quote:
1.Kentuckians supported unionism because they felt the best way to keep their slaves was to stick with the Union. Rather than risk it with a confederacy.

Not sure where you get this from at all?

Lexington, Kentucky was about 1/2 black in its early history (similar to most southern states) and had the #2 slave market in the USA next to the old courthouse (still standing) on Main Street and Cheapside.

The misnomer of slaves is that everybody in the South had them which is clearly a great distortion of the truth. Say Lexington, KY had a population of 40K and half were black and half were white the numbers are skewed by ownership. Like today where the 1% of the 1% of the 1% controls the USA, similar numbers had the VAST majority of the slaves (say 20 people owned 19,000 slaves). Think of the industries (slave markets excluded) and what was the real demand for slaves?

Bourbon is a skill industry (not slave worthy)
Horses is a mixed industry (slaves for farm work, free men for grooms and jockeys)
NOTE : One of the richer black men in the South lived halfway between downtown Lexington and the early UK and was a merchant - rumored to have made massive wealth in slave trading. The jockey industry was exclusively black and they were Michael Jordan rich for athletes of their era
Hemp is probably a slave industry but coal and oil kill "The Age of Sail"
Coal is new and not yet slave (that will come later with white slavery "company towns")
Arms manufacturing (skill job, not slave job) - think DuPont not Colt
Tobacco had limited slave use as you only need the labor 1 - 2 months out of 12 and not economically as viable when you have to house slaves, feed them, and put clothes on them 12 months out of the year. It snows in KY so you need fuel in the winter when they do no labor.

Sugar Cane and Cotton are much more prone to slave labor based on climate and use of labor over all 12 months of the year. Idle people (free or slave) cost money when not working.