Alabama

THE FIRST EUROPEAN settlement in Alabama was in 1702 when the town of Mobile was established. From 1763 until 1780 some of it was a part of British West Florida, with the remainder part of British Georgia. After the American War of Independence, the former was incorporated into Spanish West Florida, and the latter was absorbed into the American Mississippi Territory. In 1814, Andrew lackson took Spanish Mobile, and five years later, in 1819, Alabama was admitted to the Union. The first governor of Alabama, William Wyatt Bibb, was elected on December 14, 1819, receiving 8,342 votes against Marmaduke Williams who received 7,140 votes—the Alabama Census for 1820 noted the population of the state being 127,901; it had been only 9,046 10 years earlier. William Bibb fell from his horse and died in office in July 1820, and his brother Thomas Bibb, the president of the Alabama State Senate, completed the rest of his term. At the same time, the state capital was moved from Huntsville to Cahawba, and was transferred to Tuscaloosa 6 years later.

When Thomas Bibb left office, Israel Pickens was elected governor, winning the support of the poor migrants and defeating those known as the “Georgia faction” by 9,114 votes to 7,129. From the 1821 elections until 1987, Alabama voted for a Democratic Party governor on every instance except in the period immediately following the Civil War. In 1840, Alabama was split in the presidential election between Martin Van Buren and William Harrison, with Van Buren carrying the state with a majority of 5,711 votes out of a total of 62,279 votes cast.

Harrison, leader of the Whigs, won the overall election, although he died soon after his inauguration. In the state election in Alabama, the Whigs also did well, making major advances into previously safe Democratic Party territory. However, the Democrats still controlled the Alabama legislature, using their majority to push through the General Election Bill that ensured that the delegates to the state's congress were selected by a general vote rather than elected by district. Although the bill to introduce proportional representation was passed by the legislature, it failed to be carried at a referendum by 665 votes.

The Democrats managed to recover some of their ground from the Whigs in the 1842 election, with many (including Andrew Barry Moore) regaining their old seats. In 1846, the state capital was moved from Tuscaloosa to Montgomery, and in 1847, the first party primaries were held, which resulted in Reuben Chapman elected as governor. By this time slavery was a major issue in Alabama with a population of 526, 271 whites and 437, 930 blacks (of whom 2,500 were free) in 1860. The 1850s saw the emergence of the “fire-eaters,” such as William Yancey who urged Alabamians to insist on the rights of states to determine issues such as slavery for themselves.

Andrew Barry Moore, a moderate Democrat, was elected governor unopposed in 1857, and in 1859 he managed to defeat William F Sandford, a “fire-eater,” by [Page 25]a very large margin, making some political commentators believe that Alabama would not secede. However, following the election of Abraham Lincoln in November 1860 (Alabama voted fairly solidly for John C. Breckin-ridge of Kentucky, leader of the Southern Democrats) it was clear that Alabama would secede. To confirm this, Governor Moore issued writs of election on December 24, 1860, and held an election of delegates to a state convention on January 7, 1861. Some 54 of those elected wanted immediate secession, and the 46 others favoring moves in coordination with other southern states. The convention voted for secession on January 11, and Alabama seceded, establishing its provisional government in Montgomery on February 8, 1861.

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