“The Alabama Feaver [sic] rages here with great violence and has carried off vast numbers of our citizens,” wrote a startled North Carolinian to a friend in November of 1817. “There is no question that this feaver is contagious…, for as soon as one neighbor visits another who has just returned from the Alabama he immediately discovers the same symptoms which are exhibited by the person who has seen the allureing [sic] Alabama.” While these words may contain as much sarcasm as genuine alarm, the Alabama Territory did seem to possess a magnetic attraction to aspiring emigrants. The movement of people it inspired would become the enduring hallmark of Alabama’s formative years.
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AuthorMike Bunn currently serves as director of operations at Historic Blakeley State Park in Spanish Fort, Alabama. This department of Alabama Heritage magazine is sponsored by the Alabama Bicentennial Commission and the Alabama Tourism Department. Archives
October 2019
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