As such prior amendment was impossible, this amounted merely to
playing into the hands of the separatists; and the men who followed it
were responsible for the by no means creditable fact that most of the
Kentucky members in the Virginia convention voted against ratification.
Three of them, however, had the patriotism and foresight to vote in
favor of the Constitution.
Further Delay.
Another irritating delay in the march toward statehood now occurred. In
June, 1788, the Continental Congress declared that it was expedient to
erect Kentucky into a state. [Footnote: State Dep. MSS., No. 20, vol.
i., p. 341 etc.] But immediately afterwards news came that the
Constitution had been ratified by the necessary nine States, and that
the new government was, therefore, practically in being. This meant the
dissolution of the old Confederation, so that there was no longer any
object in admitting Kentucky to membership, and Congress thereupon very
wisely refused to act further in the matter. Unfortunately Brown, who
was the Kentucky delegate in Congress, was one of the separatist
leaders. He wrote home an account of the matter, in which he painted the
refusal as due to the jealousy felt by the East for the West.
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