Alabama: The 22nd State

by fishfry aka Elizabeth Figueroa in Society, August 1, 2009

This state was one of the state that wanted to keep slavery, with Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King, the Federal Supreme Court, made it illegal to obtain or “purchase” a slave after the law passed.

In the southern states they celebrate Robert E. Lee’ birthday on the 3rd Monday of January, along with Martin Luther Kings’ Birthday, which I find, ironic since they were such a pro slavery state. They have several Federal Legal holidays that I here in New York see is not recognized; such as Mardi Gras, which is just before the Catholic Roman Catholics, celebrate “Lent”, usually the end of February to early March. They honor Thomas Jefferson’s birthday on April 14th, with the 4th Monday of April being known as the Confederations Memorial Day.

All the states usually have a state bird, song, nickname and tree. Alabama’s with the state bird being the Yellowhammer, the tree is a south pine tree, of course the song is Alabama, and the its nickname is “Little Dixie”

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The name came from the Alibamu Tribe, where the name translates into “I open the thicket, referring to a pathway to the south. With the state predominately covered with forest, and small wild life it would seem proper for the translation being “I open the thicket”. Alabama is surrounded by Mississippi on its left; to the north is Tennessee, with Georgia on its right. To the South is Florida, with a small piece boarding with the Gulf of Mexico.

The weather in this state changes drastically from the north down to the south, but over all this is a warm state. It usually has long summers, which can be ruined by hurricanes that come into the Gulf of Mexico; but for the most part they see little destruction. Winters are usually mild, but it is not uncommon for the northern part of the state to see temperature fall in to the mid-forty range. Within the state there is a part that is a section of the Appalachian Ridge, which runs through several states. They have large areas of State Parks, with their largest being the Little River Canyon National Preserves.

Like all states they have their “full” of trash and is running out of place to put their garbage, they suffer their share of pollution and toxic waste, but how are we to move forward if we don’t live, and experiment; in time I am sure we will find a safe and economic way to handle these situation. Unfortunately many Americans have some great ideas that are delayed or never heard because the government or the states are obtaining funding to leave certain things along.
Dr. Martin Luther King

Image via Wikipedia

This state is the home to the International Motor Speedway, where the Winston and Die Hard 500 is held. They have a monument dedicated to those who died in the civil war, which in located Montgomery County. Helen Keller was born in this state, giving other families the resources to teach the blind and deaf along with the ability to teach them to communicate. Other famous individuals who came from Alabama, is Willy Mays, a great baseball player, Joe Louis a former boxer, and Henry Aaron, know to many as Hank Aaron, who was at one time considered the all American Homerun King.