| Evidence shows the Native Americans lived as | | | | suppliers of hemp, which was used in making rope |
| well as hunted in Kentucky some 13,000 years | | | | and fiber products. The other main crop of |
| ago. However, once the Europeans arrived, they | | | | Kentucky was corn, which is the main ingredient in |
| brought epidemic diseases with them which | | | | Bourbon whisky that was developed in 1789 by |
| harmed the Native American population quite a bit. | | | | Reverend Elijah Craig. |
| By mid-1700s, just a few Native Americans lived | | | | When the Civil War started in 1861, Kentucky |
| in Kentucky and these were primarily the | | | | was caught in the middle. Although Kentucky |
| Cherokee, the Shawnee and the Mingo. | | | | proclaimed itself to be neutral, both the |
| In the 1750s and 1760s Dr Thomas Walker, John | | | | Confederates and the Union realized its |
| Finley, Simon Kenton and Daniel Boone praised | | | | importance and openly recruited men for their |
| Kentucky for its natural abundant and game. This | | | | armies. In fact, Abraham Lincoln, the Union |
| attracted many settlers to Kentucky. However, it | | | | president, and Jefferson Davis, the Confederate |
| was James Harrod who established the first | | | | president, were both born in Kentucky just 100 |
| permanent settlement in 1774. Later, Fort | | | | miles apart. |
| Boonesborough was constructed in 1775 and then | | | | After the Civil War ended, Kentucky's tobacco |
| a plethora of other settlements was created. | | | | production increased drastically because of the |
| On June 1, 1792, Kentucky was admitted into the | | | | development of burley tobacco. Even today the |
| Union as the fifteenth state but preferred to be | | | | state is one of the major producers of burley |
| known as a Commonwealth. The first governor | | | | tobacco. However, it is transportation equipment |
| of Kentucky was Isaac Shelby and the state | | | | which is the state's mainstay when it comes to |
| capital was Frankfort. | | | | revenue generation. Along with this tourism is the |
| The Commonwealth of Kentucky became | | | | state's third largest industry given its 49 state |
| prosperous with agriculture and tobacco was its | | | | parks and hundreds of historical and cultural |
| main cash crop. It was also one of the main | | | | attractions. |