ALABAMA STATE LEGISLATURE

The legislative body of the Mississippi Territory was composed of the governor and three judges, all appointed by the president of the United States as stated in the Ordinance of 1787. An increase in the territory induced Congress to establish a second grade of territorial government, which allowed a legislature. This legislature was composed of a house of representatives and a legislative council.

Congress created the Alabama Territory, formerly part of the Mississippi Territory, in 1817. A Territorial Assembly, composed of a House of Representatives and a Legislative Council (Senate), was created to transact legislative business.

The 1819 Constitution of Alabama, created a General Assembly (known as the Legislature after 1901), which included a House of Representatives and Senate, patterned after the U.S. Congress. The Assembly was charged with writing the laws of Alabama within the framework of the Alabama and U.S. Constitutions.

Morgan, Jon C. The House in Alabama History, 1993.