November 6, 1860: Abraham Lincoln becomes the 16th US President.

You are there: When Lincoln wins the White House with only 39.8% of the popular vote and a promise to ban the expansion of slavery, Southern secession becomes a near certainty.

The build-up to the 1860 election begins back in April at the Democratic Party nominating Convention in Charleston. Before it opens, seven Southern states agree to oppose Stephen A. Douglas for his failure to support both the pro-slavery Lecompton Constitution in Kansas and Jefferson Davis’s call for a congressional bill sanctioning expansion into the west.

When Douglas persists in calling for “popular sovereignty” elections in the territories, the party fractures, with Northern Democrats choosing Douglas and Southern Democrats behind sitting Vice-President, John C. Breckinridge.

Another break-away party – the Constitutional Unionists – forms to prevent a national schism, and it nominates John Bell of Tennessee.

The Republicans then choose Lincoln over Senator William Seward and pass a platform that bans the extension of slavery.

The election that follows comes down to whether or not Lincoln – who is excluded from all ballots in the south — can garner enough Electoral College votes in the north to reach a majority.

Despite winning only 39.8% of the popular vote, Lincoln carries every state in the north except for New Jersey and racks up 180 Electoral Votes vs. the 152 required.

Results of 1860 Presidential Election

But what happens next shocks the new President. Before he can even depart from Springfield for Washington, seven southern states secede and the Confederacy is officially founded, with Jefferson Davis as president.

Lincoln heads to the capital believing that the South is bluffing and that he can still save the Union. He attempts this in his 1_^st Inaugural Address calling upon “the better Angels of our nature” to prevent further conflict.

This hope, however, ends with the April 12, 1861 bombardment of Ft. Sumter. Four long years of warfare follow with some 750,000 deaths, including Lincoln, assassinated on April 12, five days after Lee surrenders at Appomatox.

Events After Lincoln’s 1860 Win