The treaty of peace which ended the War of the Revolution was concluded in
November, 1782, but the people of Kentucky did not get the news for nearly
four months later. All were rejoiced that the struggle was ended and
confidently expected that trouble with the Indians would cease, since
there seemed no further reason for inciting them to make war on the
Kentuckians. The people were doomed to disappointment. The treaty left
possessions so poorly defined that not only did the Indians make
occasional invasions into the territory to plunder, under the direction of
the military commanders of the north, but the people were threatened by a
still graver danger. The unsettled boundaries and titles of lands along
the Mississippi River caused a question of ownership to arise between
France, England and Spain. Spain at that time controlled the lower
Mississippi River, and men from that country secretly came to Kentucky
attempting to arouse the people to the act of establishing a separate
nation under the protection of Spain. The loyalty of the good men of
Kentucky to the rights of Virginia cannot be too highly praised. There
were some persons, though, who for glory and private gain did all in their
power to stir up the rebellion and to establish a separate government.
Kentucky was virtually left to her fate beyond the mountains during the
trying times following the close of the Revolution.
The needs of the territory and the constant menace from these Spanish
agents led the better class of men in Kentucky to consider the question of
asking Virginia to be allowed the privilege of separation, with the
expectation of the territory’s being formed into a State, equal with
others of the Union. This would give a better administration of affairs
and would put an end to the efforts of agents from other countries
desiring to establish a separate nation.
On May 23, 1785, a convention of delegates met at Danville and sent the
following resolution to the Virginia Assembly: “Resolved: That it is the
duty of the convention, as they regard the prosperity and happiness of
their constituents, to pray the General Assembly at the ensuing session
for an act to separate this district from the present government, on terms
honorable to both and injurious to neither, in order that it may enjoy all
the advantages and rights of a free, sovereign and independent republic.”
In 1786, Virginia passed the act providing for the separation of Kentucky,
but she made it conditional on the willingness of the Congress of the
United States to admit Kentucky as one of the States of the Union, and
upon the willingness of Kentucky to become a member of the Union as soon
as separated from Virginia, thus preventing Kentucky from becoming an
independent republic, or a part of any foreign nation. It was during these
days that enemies to both Kentucky and the nation were busiest in their
efforts secretly to plan for either an independent government or an
alliance with Spain. Kentucky became a State in 1792, being the fifteenth
in the Union.