Is Kentucky a Southern State? Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky called it South-Eastern today...

[Up2Late]

...but Kentucky seems awfully far North to me here in Georgia.

I grew up in Indiana, so believe me, I do understand that Kentucky has for a long time thought of themselves as "Southern," but come on, the only thing they are really South of is the Ohio River! I mean, large parts of Kentucky are actually NORTH of large parts of Indiana and some parts of Ohio.

Personally, I think Kentucky is part of the Mid-West and the South begins at the border between Tennessee and Kentucky (and between North Carolina and Virginia, but hey, that just my opinion down here in Georgia, living in a truly South-Eastern State.

[Hardrada]

1. You never hear anybody say "Kaintuck" anymore.

There was some old song about the Battle of New Orleans and part of it went:

There stood John Bull in martial pomp
But there stood Old Kentucky!

[tkmorris]

2. It's southern

My whole family comes from there; I know a bit about Kentucky. It's Southern to it's core. Being Southern is more than geology or climate, it's an attitude. In this respect Kentucky is about as Southern as anyone.

[NutmegYankee]

3. Sorry, but most of Virginia is part of the South.

Richmond, Norfolk, SW and Southside Virginia. It certainly ain't Yankee culture.

[Richard Steele]

4. Anything south of Pennsylvaina is "Southern". That precedent was established around 1860 or so....

And in the 147 years since then, Kentucky has been called
by a wagon-load of adjectives...but "Eastern" is not among them.

Sounds like Mr. McConnell didn't get the word that the 2001-era NeoCon
"we create our own reality" meme isn't being swallowed any more.

[tabasco]

5. Ever heard of the Border States?

Maryland is not "the South."

West Virginia became part of the Union in 1863.

[Richard Steele]

9. Yup. And, last I heard, they were all still south of the Mason-Dixon line.

I do agree that many of these descriptors are entirely ARBITRARY and outdated...
but "arbitrary and outdated" is still alot closer to CORRECT than "dishonest and fictitious"
will ever be.

McConnell is just trying to re-write history, like most Pubs need to do.
Maryland may or may not have ever been "Southern",depending upon who you ask,
but Kentucky has NEVER been called "Eastern" by anyone, anywhere, EVER.
That's just some pathetically lame made-up bullshit right there.

[usaftmo]

13. I don't consider Maryland to be a border state.

They were part of the Confederacy (same as Virginia). President Lincoln was in bad shape in DC being surrounded by 2 Confederate states. As far as West Virginia is concerned, here's what happened: Virginia joined the Confederacy and several counties in the western part of VA didn't want to do that, so they formed their own state (WV).

I'm not even sure if WV joined the Union or not; some states had little/no involvement in the Civil War.

Don't get me wrong, I detest Maryland for several reasons...but that has nothing to do with if MD is considered a border state or not.

[NutmegYankee]

15. Maryland stayed with the union in the Civil War. n/t

[Thothmes]

18. As did Kentucky.

[usaftmo]

19. Ok, I stand corrected...but Maryland didn't act friendly

towards the union.

"Maryland had numerous pro-Confederate officials who tolerated anti-Union rioting in Baltimore and the burning of bridges. Lincoln responded with martial law and called for troops. Militia units that had been drilling in the North rushed toward Washington and Baltimore.<42> Before the Confederate government realized what was happening, Lincoln had seized firm control of Maryland (and the separate District of Columbia), by arresting all the Maryland government members and holding them without trial."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Civil_War#The_Confederacy

So you are right in saying that Maryland was part of the Union...but their actions hardly matched it...and especially President's Lincoln's actions did not consider Maryland to be aligned with him.

[izquierdista]

6. Take a drive

Up I-75 to I-24 and up into Illinois, it is an awakening experience. Once you cross the Ohio river, you've left the land of "Red State Update" and there is less dumbth to go around. The Ohio river really is a dividing line between two cultures, an educated one to the north, where people can better themselves through education, and an uneducated one to the south, where the way to better yourself is to be one of the "good ol' boys".

[qwertyMike]

7. They enjoy life

more than you intellimectals do

[ingac70]

8. Redneck wannabe McConnell wishes it was.

Fantasies of belonging to the Confederacy.

[SoCalDem]

10. Mason-Dixon Line determined N v S

But within the "south" there were some that were DEEP South and others that were not..

[Up2Late]

20. That's what I originally thought, but if you look it up, the Mason-Dixon Line doesn't even...

...extend to the western border or Pennsylvania and is a Pre-American Revolution line (It was surveyed between 1763 and 1767). This was all news to me when I looked it up last night, I'd always thought it separated the so-called "Slave and "Free" States, but it doesn't.

Check it out: <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mason-Dixon_Line>

[kywildcat]

11. From my perspective (15 miles south of Cincinnati)

it is a southern state. It's not considered the 'dirty south' though. And this redneck backward state has more going for it than people realize. We have the bonehead Mitch, but Cincinnati-which is decidedly north gave the country Mean Jean Schmit.

[melody]

12. "Southern" is determined by culture to anthropologists and sociologists

Kentucky has most prominently been affected by southern culture so yes, I'd say it's the south, from that perspective.
Arkansas and Texas are midwest/southwest but most people there view the region as more "south" than not.

[Radical Activist]

14. They seceded from the union retroactively under the leadership of Colonel Sanders

Or so they seem to think.

[ThePowerofWill]

16. I'll put it this way.

People can claim what they want. The simple fact is though people from the South "proper" do not consider Kentucky a Southern state. They don't quite get the "Yankee" lable, but they don't get the "Johnny Reb" lable either.

[JVS]

17. KY is Southern, border state Southern, but Southern as in South of Mason-Dixon