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