Why Bourbon whiskey took root in Kentucky

In 1776 the general assembly of the State of Virginia offered free land to any settler who would move his family to Kentucky (then part of the western territory of Virginia), build a house, start a farm and raise the native corn. In response to this offer, about 300 Scotch-Irish from southern Pennsylvania picked up and moved west. 'The Corn Patch and Cabin Rights', as the land offer was called, appealed to Pennsylvania's Scotch-Irish for several pragmatic reasons. Being naturally thrifty souls, they were skilled at making rye whiskey from the grains left over from annual harvest. And, being independent in nature, they were furious at the hefty taxes placed on whiskey. In 1791 the weight of taxation in Pennsylvania actually led to an armed insurrection of farmers known as the Whiskey Rebellion. Unfortunately for the settlers, Kentucky was a hunting ground for the Shawnee Indians, and the settlers had to fight them for possession of the land. By most accounts, it was a bloody and costly transition in terms of lives. If nothing else, the whiskey those early settlers made provided the social lubrication and medicine for some very difficult years. How happy the Shawnee Indians were to have whiskey in their everydays - that's another matter.

1776-ban Virginia allam parlamentje szabad foldteruletet ajanlott minden telepesnek, aki hajlando csaladjaval Kentuckyban letelepedni (akkor Kentucky meg Virginia nyugati terulete volt), hazat epiteni, farmot vezetni es az ott oshonos kukoricat termeszteni. Az ajanlat hirere kb. 300 skot-ir csalad kerekedett fel Pennsylvaniabol es vandorolt nyugatra. 'A Kukoricafold es Farm' torveny, ahogy az ajanlatot neveztek szamos praktikus ok miatt volt tetszetos a pennsylvaniai skot-ir farmereknek. Takarekos emberek voltak, akik jol ertettek a rozs-whiskey keszitetesehez, amit az eves aratas utani maradek gabonabol allitottak elo. Fuggetlen termeszetuknel fogva pedig elegge duhosek voltak a whiskeyre meg Pennsylvaniaban kivetett sulyos adok miatt. A magas ado vegulis a farmerek fegyveres ellenallasahoz (Whiskey Lazadas) vezetett 1791-ben. A Kentuckyban frissen megtelepedett farmerek szerencsetlensegere, a virginiai parlament altal felajanlott terulet volt akkoriban a Shawnee indianok egyik vadaszterulete, igy a telepeseknek fegyverrek kellett megkuzdeniuk foldjukert es farmjaikert. Ahogy meselik, kegyetlen atmenet volt ez az idoszak, nehez volt eletben maradni. Ha mas nem is, hat a korai telepesek altal keszitett whiskey bizonyara sokat segitett mint 'kapcsolatepito' ital es gyogyszer azokban a nehez idokben. Hogy a Shawnee indianok mennyire orultek a 'tuzes viznek' az egy masik kerdes.