Alabama (U.S. state)

Alabama is a state in the southern United States. As of 2000 it has an estimated population of 4,447,100. Montgomery is the state's capital, although Birmingham is its largest city.

History

Alabama joined the United States in 1819 as the 22nd states. In the American Civil War of 1861-1865, Alabama was one of the eleven states that seceded the United States to form the Confederate States of America.

Historically, Alabama has records of racial tension. In the 1960s, Martin Luther King had organized civil rights protests in Alabama and was once jailed in Birmingham (where he wrote "Letter from Birmingham Jail"). Alabama was also the site of the notorious incident which Governor George Wallace stood at a college gate blocking the entry of an African-American student in an attempt to halt desegregation.