“The fact is that Lincoln did nothing which had not already been done by our Founders”
Which of those you deemed “Founders” unlawfully suspended habeas corpus and used the military to drag people from their homes in the middle of the night? Which “Founder” imposed an unconstitutional income tax? Unconstitutional paper money?
I could continue, but it really doesn’t matter because you know little, don’t care to learn, and lack basic analytical skills. Like Hannity, you are just a “moderate” statist.
Loyalists to Britain, during the American Revolution were treated far worse by our Founders, than Confederates or northern Copperheads during the Civil War.
Some Loyalists were executed, others tarred & feathered, and tens of thousands were driven off their properties -- forced to emigrate to other counties (i.e., Canada).
Indeed, as a proportion of the overall population, the number of Loyalists forced to emigrate by the Revolutionary War, in today's terms would equate to six million US citizens.
By contrast, Lincoln's treatment of northern Copperheads was mild & lawful -- for example, none were tarred & feathered.
Furthermore, his suspension of habeas corpus was specifically approved & authorized by Congress, per the Constitution.
Income tax: Congress first proposed a Federal income tax under Founder, President Madison, as a temporary wartime measure during the War of 1812.
The war ended before that bill passed Congress, but the same idea was again taken up by Congress -- not President Lincoln -- as a temporary wartime measure, in 1861.
Congress also used (in your term) "specie money" during the War of 1812.
So nothing done by Congress or Lincoln during the Civil War was without precedent from our Founders, during their Revolutionary War, or later administrations.