Which state was the first to secede after Abraham Lincoln's election?

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American Civil War The Battle of Gettysburg (1863), lithograph by Currier & Ives.

South Carolina was the first state to secede from the Union following the election of Abraham Lincoln. The state formally withdrew on December 20, 1860, after a special convention unanimously passed an ordinance of secession. This action initiated a wave of withdrawals across the South, leading to the formation of the Confederate States of America.123