Civil+war+Marcus+M.

The United States presidential election of 1860 set the stage for the American Civil War. The nation had been divided throughout most of the 1850s because of issues with states' rights and slavery in the territories. In 1860 this issue was finally resolved, fracturing the previously dominant Democratic Party into Southern and Northern sides and bringing Abraham Lincoln and the Republican Party to power without the support of any Southern states.

Barely a month after Lincoln's victory were declarations of secession by South Carolina and other states, which were rejected by the President at the time, James Buchanan and President-elect Abraham Lincoln.