Hello everyone, today I have another state for WW2 effects, the Bluegrass state, Kentucky. I've never been to Kentucky, but about all I know of the state is Horses, Coal, Fort Knox Louisville, and Fried Chicken. I hope to give you more information on the state, and what it did during WW2 so we can all appreciate Kentucky a little more. Previous WW2 effects: Oklahoma WW2 effects: Oklahoma Kentucky Pre-WW2 Before WW2, Kentucky unlike many other Southern States, was considerably more involved in the U.S as a whole then most would assume. Besides be the home of Horse racing in the U.S, Kentucky in 1940 was the second biggest Coal producer in the U.S, behind, of course, West Virginia. Coal played a major part in bringing electricity to the U.S, and Kentucky's reserves helped bring power to just about 16 states in 1940. Kentucky however stayed with it's southern brothers old ways of agriculture, which constitutes of Corn, tobacco, and livestock. The crown jewel of Kentucky's agriculture, is horse breeding. Ever since the Civil War, and even before that, Kentucky was the largest provider of horses in the U.S. The U.S Cavalry being the biggest buyer, all the way up to the 1930's. Unfortunately for Kentucky, all of it's valuable exports meant little during the Great Depression. Segregation also played a sad role in the hardships many Kentuckians faced, as nearly 700,000 of the 2.4 million residents, were African American. This divide in culture would on occasions cause problems in the coming conflict, that was fueled partly because of race.... Kentucky WW2 With WW2 beginning for the U.S in 1941, things were about to change rapidly for the state. Instead of raising and training thousands upon thousands of Horses for the new war, Kentucky made new horses, out of steel. Kentucky's factories produced thousands of Stuart, Lee, Sherman, and Hellcat tanks throughout the war, and even helped develop the M46 Patton tanks immediately after the war. The state played a large role in making, training, and improving Armored warfare tactics for the U.S Army. A massive part of the training for armored crews took place at Fort Knox. Fort Knox had only recently been converted to train Armored crews as recently as 1936, and the U.S had never trained Armored warfare techniques en mass yet. Despite Kentucky's vast amount of available land, only 2 Army Airfields were built, tied for second fewest in the U.S. at that time. While Segregation didn't play as a big a role in Kentucky as it did in other states, it was still prevalent enough to cause there to be armed guards at every factory where blacks and whites worked together, and the Black workers were almost always given the grinding and dangerous jobs. However the experiences and cooperation between the two races, would help usher in eventual equality and de-segregation in about 20 years. Kentucky Post WW2 After 4 years of constant fighting, 6,802 Kentuckians paid the ultimate price in WW2. Both the Depression and WW2 took a toll on the state, and it would be quite some time before the state would be able to recover financially and Mentally. After the Civil Rights movement of the 60's Kentucky took a major step towards modernization, while still holding onto it's southern and unique roots. Coal has been overtaken by both the Agricultural and Industrial industry, the beginning of the end for fossil fuel reliance in the U.S. However, Kentucky is taking greater steps to be a green, and more importantly, healthier and more successful state financially and socially.
