The election of 1860 was one of the most pivotal moments in the political history of the United States and was one of the direct causes of the American Civil War. It came at a point of crisis, as the question of slavery had reached its boiling point – with the nation fiercely divided between the 'free states' of the North and the slavocracies of the South, the election essentially became a referendum on the intertwined issues of slavery and state sovereignty.
This is a companion discussion topic for the original definition at https://www.worldhistory.org/US_Presidential_Election_of_1860/.
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