The sixth of November 1860 saw extraordinary scenes in Springfield, Illinois. It was election day, the greatest election day in the history of the United States if by that we mean the one that produced the most important result in the nation’s history. As the votes were counted across the nation and the news was telegraphed to Springfield, it became apparent that the Republican candidate, and the town’s favourite son, Abraham Lincoln, was going to become the next president of the United States. Men and women alike displayed their elation visibly. Crowds cheered wildly, hats were thrown into the air and bands played. Cannon were fired and the celebrations went on into the night. Many understood that they were living through a decisive moment in the history of the Republic.

They were right, though in fact Lincoln’s victory, as we have noted, was a modest one in that he polled only a minority of the votes cast and, as we have also noted, a particularly lopsided one in that he obtained not a single electoral vote from the fifteen slave states. Aware of the hatred with which so many southerners viewed Lincoln and his party, a minority of northerners refrained from celebrating and looked anxiously towards the South. How would her leaders react? In one very narrow sense the result was uncontroversial. Like the residents of Springfield all southerners now recognised that Lincoln would occupy the White House from March 1861.