During the
American Civil War, the
Union was a name used to refer to the federal government
of the United
States
, which was supported by the twenty-three states
which were not part of the secession attempt by the 11
states that tried to form the Confederacy.
Although
the Union states included the Western states of California
, Oregon
, and (after
1864) Nevada
, as well as
states generally considered to be part of the Midwest, the Union has been also
often loosely referred to as "the North", both then and
now.
Overview
Legally, the term originated in the
Perpetual Union of the
Articles of
Confederation and Perpetual Union. Because the term had been
used prior to the war to refer to the entire United States (a
"union of states"), using it to apply to the non-secessionist side
carried a connotation of legitimacy as the continuation of the
pre-existing political entity. Also, in the public dialogue of the
United States, new states are "admitted to the Union," and the
President's annual
address to
Congress and to
the people is referred to as the "
State of the Union
address".
During the American Civil War, those loyal to the federal
government and opposed to secession living in the
border states and Confederate
states were termed Unionists. Confederate soldiers sometimes styled
them "Homemade Yankees." However, Southern Unionists were not
necessarily northern sympathizers and many of them although
opposing secession supported the Confederacy once it was a
fact.
Still,
nearly 120,000 Southern
Unionists served in the Union Army during
the Civil War, and every Southern state, except South Carolina
, raised Unionist regiments. Southern Unionists were extensively used
as anti-
guerrilla forces and as
occupation troops in areas of the Confederacy occupied by the
Union. Since the Civil War, the term "Northern" has been a widely
used synonym for the Union side of the conflict.
Union is
usually used in contexts where "United States" might be confusing,
"Federal" obscure, or "
Yankee" dated or
derogatory.
In comparison to the Southern Confederacy it opposed, the Union was
heavily industrialized and far more urbanized than the
rural South. The Union states had nearly five times
the white population of the Confederate states (23 million to 5
million). The Union's great advantages in population and industry
would prove to be vital factors in the Union's victory over the
Confederacy in the
American Civil
War.
Union states
The Union states were:
- California

- Connecticut

- Delaware
*
*[[Illinois]] *[[Indiana]] {{col-2-of-5}} *[[Iowa]] *[[Kansas]]
*[[Kentucky]]* *[[Maine]] *[[Maryland]]* {{col-3-of-5}}
*[[Massachusetts]] *[[Michigan]] *[[Minnesota]] *[[Missouri]]*
*[[Nevada]] {{col-4-of-5}} *[[New Hampshire]] *[[New Jersey]]
*[[New York]] *[[Ohio]] *[[Oregon]] {{col-5-of-5}}
*[[Pennsylvania]] *[[Rhode Island]] *[[Vermont]] *[[West
Virginia]]* *[[Wisconsin]] {{col-end}} * Border states: In
Kentucky and Missouri, pro-secession factions declared for the
South and those states were claimed by the Confederacy, but had
both Union and Confederate state governments claiming
power.
Kansas
joined the
Union on January 29, 1861, after the secession crisis had begun but
before the attack on Fort
Sumter. West Virginia
separated from Virginia and became part of the
Union during the war, on June 20, 1863. Nevada
also joined
the Union during the war, becoming a state on October 31,
1864. Portions of what is now Southern Nevada were part of
New Mexico territory, which at one point was claimed by the
Confederacy.
Notes
- Today in History: January 29
- Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius - Kansas
Seal
References
External links