1817 to 1820 Jan. 19, 1818 1818 Nov. 2 to Nov. 21, 1818 12. Governor William Wyatt Bibb.-William Wyatt Bibb, of Georgia, was appointed governor of Alabama Territory by President Monroe. He was able and experienced. He called the first legislature to meet at St. Stephens. James Titus, of Madison, was the only member of the upper house, as he was the only senator of the Mississippi Territory who lived within the limits of the newly-created Alabama Territory. He attended to all the duties of the upper house with marked ceremony, calling the council to order, and passing upon all messages from the lower house just as a house full of senators would have done. The lower house consisted of ten members, with Gabriel Moore, of Madison, as chairman. The Spanish and English in Florida persuaded the Indians in 1818 to reclaim the lands sold to the United States. Outrages were committed, but Jackson's conquests and court-martial in Florida quieted the Indians and stopped Spanish and English subjects from stirring the Indians to further violence. The next session of the legislature met at St. Stephens. The people of Mississippi were begging Congress to let the Tombigbee and Mobile rivers and Mobile Bay form the eastern boundary of Mississippi Territory. ́ Governor Bibb did not believe Congress ought to do this, and he stated the objections in his message 'to the legislature. In this message he recommended that laws ought to be favorable to education, to the opening of roads and ferries, and to the building of bridges. 13. Capital Site Selected.-C. C. Clay, Sr., Samuel Taylor, Samuel Dale, James Titus, and William L. 6 Adams were elected a committee to select the place for the capital of the State. They selected Cahawba, but they agreed that Huntsville was to be the capital until suitable buildings could be built at Cahawba. 14. Alabama Admitted Into the Union.-The 'Enabling Act" of Congress was the act that gave permission to the people to prepare a State constitution in order that the Territory might be admitted as a State into the Union. The State convention met in Huntsville and prepared a constitution which Congress accepted. On December 14, 1819, Alabama Dec. 14 was admitted into the union of States. The constitution recognized negro slavery, and granted the privilege of voting to white men twenty-one years old and upward. 1819 SUMMARY The political life of Alabama from 1763 to 1819 embraces all the history of the French, Spanish, English, and American government of the territory now called Alabama. The Treaty of Paris in 1763 marked the downfall of French rule, and the transfer of Louisiana east of the Mississippi, save New Orleans and the Isle of Orleans, to British control. In 1780, Galvez conquered West Florida for Spain. The treaty of 1783 at Paris after the Revolutionary War gave north of 31° north latitude to the United States; but Spain claimed that the northern boundary line of West Florida was 32° 28', as was the line under the British. Fifty years after the downfall of French authority, General James Wilkinson captured Mobile and gave the United States possession to the Gulf. In 1798, Mississippi Territory was formed. Its first governor was Winthrop Sargent. In 1817, Mississippi Territory was divided, the eastern part being organized as Alabama Territory. In 1819, Alabama was admitted as a State into the Union. QUESTIONS 1. Under what flags has the territory of what is now Alabama been governed? 2. Describe the changes from French to British, from British to Spanish, and from Spanish to United States control. 3. Give an account of Spanish and American contention about the lines of separation between Spanish and American possession. 4. How did England fix the boundary lines of West Florida, and by what right did Spain claim to 32° 28'? 5. How and when was the dispute about the boundary line settled? 6. When and by whom was the line surveyed? 7. What was the "Yazoo Sale"? 8. What were the boundaries of Mississippi Territory when it was formed? 9. Give a sketch of General Wilkinson; Judge Toulmin. 10. Describe a marriage ceremony in early days. 11. Give an account of the first settlement at Huntsville. 12. Give the history of Mississippi Territory under Governor Sargent; under Governor William C. C. Claiborne; under Governor Robert Williams; under Governor David Holmes; of Alabama Territory under Governor William Wyatt Bibb. 13. Name the temporary capitals of Alabama Territory, and also the place selected as a permanent capital. 14. When was Alabama admitted to the Union? CHAPTER XXVIII THE ADMINISTRATIONS OF FIFTEEN GOVERNORS (1819-1859) 1. Governor Thomas Bibb.-Governor William Wyatt Bibb died on July 10, 1820, and his brother, Thomas Bibb, of Limestone, president of the senate, succeeded to his office. They cut down the Settlers rushed into the State. forests to make way for farms. Preachers, doctors, lawyers, and merchants came. Carpenters and blacksmiths were busy and were well paid. The schoolmaster was around, both the ignorant and the learned type. Steamboat companies were formed; the University was chartered; and newspapers were established. 2. Governor Pickens.-Israel Pickens succeeded Governor Thomas Bibb. He won the office of governor over Dr. Henry Chambers* in the elections of 1821 and 1823. Governor Pickens gave the State a full share in "the era of good feeling." Relief through the United States Congress for the embarrassed landholders, the establishment of the State Bank, and *Dr. Chambers was brilliant and beloved. In 1825, he was elected to the senate of the United States, and died the next year on his way to Washington. A county bears his name. His son, Colonel Hal Chambers, represented Mississippi in the Confederate Congress. His daughter married the son of Governor Thomas Bibb. 1820 to 1821 1821 to 1825 1825 provision for presidential electors to be chosen by the people, were brought about during his term of office. Apr. 3, In 1825, he entertained in Montgomery General LaFayette, "the nation's guest," whom the people of Alabama greeted with continuous ovations in his passage from the Chattahoochee river to Mobile. 3. Governor Murphy.-John Murphy, of Monroe, 1825 to 1826 Old Cahawba was in office when the capital was removed from Cahawba to Tuskaloosa. Cahawba was situated where it was subject to overflows of both the Alabama and Cahawba rivers, and it was very sickly. Tuskaloosa was selected as the site for the University, and the University buildings were begun. Congress granted 400,000 acres of land in north Alabama to be used to get money to build canals around |