November 6, 1860 - Abraham Lincoln is elected President, the first Republican. He received 180 0f 303 possible electoral votes, and 40% of the popular vote. He is quoted as saying: "I believe this government cannot endure permanently half slave, half free." November 22, 1860 - Abbeville South Carolina, the birthplace and deathbed of the Confederacy. On Nov. 22, 1860, a meeting took place here to launch South Carolina's secession from the Union. One month later, S.C. became the first State to secede. That the Confederacy died in Abbeville, S.C. is by mere happenstance. After Richmond fell in April of 1865, Jefferson Davis and his government fled south, stopping along the way at the mansion of his friend Armistead Burt in Abbeville, S.C. On May 2, 1865, in the front parlor, Davis reluctantly agreed to give up the fight and dissolve the government. The monument to the right sits in the Abbeville town square, and is dedicated to the Confederate State of America - CSA. Abbeville is a charming little town. The town's square remains virtually untouched since the 1860's, and displays several monuments. Another piece of trivia about Abbeville - it was the Iowa "town square" in the movie - "Sleeping with the Enemy" - with Julia Roberts. December 20, 1860 - South Carolina secedes from the Union. Followed by Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Texas, and Louisiana two months later.