The old Soviet propaganda technique was “poisoning the well”. They would accuse their opponent of what they did. That tended to disarm truth tellers.
When southern partisans assert that Lincoln was a tyrant (illegitimate ruler, usurper, one who rules by force) we should recognize that as what Jeff Davis and his ilk were. The southern rebellion was illegitimate, Jeff Davis pretended to the legitimate powers of the elected president, the southern states pretended to ‘at pleasure’ usurpation by individual states of powers secured to the states and people as a whole.
When southern partisans assert that the northern states were responsible for slavery in the south in 1860, we should recognize that the southern states were responsible for the existence of their domestic institutions, and in fact wanted to interfere with local government in the north, to inflict on them the domestic institutions of the southern states.
“Poisoning the well” is a dishonest debate tactic, and says more about those who use it than it does about reality.
I got a chuckle from at your comment. I’ve always known the technique by a different name - Liberal Projection. But that can’t be the case here since we’re all conservatives on this forum....right? ;-)