Answer:
The US elections of 1860, one year before the civil war.
Explanation:
Letter to the editor,
Dear sir,
Never before in the history of this once proud and united country have elections divided this country in two. As the Democratic Party´s disagreement over the oficial party policy on slavery very clearly shows (with a Southern Democratic candidate and a 'normal' Democratic one), the deeply felt ideological split between the Northern and the Southern States has now, although Abraham Lincoln is chosen as the President, become a fact. This means that we, the United States of America, are no longer United.
