On this day, November the 6th, in the year of 1860, Abraham Lincoln (Republican) was elected as the sixteenth President of the United States of America over Stephen Douglas (Democrat), John C. Breckinridge (D), and John Bell (Constitutional Union).

Being one the most contentious and influential elections in the history of the United States, it plunged the nation into Civil War.

Most southerners saw Abraham Lincoln as a threat to there way of life, as he was opposed slavery, and while all southerns didnt have slaves, most of them supported the practice.

Due to this, many Southern states didn’t have Lincoln on the ballot, though Lincoln would still win the election with 180 electoral votes, compared to Breckinridge’s 72, Bell’s 39, and Douglas’s 12. 

Lincoln also won the popular vote (270toWin).

This result was a final straw in the rising differences between the Northern and Southern states, causing Southern states to leave the Union, forming the Confederacy, causing the Civil War (History) (Britannica).