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Originally Posted by Runscott
As is suggesting that it was motivated by issues other than preserving the Union. I own original letters written by Northern soldiers 1-2 months after the Emancipation Proclamation and one of them emphatically states that the author is fighting for Union and is firmly against Lincoln's proclamation. When you go to war, potentially to lose your life, your reasons are generally important to you. Many of these soldiers went to war for Union and were very upset that Lincoln was confusing the issue with slavery. If you are also confused about this, and honestly think that it was only about slavery, as Hollywood portrays, then pick up a book; e.g-'For Cause and Comrades', and get the facts. More letters were written during the Civil War than any other war - there is no shortage of first-hand accounts of what the soldiers believed.
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I don't get my history from Hollywood. I hold a MA in American History and defended a final paper dealing with Progressive Era New South. While it's not my exact era of study, I've read more than I care to remember about the Civil War.
The war wasn't fought because of what individual soldiers believed in. The war was fought because state leaders in the South realized that Lincoln was serious about abolishing slavery. Their articles of secession are quite clear about this. Did many soldiers fight for other reasons? Most assuredly. But the underlying theme was the slave issue. Any other reason pales in comparison. The governments on both sides realized this and didn't try to hide it at the time.
There were racists on both sides. I've read passages from Jane Addams about blacks getting the right to vote before women that would make your blood boil. The northern industrialists even helped foster the post-Reconstruction New South that ushered in Jim Crow in an attempt to reconcile the country through capitalism.
On topic: Of course Cobb was a racist when he played. That puts him on the same level as the nearly unanimous majority of white Americans in his era.