Good point. But many voters owned a slave or two or hoped to own slaves in the future. Even though they weren't big beneficiaries of the system, they did aspire to succeed in it. Also, slaveowning politicians could play on the idea that if abolitionists or slave revolt freed the slaves of the rich, those slaves would attack other Whites as well.
Economic arguments could rope in city dwellers, but for many Southerners hostility towards the Yankee didn't really depend on economics. Fear and hatred were already there. The idea that the Yankee was ripping off the South did have much appeal to wealthy slaveowners themselves. People who already had a big stake in the system might have wondered whether they'd really be better off outside the US, and the idea that they would become much richer would have given them a big push towards secession.
They did not necessarily need the ‘agreement of the people’.
20% of Kentucky’s population were slaves.
“Kentucky’s citizens were split regarding the issues central to the Civil War. In 1860, slaves composed 19.5% of the Commonwealth’s population, and many Unionist Kentuckians saw nothing wrong with the “peculiar institution”.[6] The Commonwealth was further bound to the South by the Mississippi River and its tributaries, which were the main commercial outlet for her surplus produce, although railroad connections to the North were beginning to diminish the importance of this tie.”
The leadership of Kentucky favored secession. Here are the issues as the Kentucky governor say them.
“Kentucky governor Beriah Magoffin believed that the rights of the Southern states had been violated and favored the right of secession, but sought all possible avenues to avoid it.
On December 9, 1860, he sent a letter to the other slave state governors suggesting that they come to an agreement with the North that would include
- strict enforcement of the Fugitive Slave Act,
- a division of common territories at the 37th parallel,
- a guarantee of free use of the Mississippi River,
- and a Southern veto over slave legislation.
Magoffin proposed a conference of slave states, followed by a conference of all the states to secure these concessions. Due to the escalating pace of events, neither conference was ever held.”
No secession conference was held.
“Magoffin called a special session of the Kentucky General Assembly on December 27, 1860, and asked legislators for a convention of Kentuckians to decide the Commonwealth’s course regarding secession.[13] The majority of the General Assembly had Unionist sympathies, however, and declined the governor’s request,[13] fearing that the state’s voters would favor secession.”
Notice once again Breckenridges efforts in favor of secession!
“Realizing that neutrality was becoming less and less feasible, six prominent Kentuckians met to find some solution for a state caught in the middle of a conflict. Governor Magoffin, John C. Breckinridge, and Richard Hawes represented the secessionists’ position, while Crittenden, Archibald Dixon, and S. S. Nicholas advocated the Northern cause.[18] The sextet agreed only to continue the doctrine of neutrality, however, and called for the formation of a five-member board to coordinate the Commonwealth’s defense”
1861 elections favored the Union
“The tide of public opinion was beginning to turn in Kentucky, however. In a special congressional election held June 20, 1861, Unionist candidates won nine of Kentucky’s ten congressional seats.[14] Confederate sympathizers won only the Jackson Purchase region,[20] which was economically linked to Tennessee by the Cumberland and Tennessee Rivers.[21] Seeing imminent defeat at the polls, many Confederate sympathizers boycotted the election; the total number of ballots cast was just over half the number that had been cast in the previous year’s election.[22] Governor Magoffin was dealt a further blow in the August 5 election for state legislators. This election resulted in veto-proof Unionist majorities of 76–24 in the House and 27–11 in the Senate.[23]”
After efforts to secede failed, Kentucky was then violated by a Confederate invasion.
“On September 4, 1861, Confederate Major General Leonidas Polk violated the Commonwealth’s neutrality by ordering Brigadier General Gideon Johnson Pillow to occupy Columbus.[26]”
Remember Pillow who attempted to frame Gen. Scott. And his attorney Breckenridge !
“Columbus was of strategic importance both because it was the terminus of the Mobile and Ohio Railroad and because of its position along the Mississippi River.[27] Polk constructed Fort DuRussey in the high bluffs of Columbus, and equipped it with 143 cannons.[28] Polk called the fort “The Gibraltar of the West.”[28] To control traffic along the river, Polk stretched an anchor chain across the river from the bank in Columbus to the opposite bank in Belmont, Missouri.[27] Each link of the chain measured eleven inches long by eight inches wide and weighed twenty pounds.[29] The chain soon broke under its own weight, but Union forces did not learn of this fact until early 1862.[2”
The State then entered the war on the side of the Union... but had overide vetos by their Governor to fo so.
“In response to the Confederate invasion, Union Brigadier General Ulysses S. Grant left Cairo, Illinois and entered Paducah, Kentucky on September 6, which gave the Union control of the northern end of the New Orleans and Ohio Railroad[27] and the mouth of the Tennessee River. Governor Magoffin denounced both sides for violating the Commonwealth’s neutrality, calling for both sides to withdraw.[30] However, on September 7, 1861, the General Assembly passed a resolution ordering the withdrawal of only Confederate forces.[30] Magoffin vetoed the resolution, but both houses overrode the veto, and Magoffin issued the proclamation.[31] The General Assembly ordered the flag of the United States to be raised over the state capitol in Frankfort, declaring its allegiance with the Union.”
The Confederates then established a rump government.
“The elected government of Kentucky being decidedly Union, a group of Southern sympathizers began formulating a plan to create a Confederate shadow government for the Commonwealth. Following a preliminary meeting on October 29, 1861, delegates from 68 of Kentucky’s 110 counties met at the Clark House in Russellville on November 18.[35]
The convention passed an ordinance of secession, adopted a new state seal, and elected Scott County native George W. Johnson as governor.[35]
Bowling Green, now occupied by General Johnston himself, was designated as the state capital, though the delegates provided that the government could meet anywhere deemed appropriate by the provisional legislative council and governor.[36]
Being unable to flesh out a complete constitution and system of laws, the delegates voted that “the Constitution and laws of Kentucky, not inconsistent with the acts of this Convention, and the establishment of this Government, and the laws which may be enacted by the Governor and Council, shall be the laws of this state.”[36]
Though President Davis had some reservation about the circumvention of the elected General Assembly in forming the Confederate government, Kentucky was admitted to the Confederacy on December 10, 1861.[37] Kentucky was represented by the central star on the Confederate battle flag.[38]
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kentucky_in_the_American_Civil_War