Editing Alabama (section)

==== Civil War and Reconstruction ====
{{Main|Ordinance of Secession|Confederate States of America|Alabama in the American Civil War}}

By 1860, the population had increased to 964,201 people, of which nearly half, 435,080, were enslaved African Americans, and 2,690 were [[free people of color]].<ref name="adahtmln">{{cite web |url=http://www.archives.alabama.gov/timeline/al1801.html |title=Alabama History Timeline |website=Alabama Department of Archives and History |publisher=State of Alabama |access-date=September 22, 2012 |archive-date=June 18, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160618035649/http://www.archives.alabama.gov/timeline/al1801.html |url-status=live}}</ref> On January 11, 1861, Alabama declared its [[Secession in the United States|secession]] from the [[Union (American Civil War)|Union]]. After remaining an independent republic for a few days, it joined the [[Confederate States of America]]. The Confederacy's capital was initially at Montgomery. Alabama was heavily [[Alabama in the American Civil War|involved in the American Civil War]]. Although comparatively few battles were fought in the state, Alabama contributed about 120,000 soldiers to the war effort.

[[File:Huntsville Courthouse Square 1864.jpg|thumb|left|[[Union Army]] troops occupying Courthouse Square in Huntsville, following its capture and occupation by federal forces in 1864]]
A company of cavalry soldiers from Huntsville, Alabama, joined [[Nathan Bedford Forrest]]'s battalion in [[Hopkinsville, Kentucky]]. The company wore new uniforms with yellow trim on the sleeves, collar and coattails. This led to them being greeted with "Yellowhammer", and the name later was applied to all Alabama troops in the Confederate Army.<ref>[http://www.archives.state.al.us/emblems/st_bird.html Official Symbols and Emblems of Alabama, State Bird of Alabama, Yellowhammer] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190102071436/http://www.archives.state.al.us/emblems/st_bird.html |date=January 2, 2019}}. Alabama State Archives</ref>

Alabama's slaves were freed by the 13th Amendment in 1865.<ref name="HistDocs">{{cite web |url=http://www.historicaldocuments.com/13thAmendment.htm |title=13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: Abolition of Slavery (1865) |access-date=September 23, 2006 |year=2005 |website=Historical Documents |publisher=HistoricalDocuments.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061031131251/http://www.historicaldocuments.com/13thAmendment.htm |archive-date=October 31, 2006}}</ref> Alabama was under military rule from the end of the war in May 1865 until its official restoration to the Union in 1868. From 1867 to 1874, with most white citizens barred temporarily from voting and freedmen enfranchised, many African Americans emerged as political leaders in the state. Alabama was represented in Congress during this period by three African-American congressmen: [[Jeremiah Haralson]], [[Benjamin S. Turner]], and [[James T. Rapier]].<ref name="alrecnstrctn">{{cite web |url=http://www.alabamamoments.alabama.gov/sec24.html |title=Reconstruction in Alabama: A Quick Summary |website=Alabama Moments in American History |publisher=Alabama Department of Archives and History |access-date=September 22, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120913020916/http://www.alabamamoments.alabama.gov/sec24.html |archive-date=September 13, 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

Following the war, the state remained chiefly agricultural, with an economy tied to cotton. During the Reconstruction era, state legislators ratified a [[Constitution of Alabama|new state constitution]] in 1868 which created the state's first public school system and expanded women's rights. Legislators funded numerous public road and railroad projects, although these were plagued with allegations of fraud and [[misappropriation]].<ref name="alrecnstrctn"/> Organized [[Insurgency|insurgent]], resistance groups tried to suppress the freedmen and Republicans. These groups included The [[Ku Klux Klan]], the Pale Faces, [[Knights of the White Camelia|Knights of the White Camellia]], [[Red Shirts (United States)|Red Shirts]], and the [[White League]].<ref name="alrecnstrctn"/>

Reconstruction in Alabama ended in 1874, when the Democrats regained control of the legislature and governor's office through an election dominated by fraud and violence. They wrote another constitution in 1875,<ref name="alrecnstrctn"/> and the legislature passed the [[Blaine Amendment]], prohibiting public money from being used to finance religious-affiliated schools.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.schoolreport.com/schoolreport/articles/blaine_7_00.htm |title=A Blaine Amendment Update (July 00) |publisher=Schoolreport.com |access-date=June 1, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716014339/http://www.schoolreport.com/schoolreport/articles/blaine_7_00.htm |archive-date=July 16, 2011 |url-status=dead}}</ref> The same year, legislation was approved that called for [[racial segregation|racially segregated]] schools.<ref name="jimcrowala">{{cite web |url=http://www.classroomhelp.com/till/jimcrowlaws/jimcrowalabama.html |title=Jim Crow Laws in Alabama |website=Emmett Till, It All Began with a Whistle |publisher=Classroomhelp |access-date=September 22, 2012 |archive-date=June 26, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120626210219/http://classroomhelp.com/till/jimcrowlaws/jimcrowalabama.html |url-status=live}}</ref> Railroad passenger cars were segregated in 1891.<ref name="jimcrowala"/>