The Republican Party held majority presences in both the House of Representatives and the Senate, which meant that when Lincoln was elected, the northern states(which were typically Republican) could impose on the South whatever the hell they wanted. South is annoyed at this because the North is pushing to stop the [b]expansion[/b] of slavery westward. South gets tired of the North's shit, says "fuq dis im outee 5000" and seven states had seceded between the time Lincoln won the election and his inauguration.