizona, the Republican candidate. It was the first time since 1872 that the state of Alabama supported a Republican presidential candidate. Since 1980, the Republican candidate has won Alabama's electoral votes in each presidential election.
ALABAMA/History

Indian days. Cliff-dwelling Indians lived in the Alabama region 8,000 years ago. Excavations in Russell Cave, in northeastern Jackson County, have revealed details of their lives. Later the Cherokee, Creek, Choctaw, and Chickasaw Indians lived in the region. Whites called these groups the Civilized Tribes because they adopted many European customs. See FIVE CIVILIZED TRIBES.
Exploration and settlement. Alonso Alvarez de Pineda, a Spanish explorer, sailed into Mobile Bay in 1519. In 1528, an expedition led by Panfilo de Narvaez passed through Alabama coastal waters. Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca, the first European to cross North America, was a member of this expedition. Hernando de Soto, another Spaniard, led an expedition into the Alabama region from the northeast in 1540. He became the first white person to explore the interior. De Soto (also called Soto) and the Indians fought a bloody battle at Mabila, north of present-day Mobile. De Soto's forces defeated Chief Tuscaloosa and his warriors.
In 1559, Tristan de Luna, a Spanish adventurer from Mexico, searched for gold in the Alabama region. He organized small settlements on Mobile Bay and at the present site of Claiborne. In 1561, he was removed from his command and was forced to return to Mexico.
The first permanent group of white settlers in the Alabama region were French. In 1699, two French-Canadian brothers, Pierre Le Moyne, Sieur d'Iberville, and Jean Baptiste Le Moyne, Sieur de Bienville, sailed to Dauphin Island in Mobile Bay. In 1702, they founded Fort Louis nearby along the Mobile River. Fort Louis became the capital of the French colony known as Louisiana. In 1711, river floods forced the French to move 27 miles (43 kilometers) south to the present site of Mobile. This settlement, also called Fort Louis, became the first permanent white settlement in Alabama. It was renamed Fort Conde in 1720. The settlement was the capital of French Louisiana until 1722, when New Orleans became the capital.
In 1763, the French gave most of their colony of Louisiana to Britain in the Treaty of Paris. This treaty ended the French and Indian War. The Mobile area became part of West Florida, under British control. Northern Alabama was included in the Illinois country, a region in what is now the central United States.
In 1779, Spain declared war on Britain. In 1780, Bernardo de Galvez captured Mobile from the British. In the Treaty of Paris signed in 1783, Britain gave the Mobile region to Spain.
Territorial days. In 1795, Thomas Pinckney, a U.S. statesman, negotiated the Treaty of San Lorenzo. This treaty, also called the Pinckney Treaty, fixed the southern boundary of the United States along the 31st parallel of north latitude. All of present-day Alabama except the Mobile area lay north of the line and became part of the United States. In 1798, the Alabama region, except the Mobile area, became part of the Mississippi Territory organized by the U.S. Congress.
During the War of 1812 against Britain, the United States seized the Mobile area from Spain. On April 15, 1813, the Stars and Stripes flew over the entire Alabama region for the first time. Also in 1813, the Creek Indians massacred several hundred pioneers at Fort Mims near Tensaw. In 1814, U.S. forces under General Andrew Jackson defeated the Creek in the Battle of Horseshoe Bend. The Creek then surrendered their land to the United States. William Weatherford, a Creek chief also known as Red Eagle, led the tribe in its bitter fight against Jackson's troops.
In 1817, the Alabama Territory was organized. St. Stephens, on the Tombigbee River, was the capital.
Early statehood. A constitutional convention met in Huntsville in 1819 and drew up the territory's first Constitution. On Dec. 14, 1819, Alabama entered the Union as the 22nd state. Huntsville served as the capital of Alabama for a little more than a year. William Wyatt Bibb, who had been governor of the Alabama Territory, became the new state's first governor. Cahaba became the capital in 1820. In 1825, floods from the Alabama River caused great damage to Cahaba. Because of the floods, the capital was moved to Tuscaloosa in 1826.
In 1838, federal troops marched into the remaining Indian territory of Alabama, in the northeast section of the state. They demanded that all the Indians move to the west. By 1840, all but a few scattered tribes had moved west beyond the Mississippi River.
Alabama suffered severe financial troubles during the 1840's and 1850's. The state bank, created during the 1820's, was poorly managed. The bank issued too much money and, as a result, the money decreased in value. The bank also loaned large amounts of money for political reasons. In 1837, a financial panic and depression swept across the United States. The Alabama state bank could not afford to pay back the money it owed to its depositors. For this reason, Governor Benjamin Fitzpatrick began to liquidate (close) the bank during the early 1840's. Many Alabamians lost all their savings. The state also suffered from a drought that ruined crops, and from several epidemics of yellow fever.
During the 1840's, many people in the North wanted the federal government to outlaw slavery in the nation's western territories. In 1848, a Democratic state convention in Alabama adopted the "Alabama Platform" supported by William L. Yancey, a prominent statesman. This platform declared that the federal government did not have the right to bar slaves from the territories.
The Civil War and Reconstruction. Disagreements over slavery continued during the 1850's. Economic rivalries between the agricultural South and the industrial North and disagreements about the rights of states also created conflicts (see STATES' RIGHTS). These conflicts deepened after Abraham Lincoln was elected President in 1860. Alabama seceded (withdrew) from the Union on Jan. 11, 1861, and declared itself the Republic of Alabama. The Alabama secession convention invited other Southern States to send delegates to Montgomery. On February 8, the convention established the Confederate States of America, with Montgomery as its capital. For this reason, Montgomery is known as the Cradle of the Confederacy. The capital of the Confederate States was moved to Richmond, Va., in May 1861.
The most important Civil War action in the state was the Battle of Mobile Bay in 1864, won by Union forces under Rear Admiral David G. Farragut (see FARRAGUT, DAVID G.). Union forces also made several raids into Alabama during the war. In 1863, Confederate forces led by General Nathan Bedford Forrest captured a much larger group of Union raiders at Cedar Bluffs. In 1865, Union General James H. Wilson led the largest raid into Alabama and won victories at Selma and Montgomery.
Most of Alabama escaped the ruin that spread across the South during the Civil War. However, Florence, Huntsville, Montgomery, Selma, and other cities in the northern and central parts of the state suffered destruction and looting.
Alabama faced mounting financial problems during the Reconstruction period that followed the war. The state debt increased from $8 million to more than $32 million from 1866 to 1873. The state government came under the control of former Northerners called carpetbaggers and Southerners called scalawags. On June 25, 1868, Alabama was readmitted to the Union. In 1874, conservative Democrats succeeded in electing most state officials. The state government was reformed, and a new constitution was adopted in 1875.
State prosperity followed the Reconstruction period. During the 1870's, several railroads were completed. Also during the 1870's, Alabamians proved they could make iron by burning iron ore with coke, rather than with charcoal. This was important because north-central Alabama had large deposits of coal, from which coke is made. The same region also had vast supplies of iron ore and limestone, the two other minerals needed to make iron and steel. In 1880, Alabama's first blast furnace, Alice No. 1, began operating in Birmingham. Within a few years, Birmingham became a great iron and steel center. Important iron and steel works were also built in Anniston, Bessemer, Decatur, Russellville, and Talladega. By 1890, iron and steel making had become Alabama's most important manufacturing industry. The lumber industry and the textile industry also grew rapidly in the late 1800's.
World War I and the Great Depression. Alabama's industry and commerce grew after the United States entered World War I in 1917. Shipbuilding became an important industry in Mobile. Alabama farmers increased production of cotton and food to meet the demands of the war effort. In the mid-1920's, the Alabama State Docks agency built new port facilities at Mobile. Alabama's trade with other countries increased greatly as a result. In 1929, the Alabama-Tombigbee river system flooded large areas in southern Alabama, causing about $6 million damage.
Many Alabamians suffered financial setbacks during the Great Depression of the 1930's. Between 1929 and 1931, more than 60 Alabama banks failed, with a loss of more than $16 million. During the early 1930's, Alabama passed a state income tax law and the Budget Control Act to help save the state from bankruptcy.
In 1933, the federal government created the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA). The TVA was given the responsibility of building flood-control and electric-power projects on the Tennessee River. The TVA took over Wilson Dam and two nitrate plants at Muscle Shoals. The dam and plants had been built by the government during World War I and the 1920's. The TVA later built Wheeler and Guntersville dams on the Tennessee River. The Alabama Power Company, a private firm, also built dams and hydroelectric plants during the 1930's. These plants provided inexpensive power for Alabama factories, and so boosted the state's industrial growth.
The mid-1900's. During World War II (1939-1945), Alabama's agricultural and industrial production expanded greatly. The government established the Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville in 1941. The arsenal developed the rockets, satellites, and spacecraft that launched the United States into the space age.
After the war, Alabama became an important producer of chemicals, minerals, rubber products, and textiles. Alabama's industrial growth slowed down during the 1950's, and many Alabamians left the state to find jobs in the North and West. Iron ore production in Alabama dropped sharply during the 1950's. By the early 1960's, most of Alabama's iron ore mines had closed.
During the 1950's and 1960's, Alabama farmers became less dependent on cotton. Farm income came increasingly from broiler chickens, cattle, hogs, peanuts, and soybeans. As agricultural methods and products changed, fewer farmworkers were needed. Many moved to the cities, and Alabama became mainly an urban state.
Like many other states, Alabama faced serious racial problems in the 1950's and 1960's. In 1955 and 1956, civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr., directed the Montgomery bus boycott. Many blacks refused to ride in public buses in Montgomery because the law required them to sit in the rear. In 1956, a federal court ordered Montgomery to desegregate its buses.
In 1954, the Supreme Court of the United States had ruled that compulsory segregation in public schools was unconstitutional. But in 1963, Governor George C. Wallace personally tried to halt the integration of Alabama's public schools. In June, he stood in the doorway of Foster Auditorium at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa and refused to admit two blacks. President John F. Kennedy called the National Guard to active duty, and the troops enforced the law. In September, Wallace tried to prevent the integration of public elementary and secondary schools in several cities. President Kennedy again called in the National Guard, and the black students were admitted. Since 1963, Alabama has gradually integrated most of its public schools. In March 1965, King led a five-day march from Selma to Montgomery to protest discrimination in voter registration. In August, Congress passed the Voting Rights Act, which made thousands of Alabama blacks eligible to vote.
Republicans gained increasing success in Alabama, a traditionally Democratic state. In 1964, Barry M. Goldwater became the first Republican presidential candidate to carry Alabama since 1872.
In 1960, the government established the George C. Marshall Space Flight Center at Huntsville. The Saturn 5 rocket system, which powered the first missions that landed astronauts on the moon, was developed at Huntsville during the 1960's.
Recent developments. Alabama, like other states, faced financial problems in the 1980's and early 1990's. The state government sought ways to provide sufficient funds for such services as state-supported nursing homes and public education. In 1980, the state legislature increased taxes on cigarettes and alcohol to increase funds for government services.
The rising costs of petroleum and natural gas have led to increased use of coal. This action has spurred further development of Alabama's coal deposits.
Industry continues to grow in the state, and the population has been rising steadily. Blacks are playing an increasingly important role in local and state politics. Republicans have also been gaining strength in local and state governments. In 1986, Guy Hunt became the first Republican to be elected governor of Alabama since Reconstruction. But he was removed from office in 1993, following his conviction for felony ethics violations. He was sentenced to pay fines and to perform 1,000 hours of community service.