I'm gay and I've lived in SLC for almost 65 years, and let me tell you - gay people are among the MOST bigoted. They think they are very accepting, but the truth is, most of them reject anyone who doesn't fit their idea about what a gay male should be. If you look like a twink or you aren't a certain way, you get shunned here completely. It's really nasty to see.
But, the truth is, all human beings are bigoted. We have to be, we're wired up that way. We are wired to want to only hang out with certain people and reject others, and see other people as inferior in almost every situation. It's sort of a survival mechanism from primitive days, and it's part of who we are as a species.
Most people were not very accepting of "different" people back then, but maybe it was just not talked about. There were a ton of "confirmed bachelors" and plenty of women had "roommates".
People in the North and South were not different. The North had a ton of racists who didn't want to fight and die for "colored people". There was a huge riot in NYC of people who didn't want to be drafted. They killed black people they found for no reason.
I think the Union’s stake in the civil war was more about federal supremacy over the United States (which obviously goes without question in a federal system). Ending slavery was just a function of that goal. I say this as someone who grew up in the southwest and is wholly committed to the authority of the federal government over individual states because that is obviously the system outlined in the constitution.
Of course “The North” was just as racist and still is just as shitty and racist as every other part of this country.
P.S. “The South” can suck it as a name, I propose a better title for former confederate states: The Losers (since it seems a certain demographic therein needs reminding).
A huge part of that riot was the Irish who were fresh off the boat from the potato famine and we're not pleased that they had escaped one hell and we're going to be drafted to a war they didn't care about.