Why did Southern leaders fear Abraham Lincoln's election in 1860?

Southern leaders feared the election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860 because they perceived his victory and the rise of the Republican Party as an existential threat to their constitutional rights, social institutions, and economic existence.1

Although the Republican platform did not call for the abolition of slavery where it already existed, the party was firmly opposed to the expansion of slavery into western territories. Southern leaders viewed this opposition as a direct challenge to the long-term security and political power of slaveholding states.23

Following the Dred Scott decision, which had opened all U.S. territories to slavery, many Southerners believed the North was determined to destroy their way of life. Lincoln’s victory, achieved without carrying a single state that would form the Confederacy, reinforced the perception among Southern political leaders that their influence within the federal government had been irretrievably weakened. Consequently, many viewed secession as their only remaining protection.4531