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 Andalusia - Alabama - History

Alabama became the 22nd state on December 14, 1819. The Spanish-American war was one of the shortest wars fought by the United States, lasting only from April 25 to December 10, 1898. Alabama had three white regiments and one black battalion (composed of the Montgomery Capital City Guards and the Mobile Gilmer Rifles), but the state had a difficult time bringing its National Guard units and volunteers up to desired strength of numbers because too many men could not pass the physical exams of the War Department (they failed at the rate of 50 percent). The commissioning of the units was delayed and many Alabama troops never left the state.

 Andalusia is the heart of the state. Constitution of 1901 was drawn up to continue to keep taxes low and governmental services minimal. To guarantee that the propertied classes stayed in power the vote was taken away from many poor whites and African Americans.

Constitution of 1901 was ratified in one of the most corrupt elections in Alabama history.  Today the Constitution of 1901 is still Alabama's constitution. Having been amended more than 650 times (as of 1999), it is one of the longest constitutions in the western world.

The War of 1812 took place while Alabama was part of the Mississippi Territory. Alabama was involved primarily because of a civil war between the Creek Indians (Please see at the bottom of this page).

Andalusia & Alabama became a part of the Mississippi Territory in 1798 and more settlers began to enter the area that would become Alabama after Indian cessions in north  Alabama and the opening of the federal road in south Alabama in the early 1800s. Migration increased after the end of the Creek War in 1814.

The Andalusia -Alabama Territory was created in 1817 and Alabama's population increased sufficiently that U.S. President Monroe signed the enabling act for statehood on March 2, 1819.

Alabama's constitutional convention met in Huntsville in July 1819 and produced the state's first constitution, a liberal document for its time that included universal white manhood suffrage and direct election of the governor by the people.

The Creek Indians were the largest and most important group of Indian peoples who lived in what is now Alabama. Allied for their common good and related by kinship and common culture and language, they are considered an alliance or confederacy of towns or tribes.

The Creeks, or Muskogees, like their neighbors the Choctaws and Chickasaws, were descendants of the earlier Mississippian peoples who lived in Alabama. The Choctaws, who lived in some 60 villages located in the state of modern Mississippi, claimed some hunting lands in what is now Alabama, as did the Chickasaw, whose seven to ten towns were at the site of modern Tupelo, Mississippi. The Cherokees also claimed some lands in northeast Alabama.

There were two geopolitical divisions among the Creek Confederacy: the Upper Creek towns (whose towns were situated along the Tallapoosa, Coosa, and Alabama rivers) and the Lower Creek towns (located on the Chattahoochee River).

For the historic Creeks, the town, talwa in their native Muskogee language, was the center of political and social life. Each Creek town had a number of common elements:
The square ground was the most important part of the talwa. Here town leaders met daily to discuss tribal concerns, debate policy, and administer town needs. Among the many rituals undertaken here, the Black Drink ceremony was the most famous. Black drink, so called by the Europeans because of its dark color, was made from yaupon holly and was believed to purify and cleanse a man's heart. Dances were held here too, including war dances and celebrations. The most important Creek religious holiday, the Green Corn Celebration, or Busk, which marked their thanksgiving for the harvest of the new corn crop, was also carried out in the square ground.
During the winter, the daily council meetings and ceremonies were moved indoors to the hot house or winter council house, which was sometimes called the rotunda.
Each town also included a chunky yard. Much like our modern ball field, Creeks gathered at this site to play their favorite game, chunky, which was played with a rolling disk.
Agricultural fields and family dwellings were situated around these public structures. Each town also claimed specific hunting grounds in the woods outside the town limits

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 For more info on 18th century Creek town please click HERE

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