 Lincoln was elected president on November 6, 1860, and the following month Booth drafted a long speech, apparently undelivered, that decried Northern abolitionism and made clear his strong support of the South and the institution of slavery.On April 12, 1861, the Civil War began, and eventually 11 Southern states seceded from the Union.In Booth's native Maryland, some of the slaveholding portion of the population favored joining the Confederate States of America.