Tuskegee (/tʌsˈkiːɡiː/) is a city in Macon County, Alabama, United States. At the 2000 census the population was 11,846. Tuskegee has been an important site in African-American history and highly influential in United States history since the 19th century. Before the American Civil War, the area was largely used as a cotton plantation, dependent on African-American slave labor.