Issue 125, Summer 2017
On the cover: Cupola of the Lowndesboro AME Church, believed to have graced the first statehouse in Cahawba. [Photo Courtesy of Robin McDonald]
Editor’s Note: We are honored to have the support of the Alabama Bicentennial Commission (ABC) for this special issue of Alabama Heritage. Please see Alabama200.org for more information about the ABC and upcoming bicentennial-related events.
Features
Constitution and Crisis
Outside the Convention Hall, Huntsville, Alabama in the Summer of 1819
By Thomas Reidy
In the ten-plus years prior to its statehood, Alabama experienced substantial growth and prosperity—confidence-building indicators for what life in the area might be like. However, as statehood dawned, many around Huntsville—the state’s initial capital—suffered from economic distress, largely fueled by debts incurred for land. This economic reality contributed to Alabama’s growing population of enslaved persons and shaped the new state socially, culturally, politically, and legally, establishing laws and attitudes that would remain in place for years to come.
The Adoption of the 1819 Constitution of Alabama
By Herbert James Lewis
In the summer of 1819, men from across Alabama met to undertake one of the most important events of the proposed state’s origins: drafting its constitution. Many of the forty-four individuals held political experience from other places, but all collaborated to position the new state for success and prosperity. The resulting draft, modeled largely on the United States Constitution, established the form of state government and codified citizens’ rights. In under one month, its drafters had created the document that would guide the state for its first four decades—and shape it for generations.
William Wyatt Bibb
Alabama’s First Governor
By Samuel L. Webb
Born in Virginia and established as a key figure in Georgia politics, William Wyatt Bibb also made a significant impact on the Alabama Territory and the new state. Bibb served in both the Georgia and federal legislature, building allies—and some enemies—with his dogmatic positions on contemporary issues. When opportunity opened in the Alabama Territory, Bibb acquiesced, becoming the territorial governor and cementing the authority and prominence for the Broad River Group, a political faction of his Georgia associates. Bibb served as Alabama’s first state governor, a tenure shortened by his untimely death but marked by his influence on the young state’s course.
The Creek Nation and Alabama
By Kathryn H. Braund
For white settlers, the formation of the state of Alabama held promise and opportunity, but for many of Alabama’s Native Americans, statehood brought disruption, displacement, and destruction. Creek Indians petitioned to retain their land in the face of encroaching settlers, all too often realizing that the legal protections they had been been granted were no longer honored. Though some Creeks managed to retain some land, changes in the area’s population density and economy disrupted traditional Creek ways of life. And American settlers and politicians often exploited opportunity, setting different tribes against one another and pushing many natives farther west—just one indication of the horrors that lay ahead.
“Liberty is a jewel too precious for compromise or exchange”
The Politics of Banking, Newspapers, and Class in Frontier Alabama
By Thomas Chase Hagood
In the early days of Alabama’s statehood, newspapers helped influence events and, perhaps more dramatically, their perception. As the young state’s leaders navigated how its banking system should function, the issue became a flashpoint representing broader political belief systems. A pair of rival newspaper editors—the Alabama Republican’s John Boardman and The Democrat’s William B. Long—used their respective platforms with abandon, each hoping to shape the state and advance his party’s agenda.
A “Peculiar Institution”
Slavery in Alabama
By Justin A. Rudder
The practice of enslaving people has a long history in the Americas, and Alabama is no exception. As a territory and a new state, Alabama allowed this inhumane practice, which enabled the region’s economic growth even as it exploited entire generations of people. Using primary and historical sources, Justin Rudder surveys how slavery and its legacy shaped early Alabama and continues to affect the state today.
“This Beautiful and Rapid Rising State”
Architecture of the Early Territorial and State Years
By Robert Gamble
As people moved into the Alabama Territory and settled into life in the new state, the structures they constructed reflected a number of different aspects of life on the frontier, including available materials and resources, builders’ relative economic status, and the architectural styles of the time. Whether a frame house, a log cabin, or a stately brick home, buildings from the state’s first days reveal a wealth of historical and socio-cultural information about their inhabitants and the communities in which they lived.
Survivors
A Roster of Alabama’s Oldest-Known Standing Buildings–Plus an Album of Losses
By Robert Gamble
Though many of Alabama’s early architectural structures have been lost to age and time, some remain, offering contemporary visitors and historians a wealth of information about the eras of their creation and the people who inhabited them. Renowned architectural historian Robert Gamble surveys the most notable buildings from Alabama’s early years, offering insightful commentary about their history and origins and commemorating some significant structures that no longer remain extant.
Department Abstracts
Letter from Senator Orr: Commemorating our 200th Anniversary
By G. Ward Hubbs
In a special feature to Alabama Heritage, Sen. Arthur Orr, Chairman of the Alabama Bicentennial Commission, reminds us of the state’s origins and looks toward its promising future.
Alabama 200
Celebrate Alabama!
Jay Lamar, Executive Director of the Alabama Bicentennial Commission, reflects on the Alabama Bicentennial celebrations and their lasting significance. Throughout the three-year commemoration, the bicentennial has highlighted the state’s history through educational, civic, and cultural programming; books, monuments, and many other events.
The Alabama Territory
Quarter by Quarter: Fall 1819
By Mike Bunn
The final installment of “The Alabama Territory” concludes the history of the territorial period and ushers in the first days of statehood, including the state’s first legislative session. It also surveys the state’s early years—through its first several governors and the economic growth of its antebellum period. Perhaps the young state’s most proud moment, however, came from abroad, when the Marquis de Lafayette decided to stop in Alabama during his celebratory return to tour the United States, a country his Revolutionary War efforts helped create. Alabama emptied its coffers to host the veteran, a sign not just of its patriotism but also of its excitement at being counted, finally, as a state all its own.