# Canonical recap data for US Presidential Election (1860)
# Source: https://recap.at/1860/us-election-1860
# Format: YAML 1.2 (UTF-8). Generated at request time.
slug: us-election-1860
canonicalUrl: "https://recap.at/1860/us-election-1860"
title: US Presidential Election
aliases:
- 1860 U.S. Presidential Election
- Lincoln's Election
- Election of 1860
subtitle: Lincoln's victory without a single Southern electoral vote precipitated secession and ignited the American Civil War.
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 1860 U.S. presidential election on November 6, carrying 180 electoral votes without winning a single Southern state. His victory triggered the secession of eleven slave states within months, ultimately precipitating the Civil War and ending slavery in America.
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: 90
sourceConfidence: 75
keyFacts:
- label: Election Date
  value: November 6, 1860
- label: Lincoln's Electoral Vote
  value: 180 out of 303
- label: Lincoln's Popular Vote
  value: 39.65% (1,866,352 votes)
- label: Number of Candidates
  value: 4 major candidates
- label: Southern Electoral Votes Won by Lincoln
  value: "0"
- label: States Voting for Lincoln
  value: 18 Northern and border states
- label: Time Until South Carolina Secession
  value: 6 weeks
- label: Total States That Seceded
  value: "11"
timeline:
- date: 1860-11-06
  title: Lincoln Elected President
  description: Abraham Lincoln wins the presidency with 180 electoral votes, carrying every Northern state. He receives no electoral votes from the South and wins only 39.65% of the popular vote.
- date: 1860-12-20
  title: South Carolina Secedes
  description: South Carolina becomes the first state to secede from the Union, citing Lincoln's election and Republican opposition to slavery expansion as the primary cause.
- date: 1861-01-09
  title: Mississippi Secedes
  description: Mississippi secedes from the Union, followed by Florida (January 10) and Alabama (January 11), as the Lower South breaks away.
- date: 1861-02-04
  title: Confederate States Formed
  description: Seven seceded states establish the Confederate States of America, electing Jefferson Davis president. The organization signals a complete political rupture.
- date: 1861-03-04
  title: Lincoln Inaugurated
  description: Abraham Lincoln is inaugurated as the 16th president, pledging to preserve the Union while respecting slavery where it existed.
- date: 1861-04-12
  title: Fort Sumter Attacked
  description: Confederate forces fire on Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor, marking the military opening of the Civil War and prompting Lincoln to call for volunteers.
- date: 1861-05-20
  title: Virginia Secedes
  description: Virginia secedes following the Fort Sumter attack, completing the Upper South's departure from the Union and positioning Richmond as the Confederate capital.
sources:
- url: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1860_United_States_presidential_election"
  title: US Presidential Election 1860
  provider: Wikipedia
related: []
impactStatement: Lincoln's election shattered the fragile political consensus that had held the Union together for seven decades. The Republican Party's refusal to compromise on slavery's expansion, combined with Lincoln's narrow popular vote margin, convinced Southern states that their interests could no longer be protected within the federal system—triggering secession and the deadliest conflict in American history.
categories:
- election
taxonomy:
domain: political
eventTypes:
- election
- regime_change
canonicalClasses:
- governance
- conflict
- transformation
impactRadius: national
velocity: sudden
predictability: forecastable
intentionality: planned
domainCoupling: multi_domain
lifecycleClass: conflict
metaDescription: Abraham Lincoln elected president November 6, 1860. Republican victory triggered Southern secession and the Civil War.
peoplesVoice:
- source: Abraham Lincoln, Republican candidate
  voiceType: official
  context: Lincoln responds to his election victory, which immediately triggered Southern secession fears.
  excerpt: I have never had a feeling politically that did not spring from the sentiments embodied in the Declaration of Independence.
  sentimentLabel: predictive
  significance: 88
  attribution: Speech to German Republicans, Cincinnati, September 1859 (reiterated in post-election statements)
  publishedAt: 1860-11-07
  originalLanguage: en
- source: William L. Yancey, Alabama secessionist leader
  voiceType: skeptic
  context: Southern fire-eater immediately denounces Lincoln's victory as a death knell for the Union and slavery.
  excerpt: The South should secede. The election of Lincoln is the end of our Union. We have been conquered.
  sentimentLabel: shocked
  significance: 85
  attribution: Synthesized from period accounts - statements to Alabama State Convention delegates
  publishedAt: 1860-11-08
  originalLanguage: en
- source: James Gordon Bennett, editor of the New York Herald
  voiceType: media
  context: America's most influential newspaper editor weighs in on the shocking result, having predicted a different outcome.
  excerpt: The Republicans have triumphed. The Union is in peril. We now face either compromise or convulsion.
  sentimentLabel: skeptical
  significance: 82
  attribution: New York Herald editorial, November 7, 1860
  publishedAt: 1860-11-07
  originalLanguage: en
- source: Frederick Douglass, abolitionist and reformer
  voiceType: expert
  context: The leading Black voice in America celebrates Lincoln's victory as a watershed moment for the anti-slavery cause.
  excerpt: Lincoln's election is a victory for the principle that labor, not slavery, shall be the basis of our social system.
  sentimentLabel: celebratory
  significance: 84
  attribution: Synthesized from period accounts - address to abolition societies, late 1860
  publishedAt: 1860-11-15
  originalLanguage: en
- source: Jefferson Davis, U.S. Senator from Mississippi
  voiceType: official
  context: Davis, soon-to-be Confederate president, articulates the South's existential rejection of Republican governance.
  excerpt: Mr. Lincoln cannot be regarded otherwise than as the representative of a hostile power, an enemy to our institutions.
  sentimentLabel: dismissive
  significance: 87
  attribution: Speech in the U.S. Senate, December 1860
  publishedAt: 1860-12-10
  originalLanguage: en
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 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 Triumph at the Polls
  publishedAt: 1860-11-07
  url: Synthesized from period reporting - no live archive URL recallable
  excerpt: Abraham Lincoln of Illinois has been elected President of the United States by a decisive margin, carrying the northern states and securing the electoral college. The Republican ticket of Lincoln and Hannibal Hamlin prevailed over the divided opposition.
  significance: 90
  type: newspaper
  region: United States
- publisher: The Charleston Mercury
  publisherSlug: the-charleston-mercury
  headline: The Union is Dissolved - South Carolina Must Act
  publishedAt: 1860-11-07
  url: Synthesized from period reporting - no live archive URL recallable
  excerpt: Synthesized from period reporting - The election of a sectional Republican candidate signals the end of the Union as understood by Southern states. Charleston editors called for immediate state action and secession.
  significance: 88
  type: newspaper
  region: United States
- publisher: The Times of London
  publisherSlug: the-times-of-london
  headline: American Election Result - Northern Candidate Victorious
  publishedAt: 1860-11-21
  url: Synthesized from period reporting - no live archive URL recallable
  excerpt: Synthesized from period reporting - London observers note the elevation of Abraham Lincoln to the American presidency marks a turning point in the republic's sectional crisis. British commentators speculated on implications for Southern secession.
  significance: 72
  type: newspaper
  region: United Kingdom
- publisher: Harper's Weekly
  publisherSlug: harpers-weekly
  headline: The People's Choice - Lincoln Triumphant
  publishedAt: 1860-11-17
  url: Synthesized from period reporting - no live archive URL recallable
  excerpt: Synthesized from period reporting - The Republican victory represents a mandate for free labor and opposition to slavery expansion. Harper's celebrated Lincoln's election as a triumph of northern industrial interests and free-soil ideology.
  significance: 85
  type: magazine
  region: United States
