Abraham Lincoln was elected the 16th president of the United States on 6 November 1860, becoming the first Republican to win the office. His victory came after a four-way contest dominated by the question of whether slavery should expand into new US territories. Within six weeks, South Carolina had voted to leave the Union.
A divided electorate
Lincoln, a former congressman from Illinois, campaigned on a Republican platform that opposed extending slavery into federal territories. The Democrats split along sectional lines, with northern Democrats nominating Stephen A. Douglas and southern Democrats backing John C. Breckinridge. John Bell of Tennessee stood for the Constitutional Union Party, which sought to preserve the Union while avoiding a firm position on slavery.
Lincoln secured just under 40 per cent of the popular vote but won 180 of the 303 electoral votes, comfortably above the 152 needed for victory. His support was concentrated in the free states. Douglas finished second in the popular vote but won only 12 electoral votes, while Breckinridge took 72 and Bell 39. The result showed how differently the country’s regions had voted and how decisively those differences shaped the Electoral College.
From election to secession
South Carolina seceded on 20 December 1860. Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana and Texas followed before Lincoln took office on 4 March 1861. The seceding states began organising the Confederate States of America in Montgomery, Alabama, while James Buchanan was still president.
In his inaugural address, Lincoln said he had no intention of interfering with slavery where it already existed and rejected the claim that states could leave the Union on their own. On 12 April, Confederate forces opened fire on Fort Sumter, a federal garrison in Charleston Harbour. The bombardment marked the start of the American Civil War, just over five months after voters went to the polls.
NewsHub Finance | History | 6 November 2026
Abraham Lincoln was elected the 16th president of the United States on 6 November 1860, becoming the first Republican to win the office. His victory came after a four-way contest dominated by the question of whether slavery should expand into new US territories. Within six weeks, South Carolina had voted to leave the Union.
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