Inauguration of state officers, including General Isaac Shelby as governor, took place in Lexington on June 4, 1792. On June 1, 1792, Kentucky was admitted as the thirteenth state to the newly formed Union under the United States Constitution.(1) After 10 conventions met to consider the question, a proposed state constitution was ratified in Danville in April 1792. Following the American Revolution, settlers in Kentucky began to consider separate statehood under the Articles of Confederation. The colonies of North Carolina and Virginia were rivals for the territory of Kentucky, with Virginia based land companies eventually securing the region. Numerous speculative land companies promoted settlement of Kentucky.
Among the early adventurers was Daniel Boone, who made several trips to the Kentucky region in the 1760s and 1770s. After the war, many settlers ventured into the region now known as Kentucky, despite a proclamation from King George III forbidding settlement west of the Appalachian highlands. Much of this interest was related to the territorial gains won during the French and Indian War from 1755 to 1763, which resulted in the elimination of France as a political and military force in Mississippi Valley. After initial exploratory trips by white settlers in the late 1600s, more extensive colonizing missions were undertaken in the middle of the 1700s. Historically the region had been home to several Native American tribes, including ancestors of the Sioux, followed by invasion by Iroquois, and pockets of Shawnee. Kentucky was the first territory to be organized west of the Appalachian Mountains. The Capitol of Kentucky: A Brief Introduction