Alabama
The interior and northern portions of Alabama followed an earlier path of American territorial organization than the coastal strip. The first Europeans to make contact with Alabama were the Spanish. The region was incorporated into the Mississippi Territory from its creation on April 7, 1798, under President John Adams. After 19 years, the Mississippi Territory was dissolved on December 10, 1817, and its eastern half was redesignated as the Alabama Territory on August 15, 1817, with the Chattahoochee River playing a significant role in defining its borders. Alabama was admitted to the Union as the twenty-second state on December 14, 1819. After Indian Removal forcibly displaced most Southeast tribes west of the Mississippi River, European Americans arrived in large numbers. The region was politically divided during the Civil War, with most Unionist opposition concentrated in northern Alabama, and the state voted to secede 61–39%.
Pre-contact era
Inhabited by indigenous peoples for thousands of years. The Woodland period spanned from around 1000 BC to 1000 AD, marked by the development of the Eastern Agricultural Complex, followed by the Mississippian culture of Native Americans lasting to around 1600 AD.
Colonial history
Fort Louis de la Mobile established 1702; French controlled interior Alabama.
Britain acquired French territory east of Mississippi by Treaty of Paris 1763.
Spain captured Mobile from Britain 1780; US seized Mobile District 1813.
US annexed Mobile District 1813; Alabama Territory 1817; statehood 1819.
Territorial period
The Territory of Mississippi was created under an organic act signed into law by President John Adams on April 7, 1798. The Territory was dissolved on December 10, 1817, when the western half was admitted as the State of Mississippi. The eastern half was redesignated as the Alabama Territory on August 15, 1817, sandwiched between the new state of Mississippi in the west, Georgia to the east, and Tennessee on the north. The Alabama Territory lasted until December 14, 1819. The Chattahoochee River played a significant role in the definition of the Territory's borders during its brief two years of existence, 1817–1819.
Statehood
Congress admitted Alabama as a state on December 14, 1819. The Territory of Alabama was admitted to the Union as the twenty-second state.
Everything a full the United States report reveals
Pick any location and Aubrey pulls together 18 strands of its history, each drawn from the record:
Every location is different. Not every section appears for every place, only what the historical record actually holds turns up in a report.
Regional histories
Explore Alabama records
State history content adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. Historic sites data: National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).
About Alabama
Research the history of any US location
Aubrey searches federal archives, archaeological records, historic registers, and primary sources to build a full historical report for any address or place in the United States.