New York Times headlines covering Lincoln's first inauguration on March 4, 1861. Less than six weeks later, on April 12, the South attacked Fort Sumter, launching the American Civil War.[161]
The South was outraged by Lincoln's election, and in response secessionists implemented plans to leave the Union before he took office in March 1861.[162] On December 20, 1860, South Carolina took the lead by adopting an ordinance of secession; by February 1, 1861, Florida, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, and Texas followed.[163] Six of these states declared themselves to be a sovereign nation, the Confederate States of America, and adopted a constitution.[164] The upper South and border states (Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, Missouri, and Arkansas) initially rejected the secessionist appeal.[165] President Buchanan and President-elect Lincoln refused to recognize the Confederacy, declaring secession illegal.[166] The Confederacy selected Jefferson Davis as its provisional president on February 9, 1861.[167]
Attempts at compromise followed but Lincoln and the Republicans rejected the proposed Crittenden Compromise as contrary to the Party's platform of free-soil in the territories.