Auto-populated for major-events coverage; editorial review welcome.

← Timeline

1860

institutional policy

Lincoln's Election and Southern Secession

Charleston, South Carolina, SC · On map

Lincoln's Election and Southern Secession
Lincoln's Election and Southern Secession

Abraham Lincoln won the 1860 election on a platform of halting the expansion of slavery, which prompted immediate Southern responses[6]. Shortly after the election, slave states began seceding to form the Confederacy, with South Carolina being the first to secede in December 1860[6]. This chain of events directly led to the Civil War beginning when Confederate forces attacked Fort Sumter, marking the culmination of decades of conflict over slavery expansion.

Slavery & emancipation

Primary sources & references

Links, uploads, and classroom context notes.