[DoodleDawg]

Kentucky is red on that map, boy.

Kentucky was a union state during the civil war, boss.

[Godebert]

"Kentucky was a union state during the civil war, boss."

Kentucky was also a slave state.

[Godebert]

On April 15, 1861, President Abraham Lincoln sent a telegram to Kentucky governor Beriah Magoffin requesting that the Commonwealth supply part of the initial 75,000 troops to put down the rebellion. Magoffin, a Southern sympathizer, replied "President Lincoln, Washington, D.C. I will send not a man nor a dollar for the wicked purpose of subduing my sister Southern states. B. Magoffin" Instead, most Kentuckians favored John J. Crittenden's position that the Commonwealth should act as a mediator between the two sides. To that end, both houses of the General Assembly passed declarations of neutrality, a position officially declared by Governor Magoffin on May 20, 1861.