KENTUCKY AFTER THE CIVIL WAR

1. Reconstruction & Post-War Period KENTUCKY AFTER THE CIVIL WAR

2. Before the War Slavery had been a fact of life in Kentucky The thought of it being “threatened” (because of all the turmoil over new territories being added) caused the Legislature in 1849 to write a very pro-slavery article into the new Constitution

3. Before the War Two “Kentucky events” demonstrated differing attitudes about slavery: 1852: Harriet Beecher Stowe, Uncle Tom’s Cabin 1852 Stephen Foster, “My Old Kentucky Home”

4. “My Old Kentucky Home” original lyrics: Verse 1:The sun shines bright in the old Kentucky home'tis summer, the darkies are gay,the corn top's ripe and the meadow's in the bloomwhile the birds make music all the day.The young folks roll on the little cabin floorall merry, all happy, and bright.By'n by hard times comes a-knocking at the door,then my old Kentucky home, good night. Chorus:Weep no more, my lady,oh weep no more today.We will sing on song for the old Kentucky home,for the old Kentucky home far away. Verse 2: They hunt no more for the 'possum and the coonon meadow, the hill, and the shore. They sing no more by the glimmer of the moonon the bench by that old cabin door. The day goes by like a shadow o'er the heartwith sorrow where all was delight. The time has come when the darkies have to partthen my old Kentucky home, good night. Chorus: Verse 3: The head must bow and the back will have to bendwherever the darky may go. A few more days and the trouble all will endin the field where sugar-canes may grow. A few more days for to tote the weary load,no matter, 'twill never be light. A few more days 'till we totter on the road,then my old Kentucky home, good night. 

5. Before the War By 1860 Kentucky had become the center of a national political debate Two native Kentuckians ran for President 1860: Abraham Lincoln (Republican) John C. Breckinridge (Democrat) Winner of KY: John Bell (Constitutional Union) (Lincoln won less than 1% of the state’s vote)

6. During the War The Kentucky legislature did not vote to secede from the Union, but neither did it vote to raise troops to support the Union. Instead, the state declared neutrality. But this neutrality did not last long. Because Kentucky was a strategic border state dividing the South and the North, it was occupied by both Union and Confederate forces. In 1861 and 1862, Kentuckians at home saw a number of battles and skirmishes.

7. During the War By the end of 1862, Confederate forces had been run out of the state. However, the destruction caused by war was not over for Kentuckians. From December 1862 to January 1865, famous Confederate raids by John Hunt Morgan, Nathan Bedford Forrest, Quantrill, and "Sue" Mundy destroyed Union supply depots, bridges, and county courthouses. Kentucky also experienced a period of lawlessness in 1864, when "Bushwhackers" -- small bands of unruly soldiers from both sides -- looted small towns and robbed local farmers of produce and livestock.

8. During the War When President Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation in January of 1863, all slaves in the Confederacy were legally set free. Because Kentucky remained in the Union, slaves in this state were not free. Lincoln declared in 1864 that any slave who enlisted in the Union army would be given freedom as well as the freedom of his family. A flood of Kentucky slaves rushed to Camp Nelson to enlist. Soon, the camp became a recruitment center for "colored" troops, as well as a refugee center for their families.

9. During the War In 1863 General Ambrose Burnside declared martial law statewide. Often “rebels” were tried at random, and sometimes executed. Southern sympathizers were treated so harshly that some Union-favoring citizens turned against their own war effort.

10. During the War Military Occupation during the War caused many Kentuckians to turn toward the Confederacy in their sentiment, especially after the War. General Stephen GanoBurbridge was appointed by President Lincoln “military commander” of Kentucky in August 1864

11. During the War Burbridge enforced martial law in Kentucky, ordered Confederate “sympathizers” to have their property confiscated, arrested deported, or even executed. Burbridge also ordered the banning of books, interfered in local elections, and even fixed the price of hogs (“Great Hog Swindle”).

12. During the War In February 1865 Lincoln removed Burbridge from command, but he had become “the most hated man in Kentucky” and had profoundly damaged Union loyalty in the state.

13. After the War Although Kentucky was a slave state, it was not subject to military occupation during the Reconstruction Period. It was subject to the Freedmen's Bureau and a congressional investigation into the propriety of its elected officials. During the election of 1865, ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment was a major political issue. Kentucky eventually rejected the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments. Democrats prevailed in the election, and one of their first acts was to repeal the Expatriation Act of 1862, thus restoring the citizenship of Confederates.

14. After the War So, Kentucky slaves were legally freed when the 13th Amendment to the Constitution of the United States was ratified in 1865. But Confederate sentiment was still high in Kentucky after the war. The legislature failed to ratify either the 13th Amendment; the 14th, which extended equal protection of the law to blacks; or the 15th, which gave African Americans the right to vote.

15. After the War: FEUDS Kentucky became internationally known for its violent feuds, especially in the mountains. They pitted the men in extended clans against each other for decades, often using assassination and arson as weapons, along with ambushes, gunfights, and pre-arranged shootouts. Some of the feuds were continuations of violent local Civil War episodes. Journalists often wrote about the violence, using stereotypes that city folks had developed about Appalachia; they interpreted the feuds as the inevitable product of profound ignorance, poverty, and isolation, and perhaps even interbreeding. In reality, the leading participants were typically well-to-do local elites with networks of clients who were fighting for local political power

16. After the War: Gilded Age The Gilded Age saw the emergence of a women's suffrage movement. Laura Clay, daughter of noted abolitionist Cassius Clay, was the most prominent leader. At the same time a prohibition movement began, which was challenged by the distillers (based in the Bluegrass) and the saloonkeepers (based in the cities). Kentucky's hemp industry declined as manila became the world's primary source of rope fiber. This led to an increase in tobacco production, which was already the largest cash crop of Kentucky. Ravages of the Civil War afflicted Kentucky into the Reconstruction era. People attempted to repair communities destroyed by a broken economy and a death toll of approximately 11,000 soldiers, though politics still divided many relationships. Despite attempted neutrality, warfare wounded the land and society, and Kentucky again became "dark and bloody ground."

17. A Confederate Kentucky “One might have guessed that the way Kentuckians would remember the way would have approximated the divisive manner in which they fought it. By the 1870’s, however, the contrast between Kentuckians’ war-time sympathies and post-bellum sympathies was marked. In the decades following the conflict, with amazing accord, white Kentuckians elected five governors who had sympathized with or fought for the Confederacy….

18. A Confederate Kentucky “…They cheered in the streets in 1877 when the last Federal troops left the South, removing the final vestiges of Reconstruction. They built Confederate monuments, published sectional periodicals, participated in veterans’ organizations and historical societies, and produced literature that portrayed Kentucky as Confederate, while seemingly leaving the Union cause and the feats of its soldiers largely uncelebrated.” Creating a Confederate Kentucky,by Anne E. Marshall, University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill, 2010, p. 2

19. Civil War Vocabulary • chief cook and bottle washer -- person capable of doing many things • sheet-iron crackers -- hardtack • sardine box -- cap box • bread basket -- stomach • greenbacks -- money • graybacks -- Southern soldiers; lice • Arkansas toothpick -- large knife • pepperbox -- pistol • fit to be tied -- angry • has horse sense -- is smart or on the ball • top rail #1 -- first class • hunkeydorey -- great! • greenhorn, bugger, skunk -- officer • snug as a bug -- comfortable, cozy • sawbones -- surgeon • skedaddle -- run, scatter • hornets -- bullets

20. Civil War Vocabulary • bully -- hurrah! yeah! • possum -- a buddy or pal • blowhard -- big shot • fit as a fiddle -- in good shape, healthy • uppity -- conceited • scarce as hen's teeth -- rare • grab a root -- have dinner; eat a potato • Jonah -- bad luck • goobers -- peanuts • Sunday soldiers, kid glove boys, parlor soldiers -- insulting words for soldiers • fresh fish -- raw recruits • whipped -- beaten • tight, wallpapered -- drunk • hard case -- tough person • bluff -- cheater • jailbird -- criminal • hard knocks -- beaten up • been through the mill -- done a lot • quick-step -- diarrhea • played out -- worn out • toeing the mark -- doing the job