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Lincoln's election was the final straw for the south, and South Carolina seceded directly after. Sectionalism between the North and the South had been growing as compromises continued failing, such as the Compromise of 1850 and the Kansas-Nebraska Act. The North and the South had separate political parties. The Northern parties, which included Free Soilers and the Liberty Party, joined together and created the Republican Party, and chose Lincoln as the running candidate. The South had many different parties, so the votes in the South were spread out through many different candidates, but there were few Northern parties, so Lincoln received most of the Northern votes. The South believed that Lincoln becoming president was unconstitutional because he received the plurality of the votes and not the majority. This caused a sharp increase in Sectionalism over the issue of states' rights. South Carolina was the first state to secede, and the others followed suit. This was the breaking point for the country and the beginning of the Civil War.

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16y ago

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