Kentucky Culture Essay

Kentucky, a state known for its agriculture, its enormous contribution toward U.S. coal production, the site of the U.S.military bases such as Fort Knox and Fort Campbell, as well as the home of the celebrated Kentucky Derby, bluegrass music, and true southern hospitality; however, this mighty state may be filled with riches beyond ones comprehension, yet its people lived and still live in poverty-something that has continued since it became a distinct part of the United States. -http://www.history.com/topics/us-states/kentucky “It is often steeped in mythic lore and stereotyped as backward, uncultured and poor." -http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5386355 Appalachia’s remote wilderness lured many. In 1767, Daniel Boone came upon Salt Spring (present day-David Kentucky,) during that time just a minimal amount of white men had ventured thus far. Appalachia was deemed unsafe due to the progressive combat among the French and British powers and the Native American tribes that declared rights to the mountains and its hunting resources. Once the British conquered the French followed by the Shawnee, the area was open for settlement. Within twenty plus years Kentucky became “overpopulated.” Its population had grown from just under 1,000 in 1780, to more than 100,000 by the 1790s all resulted from Virginia 's land policies. “An old

Hidden behind the vast mountains, Appalachia and its people shy away from outsiders and consist of mostly extended family communities. Farming was a large part of this life-a necessity and a burden shared with the entire family, because without farming they could not survive. Men often cleared the ground. They cut bush, sawed logs, pulled roots, burned grass. They would hunt meat, the children helped gather nuts and berries while women tended the children, completed household chores, hoed the fields, planted the seed, harvested the fruit, as well as canned and