Northern United States
The Northern United States can be a geographic and/or historical term and definition.
Contents
Geographic term
Geographically, the term includes the U.S. states and regions of the United States that are located across the northernmost part of the country. It includes, but is not limited to, states along the Canada–United States border.
Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau divides much of the Northern United States into the Midwest Region and the Northeast Region.[1] The Census Bureau also includes the northernmost states of the Northwestern United States, that are, within the West Region.[1]
Historical term
Before westward expansion, the "Northern United States" corresponded to the Northeastern United States, that is, the states above the Mason–Dixon line. By the time of Bleeding Kansas and the dawn of the American Civil War, it referred to all the free states in the Union, be they in New England, the Mid-Atlantic, and the Midwest, which had been settled by people from the other two. The term Yankee also became more and more used by residents of the Southern United States to refer to all Northerners in general, despite originally referring to just people in New England.
American Civil War
During the American Civil War, the Northern United States was composed of the U.S. states that remained in the United States of America, the Union states. In this context, "The North" is synonymous with the Union. In this context, "The South" is composed of the states that seceded from the U.S. to form the Confederate States of America. However, which states comprised "The North" in this context can be the subject of historical disagreement. The slave-holding border states that remained in the Union, including Maryland below the Mason–Dixon line, may be excluded due to being culturally 'southern'.[2]
See also
- Northern Tier (United States)
- Yankee
- Free States (United States)
- Flora of the Northern United States
- Southern United States
- Southeastern United States
