The simple fact that slaves risked their lives to escape to the north, says everything there needs to be said about the difference between the north and south. Period.
Let's be honest here.
The difference?
South = Slave States
North = Non-Slave States
Alleging any other difference is ignorance and a revision of history. There was no benevolence or pity in the north. They had racial segregation in the north.
Racial segregation in the United States - Wikipedia
All northern white people believed their race was superior. Black people were second-class citizens in the north.
Northern benevolence? Not even close. Slavery gave the south an unfair economic advantage over the north and that was the absolute, number one reason northern white people wanted to abolish slavery.
So, let's all stop pretending that southerners were evil, hateful jackasses while northerners were peaceful, benevolent creatures, which false narrative Hollywood and media have repeatedly spun for decades. All that does is stir up unnecessary shit and make people more hateful. Unless that's the goal?