Conclusion

It is easy to sympathize with those who hated Burbridge for his suppression of civil liberties, his interference in state politics, and his executions of prisoners. This is why the historical context of his actions is so important to understand. Much of the opposition to Burbridge—during the war and afterward—stemmed from white Kentuckians’ opposition to emancipation. His enemies couched their opposition in the language of individual rights, but it was an understanding of rights that excluded African Americans. Burbridge was charged with bringing a new understanding of freedom to Kentucky. He tried to do so, taking measures to control Kentuckians’ growing opposition to the changed aims of the war. In doing so, he earned the unbounded loathing of his contemporaries and the unmerited scorn of historians.