About this item
During the Civil War, the majority of Kentuckians supported the Union under the leadership of Henry Clay, but one part of the state presented a striking exception. The Jackson Purchase -- bounded by the Mississippi River to the west, the Ohio River to the north, and the Tennessee River to the east -- fought hard for separation and secession, and produced eight times more Confederates than Union soldiers. Supporting states'' rights and slavery, these eight counties in the westernmost part of the commonwealth were so pro-Confederate that the Purchase was dubbed ""the South Carolina of Kentucky."
About the Author
Berry Craig of Mayfield, Ky., is a professor of history at West Kentucky Community and Technical College in Paducah. Craig holds a master's degree in history and a master's degree in journalism from Murray State University in Murray, Ky., where he also earned a bachelor's degree in history. He teaches American, European and Kentucky history at WKCTC, where he has been on the faculty since 1989. Craig is also a veteran journalist. From 1976 until he began teaching, he was a feature writer and columnist for the Paducah Sun-Democrat and Paducah Sun newspapers. From 1989 to 2008, Craig wrote "Kentucky Backroads," a twice-a-month column for the Associated Press in Kentucky. The column, which focused on state history, folklore and politics, appeared in Kentucky's daily newspapers, including the Louisville Courier-Journal, Lexington Herald-Leader and the Kentucky Post. It also appeared, from time to time, in the Evansville (Ind.) Courier and Press,Cincinnati Enquirer and the Clarksville (Tenn.) Leaf-Chronicle. In addition, Craig has received honors as a teacher and a writer. In 1991, Craig was the recipient of the Phelps Award for Outstanding Teaching at WKCTC. In 2002, he received the Richard H. Collins Award from the Kentucky Historical Society. In 2011, Craig earned the Jesse Stuart Media Award from the Kentucky School Media Association. Craig also has authored articles for the Kentucky Encyclopedia. He has written book reviews for the Register of the Kentucky Historical Society and the Filson Club History Quarterly. He has presented papers at Ohio Valley History Conferences at Murray State and at Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green. Craig is a Kentucky Humanities Council consultant and a longtime member of the KHC Speaker's Bureau. He travels the state speaking on history and politics, "the latter from a strictly non-partisan and often humorous perspective," Craig says. Craig is a member of American Federation of Teachers Local 1360 and also is recording secretary for the Western Kentucky AFL-CIO Area Council. In addition, he belongs to the Kentucky Education Association-National Education Association.
