Ummm... Not exactly. Lincoln wasn't responsible for the institution of excise taxes. There had never been an "income tax" since the US was formed. The only form of income that the US Congress had in order to generate revenue for the treasury was in the form of "excise taxes" on exported goods. This was from the beginning. Only it wasn't fair to the whole country. The Northern states were net importers of foreign made manufactured goods and possessed very little that other countries wanted to buy. The Southern states on the other hand had vast amounts of raw materials and cheap agricultural products that were exported to Europe and were therefore taxed. The Southern states saw this as their money being unfairly taken by damnyankees, for damnyankee purposes, and with no benefit to themselves, not unlike what England had done to The Colonies before the American Revolution. That the North was treating the South like a cow that could be milked at will. That was also one of the reasons that the Union had to foment a conflict at Ft. Sumter after the South seceded. They were "kicking the dog until it bites", to give them a reason to declare war and use force to bring the Southern states back to heel. They couldn't just stand by and watch their only source of income just walk away like that. BTW, when you look at the banks today, remember that the Chase family originally made their money running boot-leg cotton to England out of Texas. Given enough time and money, anybody can manufacture "respectability". Like the Kennedys.