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How Lincoln's 1860 Election Sparked the Civil War

By: Richard Carwardine
Originally Published in  
HistoryExtra
Illustration of Abraham Lincoln speaking to a massive crowd
© Getty
Vocabulary

Republican Party (noun): A political party that opposed the spread of slavery in the 1800s.

Confederacy (noun): The group of Southern states that left the U.S. during the Civil War.

In 1860, Abraham Lincoln won the U.S. presidential election during a time when the country was deeply divided over slavery. The North, where most people were against slavery spreading, supported Lincoln and his new political group, the Republican Party. The South, however, wanted to protect slavery, especially as it helped their farming economy.

Lincoln’s election and Southern fears

Lincoln wasn’t even on the ballot in many Southern states. Still, he won the election by getting more votes in the North, where most people lived. His victory made many in the South feel threatened. They believed he would try to end slavery entirely, even though Lincoln said he only wanted to stop it from spreading.

Southern states secede

Soon after the election, South Carolina and other Southern states began to leave the United States, forming their own group called the Confederacy. They said they had the right to leave because the federal government no longer represented them. The current president, James Buchanan, didn’t take strong action to stop them. When Lincoln became president in March 1861, the country was already falling apart.

The start of the Civil War

This division led to the American Civil War — a conflict between the North and South about slavery, states’ rights, and what kind of country the United States would be.

© Richard Carwardine / www.historyextra.com