The state of Alabama is located in the southeastern United States, with Georgia, Tennessee, Mississippi, and Florida as its neighbors. In terms of its size, its land area is roughly equivalent to the United Kingdom, with about 52,000 square miles (about 125,000 square kilometers). This state, with about 5 million people, has an interesting history.
European settlement in the area began in 1702, when French settlers, associated with French Louisiana and New Orleans, created the original city of Mobile, which eventually moved to its present location in 1711. In 1763, that area, which is present-day south Alabama, fell under British control after the French lost the Seven Years’ War.
Originally, the U.S. states of Mississippi and Alabama, after the United States became a nation, were organized as a single territory called Mississippi Territory – this was in 1798. This did not include the coastal areas to the south, as they were part of Spanish West Florida, and weren’t ceded to the U.S. until 1819, although Mississippi Territory annexed that land in 1812. The northern 2/3rds of what would become those two states were called the Yazoo Lands, and were considered part of Georgia until 1804, when Georgia gave up its claims to that land. In 1817, Mississippi Territory was split in two, with the western half becoming the state of Mississippi, and the eastern half becoming Alabama Territory, becoming a state two years later in 1819.
Between the time of statehood in 1819 and the outbreak of the American Civil War in the 1860’s, the population exploded from only about 10,000 people to just shy of 1 million people. The economy of the state was based on cotton farming, with almost half the population being black slaves.
During the American Civil War, Alabama sided with the southern states, becoming part of the Confederate States of America. After the war ended, and the South lost, all black slaves acquired their freedom. The state’s economy was forced to transform due to this transition, but it still remained an agricultural state until well into the 20th century. Meanwhile, the state saw the rise in segregation, degrading Jim Crow laws, and the rise of racist groups such as the Ku Klux Klan. It was in this state, a century after the American Civil War, that we saw a lot of the activity of the Civil Rights Movement, with Rosa Parks not giving up her seat on a Birmingham bus, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. writing his famous Letter From a Birmingham Jail, and the famous march from Selma to Montgomery.
Alabama continued to lag behind the rest of the United States because of its primarily rural economy, that is, until after World War 2. During and after that War, the U.S. military created some military bases in the state that helped see the rise of industry, a growing economy, as well as improved standards of living for Alabamians. Today, Alabama has a thriving economy that includes automotive, steel, services, manufacturing, technology, health care, and many other sectors.
