The Northern United States region excludes some northern US states .
This region does not 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 .
Northern United States