A Brief History of
Kentucky
 Recorded history begins around 1650 when Native American Tribes like the
Chickasaw, Cherokee, and Shawnee roamed the area as descendents of the
first people to cross the ice bridge from Asia to North America some
30,000 years ago. Nomadic in nature, Kentucky was more a hunting ground
for Native American Indians, and few permanent settlements have been
documented. Hostilities between Indians and white settlers occurred off
and on between the mid 1700’s until the Battle of Fallen Timbers in
1794, which nearly stopped Indian resistance, however minor skirmishes
occurred until 1813.
Explores of the Kentucky wilderness around 1750 were of British, French,
and Spanish descent. All started making claims to Kentucky as their own.
The French claimed all of the land drained by the Mississippi River and
it’s tributaries, and the Spanish also wanted the waterways for trade.
The British wanted all of it, resulting in the French and Indian War.
The British were victorious, and put down an Indian uprising known as
Pontiac’s Rebellion. This, and a 1795 treaty with Spain gave the British
control of Kentucky, as well as the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers. Feeling
quite invincible the British issued a Royal Proclamation forbidding
settlement west of the Appalachians.
 Settlers came undeterred by the proclamation after word of the fertile
land, and abundant game spread east. Settlers and Frontiersmen came
through the Cumberland Gap, including legendary hunter, and Indian
fighter Daniel Boone arriving in 1767. The first permanent settlement
was Harrodsburg in 1774, followed by Boonesboro the next year.
Despite all private claims, The Commonwealth of Virginia’s legislature
laid claimed to Kentucky as a county in 1776. That lasted only until
1792 when the Commonwealth of Kentucky became the 15th state in the
union, and the first west of the Appalachians.
The Louisiana Purchase in 1803 gave Kentucky good footing for economic
growth as a trade center via the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers. Economic
prosperity reigned as the region became agricultural with Tobacco, Hemp,
and Corn as the principle crops.
The period between 1800 and 1860 gave rise to Kentucky’s political and
cultural advances as influential Kentuckians rose to power nationally,
Richard M. Johnson, and John Breckenridge became Vice President, long
time Kentucky resident Zachary Taylor became President, and Henry Clay
was a three time candidate for the presidency.
 Kentucky’s neutral stance at the start of the Civil War was the epitome
of the brother against brother. Tens of thousands of Kentucky men fought
for the Union, and tens of thousands fought for the Confederacy. A
border state, Kentucky never succeeded from the Union, and eventually
backed the north even though it was invaded by both armies.
After the war economic progress was slow, until the railroads expanded
into the isolated eastern mountains carrying Kentucky’s plentiful coal
across the nation in the early 20th century. Kentucky became one of the
leading coal producing states.
Declining coal production since the 1950s gave way to manufacturing, and
over the last 50 years, Kentucky’s largest industry has been
manufacturing.Author Ron Stemple
Copyright 2006, Ron Dowell |
