Editing Alabama Territory (section)

==History==
The Alabama Territory[[#Notes|<sup>[n]</sup>]] was designated by two interdependent Acts of the [[United States Congress|Congress of the United States]], passed by both chambers, the [[United States Senate|Senate]] and the [[United States House of Representatives|House of Representatives]] on March 1 and 3, 1817,<ref>[http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=llsl&fileName=003/llsl003.db&recNum=389 "An Act to enable the people of the western part of the Mississippi territory to form a constitution and state government, and for the admission of such state into the union, on an equal footing with the original state"]</ref><ref>[http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=llsl&fileName=003/llsl003.db&recNum=412 "An Act to establish a separate territorial government for the eastern part of the Mississippi territory"]</ref> but it did not become effective until October 10, 1817.<ref name="TN"/><ref name="TLmiss">"Timeline 1811-1820" (events +sources); Algis Ratnikas; "Timelines of History"; 2007; webpage: [http://timelines.ws/1811_1820.HTML TimeLine Miss] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161116034912/http://timelines.ws/1811_1820.HTML |date=November 16, 2016 }}</ref><ref name="S50">"Statehood Dates"; 50states.com; 1998/2009; webpage: [http://www.50states.com/statehood.htm 50s-statehood]</ref> The delay was due to a provision in the Congressional Organic Act passed in Washington, which stated that the act would only take effect if and when the western part of the [[Mississippi Territory]] (1798–1817) were to form a state constitution and government on the road to statehood. A [[Constitution of Mississippi|state constitution for Mississippi]] was drawn up and adopted by Mississippian delegates on August 15, 1817, elections were held the next month in September, and the first legislative session convened in October,<ref name=TN/> with the western part of the [[Mississippi Territory]] existing since 1798 becoming the [[Mississippi|State of Mississippi]] on December 10, 1817.<ref>[http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=llsl&fileName=003/llsl003.db&recNum=513 "Resolution for the admission of the State of Mississippi into the Union"]</ref>

[[File:1817 Map of Mississippi and Alabama.jpeg|thumb|1817 era map of the former [[Mississippi Territory]] (1798-1817), of the [[southwestern United States]], showing the new U.S. state of [[Mississippi]] (to the west / left), and adjacent remaining Alabama Territory (on the east / right). At the bottom / south is the western panhandle of [[Spanish Florida]] and [[West Florida]] along the southern coast of the [[Gulf of Mexico]], part of the  American purchase of the future [[Florida Territory]] in 1819 and subsequent state of [[Florida]] by 1845.]]

[[St. Stephens, Alabama|St. Stephens]], located in the central area of the Alabama Territory on the [[Tombigbee River]], was the only [[territorial capital]] during the period. [[William Wyatt Bibb]] (1781–1820), formerly of [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]] was the only territorial governor, later elected to that position after achieving statehood.

On December 14, 1819, [[Alabama]] was admitted to the federal Union as the 22nd [[U.S. state|state]],<ref name="TLmiss"/><ref>[http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=llsl&fileName=003/llsl003.db&recNum=649 "Resolution declaring the admission of the state of Alabama into the Union"]</ref> with appointed territorial governor [[William W. Bibb]] (1781-1820), formerly of [[Georgia (U.S. state)|&Georgia]], becoming the elected first state governor (1819–1820).