Northern United States

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Regional definitions vary from source to source. The states shown in dark red are usually included, while all or portions of the striped states may or may not be considered part of the Northern United States.

The Northern United States or simply The North, is a region in the United States of America.

This region does contain all of the states in the northern half of the country, but instead, for historical reasons (mainly involving the American Civil War), the Northern states are only those which lie in the northern half of the country east of the Missouri River (Those states in the northern portion of the West are referred to as the Pacific Northwest, those states which lie in the northern reaches of the middle of the country, beyond the Upper Midwest, are the Great Plains or Intermountain states).

The states of the North are, from east to west: Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania, , Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, and Kansas.

West Virginia, Kentucky, Maryland, Virginia, and Missouri, are border states (striped on the map) which have divided loyalties between North and South. Occasionally the loyalties vary greatly within the state, for example, people from northern Missouri consider themselves Northern, people from southern Missouri consider themselves Southern. Self-identification may be based on life style as well. Those living in urban areas of Maryland and Virginia (see Northern Virginia) usually think of themselves as part of the BosWash, an amalgam of Northeast cities and suburbs.

The midwest region of the Northern United States consists of Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan, Iowa, Missouri, and Ohio.

In the Civil War, the Northern United States fought the Southern United States for control of the country. The Northern side fought as the Union and the conflict was precipitated mainly by president Lincoln's policies about slaverly and how the South thought it really needed slaves to live so the southern states seceded to form the Confederate states of america which was struggling to gain legitimacy by foreign nations during the war so they could govern themselves. The Union won the war before the Confederacy could gain legitimacy from foreign powers and the North abolished slavery throughout the whole United States.