Union (American Civil War) facts for kids

Map of the division of the states during the Civil War. Blue represents Union states, including those admitted during the war; light blue represents Union states which permitted slavery (border states). Red shows Confederate states. Unshaded areas were not states before or during the Civil War.

During the American Civil War, the Union was the name for the United States government and the states that supported it. These states were loyal to the central government. They were fighting against the Confederacy, which was made up of 11 Southern states. These Southern states had left the Union because of disagreements, mainly over slavery.

The Union was made up of twenty "free states" where slavery was not allowed. It also included five "border states" where slavery was still permitted but they chose to stay with the Union. People often called the Union "the North" during the war and even today. The Union states generally had more factories and more money than the Southern states.

States of the Union

The Union included states from different parts of the country. These included states on the West Coast like California, Oregon, and later Nevada. It also included states in what was then called the "Old Northwest," which we now mostly know as the Midwest.

The states that were part of the Union were:

Why the Union Fought

The main goal of the Union at the start of the war was to keep the United States together. President Abraham Lincoln believed that no state had the right to leave the Union. As the war continued, another major goal became ending slavery. Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863. This document declared that enslaved people in the Confederate states were free.

Union Advantages

The Union had several big advantages over the Confederacy. These included:

• More People: The Union had a much larger population. This meant they had more soldiers to fight in the Union Army.
• More Factories: The Union had many more factories. These factories could produce weapons, uniforms, and other supplies needed for the war.
• Better Transportation: The Union had more railroads and better ways to move soldiers and supplies.
• Stronger Economy: The Union had a stronger economy and more money to pay for the war.

These advantages helped the Union win the war. They were able to keep fighting and replace their losses.

Related pages

• Union Army

Images for kids

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  Charleston Mercury Secession Broadside, 1860—"The Union" had been a way to refer to the American Republic.

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  The Union had large advantages in men and resources at the start of the war, and the ratio grew steadily in favor of the Union. In the chart, "cauc men" means white men (Caucasian).

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  Anti-Lincoln Copperhead pamphlet from 1864

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  Lincoln met with his Cabinet for the first reading of the Emancipation Proclamation draft on July 22, 1862.

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  Union soldiers on the Mason's Island (Theodore Roosevelt Island), 1861

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  Union soldiers before Marye's Heights, Fredericksburg, May 1863

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  Soldiers of the Fourth United States Colored Infantry at Fort Lincoln, 1865

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  Field hospital after the Battle of Savage's Station (1862)

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  1862 Greenbacks

See also

In Spanish: Unión (guerra de Secesión) para niños