 The Heart of Dixie
Alabama's rich historic past is well preserved, especially its beautiful antebellum homes. The Constitution of the Confederacy was drawn up in Alabama. The civil rights movement also started in Alabama. The bustling port of Mobile has a very important port of call for merchant ships from all over the world.
Alabama has great beaches, bays and rivers, and is a Mecca for outdoor enthusiasts, fishermen and hunters. Alabama's lakes, rivers and streams are home to a variety of bass, bream, crappie, catfish, walleye and rainbow trout to name a few! At our Gulf State Resort, the saltwater angler will find excitement in landing the big one from our own pier or surf fishing right from the beach. Everything from king mackerel, amberjack, cobia, flounder, bluefish, tuna and more. Many of our parks offer full marina services including boat rentals, bait & tackle, snacks and cold drinks.
There's a reason so many great writers are from the South. Our unique culture breeds creativity. It also produces some fantastic cultural landmarks, such as the Alabama Shakespeare Festival, the sixth-largest Shakespeare festival in the world, which Variety called "an oasis of optimism and growth." If you're looking for more musical fare, catch some of America's hottest acts at huge concert venues in Birmingham, Montgomery or Orange Beach, to name a few. Or find the next Taylor Hicks at one of Alabama's hundreds of live music spots, where top upcoming talent is constantly on display.
After a good meal? Alabama features some legendary eateries. Visit the Dew Drop Inn in Mobile and bite into the burger that inspired the Jimmy Buffet song "Cheesburger in Paradise." Or come see how nationally acclaimed Birmingham chef Frank Stitt – whose restaurants include Highlands Bar & Grill, Bottega Resaurant & Café, and Chez Fonfon – has revolutionized the fine-dining experience in Alabama. Looking to pick up the pace? Catch a race at the Talladega Superspeedway (175,000 capacity) or a college football game at Tuscaloosa's Bryant-Denny Stadium (92,000 capacity) or Auburn's Jordan-Hare Stadium (87,000 capacity). Plus, with hundreds of beautiful golf courses nestled throughout the state, including the world-famous Robert Trent Jones golf trail, Alabama offers what Golf Digest has called some of the best golf vacations in the world.
Another good way to relax is a trip to one of Alabama's beautiful Gulf Coast destinations. Kick back on the white sands. Charter a boat. Visit a bustling water park. There's no shortage of things to do. In short, it's paradise. And not just for families but golfers, sun-worshippers, fishermen and vacationers in general. And you'll find plenty of outdoor activities in the rest of the state. Alabama offers literally every type of outdoor adventure imaginable, from hiking, camping, cycling, canoeing and kayaking to horseback riding, fishing, scaling boulders and rappelling down canyons. Browse our site, and learn more about beautiful Alabama.
Alabama State Parks offer a selection of overnight accommodations just for you, on ridge tops or lake edges, along golf courses or in secluded woods. Several parks offer rustic cabins, some constructed of native stone, that will make you feel like you're "roughing it" in style.. Plus, you'll be able to wake up to a round of golf or enjoy water sports on one of the many rivers and lakes. The population of Alabama is 4,416,000. Area 52,423 square miles, Land 50,750 square Miles. Water 1673 square miles, Coastline 53 miles long. Shoreline 607 mi., 19th
Agriculture: Soybeans, poultry and eggs, cattle, nursery stock, peanuts, cotton, vegetables, milk. Industry: Rubber and plastic products, paper, lumber and wood products, mining, transportation equipment, apparel.
Alabama has great beaches, bays and rivers, and is a Mecca for outdoor enthusiasts, fishermen and hunters. Alabama's lakes, rivers and streams are home to a variety of bass, bream, crappie, catfish, walleye and rainbow trout to name a few! At our Gulf State Resort, the saltwater angler will find excitement in landing the big one from our own pier or surf fishing right from the beach. Everything from king mackerel, amberjack, cobia, flounder, bluefish, tuna and more. Many of our parks offer full marina services including boat rentals, bait & tackle, snacks and cold drinks.
Alabama State Parks offer a selection of overnight accommodations just for you, on ridge tops or lake edges, along golf courses or in secluded woods. Several parks offer rustic cabins, some constructed of native stone, that will make you feel like you're "roughing it" in style.. Plus, you'll be able to wake up to a round of golf or enjoy water sports on one of the many rivers and lakes.
Alabama 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. Trade with the Northeast via the Ohio River began during the Burial Mound Period (1000 BC-700 AD) and continued until European contact. 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. Artifacts recovered from archaeological excavations at Moundville were a major component in the formulation of the Southeastern Ceremonial Complex. 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.
The French founded the first European settlement in the state with the establishment of Mobile in 1702. 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. Alabama was the twenty-second state admitted to the Union, in 1819.
Alabama was 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 seceded from the Union to join the Confederate States of America. While not many battles were fought in the state, Alabama contributed about 120,000 soldiers to the Civil War. All the slaves were freed by 1865. Following Reconstruction, Alabama was readmitted 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 elite-dominated legislature effectively disenfranchised African Americans through voting restrictions. While the planter class had engaged poor whites in supporting these efforts, the new restrictions resulted in disenfranchising poor whites as well. By 1941, a total of more whites than blacks had been disenfranchised: 600,000 whites to 520,000 blacks. This was due mostly to effects of the cumulative poll tax.
The damage to the African-American community was more 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 disenfranchisement 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. Such legislation also protected the rights 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.[23] 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 rate of population growth rate in Alabama dropped by nearly half from 1910–1920, reflecting the 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. It received back only 1/67th of the tax money, as the state legislature ensured that taxes were distributed equally to each county regardless of population. Urban interests were consistently underrepresented. 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.
By the moral crusade of the Civil Rights Movement, African Americans achieved a restoration of voting and other civil rights through the passage of the national Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. De jure segregation ended in the states as Jim Crow laws were invalidated or repealed.
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 Alabama constitution's provision for periodic redistricting based on population was implemented. This benefited the many urban areas that had developed, and all in the population who had been underrepresented for more than 60 years.
Alabama Tourism Department
www.wikipedia.com
www.alabama.travel.com
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