Fixing his seat of government at Kairwan, building mosques and
opening markets, Acbah and his successors soon made the new
city a populous and important capital.
W. Irving,
Mahomet and his Successors,
volume 2, chapter 44.
ALSO IN:
E. Gibbon,
Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire,
chapter 51.
A. A. Boddy,
Kairwan the Holy.
KAISAR-I-HIND.
See INDIA: A. D. 1877.
KAISER, Origin of the title.
See CÆSAR, THE TITLE.
KAISERSLAUTERN, Battle of.
See FRANCE: A. D. 1794 (MARCH-JULY).
KALAPOOIAN FAMILY, The.
See AMERICAN ABORIGINES: KALAPOOIAN FAMILY.
KALB, Baron De, and the War of the American Revolution.
See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1780 (FEBRUARY-AUGUST).
KALEVALA,
KALEWALA, The.
"To a certain class of modern philologists, no poem in the
world is more familiar than the Kalewala, the long epic, which
is to the mythology and traditional lore of the Finns what the
Iliad and Odyssey of Homer are to the heroic story of ancient
Greece. It is the source from which nearly all the information
connected with the religious creed, the moral notions, the
customs, and the domestic details of a most remarkable race is
to be obtained. If we would know how the Greeks of the heroic
age prayed, fought, eat, drank, sported, and clothed
themselves, we turn to the pages of Homer. If we would obtain
similar knowledge on the subject of the Finns, we consult the
Kalewala. Though the traditions of the Finnish heroes are
possibly as old as those of Achilles and Ajax, the arrangement
of them into a continuous poem is a work of very recent date.
No Wolfian controversy will arise respecting the construction
of the Kalewala, for it is not more than twenty-five years
since the Peisistratid who first put together the isolated
songs, or Runes, published the result of his labours.
Fragments of Finnish poetry, collected from the oral
traditions of the people, had already made their appearance,
though even the first important collection of these, which was
made by Dr. Zacharias Topelius, dates no further back than
1822. … But it is with Dr. Lönnrot that the existence of the
epic as an epic, with the title 'Kalewala,' begins. He
published it in thirty-two Runes,—that is to say, books or
cantos, for the word, which previously denoted an independent
poem, now sinks into little more than a sign of division,
though here and there, it must be confessed, an abrupt
transition occurs, to which a parallel would not be found in
the Iliad or the Odyssey. In 1849 a second edition of the
Kalewala was published, likewise under the superintendence of
Dr. Lönnrot, containing fifty cantos and nearly 23,000 lines."
J. Oxenford,
Kalewala
(Temple Bar, December, 1860).
{1936}
"Besides its fresh and simple beauty of style, its worth as a
storehouse of every kind of primitive folk-lore, being as it
is the production of an Urvolk, a nation that has undergone no
violent revolution in language or institutions—the Kalevala
has the peculiar interest of occupying a position between the
two kinds of primitive poetry, the ballad and the epic. …
Sixty years ago, it may be said, no one was aware that Finland
possessed a national poem at all. Her people—who claim
affinity with the Magyars of Hungary, but are possibly a
back-wave of an earlier tide of population—had remained
untouched by foreign influences since their conquest by
Sweden, and their somewhat lax and wholesale conversion to
Christianity: events which took place gradually between the
middle of the twelfth and the end of the thirteenth centuries.
… The annexation of Finland by Russia, in 1809, awakened
national feeling, and stimulated research into the songs and
customs which were the heirlooms of the people. … From the
north of Norway to the slopes of the Altai, ardent explorers
sought out the fragments of unwritten early poetry. These
runes, or runots, were sung chiefly by old men called Runoias,
to beguile the weariness of the long dark winters. The custom
was for two champions to engage in a contest of memory,
clasping each other's hands, and reciting in turn till he
whose memory first gave in slackened his hold. The Kalevala
contains an instance of this practice, where it is said that
no one was so hardy as to clasp hands with Wäinämöinen, who is
at once the Orpheus and the Prometheus of Finnish mythology.
These Runoias, or rhapsodists, complain, of course, of the
degeneracy of human memory; they notice how any foreign
influence, in religion or politics, is destructive to the
native songs of a race. 'As for the lays of old time, a
thousand have been scattered to the wind, a thousand buried in
the snow. … As for those which the Munks (the Teutonic
knights) swept away, and the prayer of the priest
over-whelmed, a thousand tongues were not able to recount
them.' In spite of the losses thus caused, and in spite of the
suspicious character of the Finns, which often made the task
of collection a dangerous one, enough materials remained to
furnish Dr. Lönnrot, the most noted explorer, with thirty-five
Runots, or cantos. These were published in 1835, but later
research produced the fifteen cantos which make up the
symmetrical fifty of the Kalevala. In the task of arranging
and uniting these, Dr. Lönnrot played the part generally
ascribed to Pisistratus in relation to the Iliad and Odyssey.
He is said to have handled with singular fidelity the
materials which now come before us as one poem, not without a
certain unity and continuous thread of narrative. It is this
unity which gives the Kalevala a claim to the title of epic,
although the element of permanence which is most obvious in
the Greek epics, and in the earliest Hebrew records, is here
conspicuously absent. … Among the Finns we find no trace of
an aristocracy; there is scarcely a mention of kings, or
priests; the heroes of the poem are really popular heroes,
fishers, smiths, husbandmen, 'medicine-men' or wizards;
exaggerated shadows of the people, pursuing on a heroic scale,
not war, but the common daily business of primitive and
peaceful men. In recording their adventures, the Kalevala,
like the shield of Achilles, reflects all the life of a race,
the feasts, the funerals, the rites of seed-time and harvest,
of marriage and death, the hymn, and the magical incantation.
Were this all, the epic would only have the value of an
exhaustive collection of the popular ballads which, as we have
seen, are a poetical record of all the intenser moments in the
existence of unsophisticated tribes. But it is distinguished
from such a collection, by presenting the ballads as they are
produced by the events of a continuous narrative, and thus it
takes a distinct place between the aristocratic epics of
Greece, or of the Franks, and the scattered songs which have
been collected in Scotland, Sweden, Denmark, Greece, and
Italy. Besides the interest of its unique position as a
popular epic, the Kalevala is very precious, both for its
literary beauties and for the confused mass of folk-lore which
it contains. … What is to be understood by the word
'Kalevala'? The affix 'la' signifies 'abode.' Thus, 'Tuonela'
is 'the abode of Tuoni,' the god of the lower world; and as
'kaleva' means 'heroic,' 'magnificent,' 'Kalevala' is 'The
Home of Heroes,' like the Indian 'Beerbhoom,' or 'Virbhûmi.'
The poem is the record of the adventures of the people of
Kalevala—of their strife with the men of Pohjola, the place
of the world's end."
A. Lang,
Kalevala
(Fraser's May, June, 1872).
A complete translation of the Kalevala into English verse, by
John Martin Crawford, was published in New York, in 1888.
Project Gutenberg
Kalevala: the Epic Poem of Finland—
Complete by Lönnrot and Crawford
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/5186
KALISCH, Battle of (1706).
See SCANDINAVIAN STATES (SWEDEN): A. D. 1701-1707.
KALISCH, OR CALISCH, Treaty of.
See GERMANY: A. D. 1812-1813.
KALMUKS, The.
See TARTARS.
KAMBALU, OR CAMBALU,
See CHINA: A. D. 1259-1294.
KAMBULA, Battle of (1879),
See SOUTH AFRICA: A. D. 1877-1879.
KAMI, OR KHEMI, OR KEM.
See EGYPT: ITS NAMES.
KANAKAS.
See HAWAIIAN ISLANDS.
KANAWHA, Battle of the Great.
See OHIO (VALLEY): A. D. 1774.
KANAWHA, The proposed State of.
See WEST VIRGINIA: A. D. 1862 (APRIL-DECEMBER).
KANAWHAS, The.
See AMERICAN ABORIGINES: ALGONQUIAN FAMILY.
KANDHS, The.
See INDIA: THE ABORIGINAL INHABITANTS.
----------KANSAS: Start--------
KANSAS:
The aboriginal inhabitants.
See AMERICAN ABORIGINES: SIOUAN FAMILY,
and PAWNEE (CADDOAN) FAMILY.
KANSAS: A. D. 1803.
Mostly embraced in the Louisiana Purchase.
See LOUISIANA: A. D. 1798-1803.
KANSAS: A. D. 1854.
Territorial organization.
The Kansas-Nebraska Bill.
Repeal of the Missouri Compromise.
See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1854.
KANSAS: A. D. 1854-1859.
The battle-ground of the struggle against Slavery-extension.
Border-ruffians and Free State settlers.
"The attention of the whole country had now been turned to the
struggle provoked by the Kansas-Nebraska Bill, and the repeal
of the Missouri Compromise. The fertile soil of Kansas had
been offered as a prize to be contended for by Free and Slave
States, and both had accepted the contest. The Slave State
settlers were first in the field. The slave-holders of Western
Missouri, which shut off Kansas from the Free States, had crossed
the border, preempted lands, and warned Free State immigrants
not to pass through Missouri.
{1937}
The first election of a delegate to Congress took place
November 29th, 1854, and was carried by organized bands of
Missourians, who moved over the border on election day, voted,
and returned at once to Missouri. The spring election of 1855,
for a Territorial Legislature, was carried in the same
fashion. In July, 1855, the Legislature, all Pro-Slavery, met
at Pawnee, and adopted a State Constitution. To save trouble
it adopted the laws of the State of Missouri entire, with a
series of original statutes denouncing the penalty of death
for nearly fifty offenses against Slavery. All through the
spring and summer of 1855 Kansas was the scene of almost
continuous conflict, the Border Ruffians of Missouri
endeavoring to drive out the Free State settlers by murder and
arson, and the Free State settlers retaliating. The cry of
'bleeding Kansas' went through the North. Emigration societies
were formed in the Free States to aid, arm, equip, and protect
intending settlers. These, prevented from passing through
Missouri, took a more Northern route through Iowa and
Nebraska, and moved into Kansas like an invading army. The
Southern states also sent parties of intending settlers. But
these were not generally slave-holders, but young men anxious
for excitement. They did not go to Kansas, as their opponents
did, to plow, sow, gather crops, and build up homes.
Therefore, though their first rapid and violent movements were
successful, their subsequent increase of resources and numbers
was not equal to that of the Free State settlers. The
Territory soon became practically divided into a Pro-Slavery
district, and a Free State district. Leavenworth in the
former, and Topeka and Lawrence in the latter, were the chief
towns. September 5th, 1855, a Free State Convention at Topeka
repudiated the Territorial Legislature and all its works, as
the acts and deeds of Missourians alone. It also resolved to
order a separate election for delegate to Congress, so as to
force that body to decide the question, and to form a State
government. January 15th, 1856, the Free State settlers
[having applied to Congress for admission as a State] elected
State officers under the Topeka Free State Constitution. The
Federal Executive now entered the field. January 24th, 1856,
the President [Franklin Pierce], in a Special Message to
Congress, endorsed the Pro-Slavery Legislature, and pronounced
the attempt to form a Free State government, without the
approval of the Federal authorities in the Territory, to be an
act of rebellion. He then issued a proclamation, warning all
persons engaged in disturbing the peace of Kansas to retire to
their homes, and placed United States troops at the orders of
Governor Shannon to enforce the (Pro-Slavery) laws of the
Territory. The population of Kansas was now so large that very
considerable armies were mustered on both sides, and a
desultory civil war was kept up until nearly the end of the
year. During its progress two Free State towns, Lawrence and
Ossawattomie, were sacked. July 4th, 1856, the Free State
Legislature attempted to assemble at Topeka, but was at once
dispersed by a body of United States troops, under orders from
Washington. September 9th, a new Governor, Geary, of
Pennsylvania, arrived and succeeded in keeping the peace to
some extent by a mixture of temporizing and decided measures.
By the end, of the year he even claimed to have established
order in the Territory. … January 6th, 1857, the Free State
Legislature again attempted to meet at Topeka, and was again
dispersed by Federal interference. Its presiding officer and
many of its members were arrested by a United States deputy
marshal. The Territorial, or Pro-Slavery, Legislature
quarreled with Governor Geary, who resigned, and Robert J.
Walker, of Mississippi, was appointed in his stead. A
resolution was passed by the House [in Congress] declaring the
Acts of the Territorial Legislature cruel, oppressive,
illegal, and void. It was tabled by the Senate." A new
Congress met December 7th, 1857, "with a Democratic majority
in both branches. In the House, James L. Orr, of South
Carolina, a Democrat, was chosen Speaker. The debates of this
Session were mainly upon the last scene in the Kansas
struggle. Governor Walker had succeeded in persuading the Free
State settlers to recognize the Territorial Legislature so far
as to take part in the election which it had ordered. The
result gave them control of the Legislature. But a previously
elected Pro-Slavery Convention, sitting at Lecompton, went on
to form a State Constitution. This was to be submitted to the
people, but only votes 'For the Constitution with Slavery,' or
'For the Constitution without Slavery,' were to be received.
Not being allowed in either event to vote against the
Constitution, the Free State settlers refused to vote at all,
and the Lecompton Constitution with Slavery received 6,000
majority. The new Territorial Legislature, however, ordered an
election at which the people could vote for or against the
Lecompton Constitution, and a majority of 10,000 was cast
against it. … The President's Message argued in favor of
receiving Kansas as a State under the Lecompton Constitution
with Slavery, on the ground that the delegates had been chosen
to form a State Constitution, and were not obligated to submit
it to the people at all. This view was supported by the
Southern members of Congress, and opposed by the Republicans
and by a part of the Democrats, headed by Senator Douglas, of
Illinois. The Senate passed a bill admitting Kansas as a
State, under the Lecompton Constitution. The House passed the
bill, with the proviso that the Constitution should again be
submitted to a popular vote. The Senate rejected the proviso.
A conference committee recommended that the bill of the House
should be adopted, with an additional proviso making large
grants of public lands to the new State, if the people of
Kansas should vote to adopt the Lecompton Constitution. In
this form the bill was passed by both Houses, and became a
law. … The proffered inducement of public lands was a
failure, and in August the Lecompton Constitution was rejected
by 10,000 majority. Kansas, therefore, still remained a
Territory. In 1859, at an election called by the Territorial
Legislature, the people decided in favor of another Convention
to form a State Constitution. This body met at Wyandot, in
July, 1859, and adopted a State Constitution prohibiting
Slavery. The Wyandot Constitution was submitted to the people
and received a majority of 4,000 in its favor;" but Congress
refused the admission to Kansas under this Constitution, the
Senate rejecting, though the House approved.
A. Johnston,
History of American Politics,
chapters 18-19.
ALSO IN:
D. W. Wilder,
Annals of Kansas (containing the text of the several
Constitutions, etc.).
E. E. Hale,
Kansas and Nebraska,
chapters 8-9.
S. T. L. Robinson,
Kansas
J. H. Gihon,
Governor Geary's Administration in Kansas.
F. B. Sanborn,
Life and Letters of John Brown,
chapters 7-11.
Reports of Select Committee,
(34th Congress, 1st Session, H. R. Report 200).
J. F. Rhodes,
History of the United States from 1850,
chapters 7-9 (volume 2).
C. Robinson,
The Kansas Conflict.
See, also, JAYHAWKERS.
{1938}
KANSAS: A. D. 1861.
Admission to the Union under the Wyandot Constitution.
"As soon as a sufficient number of Southern members of
Congress [from the seceding States] had withdrawn to give the
Republicans a majority in both Houses, Kansas was admitted as
a State [January 29, 1861] under the Wyandot Free State
Constitution."
A. Johnston,
History of American Politics,
2d edition, page 185.
KANSAS: A. D. 1863.
Quantrell's guerrilla raid.
The sacking of Lawrence.
See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA:
A. D. 1863 (AUGUST: MISSOURI-KANSAS).
----------KANSAS: End----------
KANSAS, The.
See AMERICAN ABORIGINES: SIOUAN FAMILY.
KAPOHN, The.
See AMERICAN ABORIGINES: CARIBS AND THEIR KINDRED.
KAPOLNA, Battle of (1849).
See AUSTRIA: A. D. 1848-1849.
KAPPEL, Battle of (1531).
The Kappeler Milchsuppe.
See SWITZERLAND: A. D. 1528-1531.
KARA GEORG, The career of.
See BALKAN AND DANUBIAN STATES:
14-19TH CENTURIES (SERVIA).
KARAISM.
KARAITES.
The Jewish sect of the Karaites originated in the teaching of
one Anan ben David, in the 8th century, whose radical doctrine
was the rejection of the Talmud and a return to the Bible "for
the ordering of religious life." Hence "the system of religion
which Anan founded received the name of the Religion of the
Text, or Karaism,"
H. Graetz,
History of the Jews,
volume 3, chapter 5.
ALSO IN:
H. H. Milman,
History of the Jews,
book 23.
KARAKORUM.
The early capital of the Mongol empire of Jingis Khan and his
successors was at Karakorum, believed to have been situated
near the river Orkhon, or Orgon. Ogotai built a great palace
there, in 1235, called Ordu Balik, or the city of the Ordu.
H. H. Howorth,
History of the Mongols,
volume 1. pages 155 and 182.
See, also,
MONGOLS: A. D. 1153-1227.
KARANKAWAN FAMILY, The.
See AMERICAN ABORIGINES: KARANKAWAN FAMILY.
KARIGAUM, Defense of (1817).
See INDIA: A. D. 1816-1819.
KARKAR, Battle of.
Fought B. C. 854, by Shalmaneser of Assyria, with the
confederate, kings of Damascus, Israel and their Syrian
neighbors; the latter defeated.
KARL.
See ETHEL.—ETHELING.
KARLINGS, OR CARLINGS.
See FRANKS: A. D. 768-814.
KARLOWITZ, OR CARLOWITZ, Peace of.
See HUNGARY: A. D. 1683-1699.
KARLSBAD, OR CARLSBAD, Congress of.
See GERMANY: A. D. 1814-1820.
KARMATHIANS, The.
See CARMATHIANS.
KARNATTAH.
The Moorish name of Granada, signifying "the cream of the
West."
See SPAIN: A. D. 1238-1273.
KAROKS, OR CAHROCS, The.
See AMERICAN ABORIGINES: MODOCS, &c.
KAROLINGIA AND KAROLINGIANS.
See CAROLINGIA; and FRANKS: A. D. 768-814.
----------KARS: Start--------
KARS: A. D. 1854-1856.
Siege and capture by the Russians.
Restoration to Turkey.
See RUSSIA: A. D. 1854-1855 and 1854-1856.
KARS: A. D. 1877.
Siege and capture by the Russians.
See TURKS: A. D. 1877-1878.
KARS: A. D. 1878.
Cession to Russia.
See TURKS: A. D. 1878 THE TREATIES.
----------KARS: End--------
KASDIM, OR CASDIM.
See BABYLONIA, PRIMITIVE.
----------KASHMERE: Start--------
KASHMERE: A. D. 1819-1820.
Conquest by Runjet Singh.
See SIKHS.
KASHMERE: A. D. 1846.
Taken from the Sikhs by the English and given as a kingdom to
Gholab Singh.
See INDIA: A. D. 1845-1849.
----------KASHMERE: Start--------
----------KASKASKIA: Start--------
KASKASKIA, French settlement of.
See ILLINOIS: A. D. 1751.
KASKASKIA: A. D. 1778.
Taken by the Virginian General Clark.
See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA:
A. D. 1778-1779 CLARK'S CONQUEST.
----------KASKASKIA: End----------
KASKASKIAS, The.
See AMERICAN ABORIGINES: ALGONQUIAN FAMILY.
KASSOPIANS.
See EPIRUS.
KATABA, OR CATAWBAS, The.
See AMERICAN ABORIGINES: TIMUQUANAN FAMILY,
and, SIOUAN FAMILY.
KATANA, Naval Battle of.
See SYRACUSE: B. C. 397-396.
KATZBACH, Battle of.
See GERMANY: A. D. 1813 (AUGUST).
KAUS, OR KWOKWOOS, The.
See AMERICAN ABORIGINES: KUSAN FAMILY.
KAWS, The.
See AMERICAN ABORIGINES: SIOUAN FAMILY.
KAZAN, The Khanate of.
See MONGOLS: A. D. 1238-1391.
KEARNEYITES.
See CALIFORNIA: A. D. 1877-1880.
KEARNEY'S EXPEDITION AND CONQUEST OF NEW MEXICO.
See NEW MEXICO: A. D. 1846.
KEDAR, Tribe of.
"The Arabs of the tribe of Kedar are often mentioned in the
Bible, especially with reference to the trade with Phœnicia.
They furnished the caravans across the desert of Dahna, to
convey the merchandise of Hadramaut, Marah, and Oman to Syria.
They inhabited the southern portion of Yemama, on the borders
of the desert."
F. Lenormant,
Manual of the Ancient History of the East,
book 7, chapter 1, section 7 (volume 2).
KEECHIES, The.
See AMERICAN ABORIGINES: PAWNEE (CADDOAN) FAMILY.
KEEHEETSAS, The.
See AMERICAN ABORIGINES: SIOUAN FAMILY.
KEEWATIN, District of.
"In 1876 an act was passed by the Dominion Parliament [Canada]
erecting into a separate government under the name of the
District of Keewatin the portion of the North-West Territory
lying to the north of Manitoba. The district contains about
395,000 acres, and is principally occupied by Icelandic
colonists. The Lieutenant-Governor of Manitoba is ex-officio
Lieutenant-Governor of Keewatin."
J. E. C. Munro,
The Constitution of Canada,
page 35.
{1939}
KEFT.
The ancient Egyptian name of Phœnicia.
----------KEHL: Start--------
KEHL: A. D. 1703.
Taken by the French.
See NETHERLANDS: A. D. 1702-1704.
KEHL: A. D. 1733.
Taken by the French.
See FRANCE: A. D. 1733-1735.
----------KEHL: End--------
KEITH, George, The schism and the controversies of.
See PENNSYLVANIA: A. D. 1692-1696.
KELLY'S FORD, Battle of.
See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA:
A. D. 1863 (JULY-NOVEMBER: VIRGINIA).
KELTS, The.
See CELTS, THE.
KEM, OR KAMI, OR KHEMI.
See EGYPT: ITS NAMES.
KENAI, The.
See AMERICAN ABORIGINES: BLACKFEET,
and ATHAPASCAN FAMILY.
KENDALL, Amos, in the "Kitchen Cabinet" of President Jackson.
See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1829.
KENESAW MOUNTAIN, Battle of.
See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA:
A. D. 1864 (MAY-SEPTEMBER: GEORGIA).
KENITES, The.
See AMALEKITES, THE.
KENT, Kingdom of.
Formed by the Jutes in the southeast corner of Britain. The
only other settlement of the Jutes in England was in the Isle
of Wight and on the neighboring coast of Hampshire.
See ENGLAND: A. D. 449-473.
KENT, Weald of.
See ANDERIDA.
KENT'S HOLE.
One of the most noted of the caves which have been carefully
explored for relics of early man, coeval with extinct animals.
It is in Devonshire, England, near Torquay.
W. B. Dawkins,
Cave Hunting.
----------KENTUCKY: Start----------
KENTUCKY: A. D. 1748.
First English exploration from Virginia.
See OHIO (VALLEY): A. D. 1748-1754.
KENTUCKY: A. D. 1765-1778.
Absence of Indian inhabitants.
Early exploration and settlement by the whites.
The colony of Transylvania.
In the wars that were waged between the Indian tribes of the
South, before the advent of white settlers, Kentucky became "a
sort of border-land such as separated the Scots and English in
their days of combat. … The Chickasaws alone held their
ground, being the most northern of the sedentary Southern
Indians. Their strongholds on the bluffs of the Mississippi
and the inaccessibility of this country on account of its
deep, sluggish, mud-bordered streams, seem to have given them
a sufficient measure of protection against their enemies, but
elsewhere in the State the Indians were rooted out by their
wars. The last tenants of the State, east of the Tennessee
River, were the Shawnees,—that combative folk who ravaged
this country with their ceaseless wars from the head-waters of
the Tennessee to the Mississippi, and from the Lakes to
Alabama. It was no small advantage to the early settlers of
Kentucky that they found this region without a resident Indian
population, for, bitter as was the struggle with the claimants
of the soil, it never had the danger that would have come from
a contest with the natives in closer proximity to their homes.
… As Kentucky was unoccupied by the Indians, it was
neglected by the French. … Thus the first settlers found
themselves, in the main, free from these dangers due to the
savages and their Gallic allies. The land lay more open to
their occupancy than any other part of this country ever did
to its first European comers. … In 1765 Colonel George
Croghan, who had previously visited the Ohio with Gist, made a
surveying journey down that stream from Pittsburg to the
Mississippi. … In 1766 a party of five persons, including a
mulatto slave, under the command of Captain James Smith,
explored a large part of what is now Tennessee, and probably
extended their journey through Southern Kentucky. Journeys to
Kentucky now became frequent. Every year sent one or more
parties of pioneers to one part or another of the country. In
1769 Daniel Boone and five companions, all from the Yadkin
settlements in North Carolina, came to Eastern Kentucky. One
of the party was killed, but Boone remained, while his
companions returned to their homes. Thus it will be seen that
Boone's first visit was relatively late in the history of
Kentucky explorations. Almost every part of its surface had
been traversed by other explorers before this man, who passes
in history as the typical pioneer, set foot upon its ground.
In the time between 1770 and 1772 George Washington, then a
land-surveyor, made two surveys in the region which is now the
northeast corner of Kentucky. … The first distinct effort to
found a colony was made by James Harrod and about forty
companions, who found their way down the Ohio near to where
Louisville now stands, and thence by land to what is now
Mercer County, in Central Kentucky, where they established, on
June 16, 1774, a village which they called, in honor of their
leader, Harrodsburg. Earlier attempts at settlement were made
at Louisville, but the fear of Indians caused the speedy
abandonment of this post. … In 1775 other and stronger
footholds were gained. Boone built a fort in what is now
Madison County, and Logan another at St. Asaphs, in Lincoln
County. The settlement of Kentucky was greatly favored by the
decisive victory gained by Lord Dunmore's troops over the
Indians from the north of the Ohio, at the mouth of the
Kanawha.
See OHIO VALLEY: A. D. 1774.
… That the process of possessing the land was going on with
speed may be seen from the fact that Henderson and Company,
land-agents at Boonesborough, issued from their office in the
new-built fort entry certificates of surveys for 560,000 acres
of land. The process of survey was of the rudest kind, but it
served the purpose of momentary definition of the areas, made
it possible to deal with the land as a commodity, and left the
tribulations concerning boundaries to the next generation.
These land deeds were given as of the 'colony of
Transylvania,' which was in fact the first appellation of
Kentucky, a name by which it was known for several years
before it received its present appellation. At this time, the
last year that the work of settling Kentucky was done under
the authority of his majesty King George III., there were
probably about 150 men who had placed themselves in
settlements that were intended to be permanent within the
bounds of what is now the Commonwealth of Kentucky. There may
have been as many more doing the endless exploring work which
preceded the choice of a site for their future homes. The men
at Boone's Station claimed, and seem to have been awarded, a
sort of hegemony among the settlements.
{1940}
On the 23d of May, at the call of Colonel Henderson, the
land-agent of the proprietors, delegates from these
settlements met at Boonesborough, and drew up a brief code of
nine laws for the government of the young Commonwealth. …
The Boonesborough parliament adjourned to meet in September,
but it never reassembled. The venture which led to its
institution fell altogether to ruin, and the name of
Transylvania has been almost entirely forgotten. … The
colony of Transylvania rested on a purchase of about
17,000,000 acres, or about one half the present area of
Kentucky, which was made by some people of North Carolina from
the Overhill Cherokee Indians, a part of the great tribe that
dwelt on the Holston River. For this land the unfortunate
adventurers paid the sum of £10,000 of English money. …
Immediately after the Boonesborough parliament the position of
the Transylvania company became very insecure; its own people
began to doubt the validity of the titles they had obtained
from the company, because, after a time, they learned from
various sources that the lands of this region of Kentucky had
been previously ceded to the English government by the Six
Nations, and were included in the Virginia charter. In the
latter part of 1775, eighty men of the Transylvania settlement
signed a memorial asking to be taken under the protection of
Virginia; or, if that colony thought it best, that their
petition might be referred to the General Congress. … The
proprietors of the colony made their answer to this rebellion
by sending a delegate to the Federal Congress at Philadelphia,
who was to request that the colony of Transylvania be added to
the number of the American colonies. … Nothing came of this
protest. Congress refused to seat their delegate, Patrick
Henry and Jefferson, then representing Virginia, opposing the
efforts of the proprietors. The Governor of North Carolina
issued a proclamation declaring their purchase illegal. The
colony gradually fell to pieces, though the State of Virginia
took no decided action with reference to it until, in 1778,
that Commonwealth declared the acts of the company void, but,
in a generous spirit, offered compensation to Colonel
Henderson and the other adventurers. The Transylvania company
received 200,000 acres of valuable lands, and their sales to
actual settlers were confirmed by an act of the Virginia
Assembly. Thus the strongest, though not the first, colony of
Kentucky, was a misadventure and quickly fell to pieces."
N. S. Shaler,
Kentucky,
chapters 5-7.
ALSO IN;
T. Roosevelt,
The Winning of the West,
volume 1, chapters 6 and 8-12.
KENTUCKY: A. D. 1768.
The Treaty with the Six Nations at Fort Stanwix.
Pretended cession of the country south of the Ohio.
See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1765-1768.
KENTUCKY: A. D. 1774.
The western Territorial claims of Virginia.
Lord Dunmore's war with the Indians.
See OHIO (VALLEY): A. D. 1774.
KENTUCKY: A. D. 1775-1784.
A county of Virginia.
Indian warfare of the Revolution.
Aspirations towards State independence.
"In the winter of 1775 Kentucky was formed into a county of
Virginia. … About this time Harrodsburg, Boonesborough and
Logan's Fort were successively assailed by the Indians. They
withstood the furious attacks made upon them; not, however,
without great loss. During the succeeding summer they were
considerably reinforced by a number of men from North
Carolina, and about 100 under Colonel Bowman from Virginia. In
1778 Kentucky was invaded by an army of Indians and Canadians
under the command of Captain Duquesne; and the expedition of
Colonel George Rodgers Clark against the English post of
Vincennes and Kaskaskia took place this year. In February of
this year Boone, with about 30 men, was engaged in making salt
at the Lower Blue Licks, when he was surprised by about 200
Indians. The whole party surrendered upon terms of
capitulation. The Indians carried them to Detroit, and
delivered them all up to the commandant, except Boone, whom
they carried to Chilicothe. Boone soon effected his escape.
… After … some weeks … Captain Duquesne, with about 500
Indians and Canadians, made his appearance before
Boonesborough, and besieged the fort for the space of nine
days, but finally decamped with the loss of 30 men killed, and
a much greater number wounded. … About the first of April,
1779, Robert Patterson erected a block house, with some
adjacent defenses, where the city of Lexington now stands.
This year, the celebrated land law of Kentucky was passed by
the Legislature of Virginia, usually called the Occupying
Claimant Law. The great defect of this law was, that Virginia,
by this act, did not provide for the survey of the country at
the expense of the State. … Each one holding a warrant could
locate it where he pleased, and survey it at his own cost. …
The consequence of this law was … a flood of emigration
during the years 1780 and 1781. During this period the
emigrants were greatly annoyed by the frequent incursions of
the Indians, and their entire destruction sometimes seemed
almost inevitable. This law was a great feast for the lawyers
of that day. … In November, 1780, Kentucky was divided into
three counties, bearing the names of Fayette, Lincoln, and
Jefferson. … In 1782, Indian hostility was earlier, more
active and shocking than it had ever been in the country
before; a great battle was fought upon Hinkston's Fork of the
Licking, near where Mount Sterling now stands, in which the
Indians were victorious. In this battle, Estill, who commanded
the whites, and nearly all of his officers, were killed. Near
the Blue Licks another battle was soon afterwards fought with
Captain Holder, in which the whites were again defeated; in
both these last mentioned battles the contending foe were
Wyandottes. … Peace was made with Great Britain in 1783, and
hostilities ceased; hostilities with the Indians also for a
time seemed suspended, but were soon renewed with greater
violence than ever. During the cessation of hostilities with
the Indians, settlements in Kentucky advanced rapidly. … As
early as 1784 the people of Kentucky became strongly impressed
with the necessity of the organization of a regular
government, and gaining admission into the Union as a separate
and independent State; but their efforts were continually
perplexed and baffled for the space of eight years before
their desire was fully accomplished. And though they were
often tempted by Spain with the richest gifts of fortune if
she would declare herself an independent State, and although
the Congress of the Confederated States continually turned a
deaf ear to her reiterated complaints and grievances, and
repulsed her in every effort to obtain constitutional
independence, she maintained to the last the highest respect
for law and order, and the most unswerving affection for the
Government. … With the view to admission into the Union as
an independent State, there were elected and held nine
Conventions in Kentucky within the space of eight years."
W. B. Allen,
History of Kentucky,
chapters 2-3.
ALSO IN:
J. M. Brown,
Political Beginnings of Kentucky.
{1941}
KENTUCKY: A. D. 1778-1779.
Conquest of the Northwest by the Virginian General Clark, and
its annexation to the Kentucky District.
See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA:
A. D. 1778-1779 CLARK'S CONQUEST.
KENTUCKY: A. D. 1781-1784.
Conflicting territorial claims of Virginia and New York and
their cession to the United States.
See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1781-1786.
KENTUCKY: A. D. 1785-1800.
The question of the free navigation of the Mississippi.
Discontent of the settlers.
Intrigues of Wilkinson.
See LOUISIANA: A. D. 1785-1800.
KENTUCKY: A. D. 1789-1792.
Separation from Virginia and admission to the Union as a
State.
"In the last days of the Continental Congress, Virginia, after
some struggles, having reluctantly consented to her
organization on that condition as an independent state,
Kentucky had applied to that body for admission into the
confederacy. That application had been referred to the new
federal government about to be organized, a delay which had
made it necessary to recommence proceedings anew; for the
Virginia Assembly had fixed a limitation of time, which, being
over-past, drove back the separatists to the original
starting-point. On a new application to the Virginia
Legislature, a new act had authorized a new Convention, being
the third held on that subject: to take the question of
separating into consideration. But this act had imposed some
new terms not at all agreeable to the Kentuckians, of which
the principal was the assumption by the new state of a portion
of the Virginia debt, on the ground of expenses incurred by
recent expeditions against the Indians. The Convention which
met under this act proceeded no further than to vote a
memorial to the Virginia Legislature requesting the same terms
formerly offered. That request was granted, and a fourth
Convention was authorized again to consider the question of
separation, and, should that measure be still persisted in, to
fix the day when it should take place. Having met during the
last summer [1790], this Convention had voted unanimously in
favor of separation; had fixed the first day of June, 1792, as
the time; and had authorized the meeting of a fifth Convention
to frame a state Constitution. In anticipation of these
results, an act of Congress was, now passed [February 4, 1791]
admitting Kentucky into the Union from and after the day above
mentioned, not only without any inspection of the state
Constitution, but before any such Constitution had been
actually formed." In the Constitution subsequently framed for
the new state of Kentucky, by the Convention appointed as
above, an article on the subject of slavery "provided that the
Legislature should have no power to pass laws for the
emancipation of slaves without the consent of their owners,
nor without paying therefor, previous to such emancipation, a
full equivalent in money; nor laws to prevent immigrants from
bringing with them persons deemed slaves by the laws of anyone
of the United States, so long as any persons of like age and
description should be continued in slavery by the laws of
Kentucky. But laws might be passed prohibiting the
introduction of slaves for the purpose of sale, and also laws
to oblige the owners of slaves to treat them with humanity."
R. Hildreth,
History of the United States,
volume 4, chapters 3-4.
ALSO IN:
J. M. Brown,
The Political Beginnings of Kentucky.
KENTUCKY: A. D. 1790-1795.
War with the Indian tribes of the Northwest.
Disastrous expeditions of Harmar and St. Clair, and Wayne's
decisive victory.
See NORTHWEST TERRITORY: A. D. 1790-1795.
KENTUCKY: A. D. 1798.
The Nullifying resolutions.
See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1798.
KENTUCKY: A. D. 1861 (January-September).
The struggle with Secession and its defeat.
"Neutrality" ended.
"In the days when personal leadership was more than it can
ever be again, while South Carolina was listening to the
teachings of John C. Calhoun, which led her to try the
experiment of secession, Kentucky was following Henry Clay,
who, though a slave-holder, was a strong Unionist. The
practical effect was seen when the crisis came, after he had
been in his grave nine years. Governor Beriah Magoffin
convened the Legislature in January, 1861, and asked it to
organize the militia, buy muskets, and put the State in a
condition of armed neutrality; all of which it refused to do.
After the fall of Fort Sumter he called the Legislature
together again, evidently hoping that the popular excitement
would bring them over to his scheme. But the utmost that could
be accomplished was the passage of a resolution by the lower
house (May 16) declaring that Kentucky should occupy 'a
position of strict neutrality,' and approving his refusal to
furnish troops for the National army. Thereupon he issued a
proclamation (May 20) in which he 'notified and warned all
other States, separate or united, especially the United and
Confederate States, that I solemnly forbid any movement upon
Kentucky soil.' But two days later the Legislature repudiated
this interpretation of neutrality, and passed a series of acts
intended to prevent any scheme of secession that might be
formed. It appropriated $1,000,000 for arms and ammunition,
but placed the disbursement of the money and control of the
arms in the hands of Commissioners that were all Union men. It
amended the militia law so as to require the State Guards to
take an oath to support the Constitution of the United States,
and finally the Senate passed a resolution declaring that
'Kentucky will not sever connection with the National
Government, nor take up arms with either belligerent party.'
Lovell H. Rousseau (afterward a gallant General in the
National service), speaking in his place in the Senate, said:
'The politicians are having their day; the people will yet
have theirs. I have an abiding confidence in the right, and I
know that this secession movement is all wrong. There is not a
single substantial reason for it; our Government had never
oppressed us with a feather's weight.' The Rev. Robert J.
Breckinridge and other prominent citizens took a similar
stand, and a new Legislature, chosen in August, presented a
Union majority of three to one.
{1942}
As a last resort, Governor Magoffin addressed a letter to
President Lincoln, requesting that Kentucky's neutrality be
respected and the National forces removed from the State. Mr.
Lincoln, in refusing his request, courteously reminded him
that the force consisted exclusively of Kentuckians, and told
him that he had not met any Kentuckian except himself and the
messengers that brought his letter who wanted it removed. To
strengthen the first argument, Robert Anderson, of Fort Sumter
fame, who was a citizen of Kentucky, was made a General and
given the command in the State in September. Two months later,
a secession convention met at Russellville, in the southern
part of the State, organized a provisional government, and
sent a full delegation to the Confederate Congress at
Richmond, who found no difficulty in being admitted to seats
in that body. Being now firmly supported by the new
Legislature, the National Government began to arrest prominent
Kentuckians who still advocated secession, whereupon others,
including ex-Vice-President John C. Breckinridge, fled
southward and entered the service of the Confederacy. Kentucky
as a State was saved to the Union, but the line of separation
was drawn between her citizens, and she contributed to the
ranks of both the great contending armies."
R. Johnson,
Short History of the War of Secession,
chapter 5.
ALSO IN:
N. S. Shaler,
Kentucky,
chapter 15.
E. P. Thompson,
History of First Kentucky Brigade,
chapter 2.
KENTUCKY: A. D. 1861 (April).
Governor Magoffin's reply to President Lincoln's call for
troops.
See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1861 (APRIL).
KENTUCKY: A. D. 1862 (January-February).
Expulsion of Confederate armies along the whole line.
See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1862
(JANUARY-FEBRUARY: KENTUCKY—TENNESSEE).
KENTUCKY: A. D. 1862 (August-October).
Bragg's invasion.
Buell's pursuit.
Battle of Perryville.
See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA:
A. D. 1862 (JUNE-OCTOBER: TENNESSEE-KENTUCKY).
KENTUCKY: A. D. 1863 (July).
John Morgan's Raid.
See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA:
A. D. 1863 (JULY: KENTUCKY).
----------KENTUCKY: End----------
KENTUCKY RESOLUTIONS, The.
See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: A. D. 1798.
KENYER-MESÖ, Battle of (1479).
See HUNGARY: A. D. 1471-1487.
KERAÏT, The.
See PRESTER JOHN, THE KINGDOM OF.
KERAMEIKOS, The.
See CERAMICUS OF ATHENS.
KERBELA, The Moslem tragedy at.
See MAHOMETAN CONQUEST: A. D. 680.
KERESAN FAMILY, The.
See AMERICAN ABORIGINES: KERESAN FAMILY.
KERESTES, OR CERESTES, Battle of (1596).
See HUNGARY: A. D. 1595-1606.
KERMENT, Battle of (1664).
See HUNGARY: A. D. 1660-1664.
KERNE.
See RAPPAREES.
KERNSTOWN, Battles of.
See UNITED STATES OF AMERICA:
A. D. 1861-1862 (DECEMBER-APRIL: VIRGINIA);
and 1864 (JULY: VIRGINIA-MARYLAND).
KERTCH, Attack on (1855).
See RUSSIA: A. D. 1854-1856.
KERYKES, The.
See PHYLÆ.
KESSELSDORF, Battle of (1745).
See AUSTRIA: A. D. 1744-1745.
KEYNTON, OR EDGEHILL, Battle of.
See ENGLAND: A. D. 1642 (OCTOBER-DECEMBER).
KEYSERWERTH, Siege and storming of (1702).
See NETHERLANDS: A. D. 1702-1704.
KHAJAR DYNASTY, The.
See PERSIA: A. D. 1499-1887.
KHALIF.
See CALIPH.
KHALSA, The.
See SIKHS;
also, INDIA: A. D. 1836-1845, and 1845-1849.
KHAN.
KHAGAN.
"'Khan' is the modern contracted form of the word which is
found in the middle ages as 'Khagan,' or 'Chagan,' and in the
Persian and Arabic writers as 'Khakan' or 'Khacan.' Its
original root is probably the 'Khak,' which meant King' in
ancient Susianian, in Ethiopic ('Tirhakah'), and in Egyptian
('Hyk-sos')."
G. Rawlinson,
The Seventh Great Oriental Monarchy,
chapter 14, foot-note.
KHAR, OR KHARU, The.
"The term Khar in Egyptian texts appears to apply to the
inhabitants of that part of Syria generally known as Phœnicia,
and seems to be derived from the Semitic Akharu, 'the back' or
'west.'"
C. R. Conder,
Syrian Stone Lore,
chapter 1.
KHAREJITES, The.
A democratical party among the Mahometans, which first took