English traders from the Carolinas and Georgia traded with the Indians during the late 1600's, but the English made no permanent settlements in Alabama at that time. In 1702 the French established Fort Louis on Mobile Bay. This settlement was moved, in 1711, to the present site of Mobile. It became the first permanent white settlement in what is now Alabama.

During the 1700's the French and the British fought over the territory of which Alabama was a part. After the French and Indian War, the Treaty of Paris, in 1763, gave the territory to England. Spain, Georgia, and the Carolinas still argued over who owned the land. It was not until 1813 that all of what is now Alabama passed into undisputed possession of the United States and became part of the Mississippi Territory.

After 1800 more and more settlers came into Alabama from the states on the Atlantic Coast. The invention of the cotton gin and the growth of the cotton textile industry in Eng­land made cotton a valuable crop. The settlers grew cotton on most of the land that they cleared. But settling the territory was not without its perils. Much of the good farm­land was already being used by the Indians, whose ways of living easily adapted to the settlers' ways. The Indians resisted the theft of their lands. The Creeks, who held more than half the land in the

IMPORTANT DATES 1540 Hernando de Soto marched across Alabama, exploring and searching for gold. 1559 Tristan de Luna, Spanish colonizer, started a temporary settlement on Mobile Bay. 1699 An expedition under the. French explorer Pierre Lemoyne, Sieur d'lberville, explored the coast and claimed the area for France. 1702 Pierre Lemoyne's brother, Jean Baptiste Le­moyne, Sieur de Bienville, founded Fort Louis de la Mobile. 1711 The French moved Fort Louis to the present site of Mobile. 1763 At the end of the French and Indian War, France gave the area east of the Mississippi River, including Alabama, to Great Britain. 1783 After the Revolutionary War, Great Britain gave the Mobile area to Spain and the rest of Alabama to the United States. 1813 United States captured Mobile and added it to the Mississippi Territory. 1814 General Andrew Jackson defeated the Creek Indians. 1817 Congress created the Alabama Territory. 1819 Alabama admitted to Union December 14, as 22nd state. 1847 Montgomery became state capital. 1861 Alabama seceded from the Union January 11 and formed the Republic of Alabama, which lasted until February 8, when Alabama joined the Confederacy. 1868 Alabama re-admitted to the Union. 1875 A new constitution adopted, ending the period of Reconstruction. 1888 First steel produced in Birmingham. 1901 Present state constitution adopted. 1944 First petroleum produced near Gilbertown. 1949 Redstone Arsenal, at Huntsville, became a center for rocket and missile research. 1970 Black Alabamians won seats (two) In the state legislature for the first time since Reconstruction. 1981 Tuskegee Institute celebrated its 100th anniversary.

territory,were

especially bitter. They sided with the British in the War of 1812. The Indians raided Fort Mims and killed several hundred settlers. In a final battle at Horseshoe Bend, the Creeks were defeated, and before long they were moved out of the territory. The Cherokees, who had remained neutral in the war, were later moved from their lands. They were the most progressive of the Indian tribes. They lived in brick houses, grew cotton, raised rattle, and even had a written language.

Alabama Becomes a State

When Mississippi became a state in 1817, the eastern half of the Mississippi Territory was removed and made the Alabama Territory. Its capital was St. Stephens, a small town lo the north of Mobile. At that time settlers were found mainly in three regions—in the Tennessee Valley, around Huntsville; along Ihc Tombigbee and Black Warrior rivers, with centers at St. Stephens and Tusca-loosa; and along the Alabama and Coosa rivers, near such towns as Wetumpka and Montgomery.

Alabama was not a territory very long. With the approval of Congress, leading citi-/cns met at Huntsville on July 5, 1819, and drafted Alabama's first constitution. Soon after, on December 14, 1819, Alabama became a state. The capital was situated at Ca-haba, a town built for just this purpose at the junction of the Cahaba and the Alabama rivers. The choice of this town was bad. It lay in low, swampy land that flooded regularly. In 1825 the session of the legislature could be held only on the second floor of the capital, and the legislators had to get there by row-boat. Because of this situation the state capital was moved in 1827 to Tuscaloosa, where it stayed for 20 years. In 1847 the increase in wealth and political strength of the cotton planters of the Black Belt caused another move of the state capital—this time to Montgomery, where it is today.