Northern United States | |
|---|---|
Region | |
 Historically, especially in the time theAmerican Civil War the states in red were known as "the North"; settlement expansion to the per left) extended the Northern United States all along theCanada–United States border. | |
| Country | United States |
| States | Connecticut Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Maine Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota New Hampshire New Jersey New York Ohio Pennsylvania Rhode Island Vermont Wisconsin Missouri Nebraska North Dakota South Dakota |
| Subregions | Northeastern United States Midwestern United States |
| Area | |
• Total | 625,897.06 sq mi (1,621,065.9 km2) |
| • Land | 540,298.08 sq mi (1,399,365.6 km2) |
| Population | |
• Total | 111,736,936 |
| • Density | 206.80609/sq mi (79.848280/km2) |
| Demonym | Northerner |
TheNorthern United States, commonly referred to as theAmerican North, theNorthern States, or simplythe North, is a geographical and historical region of the United States.
Before the 19th century westward expansion, the "Northern United States" corresponded to the present dayNew England region. By the 1830s it corresponded to the present dayNortheast andGreat Lakes region.
Before 1865, the North was distinguished from theSouth on the issue ofslavery. In Southern states, slavery was legal until the ratification of the13th Amendment in 1865. Northern states had all passed some form of legislation to abolish slavery by 1804. However, abolition did not mean freedom for some existing slaves. Due to gradual abolition laws, slaves would still appear in some Northern states as far as the1840 United States census.[4]New Jersey was the last Northern state to end slavery when the 13th Amendment was ratified in 1865, when the 15 elderly slaves that had not been freed by its gradual abolition law were freed.[5]
During theAmerican Civil War (1861–1865), the Northern states comprised the U.S. states that supported the United States of America, referred to as theUnion. In this context, "the North" is synonymous with the Union, while "the South" refers to the states that seceded from the U.S. to form theConfederate States of America.
There is, however, some historical disagreement as to exactly which states comprised the North in the context of the Civil War as fiveslave-holding states largely remained with the Union: the southernborder states ofMissouri,Kentucky,West Virginia,Maryland, andDelaware, along with the disputedIndian Territory, thoughMissouri andKentucky had dual competing Confederate and Unionist governments with theConfederate government of Kentucky and theConfederate government of Missouri and the Confederacy controlled more than half of Kentucky and the southern portion of Missouri early in the war. The Confederacy largely lost control in both states after 1862; depending on the source, some of these states and territories may be included in either region.[6]
Geographically, the term includes the U.S. states andregions of the United States of America that are located across the northernmost part of the country. It includes states along theCanada–United States border.
TheUnited States Census Bureau divides some of the northernmost United States into theMidwest Region and theNortheast Region.[7] The U.S. Census Bureau also includes the northernmost states of theNorthwest, that are within theWest Region.[7]
Among the larger cities by population in the Northern United States are: New York City, Chicago,Philadelphia,Boston,Pittsburgh,Columbus,Indianapolis,Cleveland,Cincinnati,Omaha,St. Louis,Minneapolis,Kansas City,St. Paul,Wichita,Buffalo,Milwaukee, Detroit, andDes Moines.
The Northern United States also comprises most of theNortheast megalopolis, which is the most populated and urbanizedmegalopolis in the United States. TheGreat Lakes megalopolis is also located in the Northern United States, largely in theGreat Lakes region andMidwest.
The Northern United States has ahumid continental climate. Most of the Northern states have warm to hot summers and significant snowfall during the winter.
