Alabama is a state in the southeastern region of the United States, and its capital is Montgomery. Before Mississippi's admission to statehood on December 10, 1817, the more sparsely settled eastern half of the territory was separated and named the Alabama Territory. On 14 December 1819, Alabama became the 22^nd state in the US. Following the American Civil War, Alabama suffered economic hardship because it depended on agricultural economy and famous enacted Jim Crow laws to disenfranchise African Americans through the 1970s.