Slavery was a significant part of Kentucky's history for more than two hundred years. It began even before the state became a state when the earliest settlers tamed the wilds by bringing human property with them.
Kentucky's Article IX made it clear that slavery can only be abolished with the consent of the owner or with compensation for emancipation. Kentucky voted to stay in the Union during the Civil War, but many white citizens fought to keep the institution and the wealth it provided.
Slavery in Kentucky state history has a complex issue, with many aspects of the practice affecting the lives of the individuals and communities to this day. This state is not the only one that had enslaved people, as there were many others, mainly profiting off their so-called human property.
Slavery, even after the civil war, was a social institution, and the myth of black inferiority was used to justify the practice helping perpetuate the problem.