
Alabama, first explored by the Spanish in 1540 and settled by the French in 1702, was still a part of the American frontier in the early 19th century. But the frontier areas, with land cheap and plentiful and an influx of migrants from the east, were experiencing rapid growth. Growth meant statehood, and Alabama was admitted to the Union in 1819, the last slaveholding territory granted admission before the Missouri Compromise of the following year.......
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