Exploring the most important 55 months in American history
Delegates to the Convention of the People of South Carolina, in reaction to the election of a northern Republican president, unanimously approve an ordinance to secede from the United States and form the Palmetto Republic.
Senator John J. Crittenden introduces a complex program designed to end the sectional crisis and preserve the Union. This plan is opposed by President-elect Abraham Lincoln, who refuses any compromise that might allow slavery to expand into the new territories.
President-elect Abraham Lincoln tries to reach out to influential southerners to find some sort of rapidly vanishing middle ground in the unfolding sectional crisis.
President-elect Abraham Lincoln meets with influential Congressman Francis P. Blair, Jr. and publishes an editorial about possibly bringing a southerner into his cabinet.
Treasury Secretary Howell Cobb becomes the first member of President James Buchanan’s cabinet to resign over the sectional crisis. He would not be the last.
Illinois electors certify Abraham Lincoln’s election as president. Lincoln continues receiving callers, answering mail, looking for cabinet appointees, and downplaying the southern threat of secession. He also considers nominating a political rival to the highest job within his administration.