Existing comment:
The Country Divided:
On November 6, 1860, Abraham Lincoln was elected president of the United States on a platform that called for the restriction of slavery to states in which it already existed. He did not win a single electoral vote in states south of the Ohio River. Even at home, the new president was less popular politically that personally. Lincoln split Sangamon County evenly with Stephen A. Douglas, but lost Menard County, the home of many old New Salem friends.
The election of a Republican president resulted in a number of southern states declaring an end to their connection with the United States and the formation of a new Confederate States of America. Efforts to compromise the issues of slavery and reunion failed, and war began on April 12, 1861. |