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gandalftb: "When religiously driven abolitionists, like my family, chose their faith over the rule of law, the resistance and eventual fighting over slavery began."

Total nonsense, what is this rubbish you keep posting?
You sound like a poser, pretending to be sympathetic to the Union but in fact making our Lost Causer arguments for them, including a key one here.
The reality is: no Northerner outside John Brown's immediate circle "chose faith over law" that's utter nonsense.
Northerners chose abolition in their own states, that was 100% legal and faithful.
Northern Republicans also chose to restrict slavery in US territories, just as their Founders did, so also 100% legal and faithful.

And no Northern leader in 1860 advocated overthrowing slavery in the South because they all understood it would mean secession, and none wanted that.
But Republican moderation didn't matter because their very limited opposition to slavery was still plenty enough to drive Southern Democrats crazy with anger and secession.
That's why, in 1856 Democrats threatened secession if Republican Fremont won the presidency -- he didn't, Doughfaced Democrat Buchanan won.
In 1860 Southern Democrats again threatened secession if Republican Lincoln won, but this time they took the trouble to split their own majority party, handing over victory to the minority Republicans.

So the real issue was never "law versus faith", but rather, then as now it was: why do Democrats go insane when they lose elections?

I still own the timber that my family hid slaves on. The ruins of the cabin are still there.

My great-great grandfather took wagons to the dock at Clayton, IA picked up the escaping slaves there and sent them on through the network of Methodist abolitionists north to Minnesota and Canada.

Just plain fact that abolitionists violated federal law helping fugitive slaves. There were many in NE IA along the MI River.

Google “Sny Magill”. Donald Magill was a Scotsman that was in my family circle, son of a local indian trader, fought at Vicksburg and was so traumatized that he retreated to the valley of Sny Magill very near my family farm, rarely ever spoke again. The valley and forest reserve is named after his father’s trading post.

My grandfather knew him and I saw the remains of his cabin when I was a boy.

There is also a book “The History of Clayton County”, published in 1873. It talks a great deal about the run up to the war from an IA perspective.

But then again, this could all be utter nonsense by some poser that continues this endless debate, hoping to enlighten both sides.