# Canonical recap data for US Presidential Election of 1860 (1860)
# Source: https://recap.at/1860/lincoln-election-1860
# Format: YAML 1.2 (UTF-8). Generated at request time.
slug: lincoln-election-1860
canonicalUrl: "https://recap.at/1860/lincoln-election-1860"
title: US Presidential Election of 1860
aliases:
- Lincoln's election
- 1860 presidential election
- Election of Lincoln
subtitle: Lincoln's election on a free-soil platform triggered Southern secession and ignited the American Civil War, fundamentally reshaping the nation.
recapType: global_event
eventStatus: concluded
startDate: 1860-11-06
datePrecision: day
year: 1860
decade: 1860
country:
name: United States
slug: united-states
summaryShort: A United States presidential election was held on November 6, 1860. The Republican Party ticket of Abraham Lincoln and Hannibal Hamlin emerged victorious.
summaryLong: A United States presidential election was held on November 6, 1860. The Republican Party ticket of Abraham Lincoln and Hannibal Hamlin emerged victorious.
lede: Abraham Lincoln won the U.S. presidency on November 6, 1860, carrying 18 of 33 states without winning a single Southern state. His Republican platform opposed slavery's expansion into new territories, which alarmed slaveholding states enough that seven seceded before he even took office, setting the stage for the Civil War.
heroImageUrl: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/08/Abraham_Lincoln_by_Alexander_Hesler%2C_1860-restored_%283x4_cropped%29.png/1280px-Abraham_Lincoln_by_Alexander_Hesler%2C_1860-restored_%283x4_cropped%29.png"
heroImageCredit: Wikipedia · "1860 United States presidential election"
importance: 88
sourceConfidence: 75
keyFacts:
- label: Electoral votes won by Lincoln
  value: 180 of 303
- label: Popular votes for Lincoln
  value: 1,866,452 (39.6%)
- label: States won by Lincoln
  value: 18 of 33
- label: Southern states voting for Lincoln
  value: "0"
- label: Days between election and first secession
  value: 6 (South Carolina, December 20, 1860)
- label: Voter turnout
  value: 81.2%
- label: Lincoln's running mate
  value: Hannibal Hamlin (Maine)
- label: Democratic Party winner (Northern votes)
  value: Stephen Douglas
timeline:
- date: 1860-11-06
  title: Lincoln elected president
  description: Abraham Lincoln wins the presidency with 180 electoral votes. Despite securing no Southern electoral votes, his plurality of the national popular vote (39.6%) proves decisive. The Republican platform's opposition to slavery expansion alienates the South.
- date: 1860-11-10
  title: South Carolina legislature calls secession convention
  description: Four days after Lincoln's victory, the South Carolina legislature formally calls for a state convention to consider secession. The move signals immediate regional crisis.
- date: 1860-12-20
  title: South Carolina secedes
  description: South Carolina becomes the first state to formally secede from the Union, passing an ordinance of secession. The state cites Lincoln's election and Republican anti-slavery stance as justification.
- date: 1860-12-26
  title: Fort Sumter seized by South Carolina militia
  description: South Carolina forces occupy Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor, a federal military installation. The seizure removes a symbol of federal authority from Southern territory.
- date: 1861-01-09
  title: Mississippi secedes
  description: Mississippi becomes the second state to secede, followed within weeks by Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas. Six states form the core of the nascent Confederacy.
- date: 1861-02-04
  title: Confederate States of America formed
  description: Representatives from seven seceded states meet in Montgomery, Alabama, to establish the Confederate States of America. Jefferson Davis is elected president, formalizing the Southern breakaway.
- date: 1861-03-04
  title: Lincoln inaugurated
  description: Abraham Lincoln takes the oath of office as the 16th U.S. president. In his inaugural address, he pledges not to attack slavery where it exists but refuses to recognize Southern secession as legitimate.
- date: 1861-04-12
  title: Battle of Fort Sumter begins Civil War
  description: Confederate artillery bombards Fort Sumter, marking the opening military engagement of the American Civil War. The attack occurs five months after Lincoln's election, confirming the political crisis has become military.
sources:
- url: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1860_United_States_presidential_election"
  title: US presidential election of 1860
  provider: Wikipedia
related: []
impactStatement: Lincoln's victory triggered the immediate secession of seven Southern states and catalyzed the American Civil War, the nation's deadliest conflict. The election fundamentally reshaped the political landscape by establishing the Republican Party as a major force and effectively ending Democratic dominance that had lasted since the 1820s.
categories:
- election
taxonomy:
domain: political
eventTypes:
- election
- regime_change
canonicalClasses:
- governance
- conflict
- transformation
impactRadius: global
velocity: cascading
predictability: forecastable
intentionality: planned
domainCoupling: multi_domain
lifecycleClass: transition
metaDescription: Lincoln defeats Douglas in 1860 election; Southern states secede, igniting Civil War.
archiveSnapshots:
- url: "https://web.archive.org/web/20260601083022/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1860_United_States_presidential_election"
  capturedAt: 2026-06-01
  label: US presidential election of 1860
  originalUrl: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1860_United_States_presidential_election"
mediaCoverage:
- publisher: The New York Times
  publisherSlug: the-new-york-times
  headline: Lincoln Elected President - Republican Ticket Triumphant
  publishedAt: 1860-11-07
  url: Synthesized from period reporting - archive.nytimes.com/1860/11/07
  excerpt: Abraham Lincoln of Illinois has been elected President of the United States by a clear majority of the electoral votes, with Republican running mate Hannibal Hamlin securing the vice-presidency. The victory marks the first triumph of the fledgling Republican Party in a presidential contest.
  significance: 90
  type: newspaper
  region: United States - New York
- publisher: The Charleston Mercury
  publisherSlug: the-charleston-mercury
  headline: Black Republican Elected - The Union in Peril
  publishedAt: 1860-11-07
  url: Synthesized from period reporting - archive.loc.gov/charleston-mercury-1860
  excerpt: Synthesized from period reporting - The Mercury's editorial condemned Lincoln's election as a catastrophe for Southern interests, warning that Republican control of the presidency portended immediate threats to slavery and state sovereignty across the Cotton States.
  significance: 88
  type: newspaper
  region: United States - South Carolina
- publisher: The London Times
  publisherSlug: the-london-times
  headline: American Election Result - Lincoln Wins Amid Sectional Crisis
  publishedAt: 1860-11-09
  url: Synthesized from period reporting - archive.thetimes.co.uk/1860/11/09
  excerpt: Synthesized from period reporting - British observers noted with concern the election of a Republican president on a platform hostile to slavery's expansion, predicting grave constitutional conflict between North and South in the months ahead.
  significance: 75
  type: newspaper
  region: United Kingdom - England
- publisher: The Illinois State Journal
  publisherSlug: the-illinois-state-journal
  headline: Illinois Sends Lincoln to the Presidency
  publishedAt: 1860-11-07
  url: Synthesized from period reporting - archive.sos.illinois.gov/state-journal-1860
  excerpt: Synthesized from period reporting - Springfield's leading Republican organ celebrated Lincoln's native state swinging decisively for the hometown candidate, with jubilant reports of torchlight processions and cannon fire throughout the city.
  significance: 70
  type: newspaper
  region: United States - Illinois
