History of Montgomery, Alabama
Encyclopedia
Montgomery, Alabama
was incorporated in 1819, as a merger of two towns situated along the Alabama River
. It became the state capital in 1846. In February 1861, Montgomery was selected as the first capital of the Confederate States of America
, until the seat of government moved to Richmond, Virginia
in May of that year. During the mid-20th century, Montgomery was a primary site in the African-American Civil Rights Movement, including the Montgomery Bus Boycott
and the Selma to Montgomery marches
.
was inhabited by the Alibamu tribe
of Native Americans. The Alibamu and the Coushatta
who lived on the opposite side the river were adept mound builders. Present-day Montgomery is built on the site of two Alibamu towns: Ikanatchati (or Ecunchatty or Econachatee), meaning "red earth"; and Towassa, built on a bluff called Chunnaanaauga Chatty. The first Europeans to come through central Alabama were Hernando de Soto and his expedition, who came through Ikanatchati and camped for one week in Towassa in 1540. It is also likely that Tristán de Luna y Arellano
and his colonists traveled through the Montgomery area on their way from Nanipacana to Coosa in northwest Georgia
.
The next recorded European movements in the area happened well over a century later, when an expedition from Carolina
went down the Alabama River in 1697. The first permanent European settler in the Montgomery area was James McQueen, a Scottish
trader who came to the area in 1716. In 1717, the French built Fort Toulouse
to the northeast of Montgomery, serving primarily as a trading post with the Alibamu. The British gained all the territory east of the Mississippi River
following the French and Indian War
in 1764. In 1767, Alabama's area was divided between the Indian Reserve
and West Florida
. The boundary line (32° 28′ north latitude) ran just north of present-day Montgomery. The northern portion later became part of the Province
and later U.S. State of Georgia
. The Treaty of Paris
in 1783 which ended the American Revolutionary War
gave Georgia's territory to the United States
. The southern border of the territory was disputed between Spain
(who had received West Florida from the British in a separate treaty) and the United States until 1795, when the Treaty of San Lorenzo gave the land north of the 31st parallel to the United States. This part of West Florida, including the southern half of Montgomery, became part of the Mississippi Territory
in 1797. Georgia's western territory was integrated into Mississippi in 1804.
After McQueen's arrival, European immigration to the area was slow in coming; Abraham Mordecai of Pennsylvania
arrived in 1785 and later brought the first cotton gin
to Alabama. Following the end of the Creek War
in August 1814, the Creek tribes were forced to give the majority of their lands to the U.S., including most of central and southern Alabama. With the hostile faction of Creeks that populated the Alabama River's banks moved south, the area became open for white settlers. Between 1814 and 1816, Arthur Moore built a cabin near the current location of Union Station
.
In 1816, Montgomery County
was formed, and its lands were sold off the next year at the federal land office in Milledgeville, Georgia
. The first group of settlers to come to the Montgomery area was headed by General John Scott. The group founded Alabama Town about 2 miles (3 km) downstream from present-day downtown. In June 1818, county courts were moved from Fort Jackson
to Alabama Town. Soon after, Andrew Dexter founded New Philadelphia, the present-day eastern part of downtown. Dexter envisioned his town would one day grow to prominence; he set aside a hilltop known as "Goat Hill" as the future location for the state capitol building. New Philadelphia soon prospered, and Scott and his associates built a new town adjacent, calling it East Alabama Town. The towns became rivals, but merged on December 3, 1819, and were incorporated as the city of Montgomery. The new city was named for General Richard Montgomery
, who died in the American Revolutionary War
attempting to capture Quebec City
, Canada
. Montgomery County had already been named for Major Lemuel P. Montgomery
, who fell at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend in the Creek War
. A legacy of the towns' merger can be seen today in the alignment of downtown streets: streets to the east of Court Street are aligned in a north-south and east-west grid, while streets to the west are aligned parallel and perpendicular to the Alabama River.
Due in large part to the cotton trade, the newly united Montgomery grew quickly. In October 1821, the steamboat Harriet began running along the Alabama River
to Mobile
. In 1822, the city became the county seat, and a new courthouse was built at the present location of Court Square, at the foot of Market Street (now Dexter Avenue). In April 1825, Marquis de Lafayette visited Montgomery on his grand tour of the United States
. In 1832, the Montgomery Railroad
opened, and grew to reach West Point, Georgia
by 1851. Due in large part to its transportation connections and central location in the state, the legislature decided to move the state capital from Tuscaloosa
to Montgomery, on January 28, 1846. The city paid for the construction of the Capitol building
on Goat Hill, the site set aside by Andrew Dexter 29 years earlier. The new building was ready for the 1847-48 legislature session, but on December 14, 1849, the building burned to the ground. It was rebuilt using the same plans and completed in 1851.
served in both houses of the Alabama State Legislature and in the U.S. House of Representatives, where he became an outspoken supporter of states' rights
. He traveled the country spreading his "fire-eater
" stance of slavery and secession. After Abraham Lincoln's election in 1860
, Yancey led charge for Alabama's secession from the Union
, which passed on January 11, 1861. Beginning February 4, representatives from Alabama, Georgia
, Florida
, Louisiana
, Mississippi
, and South Carolina
met in Montgomery
to form the Confederate States of America
. Montgomery was named the first capital of the nation, and Jefferson Davis
was inaugurated as President on the steps of the State Capitol
. The convention and subsequent Confederate government activities were based at the Exchange Hotel near Court Square. On April 11, the order to fire on Fort Sumter
, the act which started the American Civil War
, was sent from the Winter Building, which served as the telegraph office. On May 29, 1861, the capital was moved to Richmond, Virginia
, to be closer to the primary areas of battle. As a result, Montgomery remained virtually untouched by conflict during the war. On April 12, 1865, following the Battle of Selma
, Major General James H. Wilson
captured Montgomery for the Union.
In 1886 Montgomery became the first city in the United States to install city-wide electric street cars along a system that was nicknamed the Lightning Route
. The system made Montgomery one of the first cities to "depopulate" its residential areas at the city center through transportation-facilitated suburban development. Cloverdale
and Highland Park saw much of their growth during the height of the Lightning Route. On March 19, 1910, Montgomery became the winter home of the Wright brothers
' Wright Flying School
. The men frequented Montgomery and founded several airfields, one of which developed into Maxwell-Gunter Air Force Base
after the Wrights began working with the government to produce planes for military use.
historian David Beito, Montgomery "nurtured the modern civil rights movement." In December 1955, Rosa Parks
was arrested for refusing to give up her bus seat to a white man, sparking the Montgomery Bus Boycott
. The Montgomery Improvement Association
was created by Martin Luther King, Jr.
, then the pastor of Dexter Avenue Baptist Church
, and E.D. Nixon, a lawyer and local civil rights advocate, to organize the boycott. Nixon, along with Fred Gray
and Clifford Durr
, argued the case of Browder v. Gayle
before the U.S. District Court
in Montgomery. In June 1956, Judge Frank M. Johnson ruled that Montgomery's bus segregation was illegal. After the Supreme Court
upheld the ruling in November, the city desegregated the bus system, and the boycott was ended. King gained nationwide fame as a result of the Boycott. He remained in Montgomery until 1960, during which time he led the founding of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference
.
In 1960, inspired by the Greensboro sit-ins
, students from Alabama State College organized their own sit-in
at the State Capitol's
lunch counter to protest segregation. After the involved students were expelled at the insistence of Governor John Malcolm Patterson
, thousands of students marched on the capitol. On May 20, 1961, the Freedom Riders, attempting to test desegregation laws on inter-state buses, arrived in Montgomery. After meeting with violence in Anniston
and Birmingham
, Governor Patterson pledged to protect the riders during their journey from Birmingham to Montgomery, but Montgomery city police did not continue to protect the riders. They were met by a mob who beat the riders and Justice Department
officials who attempted to intervene. Police eventually intervened—and served the riders with injunctions for inciting violence. Days later, more riders departed Montgomery to continue the ride, only to be arrested upon reaching Jackson, Mississippi
.
Martin Luther King would return to Montgomery in 1965. Local civil rights leaders in Selma
had been protesting Jim Crow laws
blocking Blacks from registering to vote. Following the shooting of a man after a civil rights rally, the leaders decided to march to Montgomery
to petition Governor George Wallace
to allow free voter registration. After meeting with resistance from state troopers, an incident that became known as "Bloody Sunday", Dr. King joined the effort. The march began on March 21, after Judge Frank M. Johnson authorized the march. By March 24, the marchers reached Montgomery, and the group camped and held a rally at the City of St. Jude that night. The next morning, the march reached the Capitol, and King gave a speech, How Long, Not Long
, to the crowd of 25,000.
and the Alabama Shakespeare Festival
. ASF ranks as the fifth largest Shakespearean venue in the world. 1996 saw the construction of Montgomery's first skyscraper
, the RSA Tower
. In 2001, Alabama Supreme Court
Chief Justice Roy Moore
erected a 5280 pounds (2,395 kg) monument of the Ten Commandments
in the Supreme Court building rotunda. The ensuing demonstrations by supporters and opponents alike brought national attention to Montgomery. In 2005, Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama
was founded, marking South Korea
n automaker Hyundai Motor Company
's first manufacturing plant in the United States. The city government is active in restoring the downtown area, and in 2007 adopted a master plan, which included revitalization of Court Square and the riverfront.
Montgomery, Alabama
Montgomery is the capital of the U.S. state of Alabama, and is the county seat of Montgomery County. It is located on the Alabama River southeast of the center of the state, in the Gulf Coastal Plain. As of the 2010 census, Montgomery had a population of 205,764 making it the second-largest city...
was incorporated in 1819, as a merger of two towns situated along the Alabama River
Alabama River
The Alabama River, in the U.S. state of Alabama, is formed by the Tallapoosa and Coosa rivers, which unite about north of Montgomery.The river flows west to Selma, then southwest until, about from Mobile, it unites with the Tombigbee, forming the Mobile and Tensaw rivers, which discharge into...
. It became the state capital in 1846. In February 1861, Montgomery was selected as the first capital of the Confederate States of America
Confederate States of America
The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...
, until the seat of government moved to Richmond, Virginia
Richmond, Virginia
Richmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. It is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area...
in May of that year. During the mid-20th century, Montgomery was a primary site in the African-American Civil Rights Movement, including the Montgomery Bus Boycott
Montgomery Bus Boycott
The Montgomery Bus Boycott was a political and social protest campaign that started in 1955 in Montgomery, Alabama, USA, intended to oppose the city's policy of racial segregation on its public transit system. Many important figures in the civil rights movement were involved in the boycott,...
and the Selma to Montgomery marches
Selma to Montgomery marches
The Selma to Montgomery marches were three marches in 1965 that marked the political and emotional peak of the American civil rights movement. They grew out of the voting rights movement in Selma, Alabama, launched by local African-Americans who formed the Dallas County Voters League...
.
Early settlement
Prior to European colonization, the left bank of the Alabama RiverAlabama River
The Alabama River, in the U.S. state of Alabama, is formed by the Tallapoosa and Coosa rivers, which unite about north of Montgomery.The river flows west to Selma, then southwest until, about from Mobile, it unites with the Tombigbee, forming the Mobile and Tensaw rivers, which discharge into...
was inhabited by the Alibamu tribe
Alabama (people)
The Alabama or Alibamu are a Southeastern culture people of Native Americans, originally from Mississippi...
of Native Americans. The Alibamu and the Coushatta
Coushatta
----The Coushatta are a historic Muskogean-speaking Native American people living primarily in the U.S. state of Louisiana. When first encountered by Europeans, they lived in the territory of present-day Georgia and Alabama...
who lived on the opposite side the river were adept mound builders. Present-day Montgomery is built on the site of two Alibamu towns: Ikanatchati (or Ecunchatty or Econachatee), meaning "red earth"; and Towassa, built on a bluff called Chunnaanaauga Chatty. The first Europeans to come through central Alabama were Hernando de Soto and his expedition, who came through Ikanatchati and camped for one week in Towassa in 1540. It is also likely that Tristán de Luna y Arellano
Tristán de Luna y Arellano
Tristán de Luna y Arellano was a Spanish Conquistador of the 16th century. Born in Borobia, Spain, he came to New Spain in about 1530, and was sent on an expedition to conquer Florida in 1559...
and his colonists traveled through the Montgomery area on their way from Nanipacana to Coosa in northwest Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
.
The next recorded European movements in the area happened well over a century later, when an expedition from Carolina
Province of Carolina
The Province of Carolina, originally chartered in 1629, was an English and later British colony of North America. Because the original Heath charter was unrealized and was ruled invalid, a new charter was issued to a group of eight English noblemen, the Lords Proprietors, in 1663...
went down the Alabama River in 1697. The first permanent European settler in the Montgomery area was James McQueen, a Scottish
Scottish people
The Scottish people , or Scots, are a nation and ethnic group native to Scotland. Historically they emerged from an amalgamation of the Picts and Gaels, incorporating neighbouring Britons to the south as well as invading Germanic peoples such as the Anglo-Saxons and the Norse.In modern use,...
trader who came to the area in 1716. In 1717, the French built Fort Toulouse
Fort Toulouse
Fort Toulouse is a historic fort near the city of Wetumpka, Alabama, United States, that is now maintained by the Alabama Historical Commission. The French founded the fort in 1717, naming it for Louis-Alexandre de Bourbon, comte de Toulouse...
to the northeast of Montgomery, serving primarily as a trading post with the Alibamu. The British gained all the territory east of the Mississippi River
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...
following the French and Indian War
French and Indian War
The French and Indian War is the common American name for the war between Great Britain and France in North America from 1754 to 1763. In 1756, the war erupted into the world-wide conflict known as the Seven Years' War and thus came to be regarded as the North American theater of that war...
in 1764. In 1767, Alabama's area was divided between the Indian Reserve
Indian Reserve (1763)
The Indian Reserve was a territory under British rule in North America set aside in the Royal Proclamation of 1763 for use by American Indians between 1763 and 1783....
and West Florida
West Florida
West Florida was a region on the north shore of the Gulf of Mexico, which underwent several boundary and sovereignty changes during its history. West Florida was first established in 1763 by the British government; as its name suggests it largely consisted of the western portion of the region...
. The boundary line (32° 28′ north latitude) ran just north of present-day Montgomery. The northern portion later became part of the Province
Province of Georgia
The Province of Georgia was one of the Southern colonies in British America. It was the last of the thirteen original colonies established by Great Britain in what later became the United States...
and later U.S. State of Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
. The Treaty of Paris
Treaty of Paris (1783)
The Treaty of Paris, signed on September 3, 1783, ended the American Revolutionary War between Great Britain on the one hand and the United States of America and its allies on the other. The other combatant nations, France, Spain and the Dutch Republic had separate agreements; for details of...
in 1783 which ended the American Revolutionary War
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
gave Georgia's territory to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The southern border of the territory was disputed between Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
(who had received West Florida from the British in a separate treaty) and the United States until 1795, when the Treaty of San Lorenzo gave the land north of the 31st parallel to the United States. This part of West Florida, including the southern half of Montgomery, became part of the Mississippi Territory
Mississippi Territory
The Territory of Mississippi was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from April 7, 1798, until December 10, 1817, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the state of Mississippi....
in 1797. Georgia's western territory was integrated into Mississippi in 1804.
After McQueen's arrival, European immigration to the area was slow in coming; Abraham Mordecai of Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
arrived in 1785 and later brought the first cotton gin
Cotton gin
A cotton gin is a machine that quickly and easily separates cotton fibers from their seeds, a job formerly performed painstakingly by hand...
to Alabama. Following the end of the Creek War
Creek War
The Creek War , also known as the Red Stick War and the Creek Civil War, began as a civil war within the Creek nation...
in August 1814, the Creek tribes were forced to give the majority of their lands to the U.S., including most of central and southern Alabama. With the hostile faction of Creeks that populated the Alabama River's banks moved south, the area became open for white settlers. Between 1814 and 1816, Arthur Moore built a cabin near the current location of Union Station
Union Station (Montgomery)
Union Station, also known as Montgomery Union Station or Montgomery Union Station and Trainshed, in Montgomery, Alabama was built by the Louisville and Nashville Railroad and opened in 1898...
.
Founding and early years
Montgomery County, Alabama
Montgomery County is a county in the U.S. state of Alabama. It is the most populous county in the Montgomery Metropolitan Statistical Area; its population in 2010 was 229,363 .- History :...
was formed, and its lands were sold off the next year at the federal land office in Milledgeville, Georgia
Milledgeville, Georgia
Milledgeville is a city in and the county seat of Baldwin County in the U.S. state of Georgia. It is northeast of Macon, located just before Eatonton on the way to Athens along U.S. Highway 441, and it is located on the Oconee River. The relatively rapid current of the Oconee here made this an...
. The first group of settlers to come to the Montgomery area was headed by General John Scott. The group founded Alabama Town about 2 miles (3 km) downstream from present-day downtown. In June 1818, county courts were moved from Fort Jackson
Fort Jackson
Fort Jackson can refer to several places or things:*Fort Jackson , also called Fort Toulouse, a War of 1812 fort*Fort Jackson , a frontier trading post located near present-day Ione, Colorado...
to Alabama Town. Soon after, Andrew Dexter founded New Philadelphia, the present-day eastern part of downtown. Dexter envisioned his town would one day grow to prominence; he set aside a hilltop known as "Goat Hill" as the future location for the state capitol building. New Philadelphia soon prospered, and Scott and his associates built a new town adjacent, calling it East Alabama Town. The towns became rivals, but merged on December 3, 1819, and were incorporated as the city of Montgomery. The new city was named for General Richard Montgomery
Richard Montgomery
Richard Montgomery was an Irish-born soldier who first served in the British Army. He later became a brigadier-general in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War and he is most famous for leading the failed 1775 invasion of Canada.Montgomery was born and raised in Ireland...
, who died in the American Revolutionary War
American Revolutionary War
The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...
attempting to capture Quebec City
Quebec City
Quebec , also Québec, Quebec City or Québec City is the capital of the Canadian province of Quebec and is located within the Capitale-Nationale region. It is the second most populous city in Quebec after Montreal, which is about to the southwest...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. Montgomery County had already been named for Major Lemuel P. Montgomery
Lemuel P. Montgomery
Lemuel Purnell Montgomery was an American military officer who fought in the Creek War. Montgomery was an attorney in Nashville, Tennessee when the War of 1812 broke out, and was commissioned as a major of the 39th Infantry. Montgomery was killed in the Battle of Horseshoe Bend on March 27, 1814...
, who fell at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend in the Creek War
Creek War
The Creek War , also known as the Red Stick War and the Creek Civil War, began as a civil war within the Creek nation...
. A legacy of the towns' merger can be seen today in the alignment of downtown streets: streets to the east of Court Street are aligned in a north-south and east-west grid, while streets to the west are aligned parallel and perpendicular to the Alabama River.
Due in large part to the cotton trade, the newly united Montgomery grew quickly. In October 1821, the steamboat Harriet began running along the Alabama River
Alabama River
The Alabama River, in the U.S. state of Alabama, is formed by the Tallapoosa and Coosa rivers, which unite about north of Montgomery.The river flows west to Selma, then southwest until, about from Mobile, it unites with the Tombigbee, forming the Mobile and Tensaw rivers, which discharge into...
to Mobile
Mobile, Alabama
Mobile is the third most populous city in the Southern US state of Alabama and is the county seat of Mobile County. It is located on the Mobile River and the central Gulf Coast of the United States. The population within the city limits was 195,111 during the 2010 census. It is the largest...
. In 1822, the city became the county seat, and a new courthouse was built at the present location of Court Square, at the foot of Market Street (now Dexter Avenue). In April 1825, Marquis de Lafayette visited Montgomery on his grand tour of the United States
Visit of the Marquis de Lafayette to the United States (1824-25)
From July 1824 to September 1825, the last surviving French General of the Revolutionary War, the Marquis de Lafayette, made a famous tour of the 24 states in the United States...
. In 1832, the Montgomery Railroad
Montgomery and West Point Railroad
The Montgomery and West Point Railroad was an early 19th century railroad in Alabama and Georgia. It played an important role during the American Civil War as a supply and transportation route for the Confederate Army, and, as such, was the target of a large raid by Union cavalry in the summer of...
opened, and grew to reach West Point, Georgia
West Point, Georgia
West Point is a town in Troup County, with a small tail of the south end of town in Harris County, in the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2000 U.S. Census, this town had a total population of just 3,382 people...
by 1851. Due in large part to its transportation connections and central location in the state, the legislature decided to move the state capital from Tuscaloosa
Tuscaloosa, Alabama
Tuscaloosa is a city in and the seat of Tuscaloosa County in west central Alabama . Located on the Black Warrior River, it is the fifth-largest city in Alabama, with a population of 90,468 in 2010...
to Montgomery, on January 28, 1846. The city paid for the construction of the Capitol building
Alabama State Capitol
The Alabama State Capitol, also known as the First Confederate Capitol, is the state capitol building for Alabama. It is located on Capitol Hill, originally Goat Hill, in Montgomery. It was declared a National Historic Landmark on December 19, 1960....
on Goat Hill, the site set aside by Andrew Dexter 29 years earlier. The new building was ready for the 1847-48 legislature session, but on December 14, 1849, the building burned to the ground. It was rebuilt using the same plans and completed in 1851.
Montgomery in the Civil War
As state capital, Montgomery began to have a great influence over state politics, but would also play a prominent role on the national stage. Montgomery resident William Lowndes YanceyWilliam Lowndes Yancey
William Lowndes Yancey was a journalist, politician, orator, diplomat and an American leader of the Southern secession movement. A member of the group known as the Fire-Eaters, Yancey was one of the most effective agitators for secession and rhetorical defenders of slavery. An early critic of...
served in both houses of the Alabama State Legislature and in the U.S. House of Representatives, where he became an outspoken supporter of states' rights
States' rights
States' rights in U.S. politics refers to political powers reserved for the U.S. state governments rather than the federal government. It is often considered a loaded term because of its use in opposition to federally mandated racial desegregation...
. He traveled the country spreading his "fire-eater
Fire-Eaters
In United States history, the term Fire-Eaters refers to a group of extremist pro-slavery politicians from the South who urged the separation of southern states into a new nation, which became known as the Confederate States of America.-Impact:...
" stance of slavery and secession. After Abraham Lincoln's election in 1860
United States presidential election, 1860
The United States presidential election of 1860 was a quadrennial election, held on November 6, 1860, for the office of President of the United States and the immediate impetus for the outbreak of the American Civil War. The nation had been divided throughout the 1850s on questions surrounding the...
, Yancey led charge for Alabama's secession from the Union
Union (American Civil War)
During the American Civil War, the Union was a name used to refer to the federal government of the United States, which was supported by the twenty free states and five border slave states. It was opposed by 11 southern slave states that had declared a secession to join together to form the...
, which passed on January 11, 1861. Beginning February 4, representatives from Alabama, Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
, Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
, Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
, Mississippi
Mississippi
Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...
, and South Carolina
South Carolina
South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...
met in Montgomery
Montgomery Convention
The Montgomery Convention marked the formal beginning of the Confederate States of America. Convened in Montgomery, Alabama the Convention organized a provisional government for the Confederacy and created the Constitution of the Confederate States of America....
to form the Confederate States of America
Confederate States of America
The Confederate States of America was a government set up from 1861 to 1865 by 11 Southern slave states of the United States of America that had declared their secession from the U.S...
. Montgomery was named the first capital of the nation, and Jefferson Davis
Jefferson Davis
Jefferson Finis Davis , also known as Jeff Davis, was an American statesman and leader of the Confederacy during the American Civil War, serving as President for its entire history. He was born in Kentucky to Samuel and Jane Davis...
was inaugurated as President on the steps of the State Capitol
Alabama State Capitol
The Alabama State Capitol, also known as the First Confederate Capitol, is the state capitol building for Alabama. It is located on Capitol Hill, originally Goat Hill, in Montgomery. It was declared a National Historic Landmark on December 19, 1960....
. The convention and subsequent Confederate government activities were based at the Exchange Hotel near Court Square. On April 11, the order to fire on Fort Sumter
Battle of Fort Sumter
The Battle of Fort Sumter was the bombardment and surrender of Fort Sumter, near Charleston, South Carolina, that started the American Civil War. Following declarations of secession by seven Southern states, South Carolina demanded that the U.S. Army abandon its facilities in Charleston Harbor. On...
, the act which started the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
, was sent from the Winter Building, which served as the telegraph office. On May 29, 1861, the capital was moved to Richmond, Virginia
Richmond, Virginia
Richmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. It is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area...
, to be closer to the primary areas of battle. As a result, Montgomery remained virtually untouched by conflict during the war. On April 12, 1865, following the Battle of Selma
Battle of Selma
The Battle of Selma was a military engagement near the end of the American Civil War. It was fought in Selma, Alabama, on April 2, 1865. Union Army forces under Major General James H...
, Major General James H. Wilson
James H. Wilson
James Harrison Wilson was a United States Army topographic engineer, a Union Army Major General in the American Civil War and later wars, a railroad executive, and author.-Early life and engineering:...
captured Montgomery for the Union.
Reconstruction and modernization
Lightning Route
The Capital City Street Railway, also known as the Lightning Route, was the first city-wide system of streetcars established in Montgomery, Alabama, United States on April 15, 1886. This early technology was developed by Belgian-American inventor Charles Joseph Van Depoele. James Gaboury was the...
. The system made Montgomery one of the first cities to "depopulate" its residential areas at the city center through transportation-facilitated suburban development. Cloverdale
Cloverdale, Montgomery
Cloverdale is a neighborhood within the American city of Montgomery, Alabama. It is the largest garden-landscaped neighborhood in the state of Alabama. Built in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, it is one of Montgomery's "genteel" areas...
and Highland Park saw much of their growth during the height of the Lightning Route. On March 19, 1910, Montgomery became the winter home of the Wright brothers
Wright brothers
The Wright brothers, Orville and Wilbur , were two Americans credited with inventing and building the world's first successful airplane and making the first controlled, powered and sustained heavier-than-air human flight, on December 17, 1903...
' Wright Flying School
Wright Flying School
The Wright Flying School, also known as the Wright School of Aviation, was operated by the Wright Company from 1910 to 1916 and trained 119 individuals to fly Wright airplanes.-History:...
. The men frequented Montgomery and founded several airfields, one of which developed into Maxwell-Gunter Air Force Base
Maxwell Air Force Base
Maxwell Air Force Base , officially known as Maxwell-Gunter Air Force Base, is a United States Air Force installation under the Air Education and Training Command . The installation is located in Montgomery, Alabama, US. It was named in honor of Second Lieutenant William C...
after the Wrights began working with the government to produce planes for military use.
Civil rights movement
According to University of AlabamaUniversity of Alabama
The University of Alabama is a public coeducational university located in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, United States....
historian David Beito, Montgomery "nurtured the modern civil rights movement." In December 1955, Rosa Parks
Rosa Parks
Rosa Louise McCauley Parks was an African-American civil rights activist, whom the U.S. Congress called "the first lady of civil rights", and "the mother of the freedom movement"....
was arrested for refusing to give up her bus seat to a white man, sparking the Montgomery Bus Boycott
Montgomery Bus Boycott
The Montgomery Bus Boycott was a political and social protest campaign that started in 1955 in Montgomery, Alabama, USA, intended to oppose the city's policy of racial segregation on its public transit system. Many important figures in the civil rights movement were involved in the boycott,...
. The Montgomery Improvement Association
Montgomery Improvement Association
The Montgomery Improvement Association was formed on December 5, 1955 by black ministers and community leaders in Montgomery, Alabama. Under the leadership of Martin Luther King, Jr...
was created by Martin Luther King, Jr.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Martin Luther King, Jr. was an American clergyman, activist, and prominent leader in the African-American Civil Rights Movement. He is best known for being an iconic figure in the advancement of civil rights in the United States and around the world, using nonviolent methods following the...
, then the pastor of Dexter Avenue Baptist Church
Dexter Avenue Baptist Church
Dexter Avenue Baptist Church is a Baptist church in Montgomery, Alabama. The church was designated as a National Historic Landmark in 1974. In 1978 the official name was changed to the Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church, in memory of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who helped to organize the...
, and E.D. Nixon, a lawyer and local civil rights advocate, to organize the boycott. Nixon, along with Fred Gray
Fred Gray
Fred Gray is a civil rights attorney and activist who practices law in Alabama . He served as the President of the National Bar Association in 1985 and the first African-American President of the Alabama State Bar....
and Clifford Durr
Clifford Durr
Clifford Durr was an Alabama lawyer who played an important role in defending activists and others accused of disloyalty during the New Deal and McCarthy eras and who represented Rosa Parks in her challenge to the constitutionality of the ordinance requiring the segregation of passengers on buses...
, argued the case of Browder v. Gayle
Browder v. Gayle
Browder v. Gayle, 142 F. Supp. 707 , was a case heard before the United States District Court for the Middle District of Alabama on Montgomery bus segregation laws...
before the U.S. District Court
United States District Court for the Middle District of Alabama
The United States District Court for the Middle District of Alabama is the Federal district court whose jurisdiction comprises the following counties: Autauga, Barbour, Bullock, Butler, Chambers, Chilton, Coffee, Coosa, Covington, Crenshaw, Dale, Elmore, Geneva, Henry, Houston, Lee, Lowndes,...
in Montgomery. In June 1956, Judge Frank M. Johnson ruled that Montgomery's bus segregation was illegal. After the Supreme Court
Supreme Court of the United States
The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest court in the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all state and federal courts, and original jurisdiction over a small range of cases...
upheld the ruling in November, the city desegregated the bus system, and the boycott was ended. King gained nationwide fame as a result of the Boycott. He remained in Montgomery until 1960, during which time he led the founding of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference
Southern Christian Leadership Conference
The Southern Christian Leadership Conference is an African-American civil rights organization. SCLC was closely associated with its first president, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr...
.
In 1960, inspired by the Greensboro sit-ins
Greensboro sit-ins
The Greensboro sit-ins were a series of nonviolent protests which led to the Woolworth's department store chain reversing its policy of racial segregation in the Southern United States....
, students from Alabama State College organized their own sit-in
Sit-in
A sit-in or sit-down is a form of protest that involves occupying seats or sitting down on the floor of an establishment.-Process:In a sit-in, protesters remain until they are evicted, usually by force, or arrested, or until their requests have been met...
at the State Capitol's
Alabama State Capitol
The Alabama State Capitol, also known as the First Confederate Capitol, is the state capitol building for Alabama. It is located on Capitol Hill, originally Goat Hill, in Montgomery. It was declared a National Historic Landmark on December 19, 1960....
lunch counter to protest segregation. After the involved students were expelled at the insistence of Governor John Malcolm Patterson
John Malcolm Patterson
John Malcolm Patterson is an American politician who was the 44th Governor of Alabama, from 1959 to 1963. Previously he served as State Attorney General ....
, thousands of students marched on the capitol. On May 20, 1961, the Freedom Riders, attempting to test desegregation laws on inter-state buses, arrived in Montgomery. After meeting with violence in Anniston
Anniston, Alabama
Anniston is a city in Calhoun County in the state of Alabama, United States.As of the 2000 census, the population of the city is 24,276. According to the 2005 U.S. Census estimates, the city had a population of 23,741...
and Birmingham
Birmingham, Alabama
Birmingham is the largest city in Alabama. The city is the county seat of Jefferson County. According to the 2010 United States Census, Birmingham had a population of 212,237. The Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan Area, in estimate by the U.S...
, Governor Patterson pledged to protect the riders during their journey from Birmingham to Montgomery, but Montgomery city police did not continue to protect the riders. They were met by a mob who beat the riders and Justice Department
United States Department of Justice
The United States Department of Justice , is the United States federal executive department responsible for the enforcement of the law and administration of justice, equivalent to the justice or interior ministries of other countries.The Department is led by the Attorney General, who is nominated...
officials who attempted to intervene. Police eventually intervened—and served the riders with injunctions for inciting violence. Days later, more riders departed Montgomery to continue the ride, only to be arrested upon reaching Jackson, Mississippi
Jackson, Mississippi
Jackson is the capital and the most populous city of the US state of Mississippi. It is one of two county seats of Hinds County ,. The population of the city declined from 184,256 at the 2000 census to 173,514 at the 2010 census...
.
Martin Luther King would return to Montgomery in 1965. Local civil rights leaders in Selma
Selma, Alabama
Selma is a city in and the county seat of Dallas County, Alabama, United States, located on the banks of the Alabama River. The population was 20,512 at the 2000 census....
had been protesting Jim Crow laws
Jim Crow laws
The Jim Crow laws were state and local laws in the United States enacted between 1876 and 1965. They mandated de jure racial segregation in all public facilities, with a supposedly "separate but equal" status for black Americans...
blocking Blacks from registering to vote. Following the shooting of a man after a civil rights rally, the leaders decided to march to Montgomery
Selma to Montgomery marches
The Selma to Montgomery marches were three marches in 1965 that marked the political and emotional peak of the American civil rights movement. They grew out of the voting rights movement in Selma, Alabama, launched by local African-Americans who formed the Dallas County Voters League...
to petition Governor George Wallace
George Wallace
George Corley Wallace, Jr. was the 45th Governor of Alabama, serving four terms: 1963–1967, 1971–1979 and 1983–1987. "The most influential loser" in 20th-century U.S. politics, according to biographers Dan T. Carter and Stephan Lesher, he ran for U.S...
to allow free voter registration. After meeting with resistance from state troopers, an incident that became known as "Bloody Sunday", Dr. King joined the effort. The march began on March 21, after Judge Frank M. Johnson authorized the march. By March 24, the marchers reached Montgomery, and the group camped and held a rally at the City of St. Jude that night. The next morning, the march reached the Capitol, and King gave a speech, How Long, Not Long
How Long, Not Long
"How Long, Not Long" is the popular name given to the public speech delivered by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., on the steps of the State Capitol in Montgomery, Alabama, after the successful completion of the Selma to Montgomery March on March 25, 1965...
, to the crowd of 25,000.
Present day
Montgomery continues to grow and diversify. In 1985, longtime resident and former Postmaster General Winton Blount donated 250 acres (1 km²) of land for the Montgomery Museum of Fine ArtsMontgomery Museum of Fine Arts
The Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts is a museum located in Montgomery, Alabama, USA, featuring several art collections. For seventy years, the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts has been a showcase for the visual arts in Central Alabama...
and the Alabama Shakespeare Festival
Alabama Shakespeare Festival
The Alabama Shakespeare Festival is the seventh largest Shakespeare festival in the world. Each year, it attracts more than 300,000 visitors from throughout the United States and more than 60 countries, to its home in Montgomery, Alabama....
. ASF ranks as the fifth largest Shakespearean venue in the world. 1996 saw the construction of Montgomery's first skyscraper
Skyscraper
A skyscraper is a tall, continuously habitable building of many stories, often designed for office and commercial use. There is no official definition or height above which a building may be classified as a skyscraper...
, the RSA Tower
RSA Tower
The RSA Tower is a , 22-story building located in downtown Montgomery, Alabama. It was built in 1996 by the Retirement Systems of Alabama. Its tenants include Raycom Media's headquarters, Morgan Keegan & Company, the Capitol City Club, the Alabama Public Health Association, Alabama Department of...
. In 2001, Alabama Supreme Court
Alabama Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of Alabama is the highest court in the state of Alabama. The court consists of an elected Chief Justice and eight elected Associate Justices. Each justice is elected in partisan elections for staggered six year terms. The Governor of Alabama may fill vacancies when they occur...
Chief Justice Roy Moore
Roy Moore
Roy Stewart Moore is an American jurist and Republican politician noted for his refusal, as the elected Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Alabama, to remove a monument of the Ten Commandments from the state courthouse despite orders to do so from a federal judge...
erected a 5280 pounds (2,395 kg) monument of the Ten Commandments
Ten Commandments
The Ten Commandments, also known as the Decalogue , are a set of biblical principles relating to ethics and worship, which play a fundamental role in Judaism and most forms of Christianity. They include instructions to worship only God and to keep the Sabbath, and prohibitions against idolatry,...
in the Supreme Court building rotunda. The ensuing demonstrations by supporters and opponents alike brought national attention to Montgomery. In 2005, Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama
Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama
Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama is an automobile factory in Montgomery, Alabama. It is owned and operated by Hyundai Motor Company of Korea. Construction completed in June, 2004, with the first vehicles produced in March of 2005. The official grand opening ceremony on May 20, 2005, was...
was founded, marking South Korea
South Korea
The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...
n automaker Hyundai Motor Company
Hyundai Motor Company
Hyundai Motor Company is a Korean multinational automaker based in Seoul, South Korea which, along with Kia, comprises the Hyundai Kia Automotive Group, the world's fourth largest automaker as of 2009. As of 2011, it is the world's fastest growing automaker for two years running...
's first manufacturing plant in the United States. The city government is active in restoring the downtown area, and in 2007 adopted a master plan, which included revitalization of Court Square and the riverfront.