The election of 1860 (C) was Lincoln's election, which led to the secession of southern states and the beginning of the Civil War.
The U.S. was already divided over questions like the extension of slavery. Whereas the previous Democratic presidents, James Buchanan and Franklin Pierce, defended the interests of southern slaveowners, the Republicans had risen as the main opposition party. In order to avoid secession, the Republican Party saw in Abraham Lincoln a nominee who could offer not to interfere with slavery where it already was in place, but would oppose to extend it further into the territories.
Lincoln's victory triggered declarations of secession by South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas during the winter of 1860-61. These states, fearing that the institution of slavery would be endangered, then became the Confederate States of America.
