New Perspectives on Civil War-Era Kentucky

As a Unionist but also proslavery state during the American Civil War, Kentucky occupied a contentious space both politically and geographically. In many ways, its pragmatic attitude toward compromise left it in a cultural no-man's-land. The constant negotiation between the state's nationalistic and Southern identities left many Kentuckians alienated and conflicted.

Lincoln referred to Kentucky as the crown jewel of the Union slave states due to its sizable population, agricultural resource...