Crisis - 1861 - The Secession Winter
In the Northern Hemisphere, winter begins on December 21. In the United States, presidential elections are held every four years. In 1860, on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November that year, Americans cast votes that would result in an electoral win for Abraham Lincoln. The very thought of this Ilinois Republican holding power over the South inspired South Carolina to openly secede on December 20, the day before the start of winter. Five more states would secede in January, and Texas would secede on February 1, 1861.
In the Northern Hemisphere, winter begins on December 21. In the United States, presidential elections are held every four years. In 1860, on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November that year, Americans cast votes that would result in an electoral win for Abraham Lincoln. The very thought of this Ilinois Republican holding power over the South inspired South Carolina to openly secede on December 20, the day before the start of winter. Five more states would secede in January, and Texas would secede on February 1, 1861.
The decision to secede wasn't sudden. The Republican Party had risen from the ashes of the Whig party, drawing together diverse interests with the unifying principle of ending the extension of slavery. (Not its abolition, at least not initially, although it was regarded as an abolitionist party by at least some in the South.) That the party hadn't existed 8 short years before - that it had won the presidency on only the second such election in which it had existed - showed that there was a strong interest in such a party.
In half of the country, anyway.
While easily winning the Electoral College, Lincoln had only received 40% of the popular vote countrywide - and practically none in the South. Opposing slavery in new territories and states, it was clear, meant that the slave states would become a less powerful bloc as they become more of a minority. The success of Lincoln and the Republican Party made obvious to the southern states that this result was inevitable, as long as they were part of the United States.
In half of the country, anyway.
While easily winning the Electoral College, Lincoln had only received 40% of the popular vote countrywide - and practically none in the South. Opposing slavery in new territories and states, it was clear, meant that the slave states would become a less powerful bloc as they become more of a minority. The success of Lincoln and the Republican Party made obvious to the southern states that this result was inevitable, as long as they were part of the United States.
At the time, the oath of office was not given until the start of spring - March 25. After South Carolina's secession, the sitting president, James Buchanan, still had nearly 3 full months to take action. The seizure of eleven federal forts and arsenals would have been reasonable grounds for a military response. What he did, though, was...nothing. As more states seceded, he continued to do nothing, eventually leaving Lincoln with a sundered country and no Federal response. The American Civil War would begin in April at Fort Sumter, and would last through Lincoln's presidency, past his re-election and second inauguration. Four long years of war.
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