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Social studies activity

Kentucky's Story: Where Two Presidents Were Born 100 Miles Apart

Did you know that Kentucky has BLUE grass? Not just green — actually blue! In spring, the grass has tiny blue flowers that make whole fields shimmer blue in the morning light. And this special grass is perfect for the fastest horses in the world. Let's gallop and find out why!

Hands OnAbout 25 minutesScreen-freeParent help expected

Materials and setup

How this changes by age

Pre-K (ages 3–4)

Did you know that Kentucky has BLUE grass? Not just green — actually blue! In spring, the grass has tiny blue flowers that make whole fields shimmer blue in the morning light. And this special grass is perfect for the fastest horses in the world. Let's gallop and find out why!

Difficulty 1 of 3

Steps

  1. Look at a picture together of Kentucky bluegrass fields shimmering in early morning. Have you ever seen blue grass? Most grass is just green!
  2. Say: 'The special minerals in Kentucky's soil make a certain grass grow that horses LOVE to eat. And horses that eat this grass grow strong and fast!'
  3. Gallop around the room together like racehorses. Ask: 'Which of us is faster?'
  4. Draw a horse on rolling green-blue hills. Color the grass with both green AND light blue — the Kentucky way.
  5. Ask: 'If the grass makes horses fast, what do you think makes YOU fast and strong?'

Learning objectives

  • Wonder at how soil minerals create blue-tinted grass — and why that matters for horses
  • Notice the connection between land, plants, and animals
  • Ask: how does what we eat affect how strong we become?

Kindergarten (ages 5–6)

Here is one of the strangest facts in American history: Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis — the man who led the Union and the man who led the Confederacy — were BOTH born in Kentucky, less than 100 miles apart, within one year of each other. They probably never met as children. But their paths crossed in the most important moment in American history. Draw a map showing where they were born!

Difficulty 2 of 3

Steps

  1. Find Kentucky on a US map. Look how it sits right in the middle — southern states below, northern states above.
  2. Mark two spots: Hodgenville, Kentucky (Lincoln's birthplace) and Fairview, Kentucky (Davis's birthplace). Measure with your finger — they are about 100 miles apart.
  3. Draw both birthplaces on a simple Kentucky map. Draw tiny log cabins at each spot.
  4. Draw Lincoln moving NORTH (to Indiana, then Illinois) and Davis moving SOUTH (to Mississippi).
  5. Ask: 'Why do you think two boys born in the same place ended up leading opposite sides of a war?' Write or dictate your best guess.

Learning objectives

  • Know that both Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis were born in Kentucky within 100 miles of each other
  • Begin to compare Lincoln's path north and Davis's path south
  • Ask: how does where you grow up shape your beliefs?

Early elementary (ages 6–8)

Kentucky tried to do something no state had ever done during the Civil War: stay NEUTRAL — refuse to fight on either side. It almost worked for six months! Meanwhile, here is a wild fact: Abraham Lincoln AND Jefferson Davis — who led opposite sides of that war — were BOTH born in Kentucky, just 100 miles apart. And Mammoth Cave, the world's longest known cave system (426 miles mapped so far!), runs right under Kentucky's hills. Create a Venn diagram that shows the extraordinary collision of Lincoln and Davis — born in the same state, into similar frontier beginnings, but with very different childhoods (Lincoln's family stayed poor; Davis's family soon prospered on a Mississippi plantation) leading to completely opposite paths.

Difficulty 2 of 3

Steps

  1. Draw two large overlapping circles. Label one 'Abraham Lincoln' and one 'Jefferson Davis.'
  2. In Lincoln's circle: born Hodgenville, KY (1809); family moved north to Indiana; grew up poor in free states; opposed slavery's spread; President of the Union.
  3. In Davis's circle: born Fairview, KY (1808); family moved south to Mississippi; grew up on plantations; President of the Confederacy.
  4. In the overlapping middle: both born in Kentucky log cabins in 1808-1809; both became their side's leader in the Civil War. (Important: Lincoln truly grew up poor on the frontier, but Davis's family moved to a Mississippi plantation and he grew up wealthy and attended West Point — the boys started out close geographically but had very different childhoods.)
  5. Below the diagram, write two sentences: 'Kentucky was a border state, which means _____.' and 'The most surprising fact about Lincoln and Davis is _____.'
  6. Bonus: add a Mammoth Cave fun fact box — '426 miles of mapped passages! The world's longest known cave system runs right under Kentucky!'

Learning objectives

  • Create an accurate Venn diagram comparing Lincoln and Davis's origins and adult paths
  • Explain what 'border state' means and why Kentucky's neutrality was so unusual
  • Write evidence-based sentences connecting shared origins to very different outcomes

Upper elementary (ages 8–10)

Kentucky tried to stay neutral in the Civil War. It failed — but the attempt itself is fascinating. About 90,000 Kentuckians fought for the Union. About 35,000 fought for the Confederacy. Families literally split down the middle. And after the war, something unexpected happened: Kentucky — which had fought mostly for the Union — became one of the strongest champions of the 'Lost Cause' myth, erecting more Confederate statues per capita than most actual Confederate states. How do you explain that?

Difficulty 3 of 3

Steps

  1. Research the 'Lost Cause' narrative: what was it, who promoted it, and what did it claim about the Civil War's causes? Write a paragraph explaining it and whether historians consider it accurate.
  2. Research Kentucky's post-war Confederate monument building. Find at least two specific monuments erected in Kentucky after the war — note when they were built. What does the timing tell you?
  3. Research Camp Nelson, Kentucky: a major Union recruitment station for Black soldiers — over 10,000 Black men enlisted here. Write: how does Camp Nelson's story complicate the 'Lost Cause' narrative?
  4. The paradox: Kentucky fought mostly for the UNION but later embraced CONFEDERATE mythology. Write your hypothesis: why would a state do this? What psychological or political needs might it have served?
  5. Write a 5-7 sentence analytical paragraph: what made Kentucky's relationship with the Civil War uniquely contradictory — and what does that contradiction tell us about how people remember painful history?
  6. Connection: Two men born in the same corner of Kentucky — Lincoln (who stayed poor) and Davis (whose family moved to a Mississippi plantation and grew wealthy) — led opposite sides of this war. If geography and environment shaped who they became, what does that suggest about how WE might be shaped by where and when we were born?
  7. Kentucky's bluegrass region has raised racehorses since the 1780s, and a top yearling can sell for over $100,000 today (estimate). Pretend you own a small farm raising 5 foals a year, spending about $20,000 per horse to feed and train them. If 2 sell for $60,000 each and 3 sell for $15,000, what's your profit? Reinvest or save?
  8. Kentucky coopers built oak barrels to age bourbon, charring the inside to give flavor. Draw a barrel showing the staves, iron hoops, and heads. If a barrel holds 53 gallons and oak staves are 1 inch thick, estimate how many staves you need for a circle 24 inches across. Sketch one tool a cooper uses.

Learning objectives

  • Explain the 'Lost Cause' narrative and evaluate its historical accuracy
  • Analyze Kentucky's post-war Confederate monument building and what the timing reveals
  • Research Camp Nelson and explain how it complicates the 'Lost Cause' narrative
  • Write a hypothesis explaining why states sometimes memorialize the side they did NOT primarily fight for
  • Connect the Lincoln/Davis paradox to broader questions about how environment shapes belief

Safety and evidence note

Read the full activity before beginning. An adult should supervise tools, heat, food, outdoor work, movement, and experiments as appropriate. Completion records that the activity was done; the child’s explanation, work sample, photo, or demonstration is stronger evidence of learning than a completion check alone.

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