ALABAMA 



victory, and Governor Andrew Moore, follow- 

 ing these instructions, called the convention to 

 meet on January 7, 1861, and on January 11 

 an ordinance of secession was adopted. The 

 convention also invited the other Southern 

 ' send delegates to Montgomery for 

 the purpose of "securing concerted and harmo- 

 nious action in whatever measures may be 

 deemed most desirable for the common peace 

 and security." On February 8 a temporary 

 organization was completed by this new con- 

 vention, and the Confederacy came into official 

 existence (see CONFEDERATE STATES OF AMER- 

 ICA). During the war Alabama suffered little 

 material damage, but practically the entire 

 body of white men was in the army. In 1863 

 the Union forces secured the control of a small 

 section in the northern part, and in 1864 Mpbile 

 was bombarded. On the whole, however, the 

 state was spared the ruin which war spread 

 over Tennessee and Georgia. 



But if Alabama was spared in war, it suf- 

 fered after peace was declared. Under Presi- 

 dent Johnson's reconstruction policy, a pro- 

 visional government was at once organized, but 

 was supplanted in 1867 by a military govern- 

 ment under the congressional plan (see RECON- 

 STRUCTION). With the support of the soldiers, 

 the negroes and carpetbaggers controlled the 

 state government until 1874, except from 1870 

 to 1872. In seven years the state debt was in- 

 creased from $8,000,000 to over $25,000,000, 

 practically all of the increase being spent waste- 

 fully. In 1874 the Conservative Democrats 

 succeeded in electing all the state officials and 

 began a thorough reform. The state debt was 

 compromised to $15,000,000, the carpetbaggers 

 were driven from minor offices and a new con- 

 stitution was adopted in 1875 (see CARPET- 

 BAGGERS). 



A New Era. The end of reconstruction was 

 the beginning of a new prosperity for Alabama. 

 The agricultural districts gradually readjusted 

 themselves to the new conditions and made 

 steady progress. In the north the founding of 

 Birmingham in 1871 was followed by the devel- 

 opment of the surrounding region. Coal had 

 been discovered as early as 1834, but not until 

 the last two decades of the nineteenth century 

 was it extensively mined. Blast furnaces were 

 erected and Birmingham by 1895 was one of 

 the world's greatest centers of pig-iron manu- 

 facture. The first coke furnaces were erected 

 in 1881, and the first steel mills in 1897. This 

 development of manufactures has sometimes 

 seemed to injure agricultural development, 



130 ALABAMA 



notably for a few years after 1890, when the 

 Populists, with the aid of the Republicans, 

 nearly carried the state. 



Since 1900, Alabama, like many other states, 

 has been visited by a wave of prohibition sen- 

 timent, which reached the high-water mark in 

 1908, when the legislature passed a state-wide 

 prohibition act. This has been called "the 

 most drastic prohibition act ever passed by any 

 state"; it was bitterly fought, but in 1909 a 

 prohibition amendment to the constitution was 

 defeated by a large majority. This reaction 

 was followed in 1911 by the adoption of a local 

 option system in which the county is the unit. 

 Finally, in 1915, the legislature adopted a state- 

 wide prohibition law which went into effect on 

 June 30, 1915. 



Other Items of Interest. Alabama may be 

 broadly divided into four great production 

 regions. Farthest north is the cereal region, 

 which includes the Tennessee valley and the 

 land to the northward; next is the mineral 

 region; then comes the cotton belt or black 

 belt with its rich black soil; and finally, along 

 the Gulf of Mexico and extending inward for 

 150 miles, is the timber belt with its poor and 

 sandy soil. 



The turtle is called the "Alabama gopher." 



It was in Alabama that Aaron Burr's final 

 arrest for treason occurred. 



Alabama has had four capitals. In 1817, 

 when the territory was organized, the capital 

 was located at Saint Stephens. Three years 

 later it was removed to Cahaba, and in 1826 

 to Tuscaloosa. Not until 1846 was it perma- 

 nently located at Montgomery. 



The "peonage" cases occurred not only in 

 Alabama, but in other states of the South as 

 well, and it is only because they first came to 

 light there that they are more intimately con- 

 nected with the history of that state. See 

 PEONAGE. 



The highest point in the state is Mount 

 Cheaha, 2,407 feet above sea level. 



The first discovery of coal in Alabama was 

 made in 1834. 



The clause which excepts from suffrage re- 

 strictions the descen4ants of those who have 

 served in time of war in the United States or 

 the Confederate army is known as the "Grand- 

 father Clause." See GRANDFATHER CLAUSE. 



Birmingham is known as the "Pittsburgh of 

 the South." 



Perdido Bay, at the boundary line between 

 Alabama and Florida, was formerly the resort 

 of pirates and filibusters. 



