The Civil War was a conflict fought to preserve the Union. The north and south had differing economic interests and slavery, abolished in the north remained intake in the south. Each new state to enter the Union had to decide whether it would enter as free or slave. With the election of Abraham Lincoln to the Presidency in 1860 the conflict between the two sides became critical and South Carolina broke from the Union. Other states followed and the Confederate States of America was formed. The result was the Civil War which lasted until 1865, leaving in its wake 600,000 dead soldiers and many wounded.