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EarthBound, you really aren't having a true discussion, and to be honest, I'm not really sure what you are trying to prove??? Coming on these discussion boards and expecting everyone to agree with you, especially when you barely have any sources to back your opinions, does not look good on your part my friend. Just because someone doesn't agree with you doesn't mean they are out to get you. I don't agree with you, but that is mostly because I don't really know what point you are trying to make because you are all over the place. Your biased opinion doesn't really mean a whole lot unless you can get some solid facts to support it. If you want to have a discussion on purely your opinion, that's great, but you can't get so defensive when someone offers a differing opinion.
No, I just figured it was a moot point to talk about it anymore and to allow other discuss it. He has his opinion and I have mine, nothing more to say.
Back on topic and lets leave it alone, OK.
Kentucky has strong elements of the south from our borders with Tennessee and SW Virginia. It also has strong elements of the midwest from our borders with Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio. At the same time, b/c of the old "industrial cultures" of Ohio and West Virginia
Just for the record, WV is not an industrial culture. It is one of the most heavily forested states in the US.
I think that has more to do with losers being more sentimental than winners. Confederate Veterans fought and died for a lost cause so putting up a monument was the only way for their sacrifice to be remembered. A Union veteran's monument is that every county courthouse in America has an American (not a Confederate) flag on it.
It was because of this:
Union military policy in the commonwealth angered many Kentuckians and pushed Kentucky to support ex- Confederate politicians after the Civil War.
It was difficult for the Lincoln administration to handle the border state of Kentucky, which was full of pro- Union, proslavery residents. Because some Kentuckians overtly supported the Confederacy, the Federal government viewed the commonwealth with a wary eye. Lincoln worked to keep Kentuckians out of the Confederate army, but heavy-handed Union military policies sometimes alienated Kentuckians from his administration. Lincoln gave Union commanders a free hand, and usually checked abuses only if he were personally contacted.
Several military policies angered Kentuckians. Hundreds of Southern sympathizers were arrested, forced to take Union loyalty oaths, and made to pay security bonds for their future conduct. Citizens who supported guerrilla activity were arrested, and, if the property of loyal Kentuckians was damaged by guerrillas, local secessionists were forced to pay reparations. Ministers were occasionally imprisoned for giving pro-Confederate sermons, Southern-leaning newspapers were shut down, and secessionist political candidates were forced to withdraw their names from ballots. Later in the war, Kentuckians complained when more than fifty Confederate prisoners were executed in retaliation for guerrilla depredations. In several instances, Lincoln stepped in and stopped military executions.
The wartime anger of Kentuckians at Federal policies kept Kentucky in the Democratic camp for decades after the war. Kentuckians supported ex-Confederates for many political offices, including the governorship of Kentucky. Several postbellum Kentucky governors (including James B. McCreary, Luke P. Blackburn, and Simon Bolivar Buckner), congressmen, and legislators were ex-Confederate soldiers.
One page from a four-page Civil War account written by Charlton G. Duke about his capture and imprisonment by Union forces in Kentucky.
Kentucky Historical Society Collections
I think it's part of the south. But then again, I'm surprised how southern and country Missouri seems at times and I think most people would consider that the midwest. So my vote is south, but I might not be objective.
Hmmm. I grew up directly on the Ohio side of the river, east of Cincinnati, and was raised eating these things: fried okra, cornbread (made with lard or buttermilk), soup beans, greens, RC, fried cabbage, and sweet tea. When I moved to Chicago for college (which was considered somewhat unusual by people in my town), some people I met there thought I was from KY or TN by the way I spoke. Now, I am not claiming that any of these anecdotes place southern Ohio in the south, or take away from the midwestern influences of NKY, but I don't feel culture is locked down specifically by state lines, especially around borders. Many kids I grew up with on the OH/KY border had a grandparent(s) from KY, including myself, particularly EKY. Much of WV is geographically further north than than far southwest OH, yet that state is usually placed wholly in "the south". Culture is transferrable, mutable, and crossing boundaries imposed by lines on maps. And if you want to truly talk about Yankees and Northerners, try living up here in Maine for a while and see how close a comparison you can draw between a Mainer and someone from NKY.
With respect I was born in Louisville and while I may have a northerners accent (mostly Marylander but have lived 20 years in Maine not entirely by choice) I consider myself a proud member of the south...matter of fact I have aspirations of returning to the south to live and work in western North Carolina
And for the record im not fussy as to pepsi coke RC or whatever if its soda cold and tastes good id drink it
Why do some of you get so vehemently enraged when someone even suggests Kentucky isn't in the South? That good ol' Southern supremacy I suppose. I was born and raised in Kentucky. I've lived in Radcliff, Breckinridge County, Livingston County & Paducah. Personally, I consider the whole state a buffer between the Midwest and South. Of course areas like Bowling Green and others near Tennessee adopt more of a southern mentality. But coming from someone growing up in Breck & Hardin counties, I think these areas nearer to Ohio and Indiana are more similar to the Midwest. I guess there are always those who are going to strive to be Southern, even on the border of Indiana! I've always found it odd that people that have lived in the same area as I do can have such strong southern accents, as if they're straight from Savannah! I find it pretty humorous. But I say Kentucky is a border state. It was never a Confederate state, no matter what you tell yourself. And I'm not sure why anyone would be proud of carrying that label anyway. I'm not sure why it even matters really; just so you know the Civil War is over.
Why do some of you get so vehemently enraged when someone even suggests Kentucky isn't in the South? That good ol' Southern supremacy I suppose. I was born and raised in Kentucky. I've lived in Radcliff, Breckinridge County, Livingston County & Paducah. Personally, I consider the whole state a buffer between the Midwest and South. Of course areas like Bowling Green and others near Tennessee adopt more of a southern mentality. But coming from someone growing up in Breck & Hardin counties, I think these areas nearer to Ohio and Indiana are more similar to the Midwest. I guess there are always those who are going to strive to be Southern, even on the border of Indiana! I've always found it odd that people that have lived in the same area as I do can have such strong southern accents, as if they're straight from Savannah! I find it pretty humorous. But I say Kentucky is a border state. It was never a Confederate state, no matter what you tell yourself. And I'm not sure why anyone would be proud of carrying that label anyway. I'm not sure why it even matters really; just so you know the Civil War is over.
i consider the ohio river to be the buffer. some parts of the river the midwest goes over the river (covington) and some parts the south does (cairo), some parts the river is just the line. it seems like southern indiana and illinois definitely have a major southern cultural component. but the buffereing is done once you get out of the river counties, and a lot of the buffering between the two regions seems to happen on the other side of that river, from a cultural standpoint that is. but yes, it is a border state in that its northern border borders another region.
having spent most of your life right on various parts of the ohio river, i can see why youd come to such a conclusion though. just remember that southern indiana and southern illinois are more like the south than the rest of the midwest, so there will definitely be some similarities, but not midwestern ones.i dont see how radcliffe could be too much like northern indiana culturally.
It was never a Confederate state, no matter what you tell yourself. And I'm not sure why anyone would be proud of carrying that label anyway. I'm not sure why it even matters really; just so you know the Civil War is over.
Thats where your wrong it was actually both union and confederate back in the civil war and I do agree with you we are all American there is no more confederate states of America, however there is no reason not to be proud to be southern or of southern birth either (or midwestern i guess depending where u are)
Location: Appalachian New York, Formerly Louisiana
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Wow, this has been a long one!
I like to think of Kentucky as a large gradient state. Some southern, some northern, all Kentuckian!
Much like Missouri and West Virginia, Kentucky does not comfortably fit into a single region. Though where KY becomes even more unique is that the cultural lines cannot be so clearly cut as they could in the two aforementioned states.
Most people here in the "deep south" (I currently live in Louisiana) do not consider KY southern by any means. It's true, many consider Tennessee and North Carolina, sometimes Virginia, to be the northern reaches of the south. The same is true in the opposite direction. If you were to ask a North-easterner, chances are that Kentucky will be considered southern.
As a side note, one cannot truly define the south or north simply by business or music. On a previous country music argument in this very thread; country music plays everywhere in Appalachian PA and NY. New York even holds bluegrass festivals. That doesn't make NY southern now does it?
On the Mason-Dixon line argument; I personally hate the Mason-Dixon line belief. It's far too inaccurate to define regional borders. In my personal experiences, Maryland was hardly southern, and Delaware was not southern at all. And nobody from southern New Jersey seems very southernly either do they?
I see Kentucky as an individual and unique state. While it can relate to both the south and the north, it is no more or less than what is simply; Kentucky.
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there is no more confederate states of America, however there is no reason not to be proud to be southern or of southern birth either (or midwestern i guess depending where u are)
