Although in Lincoln’s inaugural address in March he specifically stated that “he had no intention of doing away with slavery where it now exists, and that any war would be the product of southern actions.” So although Lincoln tried to reassure them that he wouldn’t get rid of slavery where it was already established, they went through with their threat and in December of 1860, “South Carolina [was] the first state to secede.” And they weren’t the only one, later on in February of 1861: Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Texas and Louisiana left too. And once the fighting began, “Arkansas, tennessee, North Carolina and Virginia left.” So as one can infer, the election of 1860 is considered a cause of the civil war because many did not want Lincoln to win in the first place, and caused them to be angry and lash out, even though Lincoln wasn’t a threat to already occurring