The Alabama Territory
[n] was designated by two interdependent Acts of the
Congress of the United States, passed by both chambers, the
Senate and the
House of Representatives on March 1 and 3, 1817, but it did not become effective until October 10, 1817. 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
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, (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, 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 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
state, with appointed territorial governor
William W. Bibb (1781-1820), formerly of
Georgia, becoming the elected first state governor (1819–1820). ==Territorial evolution of Alabama==