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The Union is a term used to refer to the federal government and loyal states of the United States during the American Civil War. Its military forces and civilian population resisted the secession of the Southern slave states that formed the Confederate States of America following the 1860 election of Abraham Lincoln as president of the United States. Lincoln's administration asserted the permanency of the federal government and the continuity of the United States Constitution, and it refused to recognize the Confederate government.

Many Americans in the 19th century commonly used the term "the Union" to mean either the federal government of the United States or the unity of the states within the federal constitutional framework. The Union can also refer to the people or territory of the states that remained loyal to the national government during the war. The loyal states located mostly north of the Mason–Dixon line were also known as the "North", although four southern border states and West Virginia, when it became a state during the war, remained loyal to the Union, and many Black Southerners (both free and enslaved) and Southern Unionists opposed secession and supported the Union war effort.

The Northeast and Midwest provided the industrial resources for a mechanized war, producing large quantities of munitions and supplies and financing the war. They also provided a vast majority of the Union Army soldiers, food, horses, financial support, and training camps. Army hospitals and prison camps were also set up across the Union. Most Northern states had Republican governors who supported the war effort and suppressed anti-war subversion.……

Etymology

In the context of the American Civil War, the Union, or the United States, is sometimes referred to as "the North", both then and now, while the Confederacy was often called "the South".

Size and strength

Compared to the Confederacy, the loyal states were more industrialized and urbanized and possessed more advanced commercial, transportation, and financial systems. Additionally, the Union states had a manpower advantage of five to two at the start of the war.

Public opinion

The attack on Fort Sumter rallied the free states to the defense of American nationalism. In 1959, Columbia University historian Allan Nevins wrote:

The thunderclap of Sumter produced a startling crystallization of Northern sentiment.... Anger swept the land.……

President Lincoln

Historians have overwhelmingly praised the "political genius" of Abraham Lincoln's performance as president. His first priority was military victory. This required that he master entirely new skills as a strategist and diplomat.……

Congress

The Republican Congress passed many major laws that reshaped the nation's economy, financial system, tax system, land system, and higher education system. These included the Morrill tariff, the Homestead Act, the Pacific Railroad Act, and the National Banking Act.……

Opposition

The opposition came from Copperhead Democrats, who were strongest in the Midwest and wanted to allow Confederate secession.……

Soldiers

Recruiting volunteers

Enthusiastic young men clamored to join the Union army in 1861. They came with family support for reasons of patriotism and excitement. Washington decided to keep the small regular army intact; it had only 16,000 men and was needed to guard the frontier.……

Economy

The Union economy grew and prospered during the war while fielding a very large army and navy.……

Financing the war

In 1860 the Treasury was a small operation that administered land sales and collected a low tariff. At the outbreak of war, the new Treasury Secretary, Salmon P.……

Society

Religion

The Protestant religion was quite strong in the Union in the 1860s. The United States Christian Commission sent agents into the Army camps to provide psychological support as well as books, newspapers, food and clothing.……

Methodists

Many Northerners had only recently become religious (following the Second Great Awakening) and religion was a powerful force in their lives.……

Unionists in Southern and Border states

People loyal to the U.S. federal government and opposed to secession living in the border states (where slavery was legal) and states under Confederate control, were termed Unionists. Confederates sometimes styled them "Homemade Yankees".……

Guerrilla warfare

Besides organized military conflict, the border states were beset by guerrilla warfare.……

Union states

Washington, D.C.

List of Wikipedia articles on Union states and major cities:

* Border states with slavery in 1861

†Had two state governments, one Unionist one Confederate, both claiming to be the legitimate government of their state.……

Union territories

The Union-controlled territories in April 1861 were: