This article is for quizzes on Tuesday January 3rd...
During the
American Civil War (1861–1865), the
Union referred to the
United States of America and specifically to the national government of president
Abraham Lincoln and the 23
free states and 5
border states that supported it. The Union was opposed by 11
southern slave
states that formed the
Confederate States, or "the Confederacy."
All of the Union's states provided soldiers for the U.S. Army; the border areas also sent large numbers of soldiers to the Confederacy. The Border states played a major role as a supply base for the Union invasion of the Confederacy. The Northeast provided the industrial resources for a mechanized war producing large quantities of munitions and supplies, as well as financing for the war. The Midwest provided soldiers, food, horses, financial support, and training camps. Army hospitals were set up across the Union. Most states had Republican governors who energetically supported the war effort and suppressed anti-war subversion in 1863–64. The Democratic Party strongly supported the war in 1861 but in 1862 was split between the War Democrats and the anti-war element led by the "Copperheads." The Democrats made major electoral gains in 1862 in state elections, most notably in New York. They lost ground in 1863, especially in Ohio. In 1864 the Republicans campaigned under the
National Union Party banner, which attracted many War Democrats and soldiers and scored a landslide victory for
Lincoln and his entire ticket.
Northern sympathizers living in the south were known as
"Copperheads."
