Border States (union): Which state was a border state that remained in the Union during the Civil War?

• A. Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana
• B. New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio
• C. Missouri, Kentucky, Maryland, Delaware
• D. Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, Nevada

Answer: (C)

Border states were slaveholding states that stayed loyal to the Union while located at the edge of the Confederacy. Keeping these states in the Union mattered because they controlled important routes and resources near the fighting, like rivers and rail lines, and helped protect the capital.

Missouri, Kentucky, Maryland, and Delaware fit this idea: they had slavery but did not secede, so they remained in the Union.

Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana joined the Confederacy and left the Union. The states listed in the North—New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio—were Union states but not border states. The western territories—Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, Nevada—were not border states in this context.