Tag: Union

During the American Civil War, the Union was a name used to refer to the federal government of the United States, which was supported by the 20 free states and five border slave states. It was opposed by 11 southern slave states that had declared a secession to join together to form the Confederacy. The Union has often been referred to as “the North”, both then and now.
The term originated in the Perpetual Union of the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union. The Constitution of 1787 opens with, “We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union…do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.” Even before the war started, the phrase “preserve the Union” was commonplace and a “union of states” had been used to refer to the entire United States. Using the term “Union” to apply to the non-secessionist side carried a connotation of legitimacy as the continuation of the pre-existing political entity.
In comparison to the…