Not to his mind. The Constitution allows for suspension of civil rights in case of invasion or rebellion. Both of which were in progress at the time.
You might want to look up how the Founders handled the Tories, many of whom were just honest men who didn’t change their loyalties fast enough.
They were dealt with, by the Founders themselves, much more harshly than Rebels were.
BTW, Lincoln’s statement that he had no right to interfere with slavery within a state other than as a military matter was not sudden. He’d been saying it over and over in public for most of a decade.
“The Constitution allows for suspension of civil rights in case of invasion or rebellion.” - SL
Whoa there big fella...not “civil rights”, only habeas corpus. Now I see why you like Lincoln so much.
The writ of habeas corpus shall not be suspended, except in rebellion or invasion. Lincoln did more than arrest people without cause, he shut down newspapers.
That is more than habeas corpus, he violated explicit constitutional civil rights.
Not Allowed!