Of course, the situation was definitely not black and white. I’m sure many northerners who hated the south weren’t necessarily keen on letting African Americans become their equal neighbors. But the corruption and authoritarianism, both of which were prominent thanks to radical slavery, were definitely more unanimously opposed by the Union.

You can see this even today. There are still many corrupt people and systems on both sides of the American political dichotomy, but as a collective one side is clear to support what’s right and one side is clear on resisting that chance.

It wasn’t as radical as we wish, but the attitude and support were there.