It can be done, but it's a little dicey. -first, highlight a folder that you have set to your preferences - next To set many existing folders, follow these steps:

   In the Message List view, in the column header on the far right, open the options menu. (see attached.)
   At the very bottom is the option:
   -> "Apply current view to..."
   -> "Folder and its children..."
   -> Hover over an account
   -> In the next menu don't select a folder. Instead select the account name itself.

This is great and works for all existing folders, I did this and it saved me so much time, thank you. Is there a way to set this as the default for any new folders created? After I did as suggested above it made a new folder and it was not the same settings as my existing folders.

To change default for new folders, In config editor, change the value of the below entry to 0. That will be default for all new folders you create.

  mailnews.default_view_flags        

Config editor is available at settings>general and scroll to bottom right.