1800’s Kentucky
• By 1800, two societies were
developing in Appalachia
• "Tuckahoe" refers to the low-country, slave-owning ,
large farm owners, with all of their economic, political,
social, and English (mostly from Northern and Western
England) ethnic traits.
• The “Cohee" were typically non-Anglican, poor, nonslave-owning, hard-scrabble independent farmers,
moving into or through the hills and mountainous regions
of Virginia and both Carolinas.
• Cohee culture
• Grazing, farmland economy with cattle and hog
grazing on an “open range” in the forests
• Patch farming in cleared portions
• Families lived in isolated farmsteads
• Neighborhood churches and school houses were the
center of community interest
• It was not a capitalistic oriented agriculture
• The focus was family
survival
• During the pre-Civil War era the Southern Appalachia
economy was quite diversified
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Farming with a broader market based system
Small towns with stores beginning to develop
Ores (copper, lead, nickel, etc) and coal produced foundries
Salt mining
Gold mining
• Problems between the backwoods and the tidewater over
representation
• This was an issue of slavery
• In Virginia the westerners argued strongly for emancipation
• Many Germans and Quakers argued against slavery
• Many Appalachia counties had virtually no slaves
(however that did not mean it wasn’t there)
SLAVERY causes division:
• Though the numbers were low in Appalachia, it was
growing up until the Civil War
• In Appalachia, the local elites did own several slaves, and
theirs did not seem to be a consistent view across the
board
• One thing is for sure, many of the Appalachians
opposed slavery because of opposition to the planter
elite, not because they supported African American
equality
• Though Cohee society may have been largely antislavery,
it had made peace with slave society
• In Appalachia it really did pit father against son and
brother against brother
• Many areas of seceding states had treasonous sections in
the mountains
• Many of these pro-union areas talked of their own potential
statehood
• In 8 of the 10 elections prior to the Civil War, someone
from KY was either a presidential or vice-presidential
candidate.
• Leaders like John J. Crittenden and Henry Clay were
national leaders.
• State’s large population and rich farming made it
important as well.
Kentucky’s Importance
• Geography-• For the South: the Ohio River would provide a strong
line of defense, it would be hard for the North to invade
b/c no bridges existed.
• The 3rd largest slave state could supply many men for
the armies.
• Rich agriculture: horses and crops for armies
Kentucky’s Importance
• Access to the Louisville and Nashville Railroad
• As a border state, both sides needed access to the enemy
through Kentucky
• Important commodities:
• Hemp, tobacco, flour, mules, corn and wheat
KY’s location
• “I think to lose Kentucky is
nearly the same as to lose the
whole game.”
Lincoln:
• No troops to either side
• Asked Presidents to respect their neutrality
• Gov. Magoffin’s plan for “armed neutrality”
• KY would be a mediator
• In reality:
• Both sides armed militias in hopes they would fight for
them; Confederates. occupied Eastern KY and Bowling
Green
• Union occupied Louisville & Paducah
Neutrality vs. Reality
• Clashes between the governor and the legislators
• Gov. Magoffin supported state’s rights to slavery,
• Pro-Confederate sympathizers created a provisional
gov’t to vote KY out of the Union (Columbus occupied)
• A star on the flag of both sides!
• John Hunt Morgan’s raids
• Couldn’t be prevented by the state militia
• Some army deserters, other just taking advantage of war
• Frankfort remains solidly
Union.
• Some 400 battles and small
fights, only a few major
battles
• While officially neutral, KY
couldn’t prevent either side
from infiltrating the state.
• While officially neutral, KY couldn’t prevent either side
from infiltrating the state.
• In terms of soldiers:
• 103,000 Kentuckians serve the Union
• 40,000 Kentuckians serve the Confederacy (all volunteers
because KY was occupied by the Union)
• Most fought in the western theater
• In military leaders:
• 67 KY men become Union generals
• 38 KY men become Confederate generals
Bottom line:
A House Divided
KY Map
• Fall of 1862:
• 2 armies, needing water, meet and fight at Perryville
(near Danville)
• Bloody day—4200 Union, 3400 Confederate casualties
• “ground slippery with blood”
• Importance: last major invasion of KY by the South
PERRYVILLE
• Popular opinion turns against Lincoln
with the change of direction in the war.
Most Kentuckians aren’t happy with this
change in focus/purpose.
• Emancipation Proclamation doesn’t affect
KY—only states in rebellion.
• During the War this area was constantly part of the
Western Campaigns
• The War was destructive to the entire area
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What few schools there were closed
Agricultural life was destroyed (raiders on both sides)
Guerilla warfare
Feuds developed
Also a haven for deserters (rich man’s war, but a poor man’s
fight: based on conscription laws in the South)
• Authority had collapsed
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNPEZRTpwPw
A brief visual, brought to
you by Kentucky Tourism
• Kentucky became more sympathetic to Confederacy
• Resented Union treatment of South in Reconstruction
• Economy in shambles
Post War
• ½ of all male slaves who could fight joined the army
• 3rd largest training ground for African American soldiers
(10,000 Union)
• Established as a refugee camp, as soldiers brought
families with them
• http://www.campnelson.org/tour/refugeecamp.htm
Camp Nelson
• 1. Read chapter 3 in Caudill’s book, with the guided
notes
• 2. Go to http://www.ket.org/civilwar/kyrole.html and
answer the following questions:
2 assignments
• 1. What was unique about Kentucky’s position
during the war?
• 2. What were the economic ties to both North
and South?
• 3. What was Kentucky’s official position when
secession began?
• 4. Explain the raids and the “bushwackers” that
happened during these years.
• 5. What effect did the Emancipation
Proclamation have on KY?
• Read 1 of 2 articles today on either Kentucky’s Neutrality
or Camp Nelson
• Neutrality Article:
• Why were both the North and South so interested in
Kentucky’s location and its decision to remain neutral?
• Who was John Hunt Morgan and what did he do?
• How were Governor Magoffin’s intentions thwarted by both
sides during the war?
• Camp Nelson article:
• Why would the Camp expel refugees (blacks)?
• Where blacks (free and slaves) allowed to serve in the army?
• What were the conditions like at Camp Nelson?