t is sometimes said that Kentucky joined the South after the Civil War, and many books have been devoted to studying the influence of the war and its aftermath on the Commonwealth. But less is known about the decades before the Civil War. In Generations of Hope: Kentucky, 1800-1865, James Ramage and Andrea Watkins explore this crucial but often overlooked period, finding that that the early years of statehood comprised an era of great hope and progress.
Ramage and Watkins demonstrate how Kentuckians looked outward, strongly supporting their country in the War of 1812 because they viewed the United States in a global context and wanted it to succeed on the world stage. Kentucky was perceived by the rest of the nation to be a leader among the states. Henry Clay, of course, was one of the great political figures of the era, but several other Kentuckians were candidates at the national level. Kentucky was a state of immigrants who brought their culture and world outlook with them, along with an optimism based on the idea that their region would participate fully in the advances of the day in science, culture, politics, education, and economics. Progress also included military advances, and the authors investigate the development of ideas about service and patriotism in a military context. The authors devote much attention to Kentuckians' complex views on slavery and its impact on the state. Indeed, the analysis of the Civil War is enhanced by understanding the context of the previous sixty years. Drawing upon a wealth of primary and secondary sources, Generations of Hope promises to be a fresh and definitive account of Kentucky's early years.
This project is a co-publication with the Kentucky Historical Society.
