How racist were northerners during the American Civil War?

For white Americans in the North, the Civil War was a necessary distraction to preserve the Union and abolish race-based slavery. After the war the nation was free to pursue its material goals and populate a continent, both of which had been defining American characteristics from the beginning. read more

Racial rules for voting were only abolished during the brief dominance of the Racial Republicans after the Civil War. This was done with difficulty, even with most of the South under occupation and not able to make its views felt. read more

During the Civil War, many New York City newspapers were closely aligned with the anti-war, pro-Southern wing of the Democratic Party. Republicans called them "Copperheads" after the venomous snakes that originate in the area that had become the Confederacy. read more

Northerners’ attitudes on race hold important clues in ascertaining the causes of the Civil War. Nothing in the mainstream northern culture of the time suggests that the North was ready to go to war in order to bring about racial equality or even the end of slavery. read more