| Jackson Purchase | |
|---|---|
| Territorial acquisition | |
 Counties comprising the Jackson Purchase region | |
| Demonym | Chickasaw |
| Area | |
| Area transferred | |
| • 1818 | WesternKentucky,West Tennessee, from TheChickasaw Nation |
• 2020 | 6,202.5 km2 (2,394.8 sq mi) |
| Population | |
• 2020 | 196,876 |
| Status | Former disputed territory |
| Government | |
| • Type | Federal & State |
| U.S. negotiator | |
• 1818 | GeneralAndrew Jackson |
| U.S. negotiator | |
• 1818 | Ex-governorIsaac Shelby |
| Historical era | Westward expansion of the U.S. |
• Claimed by U.S. | 1792 |
• U.S. acquired inTreaty of Tuscaloosa | October, 1818 |
• Annexed to Kentucky & Tennessee | 1819 |
| Subdivisions | |
| • Type | Counties |
| • Units | |
| Today part of | Western Kentucky &West Tennessee |
TheJackson Purchase, also known as thePurchase Region or simplythe Purchase, is aregion in the U.S. state ofKentucky bounded by theMississippi River to the west, theOhio River to the north, and theTennessee River to the east.[1]
The original 1818Treaty of Tuscaloosa purchase co-negotiated by then generalAndrew Jackson also included all ofTennessee west of the Tennessee River. In modern usage, however, the term refers only to the Kentucky portion of the Jackson Purchase. The southern portion is simply calledWest Tennessee.[citation needed]
The land was ceded after prolonged negotiations with the Chickasaw Indians in which the United States was represented byAndrew Jackson andIsaac Shelby, while the Chickasaws were represented by their chiefs, head men, and warriors including:Levi Colbert, his brotherGeorge Colbert, Chinubby, andTishomingo. On October 19, 1818, the two sides agreed to the transfer by signing theTreaty of Tuscaloosa.[2] The United States agreed to pay the Chickasaw people $300,000, at the rate of $20,000 annually for 15 years, in return for the right to all Chickasaw land east of the Mississippi River and north of the new state ofMississippi border.[2][3]
Although claimed as part of Kentucky at its statehood in 1792, the land did not come under definitive U.S. control until 1818, when GeneralAndrew Jackson and ex-Kentucky governorIsaac Shelby, representing the United States federal government, purchased it from theChickasawIndians through several treaties, including theTreaty of Tuscaloosa.[2][3]
Historically, this region has been considered the most "Southern" of Kentucky; having an agricultural economy tied to cotton plantations and the use of enslaved labor before theCivil War, and being settled by people from Eastern and Central Kentucky, and backcountry areas of Tennessee, Virginia, Georgia, and the Carolinas; the Purchase in the years after the war voted as the most staunchly Democratic region in Kentucky, owing to heavily pro-Confederate sentiment in the region. For well over a century, it provided such overwhelming margins for Democratic candidates that Kentucky Democrats routinely called it the "Gibraltar of Democracy." The most widely circulated newspaper and media outlet in the Purchase,The Paducah Sun, was once named thePaducah Sun-Democrat (seeWPSD-TV). Due to changing demographics, most counties in the Purchase in the early 21st century have populations that are overwhelmingly white. Many African Americans left the area after the Civil War and in the Great Migration of the 20th century, many of them migrating to cities in the Midwest and West for industrial jobs.[citation needed]
During the Civil War, the Purchase was the area of strongest support for theConfederate cause within Kentucky. On May 29, 1861, a group of Southern sympathizers from Kentucky and Tennessee met at theGraves County Courthouse inMayfield to discuss the possibility of aligning the Purchase with West Tennessee. Most records of the event were lost, possibly in an 1864 fire that destroyed the courthouse.[4] After the War the region heightened its sense of being "Southern".[5]
In 1907,Fulton County judge Herbert Carr declared in a speech that theMayfield Convention adopted a resolution for secession, and a historical marker in front of the courthouse also proclaims this as fact. But, the surviving records of the meeting, authored by a Union sympathizer, make no mention of this resolution. Historian Berry Craig states that the convention believed the whole of Kentucky would eventually secede and make unnecessary a separate resolution for the Purchase to break away.[citation needed]
Records do show that the convention adopted resolutions condemning President Abraham Lincoln for "waging a bloody and cruel war" against the South, urging GovernorBeriah Magoffin to resist Union forces and praising him for refusing to answer Lincoln's call for soldiers, and condemning the provision of "Lincoln guns" to Union sympathizers in Kentucky. The convention nominatedHenry Burnett to representKentucky's First District inCongress. The Mayfield Convention was a precursor to the laterRussellville Convention, that formed the provisionalConfederate government of Kentucky.[4]
Since the late 20th century, the Purchase has voted forRepublicans in national elections while giving higher percentages to candidates of theDemocratic Party in state and local elections. This trend is similar to realignment among white conservatives in other parts of the South. As of 2004[update], however, the region's delegation in the Kentucky General Assembly included both Republican Party and Democratic Party representatives. For the first time in history, the region elected Republicans for both of its two state senators. The Jackson Purchase is withinKentucky's 1st congressional district.
The Purchase comprised what is now eight counties, with a combined land area of 3,394.8 square miles (6,202.5 km2), about 6.03% of Kentucky's land area. Its 2010 census population was 196,365 inhabitants, equal to 4.53% of the state's population.Paducah, the largest city and main economic center, has just over 25,000 residents. The region's other two largest cities,Murray andMayfield, have about 18,000 and 10,000 residents respectively. The main educational institution isMurray State University.[6][7]
| Rank | Name | Population | Area | County | Inc. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Paducah† | 27,137 | 20.75 sq mi (53.74 km2) | McCracken | 1838 |
| 2 | Murray† | 17,307 | 11.68 sq mi (30.25 km2) | Calloway | January 17, 1844 |
| 3 | Mayfield† | 10,017 | 7.38 sq mi (19.11 km2) | Graves | 1846 |
| 4 | Benton† | 4,756 | 5.10 sq mi (13.21 km2) | Marshall | 1845 |
| 5 | Calvert City | 2,514 | 18.51 sq mi (47.94 km2) | Marshall | March 18, 1871 |
| 6 | Hickman† | 2,365 | 3.58 sq mi (9.27 km2) | Fulton | February 18, 1841 |
| 7 | Fulton | 2,357 | 2.98 sq mi (7.72 km2) | Fulton | 1872 |
| 8 | Clinton | 1,222 | 1.62 sq mi (4.20 km2) | Hickman | 1831 |
| 9 | LaCenter | 872 | 0.60 sq mi (1.55 km2) | Ballard | |
| 10 | Bardwell† | 714 | 0.87 sq mi (2.25 km2) | Carlisle | 1878 |
Though chiefly an agricultural economy, tourism is an important industry in the Purchase, focused chiefly on water-related activities at theTVA-createdKentucky Lake. Together with the portion of the Tennessee River north of Kentucky Dam, it forms the eastern border of the Purchase.
Notable people from the region include:[8]
