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Alabama’s current state seal, approved in 1939, is the same as the one used when it became a state in 1819. During the Civil War, Alabama was part of the Confederacy and retired its state seal. The new seal featured the coat of arms of the United States and an eagle. Alabama was granted statehood in 1819 and its constitution legalized slavery. The state seal shows the outline of the state and its major rivers, reflecting the importance of the cotton and agricultural industries.
The current Alabama state seal, approved by the Alabama Legislature in 1939, replaced a previous seal that had been used since 1869. The 1939 seal is actually the same seal used by Alabama when it became a state in 1819 During the American Civil War, Alabama was part of the Confederacy, the league of Southern states that seceded from the Union over the slavery issue. During the Reconstruction Era following the end of the Civil War, Alabama retired its state seal, which featured an outline of the state and its major rivers. He then adopted a new seal with the coat of arms of the United States and an eagle, and this remained the state seal until the legislature in 1939 re-approved Alabama’s original state seal from 1819.
What is today Alabama was acquired by the United States as part of the 1798 Treaty of Paris that ended the American Revolution. The treaty gave the United States all land east of the Mississippi River. From these lands, Congress created the Territory of Mississippi, of which the future state of Alabama was a part. By 1804 there were already settlements in the area and slavery was becoming a political and moral issue in America. White Southerners, particularly those with large agricultural holdings, began asking Congress to carve out at least two states from the Mississippi Territory in which slavery would be legal.
In response, Congress chartered the Alabama Territory on March 3, 1817. The new Alabama Territory consisted of the eastern half of the Mississippi Territory, and William Wyatt Bibb of Georgia was appointed its governor. Growth in the area had already been so rapid that the territorial government was petitioning for statehood the same year it was formed. A constitutional convention was held in July 1819, and the resulting Alabama constitution legalized slavery. Alabama’s petition for statehood was granted on December 14, 1819, and Bibb became its first governor-elect.
Alabama’s state seal, approved by the legislature the same year it was granted statehood, was the same as its previous territorial seal. The only change reflected that Alabama was now officially a US state. The center of the circular seal shows the outline of the state and a map of its major rivers. At the time of the seal’s birth, the cotton industry was vital to Alabama and its major rivers were of great importance to all of its agricultural industry. The importance of the Tombigbee, Tennessee, and Alabama River valleys is reflected in the state seal of Alabama.
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